2018-19 Habs Lines

[BigTed3]

Now knowing that we'll be picking 3rd overall and that there's a high probability of grabbing a player like Zadina or Tkachuk, this is how I might envision lines without knowing what other moves might occur:

Pacioretty-Danault-Lehkonen

Scherbak-Galchenyuk-Gallagher

Hudon-Drouin-Zadina

Byron-Shaw-Carr

 

No true #1 line, but well-balanced in terms of having capable scoring lines. We know Pacioretty-Danault has worked better than anything else we have at center. We know Danault-Lehkonen works. We know Galchenyuk-Gallagher works. We know Hudon-Drouin works. And that's a pretty darn good 4th line if those guys come back healthy.

If by some stroke of luck we're able to add Tavares, then even better:

 

Pacioretty-Tavares-Zadina

Drouin-Galchenyuk-Gallagher

Lehkonen-Danault-Shaw

Byron-Hudon-Scherbak

 

The scoring is more concentrated on the top two lines, but you have that reunited two-way third trip and now a fast offensive 4th line that can garner mismatches.

The chances this is our line-up of forwards is 0%, but it's interesting to see what you can do adding a player like Zadina right away.

 

 

[BigTed3]

Using only what we have in house right now:

 

Pacioretty-Danault-Gallagher

Domi-Drouin-Scherbak

Lehkonen-Hudon-Armia

Byron-Evans-Shaw

McCarron, DLR

 

[maas_art]

26 minutes ago, BigTed3 said:

Using only what we have in house right now:

 

Pacioretty-Danault-Gallagher

Domi-Drouin-Scherbak

Lehkonen-Hudon-Armia

Byron-Evans-Shaw

McCarron, DLR

 

I think there will be more trades, but like you said, based on what we have now, this is what i think we'll see:
 

Hudon - Drouin - Scherbak
Pacioretty - Domi - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Danault - Armia
Byron - DLR - Shaw

 

[BigTed3]

22 minutes ago, maas_art said:

I think there will be more trades, but like you said, based on what we have now, this is what i think we'll see:
 

Hudon - Drouin - Scherbak
Pacioretty - Domi - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Danault - Armia
Byron - DLR - Shaw

 

I still wonder if Evans will leapfrog DLR, but could definitely see CJ going with something like this too. Byron-Shaw is a good match. Lehkonen and Armia are both two-way Finns. Pacman and Gallagher are probably our only two top-line caliber wingers. So yeah, If Domi goes to center, I could definitely see the Habs trying something like this.

[Regis22]

You're both forgetting Plekanec

 

and I don't think old schoolCJ is going to give Scherbak top line minutes

[jwlk]

those are all bad lines lol, hope there's more to come

[maas_art]

4 hours ago, Regis22 said:

You're both forgetting Plekanec

Well we were talking about what was here today. Im pretty sure that roster will be different come october. 

3 hours ago, jwlk said:

those are all bad lines lol, hope there's more to come

It is bad.  Im hopeful that it doesnt get "band aid" better though.  We need to rebuild this team right, not sign or trade for just enough players to get us into the the playoffs to lose in the first round. 

[jwlk]

56 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Well we were talking about what was here today. Im pretty sure that roster will be different come october. 

It is bad.  Im hopeful that it doesnt get "band aid" better though.  We need to rebuild this team right, not sign or trade for just enough players to get us into the the playoffs to lose in the first round. 

fully agree

[Regis22]

9 hours ago, maas_art said:

Well we were talking about what was here today. Im pretty sure that roster will be different come october. 

Yea add Plekanec and probably another bunch of pluggers.

The 2018/2019 season will be worse than last year .

It could be the worst in franchise history .
 

[Regis22]

Your staring D as of today

Petry , Mete, Alzner, Benn, Reilly, Schlemko, Juulson

Would anyone beside Petry  make a top 4 on any other NHL team

[ramcharger440]

yeah we get it.

[BigTed3]

47 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

Your staring D as of today

Petry , Mete, Alzner, Benn, Reilly, Schlemko, Juulson

Would anyone beside Petry  make a top 4 on any other NHL team

Petry is easily a good #2 D man and possibly a #1 by a lot of metrics. He actually ranks better than Weber in a lot of key areas.

Mete is a solid D man. If he can re-produce what he did last year, he's a #4 with potential.

Juulsen is a decent third-pairing option with room to grow, even if he's going to have growing pains this year. Gotta live through them.

And I think they can find a third-pairing partner for Juulsen out of Reilly, Valiev, Lernout, Ouellet, Benn, or one of those Czech guys.

We have two giant holes in the top 4 though, and we have an issue of subtraction by addition with Alzner and Schlemko being in the line-up.

[maas_art]

47 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

Your staring D as of today

Petry , Mete, Alzner, Benn, Reilly, Schlemko, Juulson

Would anyone beside Petry  make a top 4 on any other NHL team

Mete or Juulsen might - if you had a strong top 3. Both wouldnt at the same time mind you.

