HF Habs: Montreal Canadiens Hockey Ops (Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton, etc.)

[Runner77]

Implementing an exciting brand of hockey will help.

If I'm an offensive player looking for a 2-3 year contract, why would I ever choose Montreal since my offensive numbers are gonna die on the vine and I'll lose millions on my next contract?

That’s no longer the case, if Hughes is to be believed:



Offence, possession, speed.

As a player agent, he knows that a player’s offensive numbers drive contract numbers. He’s offering an environment that will do just that.

Now, what is that “perfect world” he was referring to? Probably the one that will result from having implemented his management strategies and after having hired his “modern coach”, conceivably one that communicates and understands players on their level and who will favor an offensive playbook.

 

[salbutera]

Godin & Basu’s article in this mornings The Athletic article (interview w Hughes) pretty much says there will be no prolonged rebuild for the Habs as an NHL team, the long rebuild will be in reorganizing the orgs approach to amateur scouting & player development.

The Canadiens might not be preparing to go through a rebuild in the traditional hockey sense of the word. But they are definitely trying to rebuild something. A sense of pride. A sense of direction. A roadmap to days in the not-too-distant future when they can legitimately aspire to win a Stanley Cup.

Hughes and Gorton have a lot to do between now and then in putting their stamp on this team. But the work — that rebuild — will truly begin when the Canadiens report to training camp next fall.

 

[Runner77]

Godin & Basu’s article in this mornings The Athletic article (interview w Hughes) pretty much says there will be no prolonged rebuild for the Habs as an NHL team, the long rebuild will be in reorganizing the orgs approach to amateur scouting & player development.

Could they have been any more cryptic?

Their waxing poetic stylings remind me of a torch ceremony.

The rebuild that is not a rebuild (they don’t know what it is either but then they go back to calling it a rebuild), becomes a rebuild of tradition of sorts. What happened to having an editor review and tighten up content before it’s published?

The rebuild that isn’t but could be begins at training camp? Are these guys for real? What kind of licence for failed effect were they overusing?

I must say I was enjoying all that Athletic free content that W3K provided earlier but now that I’ve read the fantastical excerpt you provided, I am not subscribing.

 

[salbutera]

Could they have been any more cryptic?

Their waxing poetic stylings remind me of a torch ceremony.

The rebuild that is not a rebuild (they don’t know what it is either but then they go back to calling it a rebuild), becomes a rebuild of tradition of sorts. What happened to having an editor review and tighten up content before it’s published?

The rebuild that isn’t but could be begins at training camp? Are these guys for real? What kind of licence for failed effect were they overusing?

I must say I was enjoying all that Athletic free content that W3K provided earlier but now that I’ve read the fantastical excerpt you provided, I am not subscribing.

I actually think this is the most transparent the org has ever been. There will be a rebuild - the entire approach to amateur scouting & player development will be “scorched earth”

But…

Whether Gorton & Hughes have come to the conclusion or have been mandated by ownership consortium (or a bit of both) that Yotes/Sabres full tear down of NHL team and long rebuild path will not happen.

 

[Mandalorian]

Godin & Basu’s article in this mornings The Athletic article (interview w Hughes) pretty much says there will be no prolonged rebuild for the Habs as an NHL team, the long rebuild will be in reorganizing the orgs approach to amateur scouting & player development.

Not surprising, really. That's how it's done in Montreal, no long rebuild.

What is considered a long rebuild vs a reset tho? Is 3 years before expecting a team competiting for the playoff too long? Do they plan to fight for a wildcard sport a soon as 2023-2024 or even earlier?

I'm curious to see how they plan to make this team competitive again in the short-term without going through a serious rebuild. Do they keep the older guys (Petry, Price, Gallagher, Toffoli) and try to build on that core and go with the Price end of window until he retires? There will need to be some good hockey trades and maybe 1 or 2 good UFA signing, plus payer development and amateur scouting will have to be really improved. Can our '22 and possibly '23 high pick have a impact soon enough to turn the ship around before say 2025-2026?

 

[Captain Mountain]

Could they have been any more cryptic?

Their waxing poetic stylings remind me of a torch ceremony.

