HF Habs: Current Standings Thread: Going the Wright Way - Top 7 pick Clinched!

[MarkovsKnee]

This is it! Season is almost done. Final 10 games. Last game is Friday, April 29th vs Florida at home.

The Standings as of April 20th:

Ground Rules for this thread:
• This is the thread where you can cheer against your Habs to improve their draft position. Want to tank? This is your sanctuary.

• If you root against the Habs in GDTs or other threads on the Habs board, you may be warned for trolling.

• Don't bring your anti-tank arguments here or you may be warned for trolling.

• Tank you for your support.

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[habsfan891]

If we pick 4th and all 3 of those guys are off the board, it should come down to one of Savoie, Nemec, or Jiricek.

Too high for Savoie imo but either defenceman would be fine

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Since we’re most likely to finish bottom 2-3 then we’re most likely picking between 4-5

Who do we pick at 4-5 ?

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

You don't like the player yet you wish the Habs gave him 9 years @ 5M? Sheesh, lucky Bergevin wasn't as smart as you. His simple mindedness saved the Habs on that occasion.

If you want fodder to bash Bergevin, I think you can choose more fertile ground. The Drouin trade has ended badly, for instance. And he mishandled the Danault, Petry, Tatar & Gallagher UFA situation quite badly, which ultimately I think will end up being his biggest mistake.

you can add Radulov and Markov

 

[DenverHabsFan]

Who is scouting all those guys and making the final decision? HuGo or some ragtag group left over from the MB regime?

 

[Wats]

Too high for Savoie imo but either defenceman would be fine

If they drop to 4-6 I'd be happy with a D. You need a top D to have a good team.

 

[Benstheman]

If I was forced to bet, I'd have a hard time picking from 6-10 vs 11-15 range. I do see some rebound but not sure how much. I also see some roster tinkering with a healthy Price so a part of me sees some rebound for sure. Just don't know how much.

I would certainly welcome another 1-5 lottery shot though! I'd put more money on that than I would at the 16-20 range

If we can't add to our forward group this off season, i can't see them rebound anywhere, Price or not. I love Caufield and Suzuki but we need to find a way to spread the offense. It is too easy for the 1st and 2nd tier teams to focus on our 1 trick poney offense right now, no matter how good that poney is.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Too high for Savoie imo but either defenceman would be fine

I tend to agree but I do think Savoie might be in that mix in the end. Personally, I would take one of the D men over him yeah.

 

[dcyhabs]

How did it mess up the Habs? Bergevin said "No thanks", avoided an unnecessary contract, and added a first round pick. Keeping KK wouldn't have moved the needle; neither did losing him.

The loss came afterwards, with Bergevin's string of bad guesses about this season. But, in isolation, Dundon's offersheet was a lot of noise over nothing.

It meant they were missing a center, losing a piece they didn't expect to be absent, even if Kotkaniemi wasn't the ideal guy. Then MB went out and traded more assets than he got back for KK to get Dvorak who doesn't fit at all and who doesn't have value because, if he did, he wouldn't have had a big "for sale cheap" sign long term with the "cheap" crossed out once Bergevin desperately needed a C.

Losing KK wasn't the worst move of the offseason, but it was possibly the most visible, and it called attention to his negotiations with players. He either overpaid or let players walk.

This whole thread is a result of MB's work over the last few years, but, most especially, his last offseason. If the team were just missing a piece or two, a shutdown C, say, there wouldn't be a need to tank. The team is capped out and is missing top players not depth. If we want the team to be good long term we'll need a similar thread next year and the year after, unless we get very lucky with our prospect pool.

MB's problem was not any individual move, many of them could be justified alone, not signing Alzner or trading for Drouin, but most moves. Adding them up generally went badly. Adding Toffoli, good. Adding Caufield and Hoffman on top of Toffoli, not good, too many similar players who need the same, limited ice time. Not signing KK, could be reasonable, not signing KK and Danault, not so good. Not signing multiple players over years because the GM destroyed the relationship with the player to the point they would take less money to sign elsewhere? Time to change the GM and replace him with someone who understands what players want, like maybe an ex-agent.

 

[Habs Halifax]

If we can't add to our forward group this off season, i can't see them rebound anywhere, Price or not. I love Caufield and Suzuki but we need to find a way to spread the offense. It is too easy for the 1st and 2nd tier teams to focus on our 1 trick poney offense right now, no matter how good that poney is.

