Thoughts on a postseason run?

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's Good Friday and I've got the day off with time on my hands. So, why not make a thread on our fortunes for this year?

In my opinion, the additions of Taffoli and Anderson are game changing in terms of where this team is at. We added not one, but two really solid scorers. The club now has three lines that offer two way play with actual scoring ability and we've added in Staal as well. It lacks the superstar finish that some other clubs have but by the same token any one of those lines can put the puck in the net and are solid 5 on 5. Caufield might be a nice little addition as well.

Price still has his powers and we've got Jeff Petry who's playing like a legit number one. The weakness though remains our D. Weber seems to have really hit a wall and beyond the Petry pairing, it's not great. I can't see us making a serious run without at least the addition of a top flight LD.

If we actually made that addition though? That would give us two solid D pairings, Price, a good backup in case of emergency and a deep forward group. Given the fact that we're in a sad sack division it could mean a ticket to the top four.

Without REAL help on the blueline though (and I'm not talking about the usual band-aids) I think we are pretenders. I have serious doubts about us getting beyond this Division as we'll be picked apart on that left side.

Click to read more...

 

[Just Linda]

I think we can beat any other team in the playoffs, I'd give us a bit better odds than a coin flip.

I don't think we are good enough but I think we are good enough to try.

 

[Geecko]

It's Good Friday and I've got the day off with time on my hands. So, why not make a thread on our fortunes for this year?

In my opinion, the additions of Taffoli and Anderson are game changing in terms of where this team is at. We added not one, but two really solid scorers. The club now has three lines that offer two way play with actual scoring ability and we've added in Staal as well. It lacks the superstar finish that some other clubs have but by the same token any one of those lines can put the puck in the net and are solid 5 on 5. Caufield might be a nice little addition as well.

Price still has his powers and we've got Jeff Petry who's playing like a legit number one. The weakness though remains our D. Weber seems to have really hit a wall and beyond the Petry pairing, it's not great. I can't see us making a serious run without at least the addition of a top flight LD.

If we actually made that addition though? That would give us two solid D pairings, Price, a good backup in case of emergency and a deep forward group. Given the fact that we're in a sad sack division it could mean a ticket to the top four.

Without REAL help on the blueline though (and I'm not talking about the usual band-aids) I think we are pretenders. I have serious doubts about us getting beyond this Division as we'll be picked apart on that left side.

I see what you did there.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I see what you did there.

It was fully intentional.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think we can beat any other team in the playoffs, I'd give us a bit better odds than a coin flip.

I don't think we are good enough but I think we are good enough to try.

A coin flip in the division maybe. But we would get crushed by Tampa without some help on D. I feel that if we don't address that weakness, we're going to remain inconsistent. Good for stretches and bad for others.

And God help us if Petry gets hurt. At this point, he's the player we can least afford to lose. At least with Price we now have Allen. Without Petry though, this team is toast.

 

[jaffy27]

It's Good Friday and I've got the day off with time on my hands. So, why not make a thread on our fortunes for this year?

In my opinion, the additions of Taffoli and Anderson are game changing in terms of where this team is at. We added not one, but two really solid scorers. The club now has three lines that offer two way play with actual scoring ability and we've added in Staal as well. It lacks the superstar finish that some other clubs have but by the same token any one of those lines can put the puck in the net and are solid 5 on 5. Caufield might be a nice little addition as well.

Price still has his powers and we've got Jeff Petry who's playing like a legit number one. The weakness though remains our D. Weber seems to have really hit a wall and beyond the Petry pairing, it's not great. I can't see us making a serious run without at least the addition of a top flight LD.

If we actually made that addition though? That would give us two solid D pairings, Price, a good backup in case of emergency and a deep forward group. Given the fact that we're in a sad sack division it could mean a ticket to the top four.

Without REAL help on the blueline though (and I'm not talking about the usual band-aids) I think we are pretenders. I have serious doubts about us getting beyond this Division as we'll be picked apart on that left side.

As per the “experts” in Toronto of all places, not the local homers, we have the best D in the league....so if we worry about our left, other teams are worried about the left, the right and the back 4 I’m sure.

But I do agree with you that we do need help on that left side so we can go into the playoffs fully armed and geared up for the long run.

Get me Lindholm and I love our chances
Of getting out of this division

Edit: best D in our division not in the league....my bad

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Our playoff lineup last year:

Drouin - Suzuki - Armia
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen
Weise - Domi - Weal
Extra: Hudon, Evans, Belzile

Chiarot - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Ouelett - Mete

Price
Lindgren


What our playoff lineup could be this year:

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Caufield - Kotkaniemi - Anderson
Armia - Staal - Perry
Extra: Lehkonen, Byron, Evans

Edmundson - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Chariot - Romanov
Mete

Price
Allen

Huge improvement

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

The honest odds of making a trade for a Top-Flight LD are about 3%.