The rebuild that is not a rebuild (they don’t know what it is either but then they go back to calling it a rebuild), becomes a rebuild of tradition of sorts. What happened to having an editor review and tighten up content before it’s published?

The rebuild that isn’t but could be begins at training camp? Are these guys for real? What kind of licence for failed effect were they overusing?

I must say I was enjoying all that Athletic free content that W3K provided earlier but now that I’ve read the fantastical excerpt you provided, I am not subscribing.

The gist of the article was the Habs ARE rebuilding, its just very clearly not going to be a tear it down to the studs rebuild (a la Arizona). Which is fine. Hughes was pretty clear about it.

I also generally enjoyed the article. Apart from them starting off with the dictionary definition of "rebuild", which gave me Vietnam flashbacks to middle-school public speaking.

 

[WeThreeKings]

The gist of the article was the Habs ARE rebuilding, its just very clearly not going to be a tear it down to the studs rebuild (a la Arizona). Which is fine. Hughes was pretty clear about it.

I also generally enjoyed the article. Apart from them starting off with the dictionary definition of "rebuild", which gave me Vietnam flashbacks to middle-school public speaking.

The Habs are rebuilding they are just not trading everyone for draft picks, which made sense anyways.

Like the Coyotes are trading Chychrun, that's just stupid.. then the Buffalo allusions are probably talking about how they moved Reinhart, ROR etc which is guys they probably woudl keep in Montreal.

Things will be different for Petry, Gallagher, Price and guys who are in their 30s.. but obviously someone like Anderson, Dvorak aren't going to be moved, they are part of the team.

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
XXX-XXX-Anderson
Pitlick-Dvorak-XXX
XXX-Evans-Poehling

Romanov-XXX
Edmundson-XXX
XXX-XXX

Price or Allen
Montembeault

Looks like what will be left of the team after 2 years of the current group. That's not a full tear down but it's a pretty big rebuild.

 

[Runner77]

I actually think this is the most transparent the org has ever been. There will be a rebuild - the entire approach to amateur scouting & player development will be “scorched earth”

But…

Wither Gorton & Hughes have come to the conclusion or have been mandated by ownership consortium (or a bit of both) that Yotes/Sabres full tear down of NHL team and long rebuild path will not happen.

We already know that Hughes and Gorton will not decide if there is a rebuild and what kind (if you can even call it that).

What’s Geoffy saying these days? Will he go back to the same kind of mandate that the ownership group gave Bergevin? Or maybe assort it with a little more time?

Geoffy has a crumbled network audience share to cater to, new loges to sell and pandemic related losses to recoup. Is he going to want his management to roster an assortment that won’t be able to be competitive quickly?

“Rebuilding a sense of pride and … direction”. What does that even mean?

 

[Runner77]

The gist of the article was the Habs ARE rebuilding, its just very clearly not going to be a tear it down to the studs rebuild (a la Arizona). Which is fine. Hughes was pretty clear about it.

I also generally enjoyed the article. Apart from them starting off with the dictionary definition of "rebuild", which gave me Vietnam flashbacks to middle-school public speaking.

To be fair, I was only commenting on the excerpts provided here. I do not have access to the full piece. Based on what was posted, I can’t tell what they’re talking about. I’m not commenting on what I have not read.

 

[1909]

The Habs are rebuilding they are just not trading everyone for draft picks, which made sense anyways.

Like the Coyotes are trading Chychrun, that's just stupid.. then the Buffalo allusions are probably talking about how they moved Reinhart, ROR etc which is guys they probably woudl keep in Montreal.

Things will be different for Petry, Gallagher, Price and guys who are in their 30s.. but obviously someone like Anderson, Dvorak aren't going to be moved, they are part of the team.

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
XXX-XXX-Anderson
Pitlick-Dvorak-XXX
XXX-Evans-Poehling

Romanov-XXX
Edmundson-XXX
XXX-XXX

Price or Allen
Montembeault

Looks like what will be left of the team after 2 years of the current group. That's not a full tear down but it's a pretty big rebuild.

I am not that sure that Caufield will make the team next season. And I certainly would keep Lehkonen. Savard will still be around on RD. And Byron too.

