Post-Game Talk: Habs lose 4-3 in a SO

[Gravity]

Apparently you missed 13 previous opportunities.

Apparently I did as I couldn't recall a single one.

 

[Plastic Joseph]

When Pittsburgh tied the game I turned it off. After 30+ years of mediocrity I am getting near the end of wanting to watch them anymore. I know it's rebuild but maybe I am the guy just sick of watching this organization struggle.

yep, I find myself browsing the web and doom scrolling through like half of the games sometimes, you just know nothing is going to happen.

This team has not legitimately qualified for the playoffs since 2017 - and the insanity cycle continues.

I will say though, given this roster its almost a miracle we're not at the absolute bottom of the standings league wide

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

yep, I find myself browsing the web and doom scrolling through like half of the games sometimes, you just know nothing is going to happen.

This team has not legitimately qualified for the playoffs since 2017 - and the insanity cycle continues.

I will say though, given this roster its almost a miracle we're not at the absolute bottom of the standings league wide

Same for me, I have the game on background and I watch anything else on my little tab. Youtube keep my attention and then I fall asleep for a while. I wake up and nothing has changed or I realise they lost in SO. That is the same thing games after games and the same will go on next year except if Dach comes back and not being injured again. This year is totally waste, there is nothing to watch, or maybe just Slaf's progression.

 

[Habssince89]

Frustrating game but nice to see some goals. Hughes will make a move, but maybe not until January.
Heinemen will be a breath of fresh air next game. I'd just throw him on Monahan's line and see if they can create a similar chemistry to what Pearson had earlier in the season. EH certianly has the speed and the heart to fit on that line. I'd also go with Ylonen in Gallagher's place.

CC-Suzuki-Slaf
Heinemen-Monahan-Gallagher
Ylonen-Dvorak-Anderson
Pezz-Evans-Armia

 

[Miller Time]

This season + 3 more seasons of that $5.5M contract.
Bergevin's legacy!

In a season with nothing to win really, getting him going might be worth something.

At some point we will need to bite the bullet cause with Gallagher, that's 13% of our Salary Cap and that's with next year SC. 3 more seasons for both after this one.

12M$ for 3 more years...

Plus another 8M$ for Armia/Dvorak next year.

20M$ for mediocre 3rd line play

Could have 2 elite players for that..

Bargainbin

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Another pointless points.

 

[ReHabs]

12M$ for 3 more years...

Plus another 8M$ for Armia/Dvorak next year.

20M$ for mediocre 3rd line play

Could have 2 elite players for that..

Bargainbin

Habs had c. 10m available this summer and didn't use it. Blame the last GM all you want, and he is certainly worthy of a lot of criticism, but it's not like Hughes is hitting any wall and is getting frustrated by any lack of cap space. It's a rebuilding season and there was no opportunity or opening to utilize this cap space. If you want someone to blame, go look forward not backward: Hughes gave 4m to Allen until next year and retained Anderson despite there being interest in him earlier, that's nearly 10m there too. He took on an extra c. 2m next year with Petry in order to get a 2nd round pick. 12m.

Which elite players did Hughes want to acquire only to be frustrated by a lack of cap space? None, because we don't have a lack of cap space.

 

[ReHabs]

At some point we will need to bite the bullet cause with Gallagher, that's 13% of our Salary Cap and that's with next year SC. 3 more seasons for both after this one.

3 more years after this one, brutal.

If the cap will be going up, then the relative cap hit of each will go down. I think Anderson is an NHLer but he's not a top6 NHLer. If we're stuck with him we can swallow it.

Gallagher I have more issues with. For all the hype and bluster and ego-feeding I think he's slowed down far more than anticipated and doesn't have the stamina to keep up with the demands of a full NHL season. As painful as it is, and it'll be painful, he has to be bought out at some point. Maybe not this coming summer ('24), as the Habs likely won't have cap issues for the upcoming season, but by the one after (summer '25) Gallagher's goose will surely be cooked. Maybe he goes for a trip to Robidas Island? If we're lucky he goes on the trip next summer but it's not likely we'll be lucky.

 

[FrankMTL]

At least Dvorak and Armia come off the books next season.

After that they're down to 2 "bad" contracts. Gallagher we're stuck with no matter what, but Anderson can easily rebound at one point.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

This season + 3 more seasons of that $5.5M contract.
Bergevin's legacy!

In a season with nothing to win really, getting him going might be worth something.

At some point we will need to bite the bullet cause with Gallagher, that's 13% of our Salary Cap and that's with next year SC. 3 more seasons for both after this one.

I can't believe we're just hitting the mid-point (year 3) of that 6 year contract. It feels like we're in year 9.

Actually, it's a 7 year contract and we're in year 4. Point still stands.

 

[sandviper]

Habs had c. 10m available this summer and didn't use it. Blame the last GM all you want, and he is certainly worthy of a lot of criticism, but it's not like Hughes is hitting any wall and is getting frustrated by any lack of cap space. It's a rebuilding season and there was no opportunity or opening to utilize this cap space. If you want someone to blame, go look forward not backward: Hughes gave 4m to Allen until next year and retained Anderson despite there being interest in him earlier, that's nearly 10m there too. He took on an extra c. 2m next year with Petry in order to get a 2nd round pick. 12m.

Which elite players did Hughes want to acquire only to be frustrated by a lack of cap space? None, because we don't have a lack of cap space.

When did we have 10m in cap? AFAIK, we were right up against the cap all summer. Price went to LTIR when the season started.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

When did we have 10m in cap? AFAIK, we were right up against the cap all summer. Price went to LTIR when the season started.