None are available and if one is then we will have to overpay.

I think we go into the playoffs with the D corps we have unless Mr. Bergevin is willing to overpay which I don't think he is. I think we stand pat and gain some playoff experience with this team. We make a couple moves in the offseason and with the hopeful additions of Caufield we are better next year.

 

[Gravity]

A coin flip in the division maybe. But we would get crushed by Tampa without some help on D. I feel that if we don't address that weakness, we're going to remain inconsistent. Good for stretches and bad for others.

And God help us if Petry gets hurt. At this point, he's the player we can least afford to lose. At least with Price we now have Allen. Without Petry though, this team is toast.

We have inconsistency down the middle as well since our primary two C's are 20 and 21. We aren't ready to contend yet as we need Suzuki and KK to mature. Nonetheless I think we can do some damage in the division.

 

[Draft]

Can having four 2nd lines make up for not having elite talent?
Can having Price back on track make up for a pretty weak defence corps?

Hard to say. I like our chances coming out of the North division, but I'm not sold on how we'll look against other teams.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I see what you did there.

Little in size or contribution? There is two meanings of a word and some way to make a pun.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

We have inconsistency down the middle as well since our primary two C's are 20 and 21. We aren't ready to contend yet as we need Suzuki and KK to mature. Nonetheless I think we can do some damage in the division.

Staal can change this whole picture of small down the center and lack of experience. Might be a center moving to the wing or going down to 4th line. There could some job convincing a center accepting a new role. Hope there isn't any prima dona, the team is first priority.

 

[Supersonic]

Our playoff lineup last year:

Drouin - Suzuki - Armia
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen
Weise - Domi - Weal
Extra: Hudon, Evans, Belzile

Chiarot - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Ouelett - Mete

Price
Lindgren


What our playoff lineup could be this year:

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Caufield - Kotkaniemi - Anderson
Armia - Staal - Perry
Extra: Lehkonen, Byron, Evans

Edmundson - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Chariot - Romanov
Mete

Price
Allen

Huge improvement

Definitely encouraging to see YoY changes, still think if we get another quality D somehow (LD or RD to put Romanov back on the left), this team could do some real damage if Price gets back in the zone.

but as is this team should be better than last year’s playoff team

 

[The Great Weal]

Forwards:
I like the forward group, but it's been inconsistent. Suzuki line was awesome at the start, but it has really fallen off lately. Danault line was terrible at the start, but it has been money for the past dozen or so games. 4th line has really struggled for a while besides their awesome start to the season, but with Staal coming, it should improve although Evans had a statement game last night so it should be interesting to see what happens. I know I'm going to get blasted, but I was hoping KK would be better production wise this year. His PPG is marginally better than his rookie year, and has played with Toffoli and Perry a lot who are better linemates than Lehkonen and Armia that he played with most of the time in his rookie year. Of course there is still improvement from him (especially in areas like faceoffs), he is still playing with Lehkonen and Armia a lot this year, but I hope he shows more offensively. Not much to say for Toffoli, he's been lights out and Perry has been way better than expected. Rolling 4 lines should be the Habs specialty since they have no star talent, so we need more consistency from them, overall though, I've been more than pleased. Oh and we got that Caufield kid who I hear is pretty good who should help out big time too.

Goaltending:
I don't see how anyone can defend Price's performance at the start of the year. It was horrendous. Luckily, he's been a lot better, in fact quite good, since Waite got fired. Not concerned about him that much, and Allen has been a superb backup.

Defense:
Petry has been the teams MVP and has been getting better every year. After that though...yikes. Weber has fallen off a cliff. Chiarot has been a catastrophe who can't have Weber carry him anymore. Edmundson has been solid, but playing with Petry helps a lot. Kulak/Mete show that they are not regular NHLers. Romanov has been solid for the 3rd pair, but nowhere near the Calder trophy darkhorse, immediate top 4 dman, great player that some fans and/or the Habs management thought. We also got no depth in case someone is injured. This needs to be fixed urgently, we got the prospects and picks to get a good top 4 dman, we need to do it.



In short, the forwards need to be more consistent, which I think they will be with Staal+Caufield coming in plus Danault line coming back to life. The goaltending is not a concern. The defense is what will kill us if we don't add someone good soon. I think the current Habs team could beat any of the other Canadian teams in the playoffs, but after that I'm very skeptical. All I know is that Bergevin has come this far to make the roster better this year, so he better not stop.

 

[ZUKI]

what will play against the Habs is the fact that they will play too many games until the end of the season (cause the covid postponed games ). If they manage to do a players rotation, and are free of injuries, they can maybe win one series or 2 with a big luck. If it happens, Bergevin will be nominated GM of the year

 

[Geecko]

Little in size or contribution? There is two meanings of a word and some way to make a pun.

Depends if he's still small, haven't seen any recent update about it.