Gonna be hard to get rid of Hoffman, Drouin, Gally. Petry seems to be on his way out as well as Chiarot.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Just with losing of Shea Weber and Phillip Danault that's a already the begin of "rebuild", Habs lose his identity with losing both.

 

[NineteenSixtyFive]

That’s no longer the case, if Hughes is to be believed:



Offence, possession, speed.

As a player agent, he knows that a player’s offensive numbers drive contract numbers. He’s offering an environment that will do just that.

Now, what is that “perfect world” he was referring to? Probably the one that will result from having implemented his management strategies and after having hired his “modern coach”, conceivably one that communicates and understands players on their level and who will favor an offensive playbook.

They already are offensive. I'm offended by the midway point of the first period each game.

Still think they should move on from DD. Give someone interim tag and let him run the show for the next 38 games. DD has to know he's going to be fired. What value is there in letting him continue.?

 

[Vachon23]

The Habs are rebuilding they are just not trading everyone for draft picks, which made sense anyways.

Like the Coyotes are trading Chychrun, that's just stupid.. then the Buffalo allusions are probably talking about how they moved Reinhart, ROR etc which is guys they probably woudl keep in Montreal.

Things will be different for Petry, Gallagher, Price and guys who are in their 30s.. but obviously someone like Anderson, Dvorak aren't going to be moved, they are part of the team.

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
XXX-XXX-Anderson
Pitlick-Dvorak-XXX
XXX-Evans-Poehling

Romanov-XXX
Edmundson-XXX
XXX-XXX

Price or Allen
Montembeault

Looks like what will be left of the team after 2 years of the current group. That's not a full tear down but it's a pretty big rebuild.

That's what I would do too, I think Savard will stay though. Don't think they will be a big market for him and with our RD depth we can keep him on a 3rd pair helping our young D

 

[Runner77]

They already are offensive. I'm offended by the midway point of the first period each game.

I was going to go with the “offended” angle but the first user comment to the Tweet I posted said just that so I bailed.

We’re all offended in spades. Question will be the point at which we’ll have had our fill. I can’t believe how we have so many posters here still following the team as intently.

 

[SwiftyHab]

To be fair, I was only commenting on the excerpts provided here. I do not have access to the full piece. Based on what was posted, I can’t tell what they’re talking about. I’m not commenting on what I have not read.

Can anyone with access summarize the articles in the atheltic

 

[Mandalorian]

It all depends on what the long term plan is which I believe is a rebuild. I disagree that they're going to rebound as quickly as you think. With the exception of Harris (maybe), I don't think any young D should be stepping in next year. Even Guhle should get time in Laval. There's no one stepping in at the forward position who's going to make a difference (Ylonen being the only guy who's a possibility). Then there's Caulfield. Jury is still out on him. I personally think he's just too small. Primeau, I'm not sold on either.
This team is going know where without at least a number 1 player in every position, which they currently do not have. You don't just aquire these types of players. They need high picks to draft and develop.
This situation will not be fixed quickly. Drafting middle of the pack keeps them in pretty much the same situation they've been in. Sure, we can hope scouting and development will be better, but you're probably not drafting a franchise player at the 15th pick. This team lack star power and definitely super star power. They haven't had a first overall pick in over 40 years. If it wasn't for Roy, we'd be at 22 cups instead of 24 right now. Next year is the best shot they've had at a generational talent in decades.

It won't happen man, don't hope for a long rebuild with lots of vets being moved and tons of prospect and picks aquired.

We are in Montreal, and with Geoff Molson at the realm, this is not the way things will go.

We are still in the honeymoon phase, with the hiring of Hughes and Gorton getting tons of positive feedback from fans, I hope this reset/retool/rebuild of the organization will be successful. It would suck for things to go south again and realize with shot ourselves in the foot once again for not going for a full-rebuild while we still had interesting assets to sell. I want this new management to succeed, otherwise, what is left for the Habs? We hired highly competent and experienced people here, can't see how Molson could do better for his next hiring and find a way to sell it to fans if the Gorton/Hughes plan fails to meet expectations.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Can anyone with access summarize the articles in the atheltic

go back a few pages and I posted all interesting quotes