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How to Fix the Habs 2018


d zephyr

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i think i'll start with our needs:

1. a #1 center if we can get one

2. better size up front (we have too many soft players)

3. a top-pairing dman

4. price has to be very good for $10.5 mill

5. coaching

 

1. tavares would be nice but i think he's a longshot. don't think we can pry one that isn't a prospect with a risk like eller was. drouin has improved but is he a #1 center? a #1 wing, fine. he's going to need at least 1 power fwd who isn't soft if he plays c. even if he continues to improve there, we need a good #2 c & it's not danault. danault is a keeper but not a #2 c.

 

2. drouin is not big. if we keep gallagher, lehkonnen & byron (3rd line), then something has to be done with a. shaw, hudon & carr. they're not good enough for our top 6 & if ur small, u have to score. stone is a ufa & he would add some nice size & scoring up front. idk about van riemsdyk or the others. i don't mind dlr, deslauriers, l. shaw or even froese in our bottom 6. they should be big & tough to handle. at times our 4th line has been our best for that reason. max is a bit soft. i hope we keep him unless we can pry someone like draisaitl away in a package. prob dreaming there. i don't think galchenyuk likes being roughed up & he could use a big guy on his line too. it's nice having deslauriers around. he can always be plugged in from time to time to dissuade opponents from taking liberties. scherbak looks fragile to me & needs to take a big step up anyway. big mac has been disappointing so far. have they coached his confidence out of him? too bad we lost radulov last yr.. he's exactly what we need.

 

3. mete might be ok on the top pair. he's an elite skater & having a healthy weber as ur partner sure helps. mete is going to need to put up points tho. petry has usually been fine & juulson looks promising. alzner is prob staying & that leaves reilly, benn & schlemko, lernout or valiev to round things out. meh. our top 4 might be very good. if we get the #1 pick, that'll change things. i'm also intrigued by evan bouchard. the kid has good size & has a real cannon. he had 87 pts to lead the london knights. team captain too. that's 30 more pts than sergachev had in his draft yr.. he's a right-hand shot. don't know if he could play in the nhl next yr.. of course, nobody thought that about mete either. there's a few smurf dmen prospects in in the draft this yr but i wouldn't want more than 1 back there & mete is already here.

 

4. i'd trade him if i could. overrated. overpriced. outplayed regularly this season. you have to outplay ur competition if ur going to survive in the playoffs. there's a number of guys that could play well behind our team canada defense & shine like price did.

 

5. fire julien. he's been awful. clean house. i'm tired of watching sloppy play & turnovers. this has been mb's big mistake & i don't think he's made other big mistakes (well, price's new contract is problematic). trading patrick roy, chelios, leclair, langway & engblom - those are big mistakes. at least we can recover from julien. he's a coach. 

 

i don't think we need wholesale changes to get back to the playoffs. i didn't think the habs would turn out like this this yr.. didn't think edm or nyr would either or that colorado would make the playoffs any time soon. the draft is likely going to be of limited help next season. that means we need a good ufa for which we'll overpay (who wants to come to montreal???) or we need some trades (more than 1). we have cap space & lots of picks so we have some tools to use. we have a good pool of young guys who can improve too.

the red wings head coach said u need 3 elite players to win the cup. interesting. i wouldn't incl price in there. weber, yes. max has been an elite goal-scorer but he wasn't this season. drouin & galchenyuk may be possibles but not so far. drouin was a nice acquisition. this draft may provide a future one. i think we have some excellent ingredients to return to the playoffs with better coaching. we need to pick up some good, big players yet this off-season. my concern is that mb will take risks with his job on the line & make a big mistake.

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Whatever happens with Tavares, this team absolutely has to acquire a legitimate top-6 NHL C. Even a legit #2 C would be an improvement.

 

I would say, in a nutshell, that the Habs, at a bare minimum, need with to acquire TWO top-6 C, or one top-6 C and one top-4 LD-man who can move the damned puck. I'm not saying this would transform us into contenders. But it would make us a decent team.

 

And oh yeah, Carey Price has to at least be Henrik Lundqvist if he can't be Carey Price circa 2014.

