HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: 2024 Playoff Edition

[Andrei79]

I remember people being pissed off at the rumors Bergevin was looking to trade Galchenyuk for Trochek lol. Had he done that trade + O'Reilly, this team might have a cup.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Not a whole lot being said in the Leafs presser. It's better to listen to on the radio, than the YouTube feed.

 

[sampollock]

fig presser.. blah blah blah
we want to win, all topics on the table this year. blah blah

get the parade chairs out again

 

[Runner77]

fig presser.. blah blah blah
we want to win, all topics on the table this year. blah blah

get the parade chairs out again

Any new pretentious or lame acronyms like Core4, AM34, Shanaplan, emanating from their presser? We need to update our collection. C’mon, Figsters, spit them out!

 

[Ezpz]

Hate the rags but if they win the cup it kind of shows how good Gorton is at building cores. He got Chara, Rask, Kessel, Lucic, Marchand, and Savard in a single off-season.

Got Chytil, Miller, Kakko, Laf, Schneider, Fox, Cuylle, Panarin, Zibanejad, Lindgren, Trouba and a few others as Rags GM. Shesterkin, who was drafted while he was a scout, and Trocheck are basically the only core guys not directly from him. Zibanejad was probably the best steal of them all too, as Ottawa shopped him around and many thought he wasn't worth his contract asking price.

Drury has done ok tinkering but it's like Brisebois and Yzerman where Yzerman really did everything to set up the back-to-backs. It's also hilarious how the Rags were concerned about toughness and their in-house solution also was a Gorton pick in Rempe.


Maybe I'm a homer but I see higher upside in Nick Suzuki than Zibanejad. Directly comparing their age-to-age seasons Nick is a far better player both offensively and defensively. Slaf could easily be better than Kreider. Cole over Panarin is the probably not scenario.

Still, it will be interesting to see how the Habs approach this summer. For all the crying that we ruined our pick in 2020 too, Guhle may be the best player from the draft after Stutzle. Personally I think he's the best D from the first round. There's a few arguable forwards but I wouldn't put Guhle lower than 5th in any scenario. Faber obviously has a very good argument but I think Guhle has been held back playing behind Matheson.

We completely forgot about Dach this year and still made progress without him, and he is a key guy.

I think how well Slaf progressed this year eases a lot of my concerns about Reinbacher, Mesar, and other struggling picks. Reinbacher was decent with Laval and Mesar was finally the best player on his team in the playoffs.

I'm pretty sure who we get at 5 will be good.

On top of that I have more faith in late round picks under Gorton and Hughes than I did Bergevin. Even the remnants of Bergy like Kapanen, Tuch, Farrell, etc don't seem to be important pieces to me, but guys like Engstrom, Konyushkov and Volokhin seem like real top tier prospects because they didn't go for safe picks in the late rounds.

I wouldn't even count out Rohrer who progressed a lot and is still only 19 and was basically the youngest guy in the 2022 draft. Our first six picks from that draft could all potentially become NHLers. I think Slaf, Beck and Hutson at least are locks.

Even going through the best drafts in our history we usually only get 4 guys with at least two being role players. Even in 1977 we had like 40 picks to barely get 6 players. It may compare to 2007 or 1984 when all is said and done. 84 was Svoboda, Corson, Richer and Roy as the first four picks. Obviously I don't see the same upside, but getting that many NHLers is rare in itself.

I really like Xhekaj as a late round pick too.

Which harkens back to Gorton's time under Sather where they went for high risk high reward guys like Buchnevich, Duclair and Graves instead of Connor Crisp or Sven Andrighetto. Even betting on a guy like Sean Day was way smarter than Victor Mete in terms of upside. Yeah we got the NHLer, who fizzled out and never became more than replacement level. Sean Day's upside was massive, and though he busted completely, I'd rather have that chance at a Mailloux type, who Bergy only took because he knew he was on the way out and wouldn't face the repercussions.

We just have to hope we don't get a Kravstov or Andersson miss. Can't even blame him for Kakko or Laf, those were absolute consensus picks and in Kakko's case, a lot of that top 14 or so underperformed.

Marty seems to be the best personnel hire the Habs have had in my lifetime. Players love him, players and staff from other teams praise him and talk about coming here.

Anyways; the Rangers success only gives us more hope. Kind of hope we don't trade our extra picks this year just to see how much stronger the pool gets. We have a ton of 2025 capital to deal if we really find ourselves in a strong position next year.

 

[salbutera]

Any new pretentious or lame acronyms like Core4, AM34, Shanaplan, emanating from their presser? We need to update our collection. C’mon, Figsters, spit them out!

