HF Habs: 21-22 lineup

[canucklover123]

I really don’t wanna see POehling on the wing, but don’t see how he plays C even if danault was gone. We’d be rolling young up the middle

 

[Mrb1p]

Caufield-KK-JA
Toffoli-Suzuki-Poehling/Ylonen
Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Lekhonen-Evans-Perry

Edmundson-Petry
Romanov-Merrill
Chiarot-Brook/Fleury

Look for:
Upgrades at 1 LD
Upgrades at 2RD
Slight downgrade at 3C but more physicality/cheaper
Upgrade at 2nd wing with a bigger body, faster body.
Upgrade at 4C maybe.

 

[Mrb1p]

I really don’t wanna see POehling on the wing, but don’t see how he plays C even if danault was gone. We’d be rolling young up the middle

Start him at wing, move him over later in the year to replace Danault in the top 9, or start him at 4c and move Evans to wing and downgrade Danault when/if Poehling outplays.

 

[Wats]

21/22 needs to involve an improved D core. I'm not sure who's out there, maybe a Fowler, but this is a hole that can't be ignored anymore. I think the defense weakness to move the puck reduces the effectiveness of the forwards overall.

 

[1909]

Looking at the Rocket statsheet got me thinking : there is a number of candidates to graduate into the NHL next season, there.

• Ryan Poehling
• Jesse Ylonen
• Lukas Vejdemo
• Cale Fleury

Some of them will play this year or already got NHL experience (Leskinen, Primeau, Fleury, most probably Caufield). And then there is some other like Josh Brook, Joel Teasdale and Rafael Harvey-Pinard who might not be quite ready, but are not very far off neither.

For the first time since I dont know when, the pipeline coming from the farm is full. Will there be room for some of them to join the Canadiens next year?

Up front, I think it's fair to say at least one of Danault, Tatar and Drouin is gone, whether it's by the free agent market or trade. Staal and Perry won't be coming back neither. Byron is probably as good as gone too.

So you have Kotkaniemi, Suzuki, Evans, Toffoli, Anderson, Gallagher coming back for sure - then probably Lehkonen, Armia and two of Danault/Drouin/Tatar.

That's two spot : so you have room for Caufield and two others. If Ylonen could play LW he would have a chance but I dont think there's room for him next year, another year in the AHL would benefit him anyway. Poehling as a lefty is more likely.

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Tatar - Kotkaniemi - Caufield
Poehling - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia
Vejdemo

And on the backend we will probably see the same group, maybe with Kulak leaving but I think they would keep him as a 7th. Only playing in the farm who would fill a need is a puck-moving one, like Leskinen, but I'm not sure he has NHL upside, or Brook, who might be too green to join the show yet.


Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Suzuki - Toffoli
Armia - Danault - Gallagher

I think Brook is ahead of Fleury right now. But I would not be surprised if MB keeps both Merrill and Gustafson while waiting for Guhle, Harris or Norlinder.

 

[1909]

Agreed. I'd like to keep him but he shouldn't be playing too much at 5 on 5. Play him on the fourth and on the PP and he should remain productive.

As a fourth liner or #13 forward, he's fine for another season.

 

[canucklover123]

Start him at wing, move him over later in the year to replace Danault in the top 9, or start him at 4c and move Evans to wing and downgrade Danault when/if Poehling outplays.

The thing is I see two future C locks for a long time, KK and Suzuki.

Say we do not sign Danault and he walks, were going to have to find a solid 3C older vet type C i think to round out the age group and team cohesion up the middle. That's 3 Cs locked.

So ya, looks like it will be a competition between Poeling and Evans, which obviously in terms of potential you want Poehling there. Evans would have to move to the wing I think.

Whoever comes in to replace Danault, say he walks, I think will be a Natural C that wont move to wing

 

[ahmedou]

Landeskog/Kotkaniemi/Anderson
Toffoli/Suzuki/Gallagher
Caufield/Danault/Armia
Ylonen/Poehling/Lehkonen

Romanov/Brook
Edmundson/Petry
Leskinen/Fleury

Price/Primeau

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Any chance Brook or Fleury can crack the Habs next year? With Norlinder or Harris maybe knocking on the door the year after, it would be nice if one of Brook/Fleury could become a full time NHLer next year.

 

[Treb]

Any chance Brook or Fleury can crack the Habs next year? With Norlinder or Harris maybe knocking on the door the year after, it would be nice if one of Brook/Fleury could become a full time NHLer next year.

Fleury is waiver eligible next year. Could see him stick as a spare D, but this year has not been good to him.

 

[montreal]

Any chance Brook or Fleury can crack the Habs next year? With Norlinder or Harris maybe knocking on the door the year after, it would be nice if one of Brook/Fleury could become a full time NHLer next year.

i moved it to this thread since it was talked about a lot so you can go back and read through peoples opinions.

