2020-21 State Of The Habs

[Windoe]

Maybe Ouellet moved down to Non-Roster Defence...not sure if he was up on the Active Defense list yesterday or not...

[claremont]

6 hours ago, Windoe said:

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

Ouellette was moved off the roster to the minors - swung about 800k 

[electron58]

On 10/13/2020 at 0:43 PM, HabsAlways said:

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

Well, if Bergevin would not have qualified him, and then subsequently failed to trade him, some other team may have given him a shot. Now, we will not know for some time. How long does Montreal now retain his rights for? Should have just let him go UFA if they weren't going to give him a fair chance. And really, I think now for sure (more than before) there is no place for Hudon in our lineup. (except for Drouin) this team looks really good & ready to compete.

[electron58]

4 hours ago, claremont said:

Ouellette was moved off the roster to the minors - swung about 800k 

Looks like we're showing a 21 man roster.

We can go up to 23 during the season, as long as we're cap compliant.

[ChiLla]

I think we're in pretty good shape actually and I'm going to give MB credit where it's due. After the last years of treading water, he's done way more than I expected him to this offseason and finally made good use of the Cap space we have. Sure, some of the contracts seem a little rich (Anderson, Edmundson, maybe Gallagher) but if Molson can afford it, why shouldn't he spend it to improve the team? I still don't really like our left side on D but I can see what he's trying to do. We're also still missing truly elite talent up front but that applies to a large number of teams and it's certainly not easy to fix. What we do have is the best goalie tandem in the league, a good to (arguably) very good defense, and excellent forward depth. Unless both Suzuki and Kotkaniemi continue their progression to the point that they're absolutely lights-out next season, I don't think we figure among the Top 5 in the league and can be considered a real Cup contender, but in my opinion this is clearly a playoff team and I like our chances against virtually anyone in a 7-game series. That's the best roster we've had in quite a while and for the first time in years, I'm really looking forward to the next season and see how this team performs. If there's a season, of course

[maas_art]

10 hours ago, Windoe said:

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

If im not mistaken, when we were $350k over, Ouellet was listed as one of our defensmen. Now he's listed as a "non roster defense" (minors) so that could be it?  The math works out. 

EDIT: sorry I see a couple of people already saw/answered this.  

The one thing to keep in mind is that the roster on capfriendly will likely change before the season starts. It has the bare minimum forwards (12) and only 7D.   Expect us to add 2 more players to the roster to bring it up to 23.  

That almost certainly means Jordan Weal is either traded or waived (sent to the minors) where we can recover about 70% of his salary.  Our replacement players will have to be cheap (ie Evans, Vejdemo, Poehling, Juulsen etc) but thats ok, we want the kids to have a chance. 

[arpem-can]

2 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

I think we're in pretty good shape actually and I'm going to give MB credit where it's due. After the last years of treading water, he's done way more than I expected him to this offseason and finally made good use of the Cap space we have. Sure, some of the contracts seem a little rich (Anderson, Edmundson, maybe Gallagher) but if Molson can afford it, why shouldn't he spend it to improve the team? I still don't really like our left side on D but I can see what he's trying to do. We're also still missing truly elite talent up front but that applies to a large number of teams and it's certainly not easy to fix. What we do have is the best goalie tandem in the league, a good to (arguably) very good defense, and excellent forward depth. Unless both Suzuki and Kotkaniemi continue their progression to the point that they're absolutely lights-out next season, I don't think we figure among the Top 5 in the league and can be considered a real Cup contender, but in my opinion this is clearly a playoff team and I like our chances against virtually anyone in a 7-game series. That's the best roster we've had in quite a while and for the first time in years, I'm really looking forward to the next season and see how this team performs. If there's a season, of course

 yes the days of criticizing MB for sitting on his hands with the team's cap space are over ...Craig Button ( like him or not ) just gave him a glowing report card for what he has done in the off season ..Bergevin just handed out contracts since Sept 16th totalling over $141 million for 30 years worth of term to 8 players ...still no truly elite talent up front basically because they don't grow on trees if you're not handed a top two draft selection ...still no game breaking elite LHD but they don't grow on trees either unless you forfeit the future or break the bank ...this isn't a 24th placed team anymore 

[H_T_L]

22 minutes ago, maas_art said:

If im not mistaken, when we were $350k over, Ouellet was listed as one of our defensmen. Now he's listed as a "non roster defense" (minors) so that could be it?  The math works out. 

EDIT: sorry I see a couple of people already saw/answered this.  