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For me it starts in the back:

1) an elite LD to play with Weber

2) a solid LD to cover for Petry

Then 

3) a solid 1C, Tavares if possible, but any legit 1C under 30yrs will do

 

the rest is fine with me if we get these three pieces

( am omitting who is let go or traded)

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1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

For me it starts in the back:

1) an elite LD to play with Weber

2) a solid LD to cover for Petry

Then 

3) a solid 1C, Tavares if possible, but any legit 1C under 30yrs will do

 

the rest is fine with me if we get these three pieces

( am omitting who is let go or traded)

That's a tall order but realistically what is needed. 

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Apparently Kovalchuk is going to the Rangers.  This disappoints me; after I heard he was only looking for a 2 or 3 year deal, I was hoping the Habs could sign him for 2yrs as a short-term replacement for Pacioretty (who I want traded as part of what we have to give up for a center, in the worst way).  That's off the table now...unfortunate. 

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53 minutes ago, sbhatt said:

Apparently Kovalchuk is going to the Rangers.  This disappoints me; after I heard he was only looking for a 2 or 3 year deal, I was hoping the Habs could sign him for 2yrs as a short-term replacement for Pacioretty (who I want traded as part of what we have to give up for a center, in the worst way).  That's off the table now...unfortunate. 

 

Bah, Bergevin would have offered him a one-year deal and then let him walk despite elite performance. If past experience is any guide, that is.

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I don't believe you can fix them. 

 

If your goal is just to make the playoffs and then, "Anything can happen!" then it wouldn't take much. Bergevin signs Bozak and Hickey, Price has a good season, they could make the playoffs. 

 

If your goal is to be a Cup contender, so much would have to happen to warp this club from mediocre to great. It would be one of the most incredible turnarounds in the history of sports featuring multiple players playing better than they've ever played in their career while Julien outcoaches everyone. It's so incredibly unlikely. You might also need a team or two to lose their best players along the way while this constantly injured club is healthy. Nothing is impossible but this is pretty close.  

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This ####ing management... This ####ing management.
 



"the attitude needs to change"

Jesus ****... they are gonna blame it on leadership and intangibles instead of not having talent.

Need Talent at Centre, puck moving defence.... not more ****ing CHARACTER

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I am listening to the Habs end of season press conference.  Pat Hickey asked Marc Bergevin a question along the lines of "where do you go from here?".  Part way through the explanation Hickey pointed out that Price had a down year.  Bergevin's response, well a lot of players (in the league) had a bad year. And then he added this to back up his point,  "Pekka Rinne had a bad year."

 

Seriously, Bergevin really doesn't know what he's talking about!  I thought that comment was way out of line, so I looked up Rinne's stats and noticed Pekka had improved his GAA by 11 points, his save percentage by 9 points, he posted 11 more wins, 6 fewer losses and 5 more shutouts that the season before !!!!

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2 minutes ago, habscout said:

I am listening to the Habs end of season press conference.  Pat Hickey asked Marc Bergevin a question along the lines of "where do you go from here?".  Part way through the explanation Hickey pointed out that Price had a down year.  Bergevin's response, well a lot of players (in the league) had a bad year. And then he added this to back up his point,  "Pekka Rinne had a bad year."

 

Seriously, Bergevin really doesn't know what he's talking about!  I thought that comment was way out of line, so I looked up Rinne's stats and noticed Pekka had improved his GAA by 11 points, his save percentage by 9 points, he posted 11 more wins, 6 fewer losses and 5 more shutouts that the season before !!!!

 

In fairness he didn't say Rinne's bad year was this year.  He said he's had bad years and bounced back this year. 

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He's priming a Pacioretty trade when he talks about "attitude" needing to change, right?

 

Tony Marinaro has no chill, but I wish he was more subtle about it. There's no need to specifically name guys when you mention players not helping the team. I can't see anyone - players, coaches, managers - appreciating him calling out Alzner by name as a guy who "didn't help the team."

 

Bergevin keeps missing the point when reporters question the guys he brought in. He falls back on, "These guys weren't brought in for what you thought they were brought in for." Marc, babe, they're questioning why you brought in grit guys instead of guys with, y'know, offensive talent. NO ONE looks at the grit guys and think, "Oh thank god, finally someone that can score."

