Line Combos: What are the MTL Canadiens' greatest needs to become a Stanley Cup-winning team? by Priority.

[Miller Time]

Betting is not a strategy, but another year of evaluation for two players who had career years (on pace in Dach's case) and are both in their early 20s' might be in order before we make definitive conclusions.



It's hard to accurately define needs until you're pretty sure about Suzuki's ceiling.

Amen

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

For the ones voting #1 goalie have you learned nothing from the past 15 years

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

For the ones voting #1 goalie have you learned nothing from the past 15 years

Goalie is a great strategy as long as you don’t have Desharnais as your number one. Our goalie was good enough to get us to the final four and a cup final despite crap teams. And it might’ve been two finals if he wasn’t run.

If we had Carey Price to go with what we have now, we actually be in a strong position.

Id be absolutely fine taking a goalie if there was a dominant one available to draft. Problem is that there aren’t too many goalies of that caliber around.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Lol as if that changes anything. 30th in PPG for centers is not a true #1C.


Now, what I want to see is what Suzuki will produce once he has a full line with Cole, but especially, whenever he'll gain a strong pairing to support his line, including a bonafide pmd, most probably Hutson.

I was just pointing out that the number is really 30, not 37. People can draw their own conclusions from the adjusted number.

There might be some who just want to know where he actually ranked among those who played center … without trying apply it to their own personal definition of “true #1”.

Agreed that we have to wait and see him well surrounded, supported.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Yeah, I wouldn't trust those numbers all that much

You can trust your eyes instead. Watch CC’s 2022-23 goals on YouTube. ~10 are served up on a platter from Suzuki. Nice finishes by CC.

Then watch NS’s goals. Dach is more of the primary passer on those. There was 1 notable touch pass at the blue line from CC that was the sole primary. Nice pass.

 

[Habs Halifax]

When they were split, CC continued to score. If CC plays with Dach, his goal production won’t change as long as he’s given the same ice times. He’s a natural sniper.

I know you value the goal scorer and it's fair but the debate between who is worth more is very subjective. It's not easy to draw a line on this one IMO

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I know you value the goal scorer and it's fair but the debate between who is worth more is very subjective. It's not easy to draw a line on this one IMO

Your assertion that they bring out the best in each other may be true but CC is going to score no matter what.

 

[Bacchus1]

With our top 3 centers now we don’t need a #1 C. What we need is a #1&2 D to drive puck movement up the ice and promote offence. We will also need a top goalie, but that is the final piece.

 

[kyne]

With our top 3 centers now we don’t need a #1 C. What we need is a #1&2 D to drive puck movement up the ice and promote offence. We will also need a top goalie, but that is the final piece.

A lot of people are hoping it's going to be Hutson but he could easily turn into another MAB at this point, imo.

I've never seen him play but I hear Engstrom has Markov like attributes . Perhaps the Habs may already have this type of defenseman in their system?

 

[Rapala]

I agree nobody fears our offence right now. If you shut down Caufield and Suzuki, we’re pretty much done. We’ve been lacking the type of prospect you mentioned for 30 years. Maybe I’m just really high on Suzuki, but that SCF run was really impressive for me. Even if Danault was used for the tougher match ups, he showed at just 21 that he can be the type of centre that you win with. He’s got a really nice balance of offence and defence.

Herein lies the problem. I can't remember the last time we could count on two lines 6 forwards going well at the same time. It's been ages. It's goes far beyond not having a star player we've not even had a veritable top six going back for as long as I can remember.

 

[Anardil]

The priority was not among the options. The biggest need is a SUPERSTAR that plays outside of the crease. This organisation has been missing this ingredient for close to four decades.

I voted #1 center.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Your assertion that they bring out the best in each other may be true but CC is going to score no matter what.

Suzuki is going to do what he does without Caufield as well. They need each other.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

We really going to try to compete with Suzuki Caufield and dach as our three best forwards aren't we

 

[WeThreeKings]

We really going to try to compete with Suzuki Caufield and dach as our three best forwards aren't we

If the opportunity presents itself to add more skill to the front end of the line-up, they will do it.

But I don't recall fans of other teams in rebuilds thinking it has been all over in year 2 of the build.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Suzuki is going to do what he does without Caufield as well. They need each other.

Caufield has already shown he can score without Suzuki. CC would be fine with Dach.

 

[Lshap]

If the opportunity presents itself to add more skill to the front end of the line-up, they will do it.

But I don't recall fans of other teams in rebuilds thinking it has been all over in year 2 of the build.

I'm worried the best opportunities for adding offensive skill may have come and gone with our #1 and #5OA draft picks. Of course we don't know what those kids will become, but we do know drafting at the very top is the best way to find elite talent.

