Line Combos: Montreal Future

[26Mats]

I'm still not convinced about Domi. I just dont see him as that legit #1.
Kotka is great..so was Galch...I wont get my Hopes up that high again.

Kotkaniemi has #1 potential, Domi, high end #2. But having potential and reaching it are totally different things.

 

[Kriss E]

Kotkaniemi has #1 potential, Domi, high end #2. But having potential and reaching it are totally different things.

Ya..Galch also had that..so..I'll wait.

 

[Habs Icing]

Yes and I was wrong, it's not complete crap...its mediocre..a bubble team. Cool.

What an argument though...

Your hatred for MB blinds you to what the team is doing. That's the argument.

 

[Kriss E]

Your hatred for MB blinds you to what the team is doing. That's the argument.

Ya...right...yawn. Same crap I've been hearing for the last 3 years, pretty sure you told me that before as well when you were still cheerleading for the man, until finally jumping ship.

This has nothing to do with Bergy.
This has to do with me not believing Domi is a #1 leader or will he even still be here? Just how big of a raise are we gonna give him? , with me not expecting ~8 of our best prospects to reach their potential, with me not having faith our #2 D called “????”, with me having doubts that Price will be able to lead us anywhere in 3~4 years, with me not thinking Tatar will be here anymore, with us not knowing just how high will Kotka reach, etc.

Bergevin cross my mind for a second. I mean, will we even reach the cap floor with that group?

 

[Gravity]

This season has 2012-13 written all over it for me.
Continue the re-tool by just making the playoffs, getting beat in round 1, having a low first, multiple seconds and missing out on a Barkov or MacKinnon.
Just like in 2012-13, we thought we were set at C after drafting Galchenyuk.
So the cycle continues. Frustrating to watch.

 

[Scriptor]

This season has 2012-13 written all over it for me.
Continue the re-tool by just making the playoffs, getting beat in round 1, having a low first, multiple seconds and missing out on a Barkov or MacKinnon.
Just like in 2012-13, we thought we were set at C after drafting Galchenyuk.
So the cycle continues. Frustrating to watch.

Who knows if we are set at C, but with Kotkaniemi, Domi, Poehling, Danault and, maybe, Suzuki, we have a lot more options to be much better off than since before Koivu showed up! It's been crap since then after we unloaded/lost Muller, Damphousse and Turgeon, all to make Koivu our #1C.

 

[Goldenhands]

I'm not sure Tatar and Armia will be here in 3-4 years.

Armia should be there for sure... Big young skilled, solid 2-way game, will be extended...

 

[Goldenhands]

Very tough to project a team in 3-4 yrs from now, trades might happen, our future 1st draft picks might be high and make the team, some prospects might bust, Tatar Danault and Petry who are all UFA at the end of 2021 might be gone, traded for picks or young players... That being said, its obvious that we are headed in the right direction and that most of our top prospects are likely to have a signifiant impact on this team...

 

[ECWHSWI]

I understood his approach by saying is this a Stanley Cup Contender. But why be so negative towards young players that are developing very well in their draft +1 and +2 years? I just don't get it. We should be very happy with how our prospects are developing and the quantity we have. It's been a long time waiting for this situation and we can add more to it in the next few drafts.

The key to building a future cup contender is to build a solid prospect pool and we have done this. Our work is not done yet but it looks solid at this stage.

maybe you should try awnsering his very, very basic question...

 

[torniojaws]

I don't see the C-line the way you do, not in the medium term at least (three or four years from now). I still see Domi at C with Drouin:

1. Drouin (26,27) - Domi (26,27) - Ylonen (22, 23)
2. Poehling (22,23) - Kotkaniemi (21,22) - Suzuki (22-23)
3. Tatar (31,32) - Danault (28,29) - Gallagher (29,30)
4. Lehkonen (26,27) - Evans (25,26) - Byron (32,33)

Armia (28,29)

I'd have traded Petry for help on LD, a Brodie or someone else. We'll use brodie for illustration purposes:

Brodie (31,32) - Brook (22,23)
Romanov (21,22) - Weber (36,37)
Mete (23,24) - Juulsen (24,25)

Harris (21,22), Fleury (23,24)

1. Price (34,35)
2. Lindgren (28, 29)

Primeau (22,23) in the wings.

