Claude Julien - What is the plan with our Roster?

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le_sean

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Oct 21, 2006
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One of the biggest concerns is how terrible Petry looks. He should be a stable #3 except he’s helped turn the 2nd pairing into a ticking time bomb. I don’t expect Petry to be great, I expect him to be steady, of which he is not right now.

If Jerabek continues to impress, maybe he can come up and be the puckmover with Petry. Alzner can go on the bottom pairing with Schlemko who can skate well.
 

Andy

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Jun 26, 2008
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It seems the impression I get from most fans is that the team will be good if everyone lives up to their potential: If Petry can play like a #3, if Plekanec returns to form, if Danault has another career year, if Lekhonen has a linear progression, if Gallagher returns to form, if Byron continues scoring at a 20 goal pace, if Mete is the real deal, if Jerabek continues to impress, if Drouin puts it together as a centreman, if Hemsky returns to form, if Schlemko continues to develop as a 30 year old, if Benn looks like the Benn from after the tradedeadline instead of his years in Dallas.

This is the entire problem. The team will be good, if every player on it plays to their top form, but how realistic is that? How many times do we see teams have all 19 skaters play at their top form?

My question is, if the players in the lineup all player to their normal career averages, is the team good enough? I don't think so. I don't think any combination of lines will propel the team into a cup contender.
 

Edgy

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Nov 30, 2009
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Tank. That's about all we can do with this roaster.

Our D sucks, Benn, Streit, Schlemko, Jerabek, Davidson and Alzner combined can't make up for the loss of Markov, let alone Subban and Markov. Replacing Subban with Weber was a mistake. Trading Sergachev was a mistake. Mete is the only bright spot in this sad sack of a d core.

Our F, Hemsky and Drouin aren't anywhere near what we had in Radulov. We still don't have a scoring Power Forward. Drouin will never be an effective #1 center, Galchenyuk will never do anything if we keep him on the wing and the 4th line. The rest of the forwards are average 2nd/3rd liners.
 

sandysan

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Dec 7, 2011
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I am generally a glass half full kind of guy and I raised a similar issue in another thread but as a life long habs fan, I really DON'T know what the plan is going forward. I have serious questions about drouin as a #1C but what other choice do we have when it seems like the next logical choice is to take galchenyuk off of the wing and give him an extended period back at center ? This option seems to be off the table. So what happens if we keep Drouin as a 1C and galchenyuk as a 3/4 winger and we keep losing badly ? This doesn't even take into account our waiting for schlemko to come in and somehow magically improve our old slow and soft defense which is another issue in its entirety,

The natural answer would be to look to address needs via a trade but I am very concerned that we don't currently have the assets needed to even try to right the ship. So where does that leave us ? Trade away picks ( which look like they will be high ones) in hopes that we will be able to plug the current holes as players develop or keep with the plan that is not working ? I have very very real concerns that of the two the former is more likely than the latter.

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place, we can't keep the status quo of hoping that price shuts everyone out every game, and we can't make changes without leveraging our future picks which might be the only way to plug the holes in our team. My preference would be to let galchenyuk play center for an extended period ( warts and all) one last time and then make a decision to either fish with him or cut bait. Him playing 3/4 wing isnt going to help us and the likelyhood he moves up the lines from this position is pretty slim. at the very least it might increase his trade value.

right now the best we can hope for is for duchene to pull a drouin and really force Sakic's hand. But duchene is both playing well and is 100% a professional about it so this is completely unlikely. Or we can wait and hope that JT doesnt want to re-up with the isles and that we can slip him something to get him to think that playing in montreal would be his best choice. Neither of these are reasonable ways to run a team.

It looks like it is going to be a long season.
 

Sysez

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Jun 14, 2011
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Chill guys, the team is adapting to the new system. Last season Claude didn't want to change things too much to not have instability at the bad time. At this moment, it's acutally ok to lose some games; same thing is happening to the OP Stars.
 

sandysan

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Dec 7, 2011
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Chill guys, the team is adapting to the new system. Last season Claude didn't want to change things too much to not have instability at the bad time. At this moment, it's acutally ok to lose some games; same thing is happening to the OP Stars.
Seeing as we traditionally build up points in october and then slide into the playoffs ass backwards on the points we banked early, I'm not sure how starting off in a swoon is " ok".

