Speculation: Let's face the truth, this is not a good team.

[bsl]

Our mediocrity is exposed because in the past week or two we have faced three of the toughest teams in the league: San Jose, Colorado, and St-Louis.

You should know better DA.

 

[billy piton]

I think we do have a depth to make the team better. Beaulieu + 1st could fetch us a really good top 6 forward. The trouble is that we don't have a capspace because bergevin wasted it on dd&db.

We don't need another top pairing d-man, since we already have two of them. Also, i don't think top line center is must have, since we have 3 good to great 2nd line centers production-wise, and established top centers are impossible to get anyway.

We need some scoring depth on the wings to play three legitimate scoring lines, and a shutdown center to play on checking line with moen and prust.

Would that be one of the top five contenders in the league? Probably not yet, but if galchenyuk, eller and gallagher continue to progress it wouldn't be out of question even this year...

 

[bsl]

This board is just too depressing sometimes with all of it's Chicken Littles. I'll come back after we've won 2-3 in a row and people here are positive again.

Thanks for your input.

 

[bsl]

I honestly think things are going to be different now that we are done our Western Conference heavy schedule. The team survived the stretch still sitting in a playoff spot.

Habs are not in a playoff spot. Not that I care this year. Boo Hoo.

But Oh yes, I will care very much next year. Given that Price, Subby, Max, are prime, and Gally , Galch are ready, and Prust has 3 good years left.

Bergy, get your ass going and make some trades.

This is Bergy's summer. He blows it this year. **** of very much.

 

[Monctonscout]

I think we do have a depth to make the team better. Beaulieu + 1st could fetch us a really good top 6 forward. The trouble is that we don't have a capspace because bergevin wasted it on dd&db.

We don't need another top pairing d-man, since we already have two of them. Also, i don't think top line center is must have, since we have 3 good to great 2nd line centers production-wise, and established top centers are impossible to get anyway.

We need some scoring depth on the wings to play three legitimate scoring lines, and a shutdown center to play on checking line with moen and prust.

Would that be one of the top five contenders in the league? Probably not yet, but if galchenyuk, eller and gallagher continue to progress it wouldn't be out of question even this year...

I don't see how trading Beaulieu(plus a first) for a short term fix is smart on any level.

With the Habs situation, unless a stud prospect is coming back, the young players should be off limits.

 

[LastChancePrice]

aHHH In montreal, its always the same story.

Win 3 in a row and we are Stanley Cup Contender
Lose 3 in a row and we go bankrupt.

 

[Monctonscout]

Habs are not in a playoff spot. Not that I care this year. Boo Hoo.

But Oh yes, I will care very much next year. Given that Price, Subby, Max, are prime, and Gally , Galch are ready, and Prust has 3 good years left.

Bergy, get your ass going and make some trades.

This is Bergy's summer. He blows it this year. **** of very much.

6th place in the conference IS a playoff spot. 3 points from 1st in the division...but they should "blow it up" because we have no chance of making up those 3 huge points in the next measley 66 games.

 

[bsl]

Hopefully the inexperienced GM is taking notes and learning from his mistakes.

Do not want a Habs GM that makes mistakes. Had Sam Pollock.

 

[billy piton]

I don't see how trading Beaulieu(plus a first) for a short term fix is smart on any level.

With the Habs situation, unless a stud prospect is coming back, the young players should be off limits.

why? we had six top 60 picks in last two drafts plus our core is still very young. i don't see why trading beaulieu and first for another 25-26 yo top6 winger should be off limits.

Imo, if nygren continue to play well in hamilton, beaulieu is gone by the trade deadline.

 

[dutchy29]

Our mediocrity is exposed because in the past week or two we have faced three of the toughest teams in the league: San Jose, Colorado, and St-Louis.

yep... great measuring stick last 3 games, I guess we can look at it two ways. we are exposed and not really that good. or we competed in all 3 of those games and have a lot of positives to take away. namely Price is back on his game, our team is buying in to winning(ala all the blocked shots.) now we have to take a page from last season and try to play a more puck possession game, Therrien needs to be smarter behind the bench. reward good players that make an effort and produce and bench those that don't!