 

[The Real Timo]

I have been calling for Michael Therrien 3.0 to become Leafs next coach for ages now. Make it so! Leafs are too soff.

 

[Heffyhoof]

Yeah it's pretty impressive actually, and Canes fans were dicks about it at the time. How they like it now? Actually looks pretty good for the Habs - avoided overpaying a 3rd/4th liner and was the beginning of BargainBin's end

They usually cry on main board and their own about the fact we still mock him and them occasionally, not realizing them checking on us to see if we're talking about it is the exact same.

 

[FinnHab]

Shanahan talked like a politician, lot of empty words. He basically rebuild team, which only excel in regular season. Its actually head scratcher when you remember what kind of player he was in Detroit. And now back to enjoy Leafs nation tears…

 

[morhilane]

So we are going to hear about the Leafs all summer long with speculation about who goes where.

I suggest Matthews to Utah!

 

[sampollock]

Shanahan talked like a politician, lot of empty words. He basically rebuild team, which only excel in regular season. Its actually head scratcher when you remember what kind of player he was in Detroit. And now back to enjoy Leafs nation tears…

he makes big coin... and big changes.. yet all 4 of the core, have NTC so how can you change?

 

[Rozz]

Glad Dallas won but one thing is clear- Colorado is never out of a game.

you can say that again... such a fun team to watch

 

[JackZap]

really they should have fired Keefe last year bc now you did a run with the same core and the same coach, so you arent 100% certain if the core is crap or if the coach is crap. A new coach could have well taken them to the next round or new coach could have gotten the same result, but you would have eliminated a variable. Keep doing Leafs things

 

[sampollock]

really they should have fired Keefe last year bc now you did a run with the same core and the same coach, so you arent 100% certain if the core is crap or if the coach is crap. A new coach could have well taken them to the next round or new coach could have gotten the same result, but you would have elimaited a variable. Keep doing Leafs things

shanny lives again. and bubbles Brad there has no great record of running a team..
fail again

 

[The Great Weal]

really they should have fired Keefe last year bc now you did a run with the same core and the same coach, so you arent 100% certain if the core is crap or if the coach is crap. A new coach could have well taken them to the next round or new coach could have gotten the same result, but you would have elimaited a variable. Keep doing Leafs things

I don't know how he kept his job after choking a 3-1 series lead against us.

 

[MXD]

Anybody came out yet with the theory that PLD is going to the World Championships in order to get injured so he can't be bought out in the 1/3 window?

 

[Runner77]

shanny lives again. and bubbles Brad there has no great record of running a team..
fail again

Sure. But, why spoil a good thing?

Other fan bases need their entertainment.

These incompetents are printing money hand over fist and are dictating the programming of two supposedly national sports networks, shoving unwanted and overbearing Leaf hogwash in blatantly non-Leaf markets.

 

[JackZap]

I don't know how he kept his job after choking a 3-1 series lead against us.

they're going to waste those A+ players falling in their laps arent they? a few more years and rebuild a coming

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The Leafs clearly need a tough guy coach. I second the idea of them hiring Michel Therrien.

 

[Leto]

The Leafs clearly need a tough guy coach. I second the idea of them hiring Michel Therrien.

No need to trade the core 4, Michel is going to make Marner, Matthews, Nylander and Tavares into better persons.

 

[sampollock]

The Leafs clearly need a tough guy coach. I second the idea of them hiring Michel Therrien.

The nostrils will go home again

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The nostrils will go home again

That’s second guessing

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I hope the Leafs keep Marner and give him a fat new deal.

 

[sheed36]

Sounds like Marner will likely be the odd boy out of the Core Fore over in Leafland. Would be quite funny when the Leafs ask Marner to waive his NMC he tells them no and to go f themselves. Although I think he'll waive just to move on and get the hell out of that toxic environment at this point.

Looks like the Leafs have already instructed one of their mouthpiece's in Kypreos to spread the word that multiple teams have already called about Marner. Sounds a bit like a Marner for sale ad.

"There are already multiple NHL teams that have reached out and shown a keen interest in a three-time all-star player who closes in on 100 points every season," Kypreos wrote in his Toronto Star column. "And that's with the knowledge that his next contract could land him as much as $100 million."

Expecting another Leafs mouthpiece in Friedman to also be spreading the word the Leafs want him to put out there about Marner soon, if he hasn't already.

 

[GrandBison]

I have been calling for Michael Therrien 3.0 to become Leafs next coach for ages now. Make it so! Leafs are too soff.

Green and Therrien to get the division stronger