 

[OldCraig71]

I think that this team can be competitive in the playoffs if we get a solid addition to our defense in the form of a good but not great PMD on the left side, we can't go anywhere with Chiarot and Weber together.

 

[bobholly39]

Carey Price. Like it or not - in my mind he remains our only hope. He has to be stellar for us to go far in the playoffs (even within our own division).

In his defense - come playoffs - he usually has been stellar, and this has been true for many years. But the margin for error remains very slim. Without him being stellar and our best player, we won't go far. So that's a ton of pressure on him.

If he plays well? I agree - I really like our group. I feel like we have good depth, and a very strong assortment of forwards who can produce for us. We clearly lacked depth last playoffs, even though effort was always there.

One thing also. Our market is a super emotional one due to fan excitement/anticipation. Carey Price seems super sensitive/emotional. I think this makes it so our team is a bit more susceptible to "momentum" than most other teams. This can be a plus, but also a negative. When things suck, they really suck. Reason I bring this up however - if we get some momentum and find a way to win out against our division and make it to the final 4 - I think the momentum behind this team and Carey Price will be huge, and I think it could carry us beyond some teams from other divisions, like a Tampa or Colorado. We may not look as impressive on paper, but if we'd be entering a series on the back of 2 successful playoff series wins - I'd like our chances.

But of course - I tend to be optimistic one here

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I think that this team can be competitive in the playoffs if we get a solid addition to our defense in the form of a good but not great PMD on the left side, we can't go anywhere with Chiarot and Weber together.

A trade is needed to get a good left D.
Plz Marc B. make that trade! Do it !

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

I don't know, I might be able to go for a run after we're done, but I usually prefer to walk and PoGo

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

As per the “experts” in Toronto of all places, not the local homers, we have the best D in the league....so if we worry about our left, other teams are worried about the left, the right and the back 4 I’m sure.

But I do agree with you that we do need help on that left side so we can go into the playoffs fully armed and geared up for the long run.

Get me Lindholm and I love our chances
Of getting out of this division

Best D in the division maybe. But that's saying very little. Our division sucks hard.

Best in the league? No freaking chance.

 

[jaffy27]

Best D in the division maybe. But that's saying very little. Our division sucks hard.

Best in the league? No freaking chance.

Sorry, my mistake, it was best D in our division

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The honest odds of making a trade for a Top-Flight LD are about 3%.

None are available and if one is then we will have to overpay.

I think we go into the playoffs with the D corps we have unless Mr. Bergevin is willing to overpay which I don't think he is. I think we stand pat and gain some playoff experience with this team. We make a couple moves in the offseason and with the hopeful additions of Caufield we are better next year.

Ekholm is likely available and ANY D is available if you're willing to pay enough.

Personally I'd throw a 1st and a 2nd to Nashville for Ek and I'd throw in some cap dump in there as well so I'd probably be willing to include a prospect too if that's what it would take.

We badly need a real blueliner on the left to go with Weber. If we had one we'd be eons better.

 

[Edgy]

It's Good Friday and I've got the day off with time on my hands. So, why not make a thread on our fortunes for this year?

In my opinion, the additions of Taffoli and Anderson are game changing in terms of where this team is at. We added not one, but two really solid scorers. The club now has three lines that offer two way play with actual scoring ability and we've added in Staal as well. It lacks the superstar finish that some other clubs have but by the same token any one of those lines can put the puck in the net and are solid 5 on 5. Caufield might be a nice little addition as well.

Price still has his powers and we've got Jeff Petry who's playing like a legit number one. The weakness though remains our D. Weber seems to have really hit a wall and beyond the Petry pairing, it's not great. I can't see us making a serious run without at least the addition of a top flight LD.

If we actually made that addition though? That would give us two solid D pairings, Price, a good backup in case of emergency and a deep forward group. Given the fact that we're in a sad sack division it could mean a ticket to the top four.

Without REAL help on the blueline though (and I'm not talking about the usual band-aids) I think we are pretenders. I have serious doubts about us getting beyond this Division as we'll be picked apart on that left side.

We're not exactly playing contenders or powerhouses so we could be looking better than we are because we are playing against weaker competition. What's worrisome is we're struggling with consistency and winning against teams not named Canucks, we are where we are in the standings because of the loser point.

Will a legit top 4 D help, yes. Is it enough, no. We need to replace Weber AND get another top 4 LD and the chances of Bergevin acquiring one, let alone two, that is not a gamble or reclamation/miracle project are zero to none. He has proven time and time again that he is not willing to overpay to get a star player and I don't see that changing now.

We're good enough to get into the playoffs, maybe survive a round and that will be good enough to loosen the rope around his neck for another year, so I wouldn't get my hopes of landing an Ekholm type of player anytime soon.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Sorry, my mistake, it was best D in our division

That makes some sense. Look at who's in our Division.

And that's really why I think this year would be the year to actually go for it. If we add a legit LD then I think we're in the final four.