Too much went wrong to start this season. Combine that with Ducharme being stubborn and it derailed the season. Certainly hoping for another top 5 lottery pick but I can see 6-15 range for sure.

What I do know is they had more pressure to start this season than they will next season so I see a better record from Oct - Jan by playing a more looser style of game. Still not going to make the playoffs though. I'd put money on 6-15 range.

.438 winning % with MSL over 32 games. I see a season like this next year and that would put us with a bottom 8 spot if you looked at this years standings.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Chicago taking on Arizona tonight. An Arizona win in OT or SO would be perfect. That would put Coyotes ahead of Montreal in the standings. And the loser point will put Chicago out of reach.

Also, Seattle is taking on Colorado. So good luck with that. If Kraken can sneak a point out of this one, it will be big as it would put them 6 points up on Habs. And Habs would need 4 wins in their final 5 games to get past them in the standings.

 

[dcyhabs]

You don't like the player yet you wish the Habs gave him 9 years @ 5M? Sheesh, lucky Bergevin wasn't as smart as you. His simple mindedness saved the Habs on that occasion.

If you want fodder to bash Bergevin, I think you can choose more fertile ground. The Drouin trade has ended badly, for instance. And he mishandled the Danault, Petry, Tatar & Gallagher UFA situation quite badly, which ultimately I think will end up being his biggest mistake.

The biggest mistake was the accumulation of moves. Bergevin made some boneheaded individual moves and some pretty good ones. The problem is that there was no overall plan or direction, and no attention to some pretty fundamental items, like player retention.

Signing Toffoli was a good move. Signing Caufield was a good move. Signing Hoffman would have been acceptable if he hadn't already signed Toffoli and Caufield, but having the 3 of them trying to fit into two spots on the top 6 was really bad.

Dropping KK on his own could have been OK, though destroying the relationship was bad, but if he was going to do that he really needed to sign Danault in spite of having already destroyed that relationship.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Chicago taking on Arizona tonight. An Arizona win in OT or SO would be perfect. That would put Coyotes ahead of Montreal in the standings. And the loser point will put Chicago out of reach.

Also, Seattle is taking on Colorado. So good luck with that. If Kraken can sneak a point out of this one, it will be big as it would put them 6 points up on Habs. And Habs would need 4 wins in their final 5 games to get past them in the standings.

Flyers: Win

Sens/Bruins back/back: Low chance we get 4 pts. More likely 2 at best.

Rangers on the road: Do the Rangers want to catch the Canes? Possible. Rangers will be on the 2nd night of a back/back against the Habs where they face the Canes the night before. We will get their back-up. A possible 2 pts

Florida to finish the season at home: Habs will show up and the Panthers might be resting guys.

Tough one to call cause the Habs have lost 6 in a row and will be trying to win. I think we finish with 57 or 58 pts.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

god damn loser points about to cost us last place

 

[dcyhabs]

Too much went wrong to start this season. Combine that with Ducharme being stubborn and it derailed the season. Certainly hoping for another top 5 lottery pick but I can see 6-15 range for sure.

What I do know is they had more pressure to start this season than they will next season so I see a better record from Oct - Jan by playing a more looser style of game. Still not going to make the playoffs though. I'd put money on 6-15 range.

.438 winning % with MSL over 32 games. I see a season like this next year and that would put us with a bottom 8 spot if you looked at this years standings.

I agree, and that would be fine if the habs had a few top players and needed some depth. The habs need top players at multiple positions and they'll need luck to get those picking 5-10 or later.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I agree, and that would be fine if the habs had a few top players and needed some depth. The habs need top players at multiple positions and they'll need luck to get those picking 5-10 or later.

Regardless of where we pick, we have to hit with top of the line-up players. Our draft power will be high for drafts to come so lets do our work and pick good ones. That's more important than trying to tank for the best pick cause even in this draft, there will be busts in that top 10. There always are so we need to do our best to avoid picking those guys

 

[Nicko999]

You don't like the player yet you wish the Habs gave him 9 years @ 5M? Sheesh, lucky Bergevin wasn't as smart as you. His simple mindedness saved the Habs on that occasion.

If you want fodder to bash Bergevin, I think you can choose more fertile ground. The Drouin trade has ended badly, for instance. And he mishandled the Danault, Petry, Tatar & Gallagher UFA situation quite badly, which ultimately I think will end up being his biggest mistake.

