Speculation: So ... What's Next?

[Habs Halifax]

Too many variables to predict, but I would be happy with something along these lines next season:

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Killorn - Kotkaniemi - Toffoli
Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
Byron - Poehling - Evans
Perry

Lindholm - Weber
Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - a veteran RD
#7D - Fleury

Price
Allen

Your veteran D could be Chara. Move Romanov to RD. I think Chara would be a good fit for Romanov on the bottom pairing.

Is there room to extend Suzuki, Caufield, Romanov after next year? Not sure. This is the area I have been trying to look at and it's not easy. Any additions we make this season, have to consider Bridge or longer deals with our kids the year after.

Honestly, I would expose Edmundson and protect Chiarot. Pair Lindholm with Petry and keep Chiarot with Weber. Then the year later, you can promote Romanov and let Chiarot go. That creates cap space for Suzuki. The year after that, Weber retires and that creates room for Caufield and Romanov and KK's longer term deal

How we create cap space is to look at guys like Romanov, Guhle, Norlinder on our back end. Sooner than some realize. I don't like Edmundson on our roster for that long. Good guy to have but I rather keep Chiarot for one year.

 

[Archijerej]

Agree about bringing Kilorn home. Would be a solid add.

Not sure what Habs would have to give up for Lindholm..

Also wonder if MB tries to bring David Savard home as UFA for 3rd pair

Lindholm (with an extension) would cost Guhle + 1st rd pick. That is if Anaheim decides to trade him at all. He's only 27 and they may very well want to keep him.

I don't think we can afford another pricey RD in Savard.

 

[Archijerej]

You sign Danault, you not only tie up cap in a guy who can't produce offensively but you are basically saying you want to run a team with 1 offensive center for his duration.. because they will never play him less than 2nd most TOI amongst centers.

The ROI on Danault is actually very low.

And as we know offensive centers produce only if they play more than Danault at even strenght.

Drop their 5-on-5 icetime by a minute and they instantly lose all creativity they might have had.

 

[Benstheman]

DeAngelo is not coming to Canada is my bet

Well maybe not or maybe he won't have much choice. We'll see.

 

[Benstheman]

Lindholm (with an extension) would cost Guhle + 1st rd pick. That is if Anaheim decides to trade him at all. He's only 27 and they may very well want to keep him.

I don't think we can afford another pricey RD in Savard.

Lindholm with an extension will cost more than that.

 

[Archijerej]

Lindholm with an extension will cost more than that.

Perhaps. Anaheim fans on the trade board seem to think it's a fair offer.

 

[shao01]

Anderson is not producing subpar - he is being paid to produce 20-25G per year, bring big body physicality, elite speed and grit. He was on 26G pace this past season, and Gallagher on 33G pace

26 goals and 10 assists prorated for Anderson; 37 pts in a 82 game season. Safe to say most Habs fan, myself included expected more from him. And no, he does not have elite speed; grit maybe on a good day

Both Gally and Anderson all but disappeared in the POs when Habs needed them the most.

 

[salbutera]

26 goals and 10 assists prorated for Anderson; 37 pts in a 82 game season. Safe to say most Habs fan, myself included expected more from him. And no, he does not have elite speed; grit maybe on a good day

Both Gally and Anderson all but disappeared in the POs when Habs needed them the most.

Really - Anderson looked pretty visible to me last couple of TBay games. Other than Tuch & Ovy name me another big body that has Anderson’s speed.

So did Point also disappear in the finals since he only had 1-pts in 5GP, after coming into finals at nearly 1.5PPG?

 

[1909]

26 goals and 10 assists prorated for Anderson; 37 pts in a 82 game season. Safe to say most Habs fan, myself included expected more from him. And no, he does not have elite speed; grit maybe on a good day

Both Gally and Anderson all but disappeared in the POs when Habs needed them the most.

He has elite speed for a guy his size.

 

[Canadiens98]

26 goals and 10 assists prorated for Anderson; 37 pts in a 82 game season. Safe to say most Habs fan, myself included expected more from him. And no, he does not have elite speed; grit maybe on a good day

Both Gally and Anderson all but disappeared in the POs when Habs needed them the most.