 

[LokiDog]

Is Cale Fleury someone who still looks like they have NHL upside at this point? How about Brook? What happened with Poehling this year? Just curious. Prospect/youth looks good in MTL.

 

[montreal]

Is Cale Fleury someone who still looks like they have NHL upside at this point? How about Brook? What happened with Poehling this year? Just curious. Prospect/youth looks good in MTL.

i moved your post to this thread as you will find several answers on the topic. My post #21 covers all the players you asked about.

 

[Archijerej]

With normal division format next year, I don't expect Bergevin to take any chances. He will try to maintain depth and not rely on unproven rookies to fill significant roles. These are the last years when the emergence of our young players coincides with effective play from the veterans. The cap situation will also narrow our room for maneuver when Suzuki and then Caufield will need to be extended. Now is the time to give ourselves the best chance we can.

Fleury - I expect him to be on the roster, as he is waiver eligible, but only as a #8D.

Brook - still needs development. I expect him to take on a heavier load of powerplay duties in Laval. Should get a couple of games to get his feet wet.

The D will thus look something like this:

Chiarot/replacement - Weber
Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - a veteran RHD
Kulak/cheaper replacement - Fleury

Vejdemo - will certainly start in Laval as one of the #14F options. I don't expect someone like Frolik to be signed for this role next season.

However, I do expect Bergevin to sign a legitimate NHL forward for the #13F role.

Poehling - it's a tough one. He is still waiver exempt and there's no harm in allowing him to play the first half of the season in Laval. If he can carry over his form from this year, he will be called up as soon as a roster spot opens. Beating one of the 13 forwards in training camp will not be an easy task if everyone's healthy.

Ylonen - I'm 100% sure he starts in Laval and remains there for most of the season. He needs work and we have a plethora of right-handed forwards.

I expect the forward group to be approximately as follows:

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin/replacement - Kotkaniemi - Anderson
Byron - Evans - Perry
13th forward.

 

[jellybeans]

Zucker - Suzuki - Toffoli
Anderson - JKO - Caufield
Poehling - Danault - Gallagher
Lekhonen - Evans - Perry/Byron
Teasdale/Ylonen/Vejdemo

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Weber
Chiarot - Fleury
Leskinen/Kulak

Price
Primeau

With MB fired, new GM comes in with long-term plan support... paves way to be focused on living with growing pains and allowing for young players to earn roles in camp.
I'd be willing to bet all three of Poehling/Caufield/Fleury do enough to solidify spots. Byron/Kulak on contract +re-upping Lek and Perry allow the team to have vets in place to deal with it if they don't.

Re-sign Danault provided he takes less than 6M$ on 2-3 year deal, or max 5.25 on 3-5 yrs... if not, look to a temporary 1-year vet fill in and hope Evans/Poehling can be ready to lock down 3C role by 2022-23

Allen gets taken by Kracken (he's played really well this year, has a very good contract going forward for a 1B who could maybe solidify full time starter for them).

Romanov does enough in the summer to take the full-time top-4 spot. Live with Ed/Chia for another year and focus on adding a legit top 4 LD in-season or the following summer (where we'll also need to & have a better opportunity to unload weber and upgrade top-4 RD as well)

Drouin traded to Pitt for Zucker... Zucker better overall fit, lowering ceiling/higher floor, same cap hits.
Primeau (or mcniven or lingren or a UFA on 1M$ deal) steps into back-up mode.

Still a mediocre roster heavily dependent on big youth progress to be a playoff lock, but hire a HC with the marching orders to be looking toward 2022-23/23-24 vs "win-now".

Suzuki/JKO/Caufield/Romanov getting full support/leash will at least be fun to watch

Habs in final four and you think bergevin is getting the boot hahaha delusional you are.

 

[That Habs Fan]

Habs in final four and you think bergevin is getting the boot hahaha delusional you are.

That post was from April 22...it has been a real rollercoaster of a season for the Habs

Anywho:

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Granlund-Kotkaniemi-Anderson
Lekhonen-Danault-Gallagher
McGinn-Evans-Perry
Poehling

Vatanen-Weber
Edmundson-Petry
Romanov-Savard
Fleury

Price
Allen

Seattle claims Chiarot.

Money saved by not bringing back Tatar/Staal/Merill/Gustaffson/Armia (I really want Armia back, but think he might be able to cash in this offseason), and trading away Byron & Drouin (for picks/futures) to the highest bidder allows us to improve our defence and sign a good bottom 6 and top 6 LW (McGinn/Granlund).

 

[loudi94]

Looking at the list of UFA out there and I believe if we have become a "destination team", there are some guys out there that can help take us over the top. Staying away from the Halls, Hoffmans and RNHs, there are a few puck moving D and Oleksiak who would fit in very nicely if we lose Chiarot and hard nosed guys up front that can put up a decent amount of points we can grab for fairly cheap.

 

[smirob]

I think Anderson fits well on the Suzuki line, guy always seems to drive from the left side of the ice anyways.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I say we have a few more seasons where some young guys push but don't get full time spots. They continue to sign guys like Perry, Staal, and Edmundson and I'm fine with it.