The one thing to keep in mind is that the roster on capfriendly will likely change before the season starts. It has the bare minimum forwards (12) and only 7D.   Expect us to add 2 more players to the roster to bring it up to 23.  

That almost certainly means Jordan Weal is either traded or waived (sent to the minors) where we can recover about 70% of his salary.  Our replacement players will have to be cheap (ie Evans, Vejdemo, Poehling, Juulsen etc) but thats ok, we want the kids to have a chance. 

Wouldn't surprise me to start the season with a 21 man roster. Laval is pretty close so a call up wouldn't be hard unless we're on the road. Gives us one spare body ( probably defense) and if down the road someone gets hurt and goes on the IR it allows us to bring a couple guys up without going over the Cap. Probably not ideal for CJ when he wants to send a message to a player by sitting him a game, but that's his problem.

[maas_art]

25 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

Wouldn't surprise me to start the season with a 21 man roster. Laval is pretty close so a call up wouldn't be hard unless we're on the road. Gives us one spare body ( probably defense) and if down the road someone gets hurt and goes on the IR it allows us to bring a couple guys up without going over the Cap. Probably not ideal for CJ when he wants to send a message to a player by sitting him a game, but that's his problem.

I guess the question is what the season will look like & if Laval will even be playing this year too...   Odd times. 

 

 

[ChiLla]

44 minutes ago, arpem-can said:

 yes the days of criticizing MB for sitting on his hands with the team's cap space are over ...Craig Button ( like him or not ) just gave him a glowing report card for what he has done in the off season ..Bergevin just handed out contracts since Sept 16th totalling over $141 million for 30 years worth of term to 8 players ...still no truly elite talent up front basically because they don't grow on trees if you're not handed a top two draft selection ...still no game breaking elite LHD but they don't grow on trees either unless you forfeit the future or break the bank ...this isn't a 24th placed team anymore 

Don't really care for Button but there's no denying that MB had a strong offseason IMO. Other teams had too and we still have a ways to go but as it stands, this is team vastly improved. I'm not big on the Edmundson deal but I'll readily admit that I haven't seen him play much and I'm absolutely willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though we're not in the 90s anymore, there's still something to be said about being tough to play against. I'd rather have a more mobile (not necessarily offensive-minded) LHD back there because it's just the nature of today's game but who knows, maybe Romanov is that guy. Besides, our cupboard isn't bare. We're still in a position to use prospects/draft picks/players on expiring contracts to upgrade. 2021 won't be easy given our Cap situation and something's got to give, but IMO that's not necessarily a bad problem to have. The ED will be a factor and change the entire dynamic in the offseason, it's going to be interesting. And with all those moves this year, MB has finally made a statement that he's willing to ice a competitive team.

[maas_art]

36 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

Don't really care for Button but there's no denying that MB had a strong offseason IMO. Other teams had too and we still have a ways to go but as it stands, this is team vastly improved. I'm not big on the Edmundson deal but I'll readily admit that I haven't seen him play much and I'm absolutely willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though we're not in the 90s anymore, there's still something to be said about being tough to play against. I'd rather have a more mobile (not necessarily offensive-minded) LHD back there because it's just the nature of today's game but who knows, maybe Romanov is that guy. Besides, our cupboard isn't bare. We're still in a position to use prospects/draft picks/players on expiring contracts to upgrade. 2021 won't be easy given our Cap situation and something's got to give, but IMO that's not necessarily a bad problem to have. The ED will be a factor and change the entire dynamic in the offseason, it's going to be interesting. And with all those moves this year, MB has finally made a statement that he's willing to ice a competitive team.

I agree with everything you've mentioned here.

Regarding the cap - we're in a nice spot that we dont really have any bad contracts.  The worst are probably guys like Weal ($1.4m) and Byron ($3.4m)  - pretty much every other contract we have is tradable imho.  You could argue that Price and Weber are nearly untradable (although Im convinced someone would pay for either) but I dont think MB would even consider moving them anyway.

 

[CaptWelly]

1 hour ago, arpem-can said:

 yes the days of criticizing MB for sitting on his hands with the team's cap space are over ...Craig Button ( like him or not ) just gave him a glowing report card for what he has done in the off season ..Bergevin just handed out contracts since Sept 16th totalling over $141 million for 30 years worth of term to 8 players ...still no truly elite talent up front basically because they don't grow on trees if you're not handed a top two draft selection ...still no game breaking elite LHD but they don't grow on trees either unless you forfeit the future or break the bank ...this isn't a 24th placed team anymore 

On the TV NHL Network they actually had Montreal as #2 best team free agency wise. Also the XM NHL Network has said they like what the Canadiens have done this offseason. 

