short of forcing the issue as a clear-cut top-4 player this year (which does not appear likely), no need or reason to keep Guhle in the NHL this season. Another year of Junior to get comfortable in a dominant role/keep working on his overall tools without the pressure & demands of NHL life, should only help him excel further once he cracks the roster.
Ducharme's gonna have a headache with all tne wingers he has.
Something's gotta give.
At this point we have Hoffman and Gallagher on the 3rd centered by Evans.
Lehky - Paquette - Armia on the 4th
Perrault and Byron on sidelines when all are healthy.
I get rolling four lines equally and giving some players extra time on the PP and PK, but you can't have all players playing around the same minutes because that would cut scoring down in general I believe.
One and preferably 2 forward wingers need to go. A defenseman as well in order to get a PMD.
Have a feeling they will showcase some wingers and then trade them in mid season for defensive puck moving help.
Can't think Gally and Hoffman are too happy playing 3rd line with Evans as their center.
I get that, but all indications point to the top 6 being as follows:I believe Gally Hoffman should play with Dvorak while Drouin Anderson play with Evans. I would put Poehling or Paquette, Lekhonen Armia together.
I get that, but all indications point to the top 6 being as follows:
Toff - Suzie - CC
Drou - Dvo - Andy
Hoffman will be out a month and Byron most likely half a season. Chances are by the time those two will be ready to return there will be other wingers injured. DD will have lots of headaches this season. None of them will be because he has too many good NHL wingers.Ducharme's gonna have a headache with all tne wingers he has.
Something's gotta give.
At this point we have Hoffman and Gallagher on the 3rd centered by Evans.
Lehky - Paquette - Armia on the 4th
Perrault and Byron on sidelines when all are healthy.
I get rolling four lines equally and giving some players extra time on the PP and PK, but you can't have all players playing around the same minutes because that would cut scoring down in general I believe.
One and preferably 2 forward wingers need to go. A defenseman as well in order to get a PMD.
Have a feeling they will showcase some wingers and then trade them in mid season for defensive puck moving help.
Can't think Gally and Hoffman are too happy playing 3rd line with Evans as their center.
Most believe our defense is a weakness. I don't think so. I think the big question mark is our center corps. Even if Suzuki and Dvorak live up to expectations our #3 & #4 are two positions of concern until proven otherwise.Just how good or bad will these Habs be?
Hoffman will be out a month and Byron most likely half a season. Chances are by the time those two will be ready to return there will be other wingers injured. DD will have lots of headaches this season. None of them will be because he has too many good NHL wingers.
Very hard to say due to question marks at D and C.Just how good or bad will these Habs be?
We have too many wingers and one center short.Most believe our defense is a weakness. I don't think so. I think the big question mark is our center corps. Even if Suzuki and Dvorak live up to expectations our #3 & #4 are two spots of concern until proven otherwise.
Agreed. Plus the long playoff run might lead to injuries being a bigger problem than usual.Very hard to say due to question marks at D and C.
They could be surprisingly good like in 2018-19, if everybody buys into a solid system and Price can deliver consistently.
They could also be out of the race by the deadline.
I'm thinking the latter, due to overall imbalance of this roster.
Just how good or bad will these Habs be?
Very hard to say due to question marks at D and C.
They could be surprisingly good like in 2018-19, if everybody buys into a solid system and Price can deliver consistently.
They could also be out of the race by the deadline.
I'm thinking the latter, due to overall imbalance of this roster.
My range is top 12-20 range. Could sneak in or just miss out. Can't go on long loosing steaks.
I feel like this is a reasonable prediction, somewhere in the middle.
Lack of puck-moving ability and creativity from the blueline and a lack of suitable centers for our winger group.What's the imbalanced context you have? Not saying you are wrong, I'm curious
I could see them being worse than top 20I like putting a range to it and a fair spread cause that's the reality of where we are at with our direction. I don't see better than top 12 and I don't see worse than top 20.
Drouin as a shutdown center is recipe for disaster. Frankly, I do wish he rebounds so the Habs can leverage him somehow to lure a bigger fish.We have too many wingers and one center short.
Solution might be to move Drouin to center the third line with Anderson and either Byron or Poehling on LW. Drouin will have much less pressure in that role than when he was asked to be 1C.
This rebalances our lines if all wingers are healthy.
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman (replaces Tatar) - Dvorak (replaces Danault) - Gallagher
Byron - Drouin (replaces KK) - Anderson
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia (a "fourth" line that can play against anyone)
I could see them being worse than top 20
What makes you say it's unlikely he's a top 4 dman in the NHL right now?
I agree it's unlikely without seeing a soon to be 20 year old play. But, we're now seeing him play, and will throughout the preseason. He played like a number 2 last night.