HF Habs: Who are the core players moving forward?

[The Great Weal]

Current: Domi, Drouin, Gallagher, Weber, Price, Danault, KK, Mete

In 2 years, our lineup will look like this:

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Drouin - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Poehling - Caufield
Byron - Evans - Ylonen

Mete - Weber
Romanov - Brook
Fleury - Juulsen

Price
Primeau

Victor Mete is a core piece and still on the top pair in 2 years? That would be absolutely terrible.

 

[G0bias]

Price
Weber
Domi
Kotkaniemi (if all goes accordingly)

The rest are complimentary.

 

[26Mats]

then most of your "core" players are not core players, they're just some of the good players on the team.

like who?

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Victor Mete is a core piece and still on the top pair in 2 years? That would be absolutely terrible.

He's already a top 4 D at 20 years old, how is he not part of our core moving forward?

 

[The Great Weal]

He's already a top 4 D at 20 years old, how is he not part of our core moving forward?

He hasn't done anything to prove that he is a top 4 dman, he just beat out other players who suck and cleared waivers. He's a #5 dman right now. Calling him a core piece and still having him on the top pair in 2 years is ridiculous. MAYBE he becomes a top pairing dman, but he hasn't shown to be a player of that caliber offensively and defensively.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

He hasn't done anything to prove that he is a top 4 dman, he just beat out other players who suck and cleared waivers. He's a #5 dman right now. Calling him a core piece and still having him on the top pair in 2 years is ridiculous. MAYBE he becomes a top pairing dman, but he hasn't shown to be a player of that caliber offensively and defensively.

Other than playing on the top pairing for an extended amount of time and looking good at it

 

[The Great Weal]

Other than playing on the top pairing for an extended amount of time and looking good at it

I see that you didn't even bother reading the rest of the post where I addressed this. You also don't look good on the top pair for an "extended amount of time" when you can't produce if your life depended on it and got sent down for a shitty defensive game early on in the season.

 

[LaP]

By definition, the word “core” is restrictive and is usually qualified as meaning “the part of something”, so the idea that it evokes its most valuable elements makes sense.

You can like 20 players but not all of them will meet the threshold. 5-7 players sounds reasonable.

Just to make it clear it could be 4 or 8 I mean the 5-7 is taken directly from my *** But one thing is sure the closer you get to 20 the less it can be called a "core". Realistically all players play a role but only a few of them make a real difference on a "daily" basis.

In a cap era it's hard to have more than 5 core players for a long period of time as this kind of players ask in the neighbourhood of 7+ millions once they have leverage in their negotiation.

 

[LaP]

Current core: Price, Weber, Domi

Future core: Kotkaniemi

The rest are either too unproven or expendable.

I agree and that's a weak core imo. We need to add at least one player. Don't think it will be Suzuki. I think he'll become a good top 6 winger but not a core player. In the players not drafted this year i see maybe Poehling. Maybe Romanov. Neither of them is a lock in this role though far from it. Outside of that i don't see anybody not drafted this year becoming a core player.

I still think we should be looking at adding picks for next draft and entertain trading some vets at the deadline like Petry and Tatar.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I see that you didn't even bother reading the rest of the post where I addressed this. You also don't look good on the top pair for an "extended amount of time" when you can't produce if your life depended on it and got sent down for a ****ty defensive game early on in the season.

Your argument about Mete only needing to beat players who suck to play on the top pairing has no relevance. How he played there is all that matters.

Since being called up from the ahl, he played the best hockey of his career. Thats when he played in the top pairing for an extended amount of time and looked good. He also played well on top pairing in his rookie season.

And fyi I never called Mete a legit top pairing dman or a future top 2D

 

[Runner77]

Just to make it clear it could be 4 or 8 I mean the 5-7 is taken directly from my *** But one thing is sure the closer you get to 20 the less it can be called a "core". Realistically all players play a role but only a few of them make a real difference on a "daily" basis.

In a cap era it's hard to have more than 5 core players for a long period of time as this kind of players ask in the neighbourhood of 7+ millions once they have leverage in their negotiation.

Oh, I got that it could be a malleable bracket to some extent. I merely opined that your initial suggestion appeared reasonable but I’d probably strive to be in the 4-5 player range out of personal preference.

 

[Runner77]

The days of Max Pacioretty, PK Subban, Ryan McDonagh and Carey Price as core players are almost over. Price is now the only player left and Subban traded for Shea Weber. Price and Weber are now more veteran leaders of the team.

Who will be core players moving forward in the next 2-4 years?

Max Domi?
Jo Drouin?
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Ryan Poehling
Josh Brook
Alexander Romanov
Cayden Primeau
Nick Suzuki
Cole Caufield

Since the word core appears to be receiving contradictory definitions in this thread, what did you intend when you used it in your question?

 

[Frozenice]

Oh, I got that it could be a malleable bracket to some extent. I merely opined that your initial suggestion appeared reasonable but I’d probably strive to be in the 4-5 player range out of personal preference.

I classify the core as being the top 2 centres, 1 or 2 wingers, a D man or two and the goalie. If the players at those position aren’t high caliber pieces you are more likely then not to have a playoff team.

 

[Bon Esprit]

Drouin is not a core player, He'll get traded sooner than many here think.

