Confirmed with Link: Habs sign Mike Hoffman (3 years, 4.5M AAV)

[BigDaddyLurch]

You do realize it's necessary to play defense on 3 v 3, right? CC yes. MH no.

...yup, playing our defensive specialists in OT in order to Play Not to Lose worked out swimmingly, eh??...

 

[JianYang]

I wonder what’s the big deal to trade your superstar C within the division when you are and will be the worst team in the league for the next 5-10 years?! When you’re at the point that the Sabres are at, you’re only goal should be to improve your team as much as you can, thats it!! Who cares if Eichel scores everytime he plays against you!? It might actually help you getting a better pick!!

There is an internal rivalry among most organizations within each division that would prefer not to help your division rivals.

But it's not that they won't accept a deal from Montreal under any circumstances, but they would ask for a higher premium from Boston or Montreal.

There's enough pressure on the GM to maneuver through this saga, but if he makes a deal to a divisional rival, where there is a constant reminder of trading your best player to a team that is directly competing with your for seeding, it just puts the GM at more risk of losing their job, because the scrutiny will be intensified. Whether Buffalo struggles to make a playoff run for another 5 years is irrelevant, it's just bad optics.

 

[Walrus26]

Speed with skill helps:

Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield

That line would be on the ice for tons of goals all right and scary as hell on any D zone start!

 

[TT1]

imo it'll be

Hoffman - Evans - Gallagher

or

Hoffman - KK - Armia

 

[Captain97]

imo it'll be

Hoffman - Evans - Gallagher

or

Hoffman - KK - Armia

I think it's gonna be
Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Gallagher
Drouin - Evans - Toffoli

But I also think we are going to grab a 3C still

 

[HabsAddict]

Speed with skill helps:

Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield

Who plays a hard 200 ft game in that combo? They will spend more time fighting just to get out of their zone then being a threat. Plus, who goes for the board battles?

That will be one of the easiest lines to play against in the NHL.

 

[HabsAddict]

I think it's gonna be
Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Gallagher
Drouin - Evans - Toffoli

But I also think we are going to grab a 3C still

MUCH better to put Hoffman with kk and Ghally, who can actually play a 200ft game.

Anderson can also be the digger and corner man for the Suzuki-CC line. And he plays a hard 200ft game to make up for CC.

 

[Be a Hab]

Has KK even ever played with someone has good as Hoffman before?

 

[BLONG7]

Has KK even ever played with someone has good as Hoffman before?

No
He always got leftovers

 

[Be a Hab]

No
He always got leftovers

I guess we'll see this year but I think a Hoffman-KK-Armia line could be good

 

[JianYang]

Has KK even ever played with someone has good as Hoffman before?

Hoffman is probably the most proven natural sniper on the team.... And I'll say most proven because Caufield has potential to be better.

 

[Be a Hab]

Hoffman is probably the most proven natural sniper on the team.... And I'll say most proven because Caufield has potential to be better.

Yeah no doubt about that. It will be nice to have someone who is pure goal scorer on our team. Last guy that comes to mind is Pacioretty although I'm not expecting Hoffman to score at the same rate as Max did.

A minimum of 20G from Hoffman this year and anything over 25 I'll be very happy

 

[Scriptor]

Who plays a hard 200 ft game in that combo? They will spend more time fighting just to get out of their zone then being a threat. Plus, who goes for the board battles?

That will be one of the easiest lines to play against in the NHL.

At 3 VS 3 during OT, I would go with Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield, no sweat.

I can see the concern at even strength, 5 VS 5. I'm also quite fond of Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield (better than with the solder Toffoli, IMO, who sin't a physical player per se, either.

I can appreciate KK and Gallagher playing with Hoffman to shield him defensively and provide two good cycles to get the puck to Hoffman and a good greasy goal scorer in Gallagher for rebound goals.

Drouin - Evans - Toffoli doesn't excite me because of Evans. I'd prefer Poehling for size to shelter\insulate Drouin, but would rather a proven 3rd line C with Poehling attributes.

I could go with:

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Toffoli
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

 

[Scriptor]

Yeah no doubt about that. It will be nice to have someone who is pure goal scorer on our team. Last guy that comes to mind is Pacioretty although I'm not expecting Hoffman to score at the same rate as Max did.

A minimum of 20G from Hoffman this year and anything over 25 I'll be very happy

Hoffman is more like when we had Cammalleri than Pacioretty, IMO.

 

[WinterLion]

I could go with:

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Toffoli
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

Wot! That's how you rebuild your C's. Imagine...

 

[Be a Hab]

Hoffman is more like when we had Cammalleri than Pacioretty, IMO.

