Speculation: Shaping the core 18 to 23

[Goal Caufield50]

Having a ful fledged rebuild the core is now

the build blocks
Suzuki 22
Caufield 21
Dach 21
Slafkovsky 18
Ghule 18
2023 draft 17
the Core main components

mid tier blocks
Xhekaj 21
Mesar 18
they could blossom

the soon departed
Drouin
Byron
Dadenov
Allen
The sooner the better

the deeper tank blocks
edmunson
savard
anderson
hoffman
armia
dvorak
I expect Dvorak and non mobile defence to exit

Click to read more...

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Barron? Should be tier 1

 

[Goal Caufield50]

Barron? Should be tier 1

Certainly a candidate. I see him as a #4 d. Time will tell.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

...selling our kids short, amigo...we have a very deep prospect pool, many of whom could shape up real quick into mid-tier or higher pieces...our D prospects are plentiful and varied, we have some very nice pieces at forward and, if Dach can do what I think he can do and take that next big step in his progression, we look to finally have two centre pieces that just need complimenting in the proper areas...I'll take a couple years of growing pains to let this young team blossom and bring the Habs back to contention, where we belong...

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Having a ful fledged rebuild the core is now

the build blocks
Suzuki 22
Caufield 21
Dach 21
Slafkovsky 18
Ghule 18
2023 draft 17
the Core main components

mid tier blocks
Xhekaj 21
Mesar 18
they could blossom

the soon departed
Drouin
Byron
Dadenov
Allen
The sooner the better

the deeper tank blocks
edmunson
savard
anderson
hoffman
armia
dvorak
I expect Dvorak and non mobile defence to exit

Barron is certainly part of the core and Guhle is 20 while Suzuki turns 23 in one week.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Should be tier1
Tier2 would be expected
No rank is straight up disrespect

 

[HabzSauce]

Farrell? Roy? I have them above Jackeye and Mesar for now, but Mesar is INTRIGUING to say the least.

Maybe our version of Blake Coleman I'm hoping. Different skill sets but I love their motors and versitality. Mesar on a fast, skilled and scrappy future 3rd line would be amazing

 

[HABitual Fan]

Until we actually see how the prospects do at the NHL level, the only building blocks are Suzuki and Caufield currently. That is why having as much depth as the team has is important. Nothing is guaranteed, so the more shots you get at finding the right players, the better.

 

[Sherwoo9]

Yeah Farrel, Roy, and Barronneeds to be there. While I love Xhekaj and want him to succeed, I see him as a 3rd pairing D. If he is included in those Tier.. lots of our young players and prospects needs to be also (Starting by Harris)

 

[Jaynki]

Farrell is without a doubt a building blocks.

Our top 6 next april after the ncaa season :

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dach - Farrell

Very nice

 

[WeThreeKings]

Farrell is without a doubt a building blocks.

Our top 6 next april after the ncaa season :

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dach - Farrell

Very nice

Marty is gonna love Farrell and Farrell couldn't have a better coach than Marty to grow his game.

 

[Zilo44]

I think we have 4 top 6 forwards

Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky and 2023 1st round pick.

We then have several guys who have a legit shot at top 6 duties : Dach, Farrell, Roy, Kidney, Mesar and Beck.

And maybe Dubois.

We are set after next year.

 

[ML16]

The OP righly underlines that we should bear in mind that the Habs’ current rebuild essentially started in 2018, at least the « draft assets gathering » aspect of it. The prospect pool at every position - besides RHD and G - is rather deep at the moment and should provide a steady influx of quality ELC contracts players in the next few years :

2022-2023 : Barron, Harris; Guhle?; Slafkovski (post-TDL?); Ylonen?; RHP?

2023-2024 : 2023 1st; Farrell; Primeau; Roy?; Heineman?; Xhekaj?

2024-2025 : Mesar? ; Beck? ; Kidney?; Tuch?; Struble?; Mailloux?

2025-2026 : Rorher? ; Hutson?