We were. Price wasn't put on LTIR til day 1. They spent all the cap we had prior to that. I have no qualms at all with how their managing the cap. Everything they've done over the last 2 years shows they no exactly how to handle the cap, including maximizing both LTIR & performance bonuses.

 

[morhilane]

I swear Struble has far more deception in his game than Matheson. It's a huge problem that obviously is not going to get fixed because of hierarchy.

Have no fear, Struble will get to the same level as Matheson, since anyone who join the Habs end up have zero deceptions and aim at the goalie crest after a few years with the club...

 

[nhlfan9191]

I can't believe we're just hitting the mid-point (year 3) of that 6 year contract. It feels like we're in year 9.

It’s sad when guys that were so serviceable and likeable for your team become defined by their terrible contracts. Price should’ve left this team while they could.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

It’s sad when guys that were so serviceable and likeable for your team become defined by their terrible contracts. Price should’ve left this team while they could.

By the end of next season, we'll finally see a real shift. Dvorak, Armia, Savard, Evans, Kovacevic, Pezzetta & Allen are all UFAs. Monahan & Pearson are UFAs this year.

That will leave us with only Anderson & Gallagher to carry. We should be able to handle that ok. And, Price with LTIR. His contract actually ends a year before Gallagher's & Anderson's.

 

[ReHabs]

When did we have 10m in cap? AFAIK, we were right up against the cap all summer. Price went to LTIR when the season started.

They could've spent up to Price cap hit if they wanted to, as we both know.

We were. Price wasn't put on LTIR til day 1. They spent all the cap we had prior to that. I have no qualms at all with how their managing the cap. Everything they've done over the last 2 years shows they no exactly how to handle the cap, including maximizing both LTIR & performance bonuses.

Cap management has been fine but also not a stress whatsoever because there was no need to push the limits. Hughes (many would say rightfully) had no intention of loading up on cap-commitments. Of course it's easier to optimize salary cap factors when you're not maximizing your cap-commitments. They've done a good job with that.

 

[nhlfan9191]

By the end of next season, we'll finally see a real shift. Dvorak, Armia, Savard, Evans, Kovacevic, Pezzetta & Allen are all UFAs. Monahan & Pearson are UFAs this year.

That will leave us with only Anderson & Gallagher to carry. We should be able to handle that ok. And, Price with LTIR. His contract actually ends a year before Gallagher's & Anderson's.

Puts into perspective how good the past regime really had it when they took over. The only bad contract they had to deal with was Gomez and we were able to use a compliance buyout on him. It’s going to take 4-5 years to start feeling relief from the Bergevin era. Even then we will probably still have some lingering stench from that era.

 

[BLONG7]

Anderson sucks.

Also, one of the highest scoring D corps this season... lets use 1 of them in 12 round shootout. Good job, MSL.

Give me Barron over AT LEAST Gallagher, Anderson, and Pezzetta.

Couldn't agree more...............our forward group is a mess right now when it comes to scoring goals.
The D left sitting on the bench all have more goals than Anderson for gods sake....Struble has played what 8-9 games, and has TWO goals that were not empty netters....

Good First Period
Terrible Second Period
Dominated 3rd Period
Shootout......................beyond comical

 

[ReHabs]

Puts into perspective how good the past regime really had it when they took over. The only bad contract they had to deal with was Gomez and we were able to use a compliance buyout on him. It’s going to take 4-5 years to start feeling relief from the Bergevin era. Even then we will probably still have some lingering stench from that era.

The single biggest problem from the Bergevin era was its utter inability to add or supplement talent. If viewed as an aggregate, through time, the Habs lost more and more net talent (aging, injuries, FAs... entropy) and couldn't add more because they drafted and developed prospects so poorly. It's like carrying water from the well to your house with a bucket with a bunch of holes in it. Until we have a pipeline of talent (not just bottom-tier pseudo NHLers like De La Rose and Mete) we'll never recover.

 

[BLONG7]

The single biggest problem from the Bergevin era was its utter inability to add or supplement talent. If viewed as an aggregate, through time, the Habs lost more and more net talent (aging, injuries, FAs... entropy) and couldn't add more because they drafted and developed prospects so poorly. It's like carrying water from the well to your house with a bucket with a bunch of holes in it. Until we have a pipeline of talent (not just bottom-tier pseudo NHLers like De La Rose and Mete) we'll never recover.

Price.................covered a ton of the issues, including a bad GM, and some awful coaching.....
Rinse and Repeat...........
There was soooo much wrong with the way Bergevin did things...

 

[DAChampion]

The lack of offensive skill we've all been discussing was made explicit from the shootout. There's just not a lot of skill depth, it's mostly glorified grinders.

That said I do think MSL exacerbated the problem by not sending out some of the more skilled dmen. I'll assume that Barron and Guhle can stick handle better than Anderson. It's telling that Matheson is the only dman he sent.

I'm glad that Caulfield scored on his second shootout in a row. Might help his confidence.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Puts into perspective how good the past regime really had it when they took over. The only bad contract they had to deal with was Gomez and we were able to use a compliance buyout on him. It’s going to take 4-5 years to start feeling relief from the Bergevin era. Even then we will probably still have some lingering stench from that era.

For sure, this is still Bergevin's team too. Summer of 2025 is when HuGo will actually have their own team to build with Gallagher & perhaps Anderson the only hold overs from that era.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Another useless loser point lool

 

[WeThreeKings]

They had a 3-1 lead, only getting 1 pt is a blessing considering how bad the Penguins are.

 

[wikiwa]

Teams start figuring out how to neutralize the Habs in OT by giving them a power play instead of letting them play 3 on 3.