And its not about wins and losses, the question is will we double down on the current roster and hope they improve OR dramatically try to change the roster from a position of weakness and then live with the consequences ?

A very important question is, can the habs win with this roster irrespective of the system used ? I am not convinced the answer is yes.
 

swimmer77

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Jun 22, 2010
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Its frustrating because Montreal's D used to be among the league's best in that area only a couple of years ago.

Number one reason why I dislike "The Trade". Sore subject I know but Subban brought that element that Weber simply doesn't have...........CREATIVITY. This current D group is about as abysmal in the offensive game as I have ever seen. They are also incredibly boring with hits. Weber is getting older. I miss those open ice hits of Subban and Emelin. I'd take last year's D group over this bunch any day.

End. of. Rant.
 
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Lebowski

El Duderino
Dec 5, 2010
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A coach that is failing to see the need to get a guy as talented as Galchenyuk going on a team that can't buy a goal is a coach that's failing to do his job.
 
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groovejuice

Without deviation progress is not possible
Jun 27, 2011
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A coach that is failing to see the need to get a guy as talented as Galchenyuk going on a team that can't buy a goal is a coach that's failing to do his job.

I agree with that, with the caveat that I have no idea how much Bergevin is influencing deployments.
 

Lebowski

El Duderino
Dec 5, 2010
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Remember how I reminded everyone how Julien ran Seguin and Kessel out of town? Hello Galchenyuk! You're the next contestant on the Price's right!

What I said of the Julien hire is that he was just another side of the same coin. Smarter than Therrien, probably. Easier on the ears to listen to, definitely. But it's the same kind of old school dinosaur.

I wasn't holding my breath regarding Chucky's usage, especially as a center. We're talking about a coach that had the luxury of having two excellent two-way top 6 centers on his team for nigh a decade. That doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would be willing to wait it out with relatively green, immature players down the middle.

And this is just me spit balling here, but if there wasn't such an insane amount of pressure on Bergevin to make him look good in the Drouin blockbuster, to shut everyone up about finding a #1 center, I'd wager Plekanec and Danault would be our top 6 centers as we speak.
 

Smokey Thompson

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May 8, 2013
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Number one reason why I dislike "The Trade". Sore subject I know but Subban brought that element that Weber simply doesn't have...........CREATIVITY. This current D group is about as abysmal in the offensive game as I have ever seen. They are also incredibly boring with hits. Weber is getting older. I miss those open ice hits of Subban and Emelin. I'd take last year's D group over this bunch any day.

End. of. Rant.

You're absolutely right... it was what, 2-3 years ago that Markov-Subban was regarded as one of the top D pairings in the league? They were in the same discussion as Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester, Josi-Weber, Keith-Seabrooke at the time. It was one of our strengths along with Carey Price. We should have left them untouched and they still could have been our top pairing today. We should've addressed the real elephant in the room, the centre ice position. Instead, MB made something out of nothing and traded PK, lost Markov. Now our defence sucks and we are still one of the worst teams in the league at centre. Never mind the fact that we have 2 remaining prospects with any value (Mete and Juulsen), a 10.5m goaltender, and nearly 20m of cap space tied up in Weber, Petry, Alzner for the foreseeable future.

When does MB's job begin to be in jeopardy?
 

Runner77

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Yes - playing him on the 4th line will help him turn things around, I'm sure.

Don't kid yourself. This is media talk. At this very moment there's the equivalent of a craigslist selling ad for Galchenyuk around the league.

What a load of croc. Here you have a player who by most accounts is having confidence issues and to get him out of his funk, they demote him to a line where his abilities are going to be downplayed? Brilliant.

What happened last year when Julien put Galchenyuk on the 4th line? Did it work? He sure showed Galchenyuk who's boss. Or did he show Galchenyuk that directives came from the senior boss? It reeks.
 

sandysan

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Dec 7, 2011
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What I said of the Julien hire is that he was just another side of the same coin. Smarter than Therrien, probably. Easier on the ears to listen to, definitely. But it's the same kind of old school dinosaur.