[arpem-can]

It's inevitable that comparison are going to be made on this year's crop of Free Agents ...aside from Hall who was simply unaffordable to most teams the scorers available could be narrowed down to 3 players . Heading the list would be Hoffman , then Dadanov then Toffoli . Hoffman gives a team the most scoring but the worst plus/minus at (-19 ) but will probably sign for something in the neighbourhood of $ 7 mill per with term  ( maybe a reason he hasn't been signed yet ) Dadanov signed by Ottawa gives you scoring and better D but has a plus/minus career of ( -8 ) and came in around $5 mill from Ottawa ...Toffoli comes in at a more affordable price and scores less ( still most likely in the 20s) but his plus/ minus is a resounding ( +82 ) over his career . This is one reason Bergevin signed him ...he's more defensively responsible and will fit in with the club's philosophy better .

[claremont]

5 hours ago, ChiLla said:

I think we're in pretty good shape actually and I'm going to give MB credit where it's due. After the last years of treading water, he's done way more than I expected him to this offseason and finally made good use of the Cap space we have. Sure, some of the contracts seem a little rich (Anderson, Edmundson, maybe Gallagher) but if Molson can afford it, why shouldn't he spend it to improve the team? I still don't really like our left side on D but I can see what he's trying to do. We're also still missing truly elite talent up front but that applies to a large number of teams and it's certainly not easy to fix. What we do have is the best goalie tandem in the league, a good to (arguably) very good defense, and excellent forward depth. Unless both Suzuki and Kotkaniemi continue their progression to the point that they're absolutely lights-out next season, I don't think we figure among the Top 5 in the league and can be considered a real Cup contender, but in my opinion this is clearly a playoff team and I like our chances against virtually anyone in a 7-game series. That's the best roster we've had in quite a while and for the first time in years, I'm really looking forward to the next season and see how this team performs. If there's a season, of course

4 hours ago, arpem-can said:

 yes the days of criticizing MB for sitting on his hands with the team's cap space are over ...Craig Button ( like him or not ) just gave him a glowing report card for what he has done in the off season ..Bergevin just handed out contracts since Sept 16th totalling over $141 million for 30 years worth of term to 8 players ...still no truly elite talent up front basically because they don't grow on trees if you're not handed a top two draft selection ...still no game breaking elite LHD but they don't grow on trees either unless you forfeit the future or break the bank ...this isn't a 24th placed team anymore 

Chalk me up too as being positive for a potential season. I have some anxiety over Danault’s future beyond this year and whether MB will resign him. Perhaps the plan is waiting on further performance of Suzuki and KK as does he want to overpay for a player that may not want 3rd line centre, vs how much will MB have to pay for KK at end of his ELC. I’m not worried about Armia vs. Wait and see if Caufield is ready. If Tatar isn’t reasonable then I could see a scoring LW trade / free agent next year being added for a draft pick package or cap $ as I can’t see Lehkonen aspiring to a scoring LW, and we don’t have much LW in the prospect pool yet vs. Toffoli crossover. LD upgrade depends on who is claimed vs. Romanov performance . Needs for next year are likely 3rd line C, LW and LD. 

[maas_art]

57 minutes ago, arpem-can said:

It's inevitable that comparison are going to be made on this year's crop of Free Agents ...aside from Hall who was simply unaffordable to most teams the scorers available could be narrowed down to 3 players . Heading the list would be Hoffman , then Dadanov then Toffoli . Hoffman gives a team the most scoring but the worst plus/minus at (-19 ) but will probably sign for something in the neighbourhood of $ 7 mill per with term  ( maybe a reason he hasn't been signed yet ) Dadanov signed by Ottawa gives you scoring and better D but has a plus/minus career of ( -8 ) and came in around $5 mill from Ottawa ...Toffoli comes in at a more affordable price and scores less ( still most likely in the 20s) but his plus/ minus is a resounding ( +82 ) over his career . This is one reason Bergevin signed him ...he's more defensively responsible and will fit in with the club's philosophy better .

I dont put a lot of stock in +/- Toffoli, for example, was on some very strong LA teams for most of his career, which helped his +/-  The 2019 season in LA was a train-wreck (the whole team) & its not surprising he was a -16 that year.  