I know many are predicting another bottom finish and top pick next season. It's possible, but that means our young, developing players won't improve over last year's raw, heavily-injured roster. If the young core remains reasonably healthy you'd expect progress, which should translate into a few more wins, especially if we're no longer overtly tanking. Surpassing last year's mess seems like a pretty low bar; if they can't do that I'd be concerned.

So I'm expecting our 2024 pick will be in the 10-12 range – good, but unlikely a future star will be waiting there for us.

Others are predicting we'll swap cap space for an additional 1st-round pick. Very possible, but while having another 1st-round dart is valuable, it'll probably be mid-late round pick, which may become a solid depth player.

In short, I don't see where our mystery goal-scoring is going to come from. We won't be getting a better opportunity than drafting #1 and 5OA, so we'd better hope Slafkovsky develops into a top forward. Otherwise, Hughes is going to have to pull another Kirby Dach bank-shot and acquire an existing prospect/young player. There's always UFAs, but that's usually a terrible investment.

 

[ReHabs]

I'm worried the best opportunities for adding offensive skill may have come and gone with our #1 and #5OA draft picks. Of course we don't know what those kids will become, but we do know drafting at the very top is the best way to find elite talent.

I know many are predicting another bottom finish and top pick next season. It's possible, but that means our young, developing players won't improve over last year's raw, heavily-injured roster. If the young core remains reasonably healthy you'd expect progress, which should translate into a few more wins, especially if we're no longer overtly tanking. Surpassing last year's mess seems like a pretty low bar; if they can't do that I'd be concerned.

So I'm expecting our 2024 pick will be in the 10-12 range – good, but unlikely a future star will be waiting there for us.

Others are predicting we'll swap cap space for an additional 1st-round pick. Very possible, but while having another 1st-round dart is valuable, it'll probably be mid-late round pick, which may become a solid depth player.

In short, I don't see where our mystery goal-scoring is going to come from. We won't be getting a better opportunity than drafting #1 and 5OA, so we'd better hope Slafkovsky develops into a top forward. Otherwise, Hughes is going to have to pull another Kirby Dach bank-shot and acquire an existing prospect/young player. There's always UFAs, but that's usually a terrible investment.

Well said. We're in a no-man's land, or better put: sailing into a deadzone. How can we get out of it without some serious luck? It's unlikely we will suffer enough injury trouble that we draft as low as 5OA again. And if we do draft as low as 5OA again, then it means the kids didn't develop enough. Like you said it would very concerning.

On a micro, move-by-move level it could be that Hughes hasn't made any mistakes at all but on a macro-level we're somehow left vulnerable to the auguries of fate as always.

 

[Naslundforever]

A lot of people are hoping it's going to be Hutson but he could easily turn into another MAB at this point, imo.

I've never seen him play but I hear Engstrom has Markov like attributes . Perhaps the Habs may already have this type of defenseman in their system?

I have not seen much more, but during scrimmage last week Engstrom looked like an NHLer showed up at a junior practice.

Also John Parker Jones looked like Mario Lemieux and Jean Beliveau had a prodigy child, so I‘m not sure entirely what to make of 4v4 June scrimmage.

 

[Naslundforever]

Well said. We're in a no-man's land, or better put: sailing into a deadzone. How can we get out of it without some serious luck? It's unlikely we will suffer enough injury trouble that we draft as low as 5OA again. And if we do draft as low as 5OA again, then it means the kids didn't develop enough. Like you said it would very concerning.

On a micro, move-by-move level it could be that Hughes hasn't made any mistakes at all but on a macro-level we're somehow left vulnerable to the auguries of fate as always.

You had me google “auguries”. I actually saw 2 perched birds on draft day in my yard, and the top one shat directly on the head of the other one, not even kidding I laughed so hard. Make of that clear sign what you will (Obviously no confirmation bias needed haha)…

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Well said. We're in a no-man's land, or better put: sailing into a deadzone. How can we get out of it without some serious luck? It's unlikely we will suffer enough injury trouble that we draft as low as 5OA again. And if we do draft as low as 5OA again, then it means the kids didn't develop enough. Like you said it would very concerning.

On a micro, move-by-move level it could be that Hughes hasn't made any mistakes at all but on a macro-level we're somehow left vulnerable to the auguries of fate as always.

I would've used 'vicissitudes' instead, but that's just me, I can already hear Hugo Weaving's voice in the back of my head.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I'm worried the best opportunities for adding offensive skill may have come and gone with our #1 and #5OA draft picks. Of course we don't know what those kids will become, but we do know drafting at the very top is the best way to find elite talent.

I know many are predicting another bottom finish and top pick next season. It's possible, but that means our young, developing players won't improve over last year's raw, heavily-injured roster. If the young core remains reasonably healthy you'd expect progress, which should translate into a few more wins, especially if we're no longer overtly tanking. Surpassing last year's mess seems like a pretty low bar; if they can't do that I'd be concerned.

