Montreal is going to be a bad team for a long time

[895]

It seems to me that Montreal is in a real bad situation.

Missed the playoffs this year and it doesn't seem like they'll get any better any time soon.

1) Overpaid for Drouin, gave him a massive contract when he hadn't proven anything at all

2) Galchenyuk hasn't really improved much at all since his rookie season 5 years ago.

3) Paying 20 point agitator Andrew Shaw 4m a year for another 4 years.

4) Paying a declining Shea Weber for another million years

5) Paying Alzner 4.6M a year for another 4 years. It was obvious to every single person in the world that this was a bad contract when it was signed.

6) Price. No goalie is worth that much, especially not an injury prone one. He has declined every season since his Hart season 3 years ago.

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[SnuggaRUDE]

With a hot goalie anything can happen. But they do have some issues to resolve.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Hot take!

I personally don't see the issue with weber or drouins contracts that everyone else does, but price and alzner are terrible deals

 

[Bounces R Way]

It is known Khaleesi

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

So you're telling me the habs have a good chance at getting Hughes and Lafreniere? That would be sick

 

[BLNY]

1. Drouin will be fine if put back where he belongs.

2. Complete fabrication. He's had an up hill battle with a dysfunctional team his whole career. He demonstrated his ability at center from January 2016 to December 2017 when he played at ppg level. Any other team would have let him learn at his natural position. This last year, ignore the +/-. His analytics were a much better indication of his work at being a 200ft player. He backchecked hard all year.

3. A mistake.

4. It still baffles me how many people don't understand the contract. Montreal isn't hindered by it. Neither is anyone he might get traded to. Nashville holds the bulk of the issues. Montreal, or any team retaining his rights, only incurs penalties if he retires before 35. If he retires after that, it's all on Nashville. AND, it gets incrementally worse the closer he gets without finishing. If he retires before the last year, Nashville gets a cap penalty of more than $20 million.

5. A mistake. I'd buy him out this summer if they can't find a cap floor team to take him. While he was modestly better in the second half, his first 40 games was among the worst I've seen from a Habs defender in my 42 years.

6. His issues aren't insurmountable. Lundqvist, Luongo, and MAF have all shown that veteran goalies can excel passed 30. Yes, he's making 2 million more than I'd like.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Those issues aren't remotely insurmountable.

 

[koyvoo]

If they can somehow even get a couple of passable top 6 C’s (I know, easier said...), then they wouldn’t have the worst base with Price in goal, Weber and Petry eating minutes on D, and actually a good group of wingers (if Drouin moves permanently to W).

Having said that, I ageee that if they don’t find a way to get some legit top 6 C’s soon, yes, it’s the bottom of hill to start the climb.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Dump on Habs thread? I'm in.

Yeah, they are structurally bad and can only solve it via buyouts .

 

[justafan22]

Those issues aren't remotely insurmountable.

They have nothing close to a 1C.

You can't win in the NHL without one.

 

[Captain Mountain]

It seems to me that Montreal is in a real bad situation.

Missed the playoffs this year and it doesn't seem like they'll get any better any time soon.

1) Overpaid for Drouin, gave him a massive contract when he hadn't proven anything at all

Paying 5.5 mil for a 23 year old is almost never debilitating long term. Drouin didn't deserve his contract and the trade was probably a bad one, but its not awful.

2) Galchenyuk hasn't really improved much at all since his rookie season 5 years ago.

He's improved, management doesn't know how to manage him is the bigger issue. But that's not really an issue to them getting better "any time soon", he's still a good player.

3) Paying 20 point agitator Andrew Shaw 4m a year for another 4 years.

Shaw has gotten 20 points or less exactly twice in his career, once in the lockout season and the other this year in 51 games. His contract is bad, but its far from the worst. And if he keeps on getting injured, he'll be LITR'd.

4) Paying a declining Shea Weber for another million years

Weber's still a high end D-man and Montreal has so many ways to deal with his contract on the tail end that it would be pretty shocking if it actually caused them serious issues in terms of them being bad for a long time.

5) Paying Alzner 4.6M a year for another 4 years. It was obvious to every single person in the world that this was a bad contract when it was signed.

Awful contract, far from the only awful contract in the league, including what bad teams have to deal with.

6) Price. No goalie is worth that much, especially not an injury prone one. He has declined every season since his Hart season 3 years ago.

I am utterly shocked that the goalie that had one of the best seasons in the history of the NHL didn't replicate it.

The contract is bad, but unless he can't bounce back from an off season this year, then he wont be a detriment to the team in the immediate future.

---

Realistically, the reason Montreal wouldn't be good for the foreseeable future is if the management group stays in place and doesn't smarten up. Which is possible, but none of what you listed are as significant impediments as you seem to think.

