2020-21 State Of The Habs

[H_T_L]

Old season in the books. Time for a fresh start.

[jennifer_rocket]

However, the question remains... Will 2020-21 be any different than 2019-20?

Right now I don't see that we've made any major upgrades to our team. So... I can imagine we'll miss the playoffs again in the upcoming season. Anderson is a massive question mark, we haven't improved our D... I'm not exactly clear on where extra points in the standings are going to come from. We have no incoming difference-making prospects. There's no guarantee that Kotkaniemi and Suzuki take a massive leap forward in production.

We have improved the backup goaltending position, it seems. That's good.

[kinot-2]

12 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

However, the question remains... Will 2020-21 be any different than 2019-20?

Right now I don't see that we've made any major upgrades to our team. So... I can imagine we'll miss the playoffs again in the upcoming season. Anderson is a massive question mark, we haven't improved our D... I'm not exactly clear on where extra points in the standings are going to come from. We have no incoming difference-making prospects. There's no guarantee that Kotkaniemi and Suzuki take a massive leap forward in production.

We have improved the backup goaltending position, it seems. That's good.

If Allen can get 8-10 wins out of say, 20 games, that's 16-20 PTs. more. IMO, "If" Anderson is healthy, then he will want to prove himself to the Habs and their fans, and  that he wants to stay here for a good contract. 

[claremont]

Montreal Gazette reporting Hudson is off to Switzerland as I suspected- another draft bust albeit a 5th rounder where the probabilities are low to begin with. 

[arpem-can]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:18 PM, kinot-2 said:

If Allen can get 8-10 wins out of say, 20 games, that's 16-20 PTs. more. IMO, "If" Anderson is healthy, then he will want to prove himself to the Habs and their fans, and  that he wants to stay here for a good contract. 

I think the back-ups got 11 points last year out of 13 games ...if Anderson gets 10 wins that's a 9 point improvement ..the schedule if as rumoured will be 62 games I cant see him getting any more than 15/16  starts so 10 wins would be a bonus ..I don't think he stays longer than one year and it'll probably be up to a goalie in the system or via cheaper free agency to take up the slack and save cap space ...if it's through free agency and a goalie could be had for even 2 million the saving would be 2 mill + and maybe enough enough cap room to sign the team as it stands ( not that I really think that will happen ) .....or ....a more simple move might be try to unload Byron's contract ...at least there's options 

[arpem-can]

25 minutes ago, claremont said:

Montreal Gazette reporting Hudson is off to Switzerland as I suspected- another draft bust albeit a 5th rounder where the probabilities are low to begin with. 

....he showed promise his first full year ...good luck to him ....could be another 

trade coming 

[electron58]

46 minutes ago, claremont said:

Montreal Gazette reporting Hudon is off to Switzerland as I suspected- another draft bust albeit a 5th rounder where the probabilities are low to begin with. 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that Charles really got a chance. He did everything they asked, with enthusiasm. Just my opinion, of course, but I would have kept him over Drouin.

[electron58]

I originally posted this in another thread, in response to another poster's post, but thought it may be more appropriate here.  Do any of the other threads have a potential 23 man roster with the salaries, that show us how close we are to the cap? Figured the "State of the Habs" might, but it looks like that thread has been reset. I think that it would be an informative read. I didn't change the verbage, so that you could see what I was trying to get at.

So, which number is the magic number. 23 man roster? or 21 man roster? Or does it matter?

[claremont]

5 minutes ago, electron58 said:

I originally posted this in another thread, in response to another poster's post, but thought it may be more appropriate here.  Do any of the other threads have a potential 23 man roster with the salaries, that show us how close we are to the cap? Figured the "State of the Habs" might, but it looks like that thread has been reset. I think that it would be an informative read. I didn't change the verbage, so that you could see what I was trying to get at.

So, which number is the magic number. 23 man roster? or 21 man roster? Or does it matter?