The dumb thing is that just like with our wingers, there's some lower tier quality there, but you have a limited number of roster spots.  MB seems to have trouble understanding that its better to have 4 great dmen & and then figure out who is playing your bottom pair, than to have 20 guys who can play bottom pair.    Dear Marc Bergevin: quantity does not = quality. 

[Regis22]

37 minutes ago, BigTed3 said:

 Valiev, Lernout, Ouellet,  or one of those Czech guys.

= last years Joe Morrow, Brandon Davidson , Jakub Jerabek

Valiev couldn't get a call up from the Leafs

lol....one of those Czech guys , enough said

[BigTed3]

23 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

= last years Joe Morrow, Brandon Davidson , Jakub Jerabek

Valiev couldn't get a call up from the Leafs

lol....one of those Czech guys , enough said

As a 5th, 6th, or 7th D man, I think it's worth trying a young guy like Ouellet or Lernout or Valiev. Let it be a growth year. Maybe they'll be this year's Davidson or Jerabek, but the truth is that neither of those guys was horrible, and they were both better than Alzner, Benn, and Schlemko.

[Regis22]

I agree with you but JC , the minute a young guy struggles, it's  back to using the veteran

I say play the heck out of Mete , Reilly and Juulson

[maas_art]

I get the sense that if we make any trades (ie Pacioretty) it will be for a centre.  So that means that what we have right now on defense is probably what we start the year with.

 

Right Defensemen:
Petry - Juulsen - Benn - Lernout - Moravcik- Fleury   (Benn and Lernout are both left-handed-shots but prefer to play the right side)

Even with Weber out, our right side is still stronger.  Juulsen is the key here. If he can step into a top 4 role then our right side wont be horrible. I have faith he actually can - he looked super poised last year.  If he can, the right side wont be great but its at least NHL ready. There's an outside chance Moravcik leapfrogs some other RD but because he's waiver except, I suspect he'll be in the AHL unless he has a monster camp. Fleury has one of the higher ceilings in the group but he needs time in the AHL to develop imho. 

Left Defensemen:
Mete - Reilly - Alzner - Schlemko - Valiev - Ouellet -  Sklenicka

What a mess.   Mete is the best of the bunch by a fair margin but should not be playing higher than #4 at this stage of his career.  Reilly could possibly be a top 4 too if the other 3 were strong but as a top 4 carrying his pair? Yikes.   I have a feeling Alzner will be better than last year.  There was a 10 - 15 game stretch last year when he actually looked pretty good. Im hoping we get a full year of that. He cant be worse than last year, right?   Schlemko was a tire-fire but has played good hockey for most of his career so Im hopeful, if he's not traded, that he does better.   Valiev, Ouelette... either are possibly 3rd pairing guys and neither is any sort of saviour.   Like his countryman,  Sklenicka is the real wildcard. I have not seen him play but it sounds like he's mobile, fast and has a decent ceiling. Maybe a top 4.   But like Moravcik, he's waiver exempt so unless he has an absolutely amazing camp, he'll start the year in Laval.

 

If MB can some how manage to get a guy who slots in as our best left D, this group wont look nearly as bad but right now, while we can probably limp through Weber's injury on the right side, our left side is just abysmal. Dear Marc Bergevin:  Quantity does not = Quality!

 

[Regis22]

FWIW, this guys thoughts

https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2018/7/11/17550866/canadiens-players-waivers-eligible-nicolas-deslauriers-michael-mccarron-byron-froese-xavier-ouellet

 

Having done this roster-building exercise, the following players therefore would have to go on waivers in order to be assigned to Laval:

• Nicolas Deslauriers
• Michael McCarron
• Kerby Rychel
• Byron Froese
• Kenny Agostino
• Michal Chaput
• Xavier Ouellet
• Rinat Valiev
• Matt Taormina

[maas_art]

11 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

FWIW, this guys thoughts

https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2018/7/11/17550866/canadiens-players-waivers-eligible-nicolas-deslauriers-michael-mccarron-byron-froese-xavier-ouellet

 

Having done this roster-building exercise, the following players therefore would have to go on waivers in order to be assigned to Laval:

• Nicolas Deslauriers
• Michael McCarron
• Kerby Rychel
• Byron Froese
• Kenny Agostino
• Michal Chaput
• Xavier Ouellet
• Rinat Valiev
• Matt Taormina

Yeah, i read that earlier - great asset management by our GM once again.     Unless he moves a few of these guys we're going to lose someone.  And this is not even taking into account what happens if one of the waiver exempt guys like the two new Czechs impress so much that they make the team 

[BigTed3]

I agree with the assessment on forwards, for the most part. I'd give up Deslauriers in a heartbeat ahead of Scherbak, DLR, etc., but I don't see the Habs doing it. I'm also not convinced Kotkaniemi is going to stay, so I'd predict the Habs will retain Deslauriers and send JK back to Finland. I'd rather see McCarron or Rychel kept off waivers rather than Deslauriers... and then on top of this, you have to expose two more guys to waivers once Shaw and Byron are back, so MB has made a mess of having to expose younger guys if he plans on retaining Deslauriers, Plekanec, etc.