So I'm expecting our 2024 pick will be in the 10-12 range – good, but unlikely a future star will be waiting there for us.

Others are predicting we'll swap cap space for an additional 1st-round pick. Very possible, but while having another 1st-round dart is valuable, it'll probably be mid-late round pick, which may become a solid depth player.

In short, I don't see where our mystery goal-scoring is going to come from. We won't be getting a better opportunity than drafting #1 and 5OA, so we'd better hope Slafkovsky develops into a top forward. Otherwise, Hughes is going to have to pull another Kirby Dach bank-shot and acquire an existing prospect/young player. There's always UFAs, but that's usually a terrible investment.

We won't really know whether they have or they haven't. I'm sure Devils fans might have felt that they wouldn't have an opportunity to get their top end defenseman after winning the lottery for Hughes after winning it for Hischier, but they got Hughes at 4 and then won a lottery to bring them to 2 to get Nemec.

I think there's a way that our roster improves but we still remain picking low (though we'll need a lotto luck at some point again) because we have to think about where we are. We can still be a young and improving team but be stuck in the basement of the Atlantic division.

Buffalo and Ottawa are at a point in their rebuild that they should be making a larger stride than us because they've accumulated their core from rebuilding before us and they are all entering their years where they should hit the higher end of their upside.

Toronto, Tampa Bay and Florida still remain top regular season teams.

The two wildcards are Detroit who also have been rebuilding longer than us but made a bunch of questionable signings and the Bruins who still have a large collection of talent, a top end coach/system, but have lost a lot down the middle without being able to address it internally/externally.

I don't think it's realistic to be picking outside of the top 10 and be last or second last in our division. Which is where we can be with our young players still showing progression.

Either way, a lot of fans were fretting on passing on Benson, who went 13th. I still believe that if we are picking in/around the top 10, the opportunity should come to add another high end offensive talent to the roster. It may not be the 90-100 point variety but I also think that the architecture of this team is one that is going to win on it's massive supply of depth at every position then a team that wins on the strength of its top two lines.

 

[Bacchus1]

A lot of people are hoping it's going to be Hutson but he could easily turn into another MAB at this point, imo.

I've never seen him play but I hear Engstrom has Markov like attributes . Perhaps the Habs may already have this type of defenseman in their system?

That is what I figure, too. We have some great options on D, and quite a few could take our D to the next level. However, it is all potential so far, so until that happens it becomes our top need. I can see in 2-3 years a lot of our D prospects will graduate and make those six positions more competitively fought for.

 

[JianYang]

A top flight center is a game changer for any team....and I'm talking someone better than dubois

 

[RC51]

the basics.
1-spend more time in their zone then yours. So you need d men that can move and get that puck to the breakout forwards.
2-Have forwards that are fast enough to have their dmen have to turn to keep up with the speed.
3- A good goalie at least a top 10.
4- A few players that will keep your guys safe. ( playoff hockey)
5- a top 5 PP. with a great general that forces the dmen to move off their best positions, opening lanes and finding shooter on all sides.
6- a coach that lets his players use THEIR BEST SKILLS not just force them to play the coaches game. (Turn them loose, lets them think faster while choosing the right play)
7- Make the other team constantly worry about your counter attack or make the other guy always choose PLAY SAFE, force him to defend defend defend.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'm worried the best opportunities for adding offensive skill may have come and gone with our #1 and #5OA draft picks. Of course we don't know what those kids will become, but we do know drafting at the very top is the best way to find elite talent.

I know many are predicting another bottom finish and top pick next season. It's possible, but that means our young, developing players won't improve over last year's raw, heavily-injured roster. If the young core remains reasonably healthy you'd expect progress, which should translate into a few more wins, especially if we're no longer overtly tanking. Surpassing last year's mess seems like a pretty low bar; if they can't do that I'd be concerned.

So I'm expecting our 2024 pick will be in the 10-12 range – good, but unlikely a future star will be waiting there for us.

Others are predicting we'll swap cap space for an additional 1st-round pick. Very possible, but while having another 1st-round dart is valuable, it'll probably be mid-late round pick, which may become a solid depth player.

In short, I don't see where our mystery goal-scoring is going to come from. We won't be getting a better opportunity than drafting #1 and 5OA, so we'd better hope Slafkovsky develops into a top forward. Otherwise, Hughes is going to have to pull another Kirby Dach bank-shot and acquire an existing prospect/young player. There's always UFAs, but that's usually a terrible investment.

This is why I liked the idea of trading for Lafreniere. He came in with so much hype and I had hoped that MSL could revive his career.

Other than a high pick or getting lucky, I don’t really see another way.