If the Habs can gradually replace Bergevin’s last burdens (Drouin, Hoffman, Armia, etc.) by such ELC contract players - thus providing ample cap space to target 1-2 impactful UFA (Top-6 forward + Top-2 RHD) in the 2024 offseason - I humbly think the Habs’ next core could legitimately start aiming to acquire playoffs experience as soon as 2024-2025.

Edit:Spelling

 

[Zilo44]

The OP righly underlines that we should bear in mind that the Habs’ current rebuild essentially started in 2018, at least the « draft assets gathering » aspect of it. The prospect pool at every position - besides RHD and G - is rather deep at the moment and should provide a steady influx of quality ELC contracts players in the next few years :

2022-2023 : Barron, Harris; Guhle?; Slafkovski (post-TDL?); Ylonen?; RHP?

2023-2024 : 2023 1st; Farrell; Primeau; Roy?; Heineman?; Xhekaj?

2024-2025 : Mesar? ; Beck? ; Kidney?; Tuch?; Struble?; Mailloux?

2025-2026 : Rorher? ; Hutson?

If the Habs can gradually replace Bergevin’s last burdens (Drouin, Hoffman, Armia, etc.) by such ELC contract players - thus providing ample cap space to target 1-2 impactful UFA (Top-6 forward + Top-2 RHD) in the 2024 offseason - I humbly think the Habs’ next core could legitimately start aiming to acquire playoffs experience as soon as 2024-2025.

Edit:Spelling

That’s my take too. We are bottom feeders in 2022-2023. Then I would like to see a desire to improve like Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo without necessarily making it to the playoffs. But in 2024-2025, I think aiming for the playoffs is reasonable (I don’t think Gorton and Hughes feel they have the luxury to miss the playoffs 4 years in a row either)

 

[Habs Icing]

I think we have 4 top 6 forwards

Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky and 2023 1st round pick.

We then have several guys who have a legit shot at top 6 duties : Dach, Farrell, Roy, Kidney, Mesar and Beck.

And maybe Dubois.

We are set after next year.

The grammar in your post reveals the flaw in your logic. You already counted that 23 1st rd pick as a viable NHLer.

What if Slaf makes the team and plays to expectations and what if Hugo trades for Dubois and what if St Louis works some magic and what if Guhle and Barron exceed everyone's wildest dreams. That 1st round pick will look like it's closer to Florida's than it does to the top 5.

Something tells me Hugo doesn't want to finish in the bottom 5 or even the bottom 10.

 

[Zilo44]

The grammar in your post reveals the flaw in your logic. You already counted that 23 1st rd pick as a viable NHLer.

What if Slaf makes the team and plays to expectations and what if Hugo trades for Dubois and what if St Louis works some magic and what if Guhle and Barron exceed everyone's wildest dreams. That 1st round pick will look like it's closer to Florida's than it does to the top 5.

Something tells me Hugo doesn't want to finish in the bottom 5 or even the bottom 10.

Fine. It means that everything turned out perfectly.

But with that defense and the division we play in, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect drafting out of the top 10, probably not realistic to expect drafting out pf the top 5.

But sure, if Slaf looks like a sure 1st liner, Caufield and Suzuki are PPG players, Guhle, Barron and Harris are studs and we get Dubois for cheap, I won’t complain

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Should be tier1
Tier2 would be expected
No rank is straight up disrespect

He’s a goalie. Maybe good maybe shit. We’ll see.

 

[schwang26]

...selling our kids short, amigo...we have a very deep prospect pool, many of whom could shape up real quick into mid-tier or higher pieces...our D prospects are plentiful and varied, we have some very nice pieces at forward and, if Dach can do what I think he can do and take that next big step in his progression, we look to finally have two centre pieces that just need complimenting in the proper areas...I'll take a couple years of growing pains to let this young team blossom and bring the Habs back to contention, where we belong...

