How do we fix our offense?

[Karl Pilkington]

Improve top 6.

Fire Therien. Michel is where offenses go to die.

Sidney Crosby's top point-producing season came under MT's iron rule (2006-07, 120PT - 36G, 84A).

 

[CGG]

The Hawks are first on the OP's list. They scored a grand total of 6 more goals than Montreal did last year. Six. At even strength they outscored Montreal by 3 goals over the course of the 82 game regular season. And they won the Stanley Cup.

The offensive problems are overstated and completely overblown on this board. Yes, it would be swell if we could score some more goals this year. But let's not make this out to be worse than it actually is.

To provide hope:

1) Petry for a full year. Believe it or not, Montreal outshot the opposition if you add up all the games that Petry played in, playoffs included. He will help immensely as it removes a Weaver / Gonchar / Allen / Tinordi from our lineup of last year and ensures the puck will spend less time in our own end than it did last season.

2) The PP won't be as bad. It just won't be. Adding Petry will help here too - you could already see it in the playoffs as it wasn't just "back to the point and have Subban tee it up". It didn't result in a whole lot of goals in the playoffs, but at least the puck movement was better, and the chances (and posts) were there.

3) Our top 6 will be okay. At least our top 5. Again everyone is focusing on the first 2 lines, but they actually did reasonably well last year. 5 of our forwards were in the top 100 for points in the NHL last year: Pac, Pleks, Gally, Chucky and DD. The average team has 3.3 players in the top 100. Of course adding another decent winger would help tremendously, but what we've got already is not exactly terrible.

4) We aren't really losing much. 8 goals from PAP, 7 goals from Sekac (which I expect DSP to pick up), then about 4 goals total from the other guys we've lost - Gonchar, Malhotra, etc.

5) Our bottom lines will be better. Mitchell will outscore Malhotra. Prust and Weise should be glued to the 4th line and can produce from there. DSP will score more. We should be able to find a rookie or call up to do better than the collective contribution from Thomas, Tangradi, Bowman, Flynn, Dumont and Andrighetto of last year.

 

[NotProkofievian]

The Hawks are first on the OP's list. They scored a grand total of 6 more goals than Montreal did last year. Six. At even strength they outscored Montreal by 3 goals over the course of the 82 game regular season. And they won the Stanley Cup.

Seriously? Chicago scored an average of 3.00 goals per game in the playoffs. I think that had a lot more to do with them winning the Stanley Cup than their 2.68 G/GP in the regular season, don't you? Meanwhile, Montreal scored an average of 2.08 goals per game in the playoffs, and we didn't make the conference finals. We seriously need offense.

 

[CGG]

Seriously? Chicago scored an average of 3.00 goals per game in the playoffs. I think that had a lot more to do with them winning the Stanley Cup than their 2.68 G/GP in the regular season, don't you? Meanwhile, Montreal scored an average of 2.08 goals per game in the playoffs, and we didn't make the conference finals. We seriously need offense.

So the secret was Antoine Vermette and a washed up Kimmo Timonen?

I get it, Chicago stepped up in the playoffs and performed. Good teams generally do this. Had Montreal scored 3 goals per game in the playoffs they're likely in the finals too. But you wouldn't expect a team to drop 0.6 goals per game in the playoffs like Montreal did. Montreal sucked in the playoffs and couldn't score. Call it a slump or bad luck, the offense dried up. But let's not pretend they are completely devoid of talent. They were pretty even with Chicago all season long, over 82 games.

 

[Lshap]

The Hawks are first on the OP's list. They scored a grand total of 6 more goals than Montreal did last year. Six. At even strength they outscored Montreal by 3 goals over the course of the 82 game regular season. And they won the Stanley Cup.

The offensive problems are overstated and completely overblown on this board. Yes, it would be swell if we could score some more goals this year. But let's not make this out to be worse than it actually is.

To provide hope:

1) Petry for a full year. Believe it or not, Montreal outshot the opposition if you add up all the games that Petry played in, playoffs included. He will help immensely as it removes a Weaver / Gonchar / Allen / Tinordi from our lineup of last year and ensures the puck will spend less time in our own end than it did last season.

2) The PP won't be as bad. It just won't be. Adding Petry will help here too - you could already see it in the playoffs as it wasn't just "back to the point and have Subban tee it up". It didn't result in a whole lot of goals in the playoffs, but at least the puck movement was better, and the chances (and posts) were there.

3) Our top 6 will be okay. At least our top 5. Again everyone is focusing on the first 2 lines, but they actually did reasonably well last year. 5 of our forwards were in the top 100 for points in the NHL last year: Pac, Pleks, Gally, Chucky and DD. The average team has 3.3 players in the top 100. Of course adding another decent winger would help tremendously, but what we've got already is not exactly terrible.

4) We aren't really losing much. 8 goals from PAP, 7 goals from Sekac (which I expect DSP to pick up), then about 4 goals total from the other guys we've lost - Gonchar, Malhotra, etc.

5) Our bottom lines will be better. Mitchell will outscore Malhotra. Prust and Weise should be glued to the 4th line and can produce from there. DSP will score more. We should be able to find a rookie or call up to do better than the collective contribution from Thomas, Tangradi, Bowman, Flynn, Dumont and Andrighetto of last year.