I don’t see how that is any of your business 😂

check www.capfriendly or www.spotrac.com 

[electron58]

5 minutes ago, claremont said:

I don’t see how that is any of your business 😂

check www.capfriendly or www.spotrac.com 

Thanks. Probably not. I like the way capfriendly.com is laid out. It shows 22 players with a cap hit of $81,853,809. & the hit on Alzner.  So, if we carry 7 D, then Ouelett goes down, and we are cap compliant. That would be our 21 players. If Weal goes down as well, and Poehling comes up, then that removes another $475K. We'd be sitting @ $80,287,000. So, 1.2M breather.  If we get rid of Drouin, then things would be a lot clearer.

[claremont]

14 minutes ago, electron58 said:

Thanks. Probably not. I like the way capfriendly.com is laid out. It shows 22 players with a cap hit of $81,853,809. & the hit on Alzner.  So, if we carry 7 D, then Ouelett goes down, and we are cap compliant. That would be our 21 players. If Weal goes down as well, and Poehling comes up, then that removes another $475K. We'd be sitting @ $80,287,000. So, 1.2M breather.  If we get rid of Drouin, then things would be a lot clearer.

You’re correct on the cap numbers - not a big issue but up / down movers you have to be careful on waiver rules. There’s only so many times a player can go down To the minors then up then down before another team can claim your player for no compensation. I’m not going to go thru the rules as you could google it. These present a risk but no one in prior years would have put in a claim for Alzner. For Poehling Evans mete  or Juulsen - yes they could have appeal. Ouellette - maybe no one claims him. Waivers if I’m not mistaken was how MB claimed Byron. Then Byron had a great year and contract rewarded then he’s been hurt and hasn’t delivered on his value.

we would be stupid to trade Drouin at current diminished value and his past injury recovery  - he has great value on shootouts as he has a slick shot and deft hands. When the sledding gets tough I have noted he can frequently disappear. We will have to give him the full season before determining if he continues to fit within our core, and whether he can mesh with the right and better line mates. Drouin to be good IMO needs better line mates - he appears to be more of a follower than someone who leads his line mates 

[CaptWelly]

31 minutes ago, claremont said:

You’re correct on the cap numbers - not a big issue but up / down movers you have to be careful on waiver rules. There’s only so many times a player can go down To the minors then up then down before another team can claim your player for no compensation. I’m not going to go thru the rules as you could google it. These present a risk but no one in prior years would have put in a claim for Alzner. For Poehling Evans mete  or Juulsen - yes they could have appeal. Ouellette - maybe no one claims him. Waivers if I’m not mistaken was how MB claimed Byron. Then Byron had a great year and contract rewarded then he’s been hurt and hasn’t delivered on his value.

we would be stupid to trade Drouin at current diminished value and his past injury recovery  - he has great value on shootouts as he has a slick shot and deft hands. When the sledding gets tough I have noted he can frequently disappear. We will have to give him the full season before determining if he continues to fit within our core, and whether he can mesh with the right and better line mates. Drouin to be good IMO needs better line mates - he appears to be more of a follower than someone who leads his line mates 

I think the team is actually looking good right now. We have three solid lines we can roll. I also feel Drouin will have a better year this year. As long as he can stay injury free. He is definitely going to have better line mates no matter which of the top three lines. I believe this year Gallagher even Tatar's years may not be quite as strong as previous years because I think it will get more spread out throughout the line up. With Danault , Suzuki, JK I have no problem with no "set" 1st/2nd/3rd. and who is getting more minutes on any given night. All three lines can be responsible and can score. I think we are going to have more options for the power play. We should be able to have two good units and switch players in/out depending on who's "going" on any given night. I also think Edmondson will help with the penalty kill. This should help take some wear off Weber also. The players added are + players that Jullien will like so they will fit into our system. I actually don't think Laine would of. We have added size and some grit. This will also help players like Drouin who have a great shot but aren't prone to drive the net. This open up a bit more space. I also think that this team won't get pushed around as much now. I do hope JK can continue to improve and doesn't fall back. Having more balance in the line up will take some heat off. I'm not actually concerned for Suzuki. We now have depth also because no matter what there will be injuries. (Hopefully JK can stay healthy). 