That said, id absolutely agree that Toffoli is better defensively than the other two. He's very very similar to Brendan Gallagher actually.  I think people are going to like him a lot.  

[MALMACIAN_CRUNCH]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

He's very very similar to Brendan Gallagher actually.  I think people are going to like him a lot.  

I can see the similarities. I also see a lot of similarities to Justin Williams. Perhaps that’s in part due to my limited imagination, or perhaps it’s because they’ve spent so much time together in LA, or maybe a little of both. Either way, Justin Williams was a beast in the playoffs, so clutch! I sure hope Toffoli brings a little of that “Conn Smythe” magic with him!

[H_T_L]

https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-canadiens-forward-jesperi-kotkaniemi-to-be-loaned-to-finnish-club-1.1539380

[arpem-can]

2 hours ago, claremont said:

I have some anxiety over Danault’s future beyond this

  I think Quebecois Danault is more than happy to stay at home if you pay him what he's worth ...somewhere in the popular $ 5.5 mill  per & term range of maybe 5 years with a limited NMC similar to Gallagher   . Other than putting up points to insure a bigger contract down the road there's no reason not to accept any role the club gives you for that kind of coin . I can see Bergevin locking him down this year as well...he's that valuable . 

[jennifer_rocket]

What do people think the chances of Danault being extended are?

If he's unhappy with his potential role, I guess it's less likely he would extend here, but... I could still see an extension happening. I'm not sure it makes sense to lock him in for another 4-5 years, though.

[26NCounting]

25 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

What do people think the chances of Danault being extended are?

If he's unhappy with his potential role, I guess it's less likely he would extend here, but... I could still see an extension happening. I'm not sure it makes sense to lock him in for another 4-5 years, though.

I honestly can't see it happening, he is a great 3rd line shut down center but he wanst top line playing time.  However he lacks the offensive capabilities to be a top line center.  I can seriously see him being replaced by Evans or Poehling next season, with that said I would do my best to move him rather than see him walk for free

[electron58]

45 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

What do people think the chances of Danault being extended are?

If he's unhappy with his potential role, I guess it's less likely he would extend here, but... I could still see an extension happening. I'm not sure it makes sense to lock him in for another 4-5 years, though.

With the way the Habs roll 4 lines, the fact that Danault is one of the few true French Canadiens plus the fact he is a very good player, leads me to believe that Bergevin will try to sign him to a team friendly contract. Philip is in his prime, so I can see 4 or 5 years. The fact that he voiced his opinion, doesn't mean that he is unhappy, just that he feels that he can do more. Of course, if Bergevin can't sign him before the end of the season, he could be possible trade bait.  A lot will depend on how the next season plays out. If he has an amazing season, then Bergevin will have a tough decision. I think they will keep him over Drouin.  Wouldn't you?

[kinot-2]

The Canadiens have loaned Jesperi Kotkaniemi to Assat Pori Oy in the Finnish Liiga. for the start of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to report to Canadiens training camp when it opens.

Gotta keep him sharp.

[maas_art]

3 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

What do people think the chances of Danault being extended are?

If he's unhappy with his potential role, I guess it's less likely he would extend here, but... I could still see an extension happening. I'm not sure it makes sense to lock him in for another 4-5 years, though.

I actually think MB is going to wait. I think there's a legit chance we extend him but what if we start the year & JK & Suzuki just settling right into 1st and 2nd line duties? Do you need Danault then?  He's a fantastic insurance policy right now, being able to centre basically any line (Albeit, giving you lower offense than you'd like on your top line).  But if those 2 guys can do it, then there's a legit chance MB trades Danault & takes a risk on Poehling and Evans for the last 2 spots.

In these uncertain times, when a guy like Johnson in TB can be waived because the cap space is more important than a quality player, i feel like a soon-to-be UFA Danault might actually be worth more in a trade than a signed one.  

That said, it wouldnt surprise me at all if MB was to sign him before the season either.  If that happens then I think the writing is on the wall for either Tatar or Armia (or both). 

[H_T_L]

21 hours ago, H_T_L said:

https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-canadiens-forward-jesperi-kotkaniemi-to-be-loaned-to-finnish-club-1.1539380

 

41 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

The Canadiens have loaned Jesperi Kotkaniemi to Assat Pori Oy in the Finnish Liiga. for the start of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to report to Canadiens training camp when it opens.

Gotta keep him sharp.

Thanks.

[kinot-2]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

 

Thanks.

"To be" means is hasn't happened yet. My post says it has.