I agree with the theme of your post: We become so obsessed with an issue that it becomes overblown into an imagined disaster. Habs need scoring help, but the difference between finishing 20th in goal production and top-10 is about 15 goals during the season. 15 extra goals and we become a good scoring team. Towards that end, Petry and Mitchell are upgrades and will give our offense a small bump. The rest needs to come from improved 2nd or 3rd line scoring (I doubt we'll get 1st line help). An UFA will do it, and it's possible a rookie could get us half way there. 5-on-5 is not the problem.

The real problem is the PP. It compromised our scoring during the season; it killed us during the playoffs. The good news is that it's NOT a personnel issue. With Subban, Petry, Beaulieu, Markov and Gilbert (yes, even him), Montreal should be flying around the o-zone and pounding the opposition with quality shots and chances. We've got the talent on the bench. But we're a mess, and the fault lies behind the bench with the coaching staff. There is no excuse for this fundamental part of the game to be so weak and predictable. A new PP coach would be ideal; a new PP strategy is essential. Something MUST change.

 

[Andy]

Why are the Red Wings so low? Zetterberg, Datysuk, Tatar, Nyqvist, Franzen (if he plays). Even Sheahan and Abdelkader are likely to be around 40 points.

Datsyuk missed 19 games this season. If he plays, quite possible the Red Wings get a few more goals. Also, this was Zetterberg's first sub-20 goal season (while playing more than 40 games) since his second year in the nhl.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I agree with the theme of your post: We become so obsessed with an issue that it becomes overblown into an imagined disaster. Habs need scoring help, but the difference between finishing 20th in goal production and top-10 is about 15 goals during the season. 15 extra goals and we become a good scoring team. Towards that end, Petry and Mitchell are upgrades and will give our offense a small bump. The rest needs to come from improved 2nd or 3rd line scoring (I doubt we'll get 1st line help). An UFA will do it, and it's possible a rookie could get us half way there. 5-on-5 is not the problem.

The real problem is the PP. It compromised our scoring during the season; it killed us during the playoffs. The good news is that it's NOT a personnel issue. With Subban, Petry, Beaulieu, Markov and Gilbert (yes, even him), Montreal should be flying around the o-zone and pounding the opposition with quality shots and chances. We've got the talent on the bench. But we're a mess, and the fault lies behind the bench with the coaching staff. There is no excuse for this fundamental part of the game to be so weak and predictable. A new PP coach would be ideal; a new PP strategy is essential. Something MUST change.

We still spend too much time in our own end. This team could be so much better than it is.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Just as an addendum, lets look at the last 5 stanley cup winning teams goal scoring shall we?

Chicago 2015 - 3.00 G/GP
L.A. 2014 - 3.38 G/GP
Chicago 2013 - 2.78 G/GP
L.A. 2012 - 2.85 G/GP
Boston 2011 - 3.24 G/GP

Do we note something of a trend? Most of them scored at, or above 3 G/GP.

Meanwhile, lets take a gander at Montreal's scoring in those same playoffs (less 2012, because, well, you know).

2.43, 1.80, 3.00, 2.08

So, we made the conference finals once, and it was the year where we could actually score.

...who here thinks we should get more scoring?

 

[NotProkofievian]

So the secret was Antoine Vermette and a washed up Kimmo Timonen?

I get it, Chicago stepped up in the playoffs and performed. Good teams generally do this. Had Montreal scored 3 goals per game in the playoffs they're likely in the finals too. But you wouldn't expect a team to drop 0.6 goals per game in the playoffs like Montreal did. Montreal sucked in the playoffs and couldn't score. Call it a slump or bad luck, the offense dried up. But let's not pretend they are completely devoid of talent. They were pretty even with Chicago all season long, over 82 games.

No, the secret is having top offensive players. You can't exactly call it a slump when we were bottom 10 in scoring all year. If you look at teams who scored less than us, none of them were in the playoffs. It doesn't exactly take a rigorous statistical analysis to predict our scoring problems in the playoffs.

 

[Help]

-Less dump and chase, more controlled zone entries
-Enough of always making the safe play, take some risks in the o-zone, more east-west passing on the PP, get their goalie moving.
-Get the D more involved in the rush, having that extra passing opinion is so, so useful

-Most importantly: Fix the breakout. Your offensive attack begins with exiting your own zone. Flicking the puck off the glass just to get it out of the zone is no way to start your offense. There's a time and place for it (when there's literally no other option), but these past two years the team has been doing it far too much

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

My plan would be to let the kids progress and fit in long-term scoring roles. Though, in the short-term, I would try and patch the holes with UFA signatures.