1. I like the speed of this lie and the skills to execute at that speed.
2. I like the puck-possession from Poehling, the sniper skills of Suzuki and the double threat from Kotkaniemi with the heavy wrist shot and the off the charts vision and hockey IQ. The puck distribution skills of all three members of this line are also sick.
3. Love the chemistry and complementary skills on this line.
4. I like the two way skills of this line and the secondary scoring potential it has.

As an aside, I love the two-way skills of every line meaning that the head coach won't need to shelter anyone on any given night, even for away games.

If they want a cup (maybe switch Domi/Drouin around depending):

1: Drouin - Joe Pavelski - Wayne Simmonds
2: Domi - Kotkaniemi - Mark Stone
3: Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
4: Tatar - Eric Staal (one last time) - Evans

Gardiner - Weber
Juulsen - Chara
Mete - Romanov

Price, if still good, otherwise trade him for someone decent enough like Mikko Koskinen
Primeau

The old-timer forwards should be cheap enough to bring some firepower for a final shot at the cup, but at a decent price.

 

[ECWHSWI]

Armia should be there for sure... Big young skilled, solid 2-way game, will be extended...

Armia is UFA in two years...

 

[TannedBum]

Armia is UFA in two years...

Who cares. He will be signed long-term after the season. Grossly underrated player.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Who cares. He will be signed long-term after the season. Grossly underrated player.

Which you grossly exagerate

 

[ECWHSWI]

Who cares. He will be signed long-term after the season. Grossly underrated player.

wild guess : Armia does.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Who knows if we are set at C, but with Kotkaniemi, Domi, Poehling, Danault and, maybe, Suzuki, we have a lot more options to be much better off than since before Koivu showed up! It's been crap since then after we unloaded/lost Muller, Damphousse and Turgeon, all to make Koivu our #1C.

Can't believe that myth is still going around and not surprised someone as biased as you would spout it.

They were traded because of their salary at a time where Molson inc was bleeding money.

But I guess putting the blame on Koivu is just so easy

 

[Kriss E]

Very tough to project a team in 3-4 yrs from now, trades might happen, our future 1st draft picks might be high and make the team, some prospects might bust, Tatar Danault and Petry who are all UFA at the end of 2021 might be gone, traded for picks or young players... That being said, its obvious that we are headed in the right direction and that most of our top prospects are likely to have a signifiant impact on this team...

I don't understand this ''we are obviously headed in the right direction'' attitude. There is nothing obvious here.
We had one good off season, one that has us fighting for the last PO spot, making us into a bubble team.
We have some interesting prospects who, well, aren't even guaranteed NHLers outside of a couple, and just as to how good they'll be...well that's unknown. We have some interesting young talent on the team, but again, they also are a bit of a mystery. Drouin and Domi are having career highs, will that be a new norm or just a career best? Not to mention, Domi and Petry are due for massive raises soon if they keep it up. We are still heavily reliant on two older vets in Weber and Price..KHL teams are starting to buy the rights of players pointing towards a possible long strike again. I'm not very convinced Price can really lead this team as of today. and he's getting injured, again.

So what is this ''right direction'' people are talking about? We are better than what most believed, that's all there is to it. One good summer doesn't make it a steady, strategic, well thought out planned. Are we on our way to contention?? I don't think so. There is a lot of work to do. We are better than last year, that's all there is to it.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I don't understand this ''we are obviously headed in the right direction'' attitude. There is nothing obvious here.
We had one good off season, one that has us fighting for the last PO spot, making us into a bubble team.
We have some interesting prospects who, well, aren't even guaranteed NHLers outside of a couple, and just as to how good they'll be...well that's unknown. We have some interesting young talent on the team, but again, they also are a bit of a mystery. Drouin and Domi are having career highs, will that be a new norm or just a career best? Not to mention, Domi and Petry are due for massive raises soon if they keep it up. We are still heavily reliant on two older vets in Weber and Price..KHL teams are starting to buy the rights of players pointing towards a possible long strike again. I'm not very convinced Price can really lead this team as of today. and he's getting injured, again.

So what is this ''right direction'' people are talking about? We are better than what most believed, that's all there is to it. One good summer doesn't make it a steady, strategic, well thought out planned. Are we on our way to contention?? I don't think so. There is a lot of work to do. We are better than last year, that's all there is to it.

Semantics. Last year we were horribad with 71 points. This year we are 2 games over .500 at the 40 game mark, on pace for 96 points. This puts us strongly in the playoff hunt, as teams over .500 usually make the playoffs.