Guys need to come to camp and steal jobs cause they are ready in the 200' areas. Trying to create room when we don't know if they are ready is risky when we got Price in net for good seasons still left. We are not at a full youth movement yet and we already have enough with Suzuki, KK, Romanov, Caufield. Trust the process and be happy that we don't have to rush guys anymore. Take advantage of the flat cap and how some guys are forced to sign for low AAV and not much term.

The right time to make more of a youth movement is when Weber retires and Price is 35+

 

[Sterling Archer]

Zucker - Suzuki - Toffoli
Anderson - JKO - Caufield
Poehling - Danault - Gallagher
Lekhonen - Evans - Perry/Byron
Teasdale/Ylonen/Vejdemo

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Weber
Chiarot - Fleury
Leskinen/Kulak

Price
Primeau

With MB fired, new GM comes in with long-term plan support... paves way to be focused on living with growing pains and allowing for young players to earn roles in camp.
I'd be willing to bet all three of Poehling/Caufield/Fleury do enough to solidify spots. Byron/Kulak on contract +re-upping Lek and Perry allow the team to have vets in place to deal with it if they don't.

Re-sign Danault provided he takes less than 6M$ on 2-3 year deal, or max 5.25 on 3-5 yrs... if not, look to a temporary 1-year vet fill in and hope Evans/Poehling can be ready to lock down 3C role by 2022-23

Allen gets taken by Kracken (he's played really well this year, has a very good contract going forward for a 1B who could maybe solidify full time starter for them).

Romanov does enough in the summer to take the full-time top-4 spot. Live with Ed/Chia for another year and focus on adding a legit top 4 LD in-season or the following summer (where we'll also need to & have a better opportunity to unload weber and upgrade top-4 RD as well)

Drouin traded to Pitt for Zucker... Zucker better overall fit, lowering ceiling/higher floor, same cap hits.
Primeau (or mcniven or lingren or a UFA on 1M$ deal) steps into back-up mode.

Still a mediocre roster heavily dependent on big youth progress to be a playoff lock, but hire a HC with the marching orders to be looking toward 2022-23/23-24 vs "win-now".

Suzuki/JKO/Caufield/Romanov getting full support/leash will at least be fun to watch

Bergevin isn’t going anywhere for awhile.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I think Anderson fits well on the Suzuki line, guy always seems to drive from the left side of the ice anyways.

Anderson belongs with Danault IMO. His vision is not good enough and he holds Suzuki back. Anderson is a north/south type that needs a 200' center like Danault so he can just fly around and be reckless. He's almost a one man show on his line. Suzuki needs to play with high hockey IQ guys like Caufield and Toffoli. He needs guys to feed off of with vision. I love how we added Anderson who is a big body that skates very well but he's limited in the hockey IQ area.

Gallagher is the one I worry about. Works hard every shift but his skating is not good enough to escape pressure.

 

[Miller Time]

21/22 needs to involve an improved D core. I'm not sure who's out there, maybe a Fowler, but this is a hole that can't be ignored anymore. I think the defense weakness to move the puck reduces the effectiveness of the forwards overall.

this a million times over...

Chiarot/Edmundson have put on a courageous playoffs, but both are terribly miscast in the usage/role we've been forced to play them in. Hopefully one of them is either traded or goes in the expansion draft, and we add a legit top-4 (ideally top-pairing) LD.

Fowler - Edm/Chia - Romanov would be an infinitely better situation for us next season and beyond.

 

[Miller Time]

Bergevin isn’t going anywhere for awhile.

yup... that's the reality we're starring at. one possible saving grace might be if he convinced Molson to promote him to a VP or president hockey ops role, and hire a successor GM... but won't hold my breath.

 

[davey999]

Tatar is gone and Leskinen signed in the KHL.

 

[LaP]

I say we have a few more seasons where some young guys push but don't get full time spots. They continue to sign guys like Perry, Staal, and Edmundson and I'm fine with it.

Guys need to come to camp and steal jobs cause they are ready in the 200' areas. Trying to create room when we don't know if they are ready is risky when we got Price in net for good seasons still left. We are not at a full youth movement yet and we already have enough with Suzuki, KK, Romanov, Caufield. Trust the process and be happy that we don't have to rush guys anymore. Take advantage of the flat cap and how some guys are forced to sign for low AAV and not much term.

The right time to make more of a youth movement is when Weber retires and Price is 35+

You got to bring more than just that though as vets. Our goal scoring woes are still present they are just hidden by Price. We are 12th / 16 for the GF/G in playoffs. Only 4 teams did worse than us and they are all teams who got eliminated in the first round. We are 2nd / 16 for the GA/G and while the defense did better in playoffs than regular season there's a lot of carey in this. We need to score more goals and if we keep sheltering the kids then we will need to sign better vets like Landeskog.