 

[Tuggy]

Habs are not in a playoff spot. Not that I care this year. Boo Hoo.

They are in a wildcard spot.

 

[Sorinth]

I think we do have a depth to make the team better. Beaulieu + 1st could fetch us a really good top 6 forward. The trouble is that we don't have a capspace because bergevin wasted it on dd&db.

We don't need another top pairing d-man, since we already have two of them. Also, i don't think top line center is must have, since we have 3 good to great 2nd line centers production-wise, and established top centers are impossible to get anyway.

We need some scoring depth on the wings to play three legitimate scoring lines, and a shutdown center to play on checking line with moen and prust.

Would that be one of the top five contenders in the league? Probably not yet, but if galchenyuk, eller and gallagher continue to progress it wouldn't be out of question even this year...

Even a 40pt top-9 forward with size would solidify our scoring up front. As for the D, we might not need a top pairing defenceman, but we do need a very good shutdown defenceman in the top-4. But with the Emelin re-signing my guess is that MB doesn't think this is a need.

 

[Fazkovsky]

aHHH In montreal, its always the same story.

Win 3 in a row and we are Stanley Cup Contender
Lose 3 in a row and we go bankrupt.

Exactly when you know something about professional hockey , patience is required

 

[Runner77]

I think we do have a depth to make the team better. Beaulieu + 1st could fetch us a really good top 6 forward.

A Hockey News writer apparently said on the NHL network recently that we almost had a deal where we were sending Beaulieu and Plekanec for Bobby Ryan, but Ottawa trumped us when they agreed to add a first rounder to Silfverberg.

The idea of trading Beaulieu is not far-fetched but I don't think we need to give up a first round pick -- we could probably use an existing complementary asset.

Other reason a 1st round pick is not a good idea ... as the thread title suggests, we may just have an average team this year, so that 1st round pick could be a lot more valuable than last year in terms of drafting slot.

 

[Sorinth]

A Hockey News writer apparently said on the NHL network recently that we almost had a deal where we were sending Beaulieu and Plekanec for Bobby Ryan, but Ottawa trumped us when they agreed to add a first rounder to Silfverberg.

The idea of trading Beaulieu is not far-fetched but I don't think we need to give up a first round pick -- we could probably use an existing complementary asset.

Other reason a 1st round pick is not a good idea ... as the thread title suggests, we may just have an average team this year, so that 1st round pick could be a lot more valuable than last year in terms of drafting slot.

That rumor seems odd. Anaheim was over the cap with Ryan, so getting Plekanec wouldn't do much for them, they'd still have to shed salary.

As for not trading a 1st, if we were to get someone like Ryan then we would expect it to be a late 1st (20+). Thread title doesn't really matter since the poster clearly disagreed with us being "not a good team"

 

[Runner77]

That rumor seems odd. Anaheim was over the cap with Ryan, so getting Plekanec wouldn't do much for them, they'd still have to shed salary.

Teams are routinely over the cap during the summer. There is a grace period by which they must shed salary in order to meet cap limits.

As for not trading a 1st, if we were to get someone like Ryan then we would expect it to be a late 1st (20+).

Not necessarily. I'd take the under on that. We have a nice core to build with -- just don't think we have the right mix at the moment and years of throwing away draft picks has narrowed the quality of players we could have been drawing from in Hamilton.

 

[Blind Gardien]

I don't think the difference between "good team" and "bad team" is all that great for many teams. Teams look better and worse on paper all the time, people thought the Rangers had a nice lineup, they sucked for a while (are they in the midst of turning it around now?), and on paper the Avs D looked awful, etc. Teams go up and down all the time. I mean, sure, there are going to be a few teams that go wire-to-wire as top teams, SJ looks like they'll be like that, PIT, STL maybe. And a few at the other end of the spectrum. But a majority in the middle.

So are we a "good team" or "bad team"? I think we can be both, or either. It does just depend on how the team plays. A lot goes into "how the team plays"... individual player performances, coaching, chemistry, injuries, "puck luck"... but a lot of teams can end up on either side of the "good team"/"bad team" ledger just on the basis of those things that are at least somewhat within their own control, i.e. "how the team plays".

The team is moving in a better direction in terms of player personnel, I feel, but slowly, and is definitely not maximizing its "how the team plays" potential.