So myself I'm optimistic!                                               GO HABS GO!!! 

[HabsAlways]

2 hours ago, electron58 said:

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that Charles really got a chance. He did everything they asked, with enthusiasm. Just my opinion, of course, but I would have kept him over Drouin.

if Hudon was NHL calibre, he wouldn't be signing in the Swiss league.

[maas_art]

On 10/11/2020 at 7:45 AM, jennifer_rocket said:

However, the question remains... Will 2020-21 be any different than 2019-20?

Right now I don't see that we've made any major upgrades to our team. So... I can imagine we'll miss the playoffs again in the upcoming season. Anderson is a massive question mark, we haven't improved our D... I'm not exactly clear on where extra points in the standings are going to come from. We have no incoming difference-making prospects. There's no guarantee that Kotkaniemi and Suzuki take a massive leap forward in production.

We have improved the backup goaltending position, it seems. That's good.

I think we've made some fairly substantial upgrades actually.

Since the playoffs: 
We lost Domi & a few mid-round picks.  We added:
Anderson, Toffoli, Allen & Edmundson - plus Romanov (our property yes, but now can play for us). 

Now, things are going to have to keep moving forward for things to work out. (contracts next year are a concern) but overall I think we have really added a ton of depth. If Anderson does work out the way the team thinks he could be a very substantial add.   I actually see Toffoli as the replacement for Domi (similar game although TT is much better defensively) with Anderson being a completely new element we were missing. 

There's still big question marks but i think this summer has been a success for MB.  Still dont like the Edmundson move. 

 

[maas_art]

3 hours ago, electron58 said:

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that Charles really got a chance. He did everything they asked, with enthusiasm. Just my opinion, of course, but I would have kept him over Drouin.

Its interesting because they are very similar players.  Both skilled, but neither have great hockey IQ.  I think that Drouin's skill is just that touch better that he beats out Hudon but I could see charles having success on the right team. I just dont think thats us.  

He was definitely a professional & I was always hoping for a breakout for him but it just never seemed like he could put it all together. 

[claremont]

1 hour ago, HabsAlways said:

if Hudon was NHL calibre, he wouldn't be signing in the Swiss league.

Exactly - Great in the minor leagues of the AHL as he could play as a perimeter player. Never played big in the NHL at 5-10 and 190, never drove to the net, not good in the corners, could never finish his scoring despite plenty of shots and chances that I saw, and was not good as a defensive player. Needs a fresh start and maybe in the Swiss league, he can rediscover his game.  

[pcharnish]

I think if anything this will be a important season for the habs and potentially and interesting ofseason next year with the habs i haven't looked at there cap splace next season but if we resign Gallagher and kk im assuming that might eat up a bit if cap plus dandeaut i think is a free agent also but im looking forward to this season i think we should be at least a playoff contender 

[Windoe]

What should our 4th line be ideally?  A faceoff specialist, penalty kill specialist, shootout specialist, tough guys, leadership, cheap AAV?  We seem to have Lehkonen, Byron, Evans, Weal and Poehling as our current 4th line candidates...and I'm not really thrilled with that, but maybe I'm missing some things, and in fact I should be quite thrilled with that. Curious what your thoughts are.



 

[maas_art]

13 minutes ago, Windoe said:

What should our 4th line be ideally?  A faceoff specialist, penalty kill specialist, shootout specialist, tough guys, leadership, cheap AAV?  We seem to have Lehkonen, Byron, Evans, Weal and Poehling as our current 4th line candidates...and I'm not really thrilled with that, but maybe I'm missing some things, and in fact I should be quite thrilled with that. Curious what your thoughts are.
 

I dont think your 4th line really needs to be "anything" specific.  There's a million ways to make a roster. 

