Proposal: Montreal and their Centre woes

[Porter Stoutheart]

Habs should double down on forcing Galcheynuk (or Drouin) into a top line C role. It maybe never worked yet with them, but they are young and should still be able to learn/develop. Sure they might look more like wingers thus far, but the Habs aren't finding any answers anywhere else... can't they just bite the bullet and put some serious time into pounding on the square pegs in the meantime?

 

[Habs Halifax]

People are really underrating Montreal's D... It's a solid group of vets that will get the job done. The team will be top 3 once again in lowest GA, most of that achievement is on Price but the guys in front of him support him well too.

It's not sexy but it will be a very solid wall in front of Price that will be making very few mistakes. You will notice some trends in what MB has been doing:

1) Getting rid of guys who made a lot of critical mistakes and took stupid penalties, Barbereio Emelin, Beaulieu, Pateryn. All in favour of vets with size who make steady decisions.

2) brought costs down. Montreal's D was top 3 most expensive in the league the last few seasons, right now it's #9. Obviously that savings right now is sitting in free cap space, but that's room to improve the offence which I assume will happen at some point between now and February.

A lot of fans are angry about losing Markov, I loved him too, my favourite Hab, but let's face it he was old and slowing down, and not worth 5-7$ million.

Great post! Most will not admit it though. It's too easy to critize the Habs and say we are "doomed" year after year and we continue to prove people wrong year after year. Are we a Legit top 5 Stanley Cup contender? No, but we are a definite top 10 NHL team. We are not the only ones in the same boat and far less dooms day comments are said towards the other teams.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Habs should double down on forcing Galcheynuk (or Drouin) into a top line C role. It maybe never worked yet with them, but they are young and should still be able to learn/develop. Sure they might look more like wingers thus far, but the Habs aren't finding any answers anywhere else... can't they just bite the bullet and put some serious time into pounding on the square pegs in the meantime?

If no trade happens, that is what will happen. Galchenyuk and/or Drouin will be tried at center for sure. Is it ideal? No, but it's our best option if we are not able to upgrade via trade market.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don't understand why some people are convinced that:
A) Nuge is being shopped
B) The Oilers are desperate to free up cap space.

We're fine cap-wise this year. Our forward depth is arguably the best in the league (Pens obviously are there too). Nuge is versatile enough to play up and down the lineup in a multitude of roles. But we're going to trade him for futures out of (phantom) desperation? No thanks.

Next season? Possibly, but with a bounce back season this year Nuge could be a hot commodity at the draft next year. I could see a team like Vegas being interested once they see how overmatched they are down the middle this year.

Doesn't mean the Oilers will not listen to offers this year. They are likely not in any rush but they will listen and if a trade makes sense, why not pull the trigger now? All depends on what the offers are and how the Oilers feel it address their needs today and for the future cap issues they may face.

 

[Hostile Offer]

People are really underrating Montreal's D... It's a solid group of vets that will get the job done. The team will be top 3 once again in lowest GA, most of that achievement is on Price but the guys in front of him support him well too.

It's not sexy but it will be a very solid wall in front of Price that will be making very few mistakes. You will notice some trends in what MB has been doing:

1) Getting rid of guys who made a lot of critical mistakes and took stupid penalties, Barbereio Emelin, Beaulieu, Pateryn. All in favour of vets with size who make steady decisions.

2) brought costs down. Montreal's D was top 3 most expensive in the league the last few seasons, right now it's #9. Obviously that savings right now is sitting in free cap space, but that's room to improve the offence which I assume will happen at some point between now and February.

A lot of fans are angry about losing Markov, I loved him too, my favourite Hab, but let's face it he was old and slowing down, and not worth 5-7$ million.

Agreed. Our bottom 4 looks really solid. Sure, we're missing that top pairing LD which we had in Markov but honestly, I don't think he performed that well in his last two years either. We would still need him but he was, frankly, quite a bit overrated. That said, it doesn't make Jerabek or Streit a good replacement for him (unless Jerabek somehow proves us all wrong and has a magical season next to Weber).

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

I never said our center depth is fine. I said that we don't really know what our center depth is. Galchenyuk has had been really good as a center for significant stretches. Can he find a bit more stability this year at the position? I don't know, but I would rather give him a shot to start the season than to trade our leading scorer in Pacioretty for another question mark at center.

Danault is going into his 3rd full season. You mention Bozak, well if Danault can have the same jump in offense that Bozak did going from his second to third season than he'll be solidify himself as a 2C as he already has the defensive game.

So again, I would much rather give the guys we have a shot to establish themselves than give the high end assets required to acquire a center right now. This team has shown it's good enough to compete with the centers we have (something that your Leafs never did). If they aren't good enough, upgrade at the deadline.