 

[lamp9post]

People dont understand what a core is. Listing Danault, Drouin and co as core is a joke.

ROR, Pie, Tarasenko, Parayko = core
Ovi, Kuz, Backstrom, Carlson, Holtby = core
Kane, Toews, Keith, Hossa= core


Its usually four or five players that your team is built around. First liners, first pair Ds, starters. Nothing else.

Agreed, although there might be exceptions based on the team. For example, I consider Gallagher a 'core' player even though he's not as impactful as the players you have listed. He's a big part of the culture of the team.

 

[Runner77]

I classify the core as being the top 2 centres, 1 or 2 wingers, a D man or two and the goalie. If the players at those position aren’t high caliber pieces you are more likely then not to have a playoff team.

Ideally you’d want your core players to come from different positions. However, not all teams will balance perfectly that way. If your top 2D are significantly better than say your top wingers, are you still going to say your wingers are core because they’re playing on your top 6?

Compartmentalizing core players by position can be a slippery slope. I’d base it on talent and performance regardless of positional redundancy. An elite asset is an elite asset.

 

[Milhouse40]

Core = Carey Price

 

[Mrb1p]

Agreed, although there might be exceptions based on the team. For example, I consider Gallagher a 'core' player even though he's not as impactful as the players you have listed. He's a big part of the culture of the team.

Oh Gallys a core player for sure, just not sure hes core going forward.

 

[26Mats]

People dont understand what a core is. Listing Danault, Drouin and co as core is a joke.

ROR, Pie, Tarasenko, Parayko = core
Ovi, Kuz, Backstrom, Carlson, Holtby = core
Kane, Toews, Keith, Hossa= core


Its usually four or five players that your team is built around. First liners, first pair Ds, starters. Nothing else.

KK is no more of a core player than Drouin if it's based on what they've actually done in the NHL so far. I definitely project KK as part of the core. And I hope Drouin gets his head out of his rear end and becomes part of the core. It's not looking good. But some believe in his potential.

Danault makes the core because he's an elite defender that is also good offensively.

I define core as a group of young to prime players that you think you can win with if they develop properly and you add the necessary support players to when the time is right to go for the cup. Danault is a big piece in that equation for me, so he's part of the core. We won't be an Ovi, Backstrom, Kuzi team - i.e. 3 elite players. We'll likely be more like a Blues team that has great high quality depth if we're going to win. So our core is bigger, but deep in high quality. If you look at the core you listed for the Blues, it pales in comparison to the other core's you listed. The blues won with depth.

 

[26Mats]

Current core: Price, Weber, Domi

Future core: Kotkaniemi

The rest are either too unproven or expendable.

Kotkaniemi is proven???

 

[Mrb1p]

KK is no more of a core player than Drouin if it's based on what they've actually done in the NHL so far. I definitely project KK as part of the core. And I hope Drouin gets his head out of his rear end and becomes part of the core. It's not looking good. But some believe in his potential.

Danault makes the core because he's an elite defender that is also good offensively.

I define core as a group of young to prime players that you think you can win with if they develop properly and you add the necessary support players to when the time is right to go for the cup. Danault is a big piece in that equation for me, so he's part of the core. We won't be an Ovi, Backstrom, Kuzi team - i.e. 3 elite players. We'll likely be more like a Blues team that has great high quality depth if we're going to win. So our core is bigger, but deep in high quality. If you look at the core you listed for the Blues, it pales in comparison to the other core's you listed. The blues won with depth.

But thats not a core at all, Danault is a 3rd liner, at best a very average 2nd liner. Thats not core at all. A core player is a player you build around, no team in the history of hockey has built around a Danault.

I agree on Kotkaniemi, but you have to hope.

 

[Grandpa]

It is interesting to see what we have within few years. Right now I don't feel like we have a core at all. To me core players should be at their prime which excludes Weber. How long will he sustain his level of play with a lot of mileage and injury concerns. Price should have great years left. There are pretty good wingers and a decent center depth. I need another season from Domi to be sure.

 

[26Mats]

But thats not a core at all, Danault is a 3rd liner, at best a very average 2nd liner. Thats not core at all. A core player is a player you build around, no team in the history of hockey has built around a Danault.

I agree on Kotkaniemi, but you have to hope.

So Bob Gainey and Guy Carboneau were not core players? They weren't keys to winning the cups we won in 86 and 93?

My definition of core is a group of players that you think you can win a cup with, provided you add the right pieces to them. In a team without a bunch of first overall picks, he's key piece, in a bigger collection of very high quality players, even if none are elite.

If you're definition of core is 4 elite players, then we have a different definition, and Danault doesn't qualify. Mine is a group of players that you think you can win with if you keep them together and add to them. Danault is central to that core, and Byron not, because what he brings is that much more valuable - in fact one could argue Danault is elite at what he does. He's recently getting recognized as a Selke candidate.

 

[Runner77]

How many definitions of core do we have in this thread? We’re spending more time arguing about the filter to use in arriving at our choices than our choices.

The OP is masterful, we all fell for it.

 

[A55P2]

Drouin is not a core player, He'll get traded sooner than many here think.

He's not one now, but I think they want him to be at some point. They'll give him opportunities to get there, hopefully he takes them.