 

[otto bond]

rumors like that kinda annoyed me. We Always almost get this or that player. Almost Jagr, Shannahan, Lecavalier and I can even think of Robitaill back in the day, all players I would say would have been huge for Montreal.
Via trades, it's scary to see what the habs give away vs what they got back. Sure a few nice pieces here and there but totally riped off IMO. It really started with Chelios and down hill from there. Aside from the Kovalev and Rivet trade, I can remember the last time I was saying "nice, very nice"

 

[billy piton]

Halak trade looks nice.

 

[Sorinth]

Teams are routinely over the cap during the summer. There is a grace period by which they must shed salary in order to meet cap limits.


Not necessarily. I'd take the under on that. We have a nice core to build with -- just don't think we have the right mix at the moment and years of throwing away draft picks has narrowed the quality of players we could have been drawing from in Hamilton.

The point is that they would still have to shed around 4m in salary, which means giving up other players that they depend on. They felt Silfverberg could provide similar production at a fraction of the cost. Looking at their roster they don't have many other players that can be traded for young players that could step in and fill the role.


No one is talking about throwing away draft picks. If you trade a 1st for a core player that is with you for 3-4 years then it's not throwing away. Most late 1st round picks don't ever become core players to begin with. We've traded away 1 1st round pick in 14 years, yet somehow this has killed our callup depth.

 

[otto bond]

Halak trade looks nice.

It's pretty even IMO.

 

[Runner77]

No one is talking about throwing away draft picks.

That wasn't in reference to first round picks but to picks Gauthier missed out on by not trading UFA-eligibles at the trading deadline or picks that were squandered when acquiring journeymen.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

What exactly do you mean by "team"? As a whole, we have some glaring holes in the roster we ice every day. We can use some more size. We have deadweight in Desharnais and Briere. Murray and Bouillon aren't really NHL caliber defensemen anymore.

But simply taking a look at our core is enough to convince me that this is a playoff team, and a team that is on its way to being a consistent contender.

Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Patches, Eller, Plekanec, Bournival(still early but i like what he brings),

Subban, Markov, Emelin,

Price.

With Tinordi and Beaulieu coming up, our defense will look a lot better in a year or so.
I'd say we can use a couple better wingers in our core.
Once Galchenyuk shifts to center, Galchenyuk-Plek-Eller will pivot 3 solid lines.
And we have at worst a top5 goalie.

Where does this notion of "this is not a good team" come from?

 

[otto bond]

What exactly do you mean by "team"? As a whole, we have some glaring holes in the roster we ice every day. We can use some more size. We have deadweight in Desharnais and Briere. Murray and Bouillon aren't really NHL caliber defensemen anymore.

But simply taking a look at our core is enough to convince me that this is a playoff team, and a team that is on its way to being a consistent contender.

Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Patches, Eller, Plekanec, Bournival(still early but i like what he brings),

Subban, Markov, Emelin,

Price.

With Tinordi and Beaulieu coming up, our defense will look a lot better in a year or so.
I'd say we can use a couple better wingers in our core.
Once Galchenyuk shifts to center, Galchenyuk-Plek-Eller will pivot 3 solid lines.
And we have at worst a top5 goalie.

Where does this notion of "this is not a good team" come from?

Comes from what I see overall. I will agree that we have a nice core of youth. The supporting cast just doesn't seem to fit in well.

Few question I ask to those stats Kings
What % over all do we have control of the puck during the game?
How many teams have a sub .500 record with a low puck possession%?

 

[Nitehowl]

Before the start of the season, I said this team was not very good. I was laughed at, told I was crazy...I was told that a team which finished 2nd the east in a shortened season (and subsequently demolished in the playoffs) could not possibly be bad and that we would obviously be even BETTER this year!

Well, here we are, an inconsistent team that has trouble scoring and a piss poor d-corps. To top it off we have a brutal coach, brutal specialty coaches and no team identity.

Are we a fast team? A skilled team? A tough team? A fighting team? A scoring team? A puck moving team? A defensive team?

I have no idea. I'm not able to say what this team's identity truly is. We aren't really good at any of that stuff.

How many teams have an identity?