I wasn't holding my breath regarding Chucky's usage, especially as a center. We're talking about a coach that had the luxury of having two excellent two-way top 6 centers on his team for nigh a decade. That doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would be willing to wait it out with relatively green, immature players down the middle.

And this is just me spit balling here, but if there wasn't such an insane amount of pressure on Bergevin to make him look good in the Drouin blockbuster, to shut everyone up about finding a #1 center, I'd wager Plekanec and Danault would be our top 6 centers as we speak.

I am not convinced that turtleneck and danault AREN'T our best two centers. I'm not sure drouin is an upgrade on Galchenyuk yet one gets unlimited 1C minutes the other struggles for 4th line winger time.

I disliked the drouin trade from the jump because it killed our chances of getting a real 1C. Like a gift that keeps on giving it also seemingly will kill any chance of developing galchenyuk into a center ( perhaps 2c).

Man it feels like we are pooched.
 
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Jamison

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Julien is a mediocre coach who has much of the analytics community fooled with his high possession system that generates a ton of low quality shots. Better than Therrien, but not by much.
Hello,
Boston fan here.

I agree with this.

Many of us feel he should have been let go a year sooner than he was. Funny, when I hear " Need to go to the net," etc. it reminds me of the last few years in Bos. That's how we played. Defense, first, always. He didn't connect with some young players because they were afraid to make mistakes. Pasta gave away a goal on a power play early in the year (forget which one) and didn't see a PP for the rest of the year. Thinking is he played a part in getting rid of Kessel and Seguin.

Loves the grinders. He was known for putting the fourth line out when we were down by a goal late in the third period. He tends to defer to the vets rather than give chances to the new guys.
For me, the key to his success will be Drouin. It's clear Galchenyuk is done, from Claude's POV. If Drouin flourishes, then great for you. If he doesn't, not so great.
 

Runner77

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Hello,
Boston fan here.

I agree with this.

Many of us feel he should have been let go a year sooner than he was. Funny, when I hear " Need to go to the net," etc. it reminds me of the last few years in Bos. That's how we played. Defense, first, always. He didn't connect with some young players because they were afraid to make mistakes. Pasta gave away a goal on a power play early in the year (forget which one) and didn't see a PP for the rest of the year. Thinking is he played a part in getting rid of Kessel and Seguin.

Loves the grinders. He was known for putting the fourth line out when we were down by a goal late in the third period. He tends to defer to the vets rather than give chances to the new guys.
For me, the key to his success will be Drouin. It's clear Galchenyuk is done, from Claude's POV. If Drouin flourishes, then great for you. If he doesn't, not so great.

Thanks for posting. Always fun to read the fan of an opposing team, that brings smart commentary to the table, without resorting to petty barbs.

I find it interesting how Julien is always associated with the exit of Kessel and Seguin. Do you see a parallel with the way he's been handling Galchenyuk since last year? And yes, I fully understand that Galchenyuk is not at Seguin's or Kessel's level, but they once were where he is now. What is it that Julien did or didn't do, that contributed to these players to not remain Bruins?
 

nhlfan9191

Registered User
Aug 4, 2010
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Hello,
Boston fan here.

I agree with this.

Many of us feel he should have been let go a year sooner than he was. Funny, when I hear " Need to go to the net," etc. it reminds me of the last few years in Bos. That's how we played. Defense, first, always. He didn't connect with some young players because they were afraid to make mistakes. Pasta gave away a goal on a power play early in the year (forget which one) and didn't see a PP for the rest of the year. Thinking is he played a part in getting rid of Kessel and Seguin.

Loves the grinders. He was known for putting the fourth line out when we were down by a goal late in the third period. He tends to defer to the vets rather than give chances to the new guys.
For me, the key to his success will be Drouin. It's clear Galchenyuk is done, from Claude's POV. If Drouin flourishes, then great for you. If he doesn't, not so great.