In the 'traditional' sense, we dont really have a 1st line but we do have maybe 3 lines that could all be 2nd lines on most teams in the league.  Better still, all 3 lines should be able to lineup against just about any line in the league.  So that gives you a lot of flexibility for the 4th line.   Assuming Evans is the centre (and it looks that way with JK/Suzuki/Danault taking the top 3 slots) we have a guy who probably wont score a lot but wont hurt you when hes on the ice either.   Ideally, if thats your centre (they could still make Poehling the guy & put Evans at RW) then I think you would be better off surround him with wingers who thrive on garbage goals like Byron and maybe Armia. It will depend on whether we plan on using Toffoli as a RW or a LW. 

I think a roster of:

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - JK - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Danault - Tofoli
Byron - Evans - Armia

would be very difficult to play against, regardless of what you call each line. 

[H_T_L]

Read somewhere that we currently have 29.5 mill in Cap space for next year with 13 players signed.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/canadiens-gm-hints-at-a-younger-team-in-2021-22-when-cap-crunch-looms/ar-BB19ZJa1?ocid=msedgdhp

[arpem-can]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

Read somewhere that we currently have 29.5 mill in Cap space for next year with 13 players signed.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/canadiens-gm-hints-at-a-younger-team-in-2021-22-when-cap-crunch-looms/ar-BB19ZJa1?ocid=msedgdhp

  According to Cap Central currently Montreal is - $353,809 over the cap with Toffoli signed ...next year they have $ 24, 939, 524 in space ...

[claremont]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

Read somewhere that we currently have 29.5 mill in Cap space for next year with 13 players signed.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/canadiens-gm-hints-at-a-younger-team-in-2021-22-when-cap-crunch-looms/ar-BB19ZJa1?ocid=msedgdhp

The article is slightly wrong as cap friendly shows it as $24.9 - Allen’s salary added back in the article is a mistake by the writer 
I think Ted has gone thru $ iteration in another thread. A couple of highlights for me are 1) it’s unlikely we keep all three of Danualt, Gallagher and Tatar unless there are some discounts but I would prefer the first two 2) I suspect we let Armia got to UFA unless he has a phenomenal season 3) Primeau is probably targeted as one of the youngsters being promoted in the new cap limit world plus Caufield if he elects to turn pro - I’ll watch Ylonen but he seems further off. Fleury/Brook/Juulsen 4) 24.9 add $1.85m to $3,5m as it is likely that one of Kulak or Chiarot are claimed in the ED and probably add 3.4m for overpriced to be dealt Byron. 5) assuming those 2 players are gone, we will have to use this cap room about $30.2 m to sign about 11 replacement players. 6) it’s not panic time - it can be done with some youth and all teams will face it
 

[jennifer_rocket]

I find our forward depth very interesting heading into the new season. I think we should be good enough to score goals. I still question our ability to keep pucks out of our net, but that's a whole other thing. I kind of imagine the forward groupings like this:

Jonathan Drouin - Nick Suzuki - Josh Anderson
Tomas Tatar - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Brendan Gallagher
Arturri Lehkonen - Phillip Danault - Tyler Toffoli
Paul Byron - Jordan Weal - Joel Armia

Perhaps Evans or Poehling make the team out of camp. Perhaps not. I guess they would be competing against Weal for a roster spot.

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, jennifer_rocket said:

I find our forward depth very interesting heading into the new season. I think we should be good enough to score goals. I still question our ability to keep pucks out of our net, but that's a whole other thing. I kind of imagine the forward groupings like this:

Jonathan Drouin - Nick Suzuki - Josh Anderson
Tomas Tatar - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Brendan Gallagher
Arturri Lehkonen - Phillip Danault - Tyler Toffoli
Paul Byron - Jordan Weal - Joel Armia

Perhaps Evans or Poehling make the team out of camp. Perhaps not. I guess they would be competing against Weal for a roster spot.

I think Weal is gone.  We're 300K over the cap and burying or trading him fixes that.   I think the team sees Evans as the 4th line centre. Not sure about Poehling.  Otherwise I agree with those lines (we might see JK and Danault switched).   

Should be interesting!

[Windoe]

capfriendly showing that MTL is now $383,691 under the cap...has there been another move anyone knows about?