Yeah true, They're both pure goal scorers

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

I think it's gonna be
Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Gallagher
Drouin - Evans - Toffoli

But I also think we are going to grab a 3C still

agree with those lines. Toffoli season goals was a fluke compared to all his other seasons , he's still a great second liner but with Evans they can do both good offensively and defensively and I really like the 2 veterans with KK

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

No
He always got leftovers

Yeahhhh Toffoli is definitely a "leftover".

Gotta love the lengths Habs fans will go to find excuses for the kid everytime he craps the bed.

 

[canucklover123]

Has KK even ever played with someone has good as Hoffman before?

Well he spent most of his TOI with either/both Toffoli and/or Anderson.
So not really scrubs, no

Not sure where that narrative came from either lol

 

[canucklover123]

Yeahhhh Toffoli is definitely a "leftover".

Gotta love the lengths Habs fans will go to find excuses for the kid everytime he craps the bed.

Damn dude beat me to it lol

 

[Dondini]

I think it's gonna be
Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Gallagher
Drouin - Evans - Toffoli

But I also think we are going to grab a 3C still

I want to see
Drouin Suzuki caufield - Drouin is our best play maker he will be setting those guys up left right and Center

Hoffman KK Toffoli- give KK some scoring wingers for confidence.

Anderson Evans Gallagher- will become one of the best shut down lines

Lehkonen paquette/Perrault Armia- deep 4th line basically a 3b line

I don’t want Anderson anywhere near caufield or Suzuki. I love him but he can’t make a pass to save his life. He does what he does he scores off the rush on turnovers. Let gallagher and evans work hard for those turn overs.

 

[Captain97]

I want to see
Drouin Suzuki caufield - Drouin is our best play maker he will be setting those guys up left right and Center

Hoffman KK Toffoli- give KK some scoring wingers for confidence.

Anderson Evans Gallagher- will become one of the best shut down lines

Lehkonen paquette/Perrault Armia- deep 4th line basically a 3b line

I don’t want Anderson anywhere near caufield or Suzuki. I love him but he can’t make a pass to save his life. He does what he does he scored off the rush on turnovers. Let gallagher and evans work hard for those turn overs.

I'm on board to try these as well. Now if we can just pick up a solid 3C I'll be very excited. Just a heads up though you have Perrault maybe playing centre the reason he stopped playing full time was an injury (back I think) and while he still can play it he is more effective on wing now.

 

[Dondini]

I'm on board to try these as well. Now if we can just pick up a solid 3C I'll be very excited. Just a heads up though you have Perrault maybe playing centre the reason he stopped playing full time was an injury (back I think) and while he still can play it he is more effective on wing now.

yah foresure it’s been a while I’m not saying it would work but it might be better than paquette. Especially playing with guys like Armia and Lehkonen who are better than 4th line quality. I’m just thinking out loud. I really liked perraults play against us in the playoffs. He seems so pumped to be a hab I think he can produce as much as a Lehkonen or an Armia

 

[Be a Hab]

Well he spent most of his TOI with either/both Toffoli and/or Anderson.
So not really scrubs, no

Not sure where that narrative came from either lol

Well first off, Hoffman is much more of a goal scorer than Anderson. Can't compare Hoffman to Anderson IMO. But I will concede that KK played more with Toffoli than I originally thought.

Anyways, here are the top line combos with TOI and % for the 2020-21 regular season. Oh and KK averaged 14:48 TOI this year (Regualar Season).

1	85:53	11.9	JOSH ANDERSON - JONATHAN DROUIN - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
2	67:06	9.3	COREY PERRY - TYLER TOFFOLI - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
3	58:58	8.2	JOEL ARMIA - ARTTURI LEHKONEN - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
4	55:18	7.6	TYLER TOFFOLI - JOEL ARMIA - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
5	47:53	6.6	PAUL BYRON - ARTTURI LEHKONEN - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
6	44:29	6.1	TOMAS TATAR - JOEL ARMIA - JESPERI KOTKANIEMI

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

I want to see
Drouin Suzuki caufield - Drouin is our best play maker he will be setting those guys up left right and Center

Hoffman KK Toffoli- give KK some scoring wingers for confidence.

Anderson Evans Gallagher- will become one of the best shut down lines

Lehkonen paquette/Perrault Armia- deep 4th line basically a 3b line

I don’t want Anderson anywhere near caufield or Suzuki. I love him but he can’t make a pass to save his life. He does what he does he scores off the rush on turnovers. Let gallagher and evans work hard for those turn overs.

offensively i would love that line also but could be a mess defensively,i think Ducharme tries it