On D, I'm hoping they give Ouellet or Valiev more of a look ahead of Schlemko and Benn and Alzner. Again, doubt it'll happen, but I'm less concerned about losing our D depth because a lot of it is fringe or just plain bad.

[Noob616]

Taking a stab at it assuming Pacioretty is moved, it's hard to know what he gets traded for. If we aim low and assume it's for something underwhelming like Bjugstad or whatever then I think Drouin moves to RW and they shift all the RWs down the lineup.

Domi - Drouin - Gallagher

Lehkonen - Danault - Scherbak

Hudon - Plekanec - Armia

Rychel - Peca - McCarron

 

Reilly - Petry

Mete - Benn

Alzner - Juulsen

 

Price/Niemi

Healthy Scratches: Ouellet, Deslauriers, Valiev

IR: Shaw, Byron, Weber

Waived: Schlemko, Chaput, Agostino, Taormina, Froese. 

19 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Yeah, i read that earlier - great asset management by our GM once again. Unless he moves a few of these guys we're going to lose someone.  And this is not even taking into account what happens if one of the waiver exempt guys like the two new Czechs impress so much that they make the team 

I'm not really worried. Honestly I kinda expect McCarron to be traded to avoid losing him on waivers but after that Valiev is probably the only guy I'd be even remotely concerned about losing (Rychel too but I think he makes the team). Otherwise Taormina/Chaput/Agostino etc. are all career AHLers and every team has a handful of guys like this.

[BigTed3]

^^ 3 questions for you, Noob:

1. If Pacioretty doesn't get traded, who do you drop out of the line-up/ put on waivers to make room for him?

2. When Weber, Shaw, and Byron are ready to comeback, assuming the Habs have no other injuries at that time, which 3 additional players would you subject to waivers at that point?

3. Some people think Mete or Juulsen might start the year in the minors, since they're waiver-exempt, with the goal of recalling them later. Do you think this could happen and do you think it's worth showcasing Schlemko or would you still just send him to the minors?

[Graeme-1]

2 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

2. When Weber, Shaw, and Byron are ready to comeback, assuming the Habs have no other injuries at that time, which 3 additional players would you subject to waivers at that point?

I wouldn't worry about that too much, if by the point say Weber comes back all 6-7 defensemen look NHL caliber and are healthy, I'd put that in the "good problem to have" bucket. More likely, someone will be injured or have underwhelmed to justify waivers. 

I do think we have too many "depth veteran" players and would prefer giving more time to younger / cheaper players with higher upside though.  This roster just looks weird, it's not really a rebuild roster and not really a "go for it" roster, it's just kind of a bunch of random pieces.

[habs1952]

13 hours ago, Graeme-1 said:

I wouldn't worry about that too much, if by the point say Weber comes back all 6-7 defensemen look NHL caliber and are healthy, I'd put that in the "good problem to have" bucket. More likely, someone will be injured or have underwhelmed to justify waivers. 

I do think we have too many "depth veteran" players and would prefer giving more time to younger / cheaper players with higher upside though.  This roster just looks weird, it's not really a rebuild roster and not really a "go for it" roster, it's just kind of a bunch of random pieces.

Maybe MB is trying to copy the new Vegas model. Throw a bunch of guys together and go to the cup final.

[maas_art]

13 hours ago, Graeme-1 said:

I wouldn't worry about that too much, if by the point say Weber comes back all 6-7 defensemen look NHL caliber and are healthy, I'd put that in the "good problem to have" bucket. More likely, someone will be injured or have underwhelmed to justify waivers. 

I agree with what you're saying to a point but it doesnt look great to potential future suitors that we are a team known for signing / bringing in a bunch of guys most of whom wont get a chance.  Depth is great but if you have say 8 guys vying for the same spot, that seems excessive.

 

13 hours ago, Graeme-1 said:

I do think we have too many "depth veteran" players and would prefer giving more time to younger / cheaper players with higher upside though.  This roster just looks weird, it's not really a rebuild roster and not really a "go for it" roster, it's just kind of a bunch of random pieces.

This is the hallmark of MB's tenure imho.  I mean people say he's made brutal moves but its not like Mike Milbury who traded away great players for crap.  MB has brought back very good players, Drouin, Weber, Domi - these are no slouches - but they seem to suit our needs less than the players he's traded away... and this happens all the time.  

I havent seen what i would consider a clear plan from our GM .. ever.