 

[rent free]

no they aren't. hockey isn't predicable, whatever is excepted to happen, doesn't. the opposite does. they will be a team that makes the playoffs in even years and misses the playoffs in odd years until they don't do that. price is elite enough to show us he can carry a below average team into the playoffs

 

[mja]

So you're telling me the habs have a good chance at getting Hughes and Lafreniere? That would be sick

That might actually be their way out.

 

[PucksOnNet]

The Drouin hate on here is ridiculous.

He's a talented player who was asked/forced to play C on a new team with very little support, give the guy a break.

 

[Thenameless]

So you're telling me the habs have a good chance at getting Hughes and Lafreniere? That would be sick

I'm in. Let's do it. Tank city here we come.

 

[Judas Tavares]

They play this draft well, they can start a major turn around.

 

[Favster]

This is a huge draft for the Habs. They have 4 second round picks and I'm assuming the plan is to move Pacioretty for picks/prospects. If they draft well, it could turn the organization around a lot faster than people think.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Shaw might get concussions by a gust of wind at this point, which means LTIR and 3.9 mill in cap space.

I think if the team is better, Alzner will look better, especially here. Most people only complain about a bad play when it results in a goal.

Weber is still a really good d.

Drouin struggled. He's still young and put a ton of pressure on himself more than likely.

Tampa last year missed the playoffs and that was a big WTF moment. Now they're possibly going to the cup final.

Not saying your absolutely wrong and that Montreal won't miss, but you never know what could happen. It's best to wait until mid-July to make these type of predictions/comments, especially this year. So much ufa talent and the possibility of teams needing a shake up.

 

[Pens x]

Yea they’ll battle it out with Buffalo and Ottawa for last in the Atlantic for the next several years.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I agree the Habs are in a terrible spot and they could be in trouble for years, but it's not because of the things you mentioned. We can talk about the trades/signings all we want but as long as they have as much cap space as they do, their ship won't sink because Price is making 10M or they're paying Alzner money.

The big question/issue is how is this organization going to acquire/find top 6 centers. I sure as hell don't have the slightest idea, at least when talking about near future. And until that issue gets resolved, they are in trouble.

 

[montreal]

It seems to me that Montreal is in a real bad situation.

Missed the playoffs this year and it doesn't seem like they'll get any better any time soon.

1) Overpaid for Drouin, gave him a massive contract when he hadn't proven anything at all

2) Galchenyuk hasn't really improved much at all since his rookie season 5 years ago.

3) Paying 20 point agitator Andrew Shaw 4m a year for another 4 years.

4) Paying a declining Shea Weber for another million years

5) Paying Alzner 4.6M a year for another 4 years. It was obvious to every single person in the world that this was a bad contract when it was signed.

6) Price. No goalie is worth that much, especially not an injury prone one. He has declined every season since his Hart season 3 years ago.

1) yes they overpaid for Drouin, had a very disappointing year as he looked soft and lazy.

2) Galchenyuk hasn't been handled well and there's blame on both sides. That said he's still a good player and not really the problem. Has a good shot just needs to get quicker, better in his own end.

3) they overpaid for Shaw as well but he's not really the problem and if he stays healthy and the Habs retain I don't think the next GM will have too much trouble trading him.

4) bad trade but Weber does score goals. Now we need to see what impact the foot injury has on an already slow player. I'd be surprised if he plays more then 4 or 5 years when his salary drops to 1M. That said if he plays well this year, the next GM might be able to get something decent for him, more if the Habs retain.

5) I don't know how anyone who suggested they sign Alzner still has a job. To think he's making 12M over the first 2 years of the deal makes me want to puke.

6) If Price was Price and letting in sub 2 gaa, he's one of the best hockey players in the world. But he's been injured and this year he was terrible. That's a massive problem for the Habs. NMC, 10.5M cap hit, that's really, really bad if he doesn't turn it around. To me this is the biggest issue facing the Habs future. They need Price to be Price of old and if he's not they got major problems. They have some interesting goalie prospects but it's a tall task for anyone to end up being as good as Price was.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

If I'm a Habs fan, I want to draft my way out of this mess and hope Bergevin is long fired before he can trade any youth away.

That means being bad for a couple more years but it's probably the only way to rise back up and get beyond mediocrity.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Recent history has shown teams can turn things around quickly(Leafs, Avalanche,ect)
Not saying the Habs will. They might be a playoff team next year or they might be garbage for the next decade. Hockey is just really unpredictable.

 

[De Montreal]

Montréal will suck for 7 years and then win the Cup for 4 years like the Oilers did

 

[Fazkovsky]

Recent history has shown teams can turn things around quickly(Leafs, Avalanche,ect)
Not saying the Habs will. They might be a playoff team next year or they might be garbage for the next decade. Hockey is just really unpredictable.

I agree