How about not offer sheeting Aho in the first place so this whole situation never happens?

He got what he deserved.

This is was just the cherry on top. Guy had lost his mind long time ago. Not resign Markov was his worst mistake. Habs have never made the playoffs in a normal year since

 

[ReHabs]

Rather strange to see people actually argue that his fiasco with Kotkaniemi wasn’t entirely preventable.

Or that the Aho offersheet wasn’t DOA and, to make matters worse, a big and explicit insult to Dundon.

 

[WeThreeKings]

At 1 you're debating Wright vs. Cooley
At 2 you're debating Cooley vs. Slaf
At 3 you're debating Slaf vs. Jiricek
At 4 you're debating Jiricek vs. Nemec
At 5 you're debating Nemec vs. Nazar

Imo of course. Obviously that's just a rudimentary thought exercise on which range do you consider the next guy.

I.e. I'm not picking Nazar earlier than 5, Nemec earlier than 4.

 

[GrandBison]

Probably. I'll remember in three years, who knows for my 90's (although I don't want to be in a retirement house, ever!) There are a multiple ways to be a fan of the game of hockey. Some prefer to look at lists and dream of the potential to be a powerhouse, some actually register good memories over the years. Some like both.

I still remember the chills of the Koivu comeback after cancer, I can still hear Kovalev's post ringing in OT against Carolina, and even though Cole was good for us afterwards I still couldn't like him, the Halak Stop signs... And yes, I'll remember for years the "Bonne Saint-Hean!", the aftergame pizza degustations, Byron diving and scoring against the Leafs, Galchenyuk falling in OT which leads to a Suz and Caufield 2 on 0, and Lekhonen's goal.

Yeah, this is a tanking thread and I'm all for the Habs tanking this year and next, and yes, winning the Cup would top all these memories, but I don't think it justifies ridiculing fans that are able to like a team even if this is not "the best" team.

Everybody should be happy. We got a great playoff performance, for those who prefer winning to high drafts selections and now we will get a very good draft pick and a second 1st round pick at Bell Center for the others.

 

[McGees]

Who was trying to tank??….the players?

Did you realize that the 2021-22 Canadiens are almost at 700 man ganes lost making them the most injured team in NHL history.

At one point we had only 1 forward making over 1m$ on the roster and this was for multiple games.

So the excuse is valid when your entire team is injured.

When you witnessed Montreal trying to win, it was a bunch of AHLers trying to make their mark in the NHL…..

Or……

If youre talking about management then you have the team they iced sitting in the nose bleeds of the Bell Center recovering from injury.

Yes they were injured but cmon, those injured players were crap before and after their injuries.
Btw I was talking about the mgmt - Marc built them to compete and Yotes sold off before season and barely made cap floor

 

[GrandBison]

At 1 you're debating Wright vs. Cooley
At 2 you're debating Cooley vs. Slaf
At 3 you're debating Slaf vs. Jiricek
At 4 you're debating Jiricek vs. Nemec
At 5 you're debating Nemec vs. Nazar

Imo of course. Obviously that's just a rudimentary thought exercise on which range do you consider the next guy.

I.e. I'm not picking Nazar earlier than 5, Nemec earlier than 4.

Also, lottery winning team could surprise with the 2nd, pushing and Cooley and Slaf down.

 

[Benstheman]

At 1 you're debating Wright vs. Cooley
At 2 you're debating Cooley vs. Slaf
At 3 you're debating Slaf vs. Jiricek
At 4 you're debating Jiricek vs. Nemec
At 5 you're debating Nemec vs. Nazar

Imo of course. Obviously that's just a rudimentary thought exercise on which range do you consider the next guy.

I.e. I'm not picking Nazar earlier than 5, Nemec earlier than 4.

Agreed for the most part except start your exercice at 2. Don't think there is much debate at 1 TBH.

 

[Benstheman]

Also, lottery winning team could surprise with the 2nd, pushing and Cooley and Slaf down.

There is always a possibility of a team going for a D at that spot. Wouldn't be THAT surprising for me but in my mind, top 3 are forwards this year.

 

[McGees]

Yeah, it was accidental tank, but next year must be a precision tank.

I sure hope so but my fear is HuGos desire to turn things around quickly may have us closer to a wild card spot than bottom 5 next year. This offseason will tell us a lot

 

[McGees]

So injuring all the bad players should make you a good team??

No - unless your call ups are young stars