This is actually very interesting to here something like this broke down from a former team regardless of it being a rival team. Everything you said, I can completely see Claude doing and is known for.
 

Runner77

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This Julien guy can't even hire his own assistants.

In what world are JJD and Lacroix viable? Even those decisions that are a coach's prerogative don't get made by the coach.

If Therrien's regime was rotten to the core, how is Julien implementing a new system using these retreads?
 
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1909

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Jul 6, 2016
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A coach that is failing to see the need to get a guy as talented as Galchenyuk going on a team that can't buy a goal is a coach that's failing to do his job.


What about a player who fails to understand the game, work harder and produce ?
 

Rapala

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Mar 29, 2013
38,443
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Montreal
Still waiting for Patch to be demoted until he wakes up.
We are still suffering from that double standard.
CJ is great at sucking creativity out off his line up.

Hello,
Boston fan here.

I agree with this.

Many of us feel he should have been let go a year sooner than he was. Funny, when I hear " Need to go to the net," etc. it reminds me of the last few years in Bos. That's how we played. Defense, first, always. He didn't connect with some young players because they were afraid to make mistakes. Pasta gave away a goal on a power play early in the year (forget which one) and didn't see a PP for the rest of the year. Thinking is he played a part in getting rid of Kessel and Seguin.

Loves the grinders. He was known for putting the fourth line out when we were down by a goal late in the third period. He tends to defer to the vets rather than give chances to the new guys.
For me, the key to his success will be Drouin. It's clear Galchenyuk is done, from Claude's POV. If Drouin flourishes, then great for you. If he doesn't, not so great.

Good post.
We saw the exact same thing here with Beaulieu. Despite having the best percentage on the PP by a long shot; something like 12% points over Marky when paired with Weber. Nate never saw the first wave under Julien, his reputation preceded him evidently.
Regarding Drouin some of us feel he has been put in a no win situation despite his talent.
 

Kriss E

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May 3, 2007
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What I said of the Julien hire is that he was just another side of the same coin. Smarter than Therrien, probably. Easier on the ears to listen to, definitely. But it's the same kind of old school dinosaur.

I wasn't holding my breath regarding Chucky's usage, especially as a center. We're talking about a coach that had the luxury of having two excellent two-way top 6 centers on his team for nigh a decade. That doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would be willing to wait it out with relatively green, immature players down the middle.

And this is just me spit balling here, but if there wasn't such an insane amount of pressure on Bergevin to make him look good in the Drouin blockbuster, to shut everyone up about finding a #1 center, I'd wager Plekanec and Danault would be our top 6 centers as we speak.
Getting Drouin pushed Galchenyuk down. If Bergevin doesn't make that trade, re-signs Radulov instead, I'm sure it's Galchenyuk that is at center. I'm also sure we would be exactly where we are today.

I think Julien simply doesn't believe or want, two centers who are liable defensively. Drouin is one. He can't have his #2 also be one, so Plekanec gets it. He could make Galch a center on third line, but I think he is letting him be a winger because if he cracks the top 6, it'll be on the wing because of what I just mentioned. Danault is also more comfortable as a center and shouldn't be on the wing, so it's just simpler.
Galchenyuk ends up being the one getting screwed though.

Personally, I think it is stupid to be a defensive team. We have Price, the best goalie in the world. We are going to pay him 10.5M, we do not need to protect him with defensive Dman around. It is such a stupid decision to me. Focus on offense, Price can bail you out from weaker defense. So I would make Drouin and Galch our top 2 centers, but there is no way this was happening under Julien.
 
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Hoople

Registered User
Mar 7, 2011
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Is it time we evaluate our new coach? What are peoples thoughts about sticking with a current line-up? I believe it's time to shake up the roster line-up. 4 games in and it's not working.
I agree with you. I like the idea that CJ was trying to stick with the same lines to develop chemistry. However, sometimes you just can't force a line to gel.

I hope Julien does some tweaking. I also hope that Julien let's Muller know that his approach on offense and the PP is not working and changes need to be made.

The Habs have the talent and the goals will come...with a few changes.
 
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