1. I would trade Gilbert to a team in need of an unexpensive, decent D. That would set us to 10.4M under the salary cap.

2. Signing Galchenyuk to a 2 years, 6M bridge deal (That set us to 7.4M under salary cap).

3. Sign Frolik to a 4 years, 16M deal to fill the gap (3.4 under salary cap).

4. Inject an offensive/skilled prospect in the lineup to provide some depth scoring.

Next season I would ice a lineup of:

Pacioretty - Desharnais - Gallagher
Galchenyuk - Plekanec - Frolik
Andrighetto - Eller - DSP
Prust - Mitchell - Weise

 

[Karl Pilkington]

-Less dump and chase, more controlled zone entries
-Enough of always making the safe play, take some risks in the o-zone, more east-west passing on the PP, get their goalie moving.
-Get the D more involved in the rush, having that extra passing opinion is so, so useful

-Most importantly: Fix the breakout. Your offensive attack begins with exiting your own zone. Flicking the puck off the glass just to get it out of the zone is no way to start your offense. There's a time and place for it (when there's literally no other option), but these past two years the team has been doing it far too much

With PK, Petry, Beaulieu and Markov.... how can't the Habs have a sophisticated break-out next year? I feel like this will be a summer of reflection for MT... hopefully he can come back next season and make these basic systematic changes everyone has been clamoring for.

 

[Saint Patrick]

There is absolutely no reason for the team to be as bad as it is offensively. Its all on Therrien and his dumbass system.

We just have to get used to the idea that this team is a grinding team, he said it himself. We will continue grinding it out, winning games by one goal, I dont see how that would change with Therrien at the helm.

 

[Brainiac]

With PK, Petry, Beaulieu and Markov.... how can't the Habs have a sophisticated break-out next year? I feel like this will be a summer of reflection for MT... hopefully he can come back next season and make these basic systematic changes everyone has been clamoring for.

Good point. If MT insists on a safety first system with these 4 guys on the ice 80% of the time, there's just no hope.

Let PK, Petry and Beaulieu join the rush a little more. Let Markov make these cross-ice passes only he has the secret to.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Good point. If MT insists on a safety first system with these 4 guys on the ice 80% of the time, there's just no hope.

Let PK, Petry and Beaulieu join the rush a little more. Let Markov make these cross-ice passes only he has the secret to.

and risk not getting the puck deep?

MADNESS!!

 

[realtalk11]

Get frolik a 4.5m/ per.

lol

 

[Montreal Impact FC]

Semin perhaps? A cheap deal 1y + option.

 

[gunnerdom]

If we can figure out the power play.... it would already a massive improvement on our offensive stats. I don't even mean being one of the best on the PP, just middle of the road would be enough.

We don't even gain momentum on the PP, we lose it. If affects the whole game negatively.

 

[TychoFan]

Edit: Double post

 

[TychoFan]

Why are the Red Wings so low? Zetterberg, Datysuk, Tatar, Nyqvist, Franzen (if he plays). Even Sheahan and Abdelkader are likely to be around 40 points.

I feel that Datsyuk/Zetterberg will slow down. That's just me though. The rest is kinda a huge dropoff.

The Hawks are first on the OP's list. They scored a grand total of 6 more goals than Montreal did last year. Six. At even strength they outscored Montreal by 3 goals over the course of the 82 game regular season. And they won the Stanley Cup.

I don't actually think they're the best, I wrote that very quickly, as stated, the main point was to show that we have a bottom 10 forward core in the long run. You'd be crazy say our forward group compares to theirs though.

 

[hockeyfan2k11]

This...rid the team of the entire coaching staff. You have no hope with this clown behind the bench.

 

[CGG]

I feel that Datsyuk/Zetterberg will slow down. That's just me though. The rest is kinda a huge dropoff.



I don't actually think they're the best, I wrote that very quickly, as stated, the main point was to show that we have a bottom 10 forward core in the long run. You'd be crazy say our forward group compares to theirs though.

Oh yeah, Chicago's forward core is absolutely better than ours. But it only allowed them to score 6 more goals than Montreal last season though. And they'll lose Sharp, plus probably a few others. We lost Parenteau.

Point being, we're really not that far behind. Bottom 10 on paper last year for offense, but Chicago really wasn't much better. A few more goals (like 10) would make Montreal respectable. We don't have to sign a Gretzky in his prime. We need, like 10 more goals. Figuring out how to score on the PP with all of our weapons would be a huge start.

 

[dzd ncnfzd]

new coach

This. All the way.

We have a good, quite mobile defense corps. We should have a good transition game. There is a time and a place for chip and chase, but with the quality of our goaltender we should take more chances on an attacking, more up-tempo game, skating out of the zone and into the opposition zone. The inevitable occasional counter attacks can be taken care of by the one player holding back and our gem of a goal tender.

Lets change the coach and lets play Hockey. (Boy I miss the '70's...)

 

[Tyson]

What are you all talking about. MB fixed the offense today signing some fella named Flynn. We are GTG. He also added to more top 6 players at the deadline, Smith-Pelly, and Mitchell. We are there!

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

There is absolutely no reason for the team to be as bad as it is offensively. Its all on Therrien and his dumbass system.

We just have to get used to the idea that this team is a grinding team, he said it himself. We will continue grinding it out, winning games by one goal, I dont see how that would change with Therrien at the helm.

We have Weise, DSP and Flynn who take 3 RW spots on our team, and Bournival/Prust two LW spots on the other side. This just isn't a very good offensive team.