Our centers have a shot at developing and being good enough, or LD likely does not. Hence fix that problem now, judge the centers tomorrow.

This team has shown nothing with our current centers... Unless your standards stop at regular season achievement.

It's like saying our centers were good enough with Desharnais, Plekanec and Eller.

Can we aim a little bit more higher than regular season.

 

[1909]

If no trade happens, that is what will happen. Galchenyuk and/or Drouin will be tried at center for sure. Is it ideal? No, but it's our best option if we are not able to upgrade via trade market.

Exactly. And then Danault can play on a second line, or even better on a third if Habs could get rid of Plekanec.

 

[1909]

Agreed. Our bottom 4 looks really solid. Sure, we're missing that top pairing LD which we had in Markov but honestly, I don't think he performed that well in his last two years either. We would still need him but he was, frankly, quite a bit overrated. That said, it doesn't make Jerabek or Streit a good replacement for him (unless Jerabek somehow proves us all wrong and has a magical season next to Weber).

Alzner can play with Weber 5 v 5. Jerabek por Streit can play on a bottom pairing, but with Weber on PP

 

[Hostile Offer]

Alzner can play with Weber 5 v 5. Jerabek por Streit can play on a bottom pairing, but with Weber on PP

Alzner and Weber would provide one hell of a shutdown pair but that's not solely what we want our top pair to do.

 

[Benstheman]

Alzner can play with Weber 5 v 5. Jerabek por Streit can play on a bottom pairing, but with Weber on PP

Drouin will play the point with Weber on the PP

 

[glenbuis]

What? Aside from his first 10 games he was beyond average. He put up his lowest point total in 10 years (aside from lockout season) last year. You can say he is still good on D, but who is there to generate offense from the blueline? Subban, Markov, and Serg all gone.

Montreal has one of the least mobile D in the NHL. Teams are going to have fun in the slot with that sub par D group and C group. Price will need to stop multiple shots from the slot a night.

I would be surprised if they made the playoffs not in a wild card spot.

Bolts
Sens
Leafs
Sabres
Boston

Are ALL better teams, and almost all of them got better while the Habs got even worse.

Will see about that. I think the d is tougher and better.

 

[Sypher04]

Great post! Most will not admit it though. It's too easy to critize the Habs and say we are "doomed" year after year and we continue to prove people wrong year after year. Are we a Legit top 5 Stanley Cup contender? No, but we are a definite top 10 NHL team. We are not the only ones in the same boat and far less dooms day comments are said towards the other teams.

I don't see how Montreal can be classified "a definite top 10 NHL team". That's feels pretty optimistic. You're more of a bubble team.

 

[Benstheman]

I don't see how Montreal can be classified "a definite top 10 NHL team". That's feels pretty optimistic. You're more of a bubble team.

Why??

We won atlantic division last year.

If you think going from Markov to Alzner is a major downgrade for the team, so they become a bubble team, i don't know what to say to you.

Markov was our 3rd D behind Weber and Petry last year. So will Alzner. I agree Markov was way better offensively but Alzner is arguably better defensively.

Other thing, Schlemko is better than Emelin or Beaulieu. So defensively, the group isn't worst than last year.

Offensively, maybe Byron drops a notch from his last years production but Plekanec (contract year), Galchenyuk (major injurie last year) and specificaly Lehkonen will probably all have better season than last year.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

Brassard is your man.

What do you have in return?

 

[Hostile Offer]

Brassard is your man.

What do you have in return?

Galchenyuk for Brassard+

 

[steveat]

At this juncture, I would hazzard a guess that the Canadiennes need to offersheet someone(s) to get what they want.

I don't think you guys have the assets anymore (player-wise) and need to take from your future if you want to win now.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don't see how Montreal can be classified "a definite top 10 NHL team". That's feels pretty optimistic. You're more of a bubble team.

Over the last 5 seasons (including the disaster 2015-2016 season), we are ranked 8th in regular season pts. Yeah, we have scoring problems in the playoffs and our best player is Price and we apparently rely on him too much... blah blah blah. Same old story every year where people estimate the Habs finishing much lower than they end up.

You don't see it and you feel it's optimistic? I wonder what you would of said towards the Habs heading into last season where we won our division with 103 pts? Evidence proves we are a top 10 team and we will continue to be a very good NHL team with the core we have for the next 5 years. Get use to it. The oldest part of our core is 32 (Weber). And our age 25 and under core (Galchenyuk, Drouin, Gallagher, Lehkonen, Danault, Shaw, Davidson, Hudon, McCarron, DLR) is actually very solid.

 

[Habs Halifax]

At this juncture, I would hazzard a guess that the Canadiennes need to offersheet someone(s) to get what they want.