Rating a players season is more than just counting how many points they scored.

 

[Archijerej]

Safe to say most Habs fan, myself included expected more from him.

Why? It was no secret what kind of player he is. ~25g/35-45 points. What did you expect?

 

[sampollock]

MB is back on the job, time to get this team ready MB

 

[Zorba]

Really - Anderson looked pretty visible to me last couple of TBay games. Other than Tuch & Ovy name me another big body that has Anderson’s speed.

So did Point also disappear in the finals since he only had 1-pts in 5GP, after coming into finals at nearly 1.5PPG?

Anderson played much better the last 2 games when moved away from KK. Kk can’t set up anything one
Anderson with Caufield and Suzuki can be a terrific line

 

[Ozmodiar]

out: Tatar, Drouin, Byron, Chiarot (expansion)

(team needs)

(Hyman/Saad) - Suzuki - Caufield
Lehkonen - (Danault) - Gally
Toffoli - KK - Anderson
Perry - (Coleman/Gaudreau) - Armia
Evans

(Martinez) - Weber
Ed - Petry
Roma - Fleury
Kulak

 

[salbutera]

Anderson played much better the last 2 games when moved away from KK. Kk can’t set up anything one
Anderson with Caufield and Suzuki can be a terrific line

I also think the coaching staff stumbled onto something - Anderson is better suited for his off wing because his net rushes are predisposed to his forehand

 

[Zorba]

I also think the coaching staff stumbled onto something - Anderson is better suited for his off wing because his net rushes are predisposed to his forehand

Agreed. He also needs to be fed the puck. He’s not a natural goal scorer like Caufield. He needs a good set up man. Anderson is a good player. I have zero problems with This guy

 

[shao01]

Really - Anderson looked pretty visible to me last couple of TBay games. Other than Tuch & Ovy name me another big body that has Anderson’s speed.

So did Point also disappear in the finals since he only had 1-pts in 5GP, after coming into finals at nearly 1.5PPG?

Last couple of games yes Anderson was visible but it doesn't take away the fact he is inconsistent and takes too much cap space for what he produces

And why are we bringing up Point when it is clear that he is a better player than Anderson? His entire line had limit points in the finals yet they still won because Tampa did not depend on a single line to produce and part of the success comes from good asset management, something Bergevin has not done a good enough job at. This is precisely the reason why I stressed we need to stop paying good but not great players more salary than they deserve.

 

[blarneylad]

Agreed. He also needs to be fed the puck. He’s not a natural goal scorer like Caufield. He needs a good set up man. Anderson is a good player. I have zero problems with This guy

Team is good and Anderson is a key piece. They are missing a PMD for the left side and with Tatar's disappearance and Drouins we need to shore up the left side.

Add a top 6 LW offseason and a LD. Then if the in good spot make some additions in at deadline. I really hope the Kraken take Drouin that will give us a clean loss of his cap hit instead of trading him for a project or bad contract

 

[KikoHunter]

Why? It was no secret what kind of player he is. ~25g/35-45 points. What did you expect?

I expected better for that contract. No thank you.

 

[Lebowski]

I’d kick tires on Tarasenko.

 

[sampollock]

Anderson played much better the last 2 games when moved away from KK. Kk can’t set up anything one
Anderson with Caufield and Suzuki can be a terrific line

and thus what does KK do now for the CH

 

[sampollock]

go get hyman, funny for the figs

 

[sampollock]

getting seth or hyman would be gold

 

[Zorba]

and thus what does KK do now for the CH

Right now he adds very little. He’s a 3rd line centre as long as Danault stays

 

[Zorba]

Team is good and Anderson is a key piece. They are missing a PMD for the left side and with Tatar's disappearance and Drouins we need to shore up the left side.

Add a top 6 LW offseason and a LD. Then if the in good spot make some additions in at deadline. I really hope the Kraken take Drouin that will give us a clean loss of his cap hit instead of trading him for a project or bad contract

Those two pieces are not easy to find. The pmd is gonna be hard. It better not be DeAngelo