I like the prospects but I think they still need to see what, if any, they have in key positions. Do they have a true, superstar forward? Do they have a future number 1 defenceman (or even a number 2)? Do they have a future starting goalie? Do they have an elite penalty killer? I know its too early to say, but I don't think any of their current prospects are pegged as filling those spots. They may have some "star" forwards, but I don't think I'd class them as super, or generational. (Hoping for Bedard!). Guhle MAY end up as a number 2, but he may fall in with the others as potential 3rd, 4th d-men. Primeau still worries me. I love Evans but I wouldn't classify him in with the top PK guys in the NHL.
Bottom line is, they'll compete by having a deep pool, but they aren't contending unless they fill the above mentioned positions. There is no Mackinnon and no Makar coming up for this team.

 

[Talent Analyst]

Here's the dept chart I have. I try to be realistic and not too much optimistic. As we see, we have no reasons to pay top 9 and top 12 players more than 1-1.5m$. We have dept coming. That way, we'll be able to pay to sign elite talent and a top pairing RD.

	LW	C	RW
Top 3	Slafkovsky	Suzuki	Caufield
Top 6	Farrell Roy	Dach
Top 9	Pitlick Heineman Mysak	Evans Kidney Beck	Ylonen Mesar
Top 12	RHP Pezzetta Tuch	Hillis Kapanen Biondi Rohrer
	LD	RD
Top 2	Guhle
Top 4	Harris Hutson	Barron Mailloux
Top 6	Struble Xhekaj Norlinder Fairbrother Trudeau	Brooks Tourigny

 

[BLONG7]

The grammar in your post reveals the flaw in your logic. You already counted that 23 1st rd pick as a viable NHLer.

What if Slaf makes the team and plays to expectations and what if Hugo trades for Dubois and what if St Louis works some magic and what if Guhle and Barron exceed everyone's wildest dreams. That 1st round pick will look like it's closer to Florida's than it does to the top 5.

Something tells me Hugo doesn't want to finish in the bottom 5 or even the bottom 10.

Agreed..............both of the big boys seem like they are not going for a top 5 pick next year.
We have ours, and FLA's so be it.
There seems to be too much temptation to come out of this quicker..................my take is we need to be a top 10 pick again, and have one more tough year.

 

[schwang26]

The grammar in your post reveals the flaw in your logic. You already counted that 23 1st rd pick as a viable NHLer.

What if Slaf makes the team and plays to expectations and what if Hugo trades for Dubois and what if St Louis works some magic and what if Guhle and Barron exceed everyone's wildest dreams. That 1st round pick will look like it's closer to Florida's than it does to the top 5.

Something tells me Hugo doesn't want to finish in the bottom 5 or even the bottom 10.

I disagree with where he wants to finish. I mean, to a certain degree it's out of his control and he will say all the right things to the public. Im sure he wants a competitive team but competing and winning arent the same thing. I'm sure he sees the glaring holes and inexperience this team has (not to mention the cap issues) and understands that they aren't in a position to rush a rebuild, nor should they. I think new management are people who make a plan and actually stick to it. There's no benefit to them finishing out of the top 5. All they'd do is worsen their draft pick. They aren't making the playoffs let alone competing for the cup.

 

[Benstheman]

Farrell is without a doubt a building blocks.

Our top 6 next april after the ncaa season :

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dach - Farrell

Very nice

You forgot Bedard

I think we have 4 top 6 forwards

Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky and 2023 1st round pick.

We then have several guys who have a legit shot at top 6 duties : Dach, Farrell, Roy, Kidney, Mesar and Beck.

And maybe Dubois.

We are set after next year.

Then fix the D.

 

[Benstheman]

I don't believe in PLD this season. And while Slaf can have a good rookie season, he won't have that kind of impact.

I have absolutely no doubt we will get a top 5 pick next draft.

 

[1909]

Farrell is without a doubt a building blocks.

Our top 6 next april after the ncaa season :

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dach - Farrell

Very nice

Farrell is a LW and Anderson a RW

Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield
Farrell-Dach-Anderson

But this top six have many, many questions marks still.

 

[SlafySZN]

Farrell is without a doubt a building blocks.

Our top 6 next april after the ncaa season :

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dach - Farrell

Very nice

Switch Anderson & Slafkovsky, then it’s perfect!