I don't think you guys have the assets anymore (player-wise) and need to take from your future if you want to win now.

People act like there are never any trades where a combo of 1st round picks and prospects are traded. Habs have none of these eh? lol Heck, when we had Sergachev, people were saying we still had no prospects to trade with. What a joke!

 

[Habs Halifax]

Will see about that. I think the d is tougher and better.

People are focusing on offensive defenseman a bit too much IMO. Yeah, it's nice to have but what the Habs have built in depth is a very solid mix of reliable and experienced guys on the back end in front of Price. Add the speed we have up front and I think were in the thick of things again this year if we can avoid the injury bug. They key is 2 things.

1) Can Galchenyuk or Drouin (or both) play center in the NHL.

2) If one guy takes the #1C role (item 1), then what do we do with our cap space!

 

[angry pirate]

This team has shown nothing with our current centers... Unless your standards stop at regular season achievement.

It's like saying our centers were good enough with Desharnais, Plekanec and Eller.

Can we aim a little bit more higher than regular season.

My standards don't ignore regular season achievement.

Please tell me which playoff games we are judging our young centers effectiveness from. Danault's 6 games in his first full season as an NHL center? Has Galchenyuk even played a full game at center in the playoffs?

Unless you have access to some other stats that I'm unaware of, we pretty much only have regular season stats to judge these guys from. Which circles back to my entire point in that our centers have shown promise. Instead of trading away everything we have to try and get a Matt Duchene maybe we give them a chance to show us what they have this year. We know what Galchenyuk is capable of, if he can show consistency he'll have the offence of an Elite #1, can he do the rest? Danault had a breakout season last year, can he repeat or was it only circumstance? These are questions I don't have the answer to.

But if these two grow into their roles than we might just have a solid 1-2 punch without creating other holes in our offense. If they don't, than there should be some good top 6 centers available at the deadline that won't cost roster players. Then we go after RNH in the offseason when Edmonton needs to clear cap space.

We can tread water until the deadline and make a decision then if our centers are good enough to go into the playoffs with. Again, our centers have shown they can get us into the playoffs.

 

[Habs Halifax]

My standards don't ignore regular season achievement.

Please tell me which playoff games we are judging our young centers effectiveness from. Danault's 6 games in his first full season as an NHL center? Has Galchenyuk even played a full game at center in the playoffs?

Unless you have access to some other stats that I'm unaware of, we pretty much only have regular season stats to judge these guys from. Which circles back to my entire point in that our centers have shown promise. Instead of trading away everything we have to try and get a Matt Duchene maybe we give them a chance to show us what they have this year. We know what Galchenyuk is capable of, if he can show consistency he'll have the offence of an Elite #1, can he do the rest? Danault had a breakout season last year, can he repeat or was it only circumstance? These are questions I don't have the answer to.

But if these two grow into their roles than we might just have a solid 1-2 punch without creating other holes in our offense. If they don't, than there should be some good top 6 centers available at the deadline that won't cost roster players. Then we go after RNH in the offseason when Edmonton needs to clear cap space.

We can tread water until the deadline and make a decision then if our centers are good enough to go into the playoffs with. Again, our centers have shown they can get us into the playoffs.

Great post. Just imagine that... a small positive outlook for the Habs

 

[Sypher04]

Alzner is a shell of his former self.

For everyone getting up in arms about me not agreeing Montreal is a top 10 team in the NHL with their suspect defense and center group.

Please tell me, which of these teams Montreal is better than. Because from where I'm standing, the answer is zero.

Washington
Pittsburgh
New York Rangers
Columbus
Tampa Bay
Anaheim
Chicago
Nashville
St. Louis
Edmonton
Minnesota
San Jose

And there a bunch of debatables after this point, which as I've said, will make them firmly a bubble team.

 

[Rafafouille]

Alzner is a shell of his former self.

For everyone getting up in arms about me not agreeing Montreal is a top 10 team in the NHL with their suspect defense and center group.

Please tell me, which of these teams Montreal is better than. Because from where I'm standing, the answer is zero.

Washington
Pittsburgh
New York Rangers
Columbus
Tampa Bay
Anaheim
Chicago
Nashville
St. Louis
Edmonton
Minnesota
San Jose

And there a bunch of debatables after this point, which as I've said, will make them firmly a bubble team.

San Jose, st Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Tampa Bay, NYR.

 

[Hostile Offer]

San Jose, st Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Tampa Bay, NYR.

We aren't better than Nashville or TB, the rest are debatable and so is Minnesota.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

San Jose, st Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Tampa Bay, NYR.

No way is Montreal better then Nashville or Tampa Bay, Not even close.