This means we are better than last year, so the direction has been right, meaning up, and it is obvious.

Obviously we are headed in the right direction.

What Kriss is saying is that it is not obvious that we will automatically, without thought, plan or effort, continue to move up the standings next year.

He's right. Continued building of the team is possible, particularly if the glaring holes at LD are filled. However, this is not automatic or guaranteed.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Who knows if we are set at C, but with Kotkaniemi, Domi, Poehling, Danault and, maybe, Suzuki, we have a lot more options to be much better off than since before Koivu showed up! It's been crap since then after we unloaded/lost Muller, Damphousse and Turgeon, all to make Koivu our #1C.

Muller was traded for Turgeon. Your statement is completely unfair.

You could say that we traded Turgeon because Koivu came of age and we felt we needed a power forward more than three centremen so we traded the softest one with the best market value.

Damphousse was only traded many years later when he was pending UFA and the Habs felt they could not compete even if they re-signed him, so they did what most teams that are crashing do....traded their pending UFAs.

 

[Goldenhands]

Armia is UFA in two years...

Armia is RFA at the end of the season, I expect Bergevin to sign him long term...

 

[BaseballCoach]

Who cares. He will be signed long-term after the season. Grossly underrated player.

Which you grossly exagerate

I think Armia is a good player who helps the team in puck possession and complements more skilled players because he also has some skill himself.

That being said, guys like him, if overpaid, stop helping a team.

Whether we should sign him long-term depends a lot on his salary requirements.

 

[Goldenhands]

I don't understand this ''we are obviously headed in the right direction'' attitude. There is nothing obvious here.
We had one good off season, one that has us fighting for the last PO spot, making us into a bubble team.
We have some interesting prospects who, well, aren't even guaranteed NHLers outside of a couple, and just as to how good they'll be...well that's unknown. We have some interesting young talent on the team, but again, they also are a bit of a mystery. Drouin and Domi are having career highs, will that be a new norm or just a career best? Not to mention, Domi and Petry are due for massive raises soon if they keep it up. We are still heavily reliant on two older vets in Weber and Price..KHL teams are starting to buy the rights of players pointing towards a possible long strike again. I'm not very convinced Price can really lead this team as of today. and he's getting injured, again.

So what is this ''right direction'' people are talking about? We are better than what most believed, that's all there is to it. One good summer doesn't make it a steady, strategic, well thought out planned. Are we on our way to contention?? I don't think so. There is a lot of work to do. We are better than last year, that's all there is to it.

We are the youngest team in the league and have one of the top prospects pool in the league not including Kotka who is 18 yrs old already playing in the big league, if you cant figure all the potential of this franchise going foward, I dont know what it takes... We also have 3 vets that still have high value despite their contracts in Price Weber Petry, you put those names on the trade market and you obviously get ton of calls, just eat a part of their salary and they are easily tradables..

 

[GSP2018]

If they want a cup (maybe switch Domi/Drouin around depending):

1: Drouin - Joe Pavelski - Wayne Simmonds
2: Domi - Kotkaniemi - Mark Stone
3: Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
4: Tatar - Eric Staal (one last time) - Evans

Gardiner - Weber
Juulsen - Chara
Mete - Romanov

Price, if still good, otherwise trade him for someone decent enough like Mikko Koskinen
Primeau

The old-timer forwards should be cheap enough to bring some firepower for a final shot at the cup, but at a decent price.

What in the real f*** is this ? I almost peed my pants reading that line up.

 

[torniojaws]

What in the real **** is this ? I almost peed my pants reading that line up.

It's a realistic possibility they have, instead of banking on the current line-up suddenly becoming NHL scoring leaders (they won't). Montreal really needs to bring in some firepower to have a shot of any kind in the post season. It will not be cheap, and none of the real superstars want to join Habs, so they have to rely on the old-timers and get them with affordable 1 year deals. That's how I see they could have a theoretical chance to compete.

We have already seen just how good their own prospects are (hint: since 2000, they have missed the playoffs 7 times and had 5 first-round exits). They will never get to the Cup finals "on their own".

 

[ECWHSWI]

Armia is RFA at the end of the season, I expect Bergevin to sign him long term...

so you assume Armia WANT to stay a Habs long term.

 

[Goldenhands]

so you assume Armia WANT to stay a Habs long term.

Dont see any issue with that, especially considering have have 2 other Finnish on the team...