 

He's just so ####ing smug.

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Rinne had a weak 16-17 season but a fantastic playoffs until the final. Nashville was still good enough to make the playoffs with their goalie having an off year. 

 

Anyway the quotes from that press conference confirm everything I've said all year. He admitted there was no masterplan with the extra cap. It was for Markov and Radulov but he wouldn't make them better offers. So when they didn't take his offers the money just sat.

 

Also it's not character anymore. It's all about attitude.

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I'll chime in on my fixes:

 

Trade Paioretty for a #1 center 26 or younger

 

Trade Galchenyuk for a #2 center 25 or younger

 

Trade Shlemko and Benn  for picks

 

Don't resign any ufa or rfa garbage

 

Try to sign a top LD to play with Weber,

 

Draft the top talent player available with that high pick regardless of position. 

 

Let Drouin, Gallagher, Lehkonon, hudon and Sherbal fight for top 6 winger positions

 

And apparently changing the attitude rather than character this year should help

 

 

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1 hour ago, Commandant said:

This ####ing management... This ####ing management.
 



"the attitude needs to change"

Jesus ****... they are gonna blame it on leadership and intangibles instead of not having talent.

Need Talent at Centre, puck moving defence.... not more ****ing CHARACTER

Love hearing Molson step up and correct Bergevin after numerous answers/excuses by his GM. Like "Attitude was part of it...but the team just wasn't good enough."

So "What" changes on the ice are coming Geoffrey.

 

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2 hours ago, Commandant said:

This ####ing management... This ####ing management.
 



"the attitude needs to change"

Jesus ****... they are gonna blame it on leadership and intangibles instead of not having talent.

Need Talent at Centre, puck moving defence.... not more ****ing CHARACTER

 

If he is sincere and not just filling air, he really is a moron. 

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1 minute ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

If he is sincere and not just filling air, he really is a moron. 

 

The whole pressure was about attitude with very few mentions of improving talent.

 

At one point he even said he counted on schlemko and alzner to be better nect year to improve the team.

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11 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

The whole pressure was about attitude with very few mentions of improving talent.

 

At one point he even said he counted on schlemko and alzner to be better nect year to improve the team.

 

It's terrifying to consider that the GM could really be that much of a moron. Bergevin, as a player, was a blood-n-guts, I'm-gonna-outwork-and-outhussle-everyone kinda guy. And that's great in a player. But he seems to have been so deeply sucked into the NHL role-player religion of 'leadership, character, attitude' that he simply has no clue as to how to actually build a hockey team - especially a team for this era of speed and skill. He seems to truly believe the vapid slogans, failing to grasp that 'character' is secondary to talent. Plugs like Schlemko and Alzner just need to have a better 'attitude;' by some miracle this will transfigure them into more than bottom-pairing mediocrities. This is really, really, REALLY depressing.

 

The only good news is that Molson appears to be close to spitting out the Kool-Aid. Not close enough if you ask me.

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This is great news! The code has been cracked!

 

We can continue to use Benn on first pair and expect excellent break out passes with a little better attitude. The exciting news is that we haven't seen the real Schlemko yet either so expect elite break out passes from him as well.

 

MB was so close but just missed it with Character...What we really needed was ATTITUDE.

 

What really gets me excited is Molson declaring how much better the food will be next year as well. The fans were upset this year and grumbled a lot and SURELY this was due to sub par hotdogs. I for one am excited about a better fan experience.

 

We were 30th in scoring this year but that was due to Price having an off year. Price needs a better attitude and he will score more goals next season.

 

We are on the right track, we shipped out the player with the worst attitude already. Subban hated to win and would never do what it takes to succeed.

 

They were right about Galchenyuk too! that scrub does not have the proper attitude to play centre and he never will. May as well ship him out and laugh at the team that tries to play him there.

 

Attitude has nothing to do with the coach however, I mean what do we expect CJ to do with such a sorry lot?  :wacko:

 

I did not expect much from this presser but holy crap this was the worse one ever. MB is a delusional egomaniac and Molson is a buffoon for continuing to believe in him. Bring on the new batch of bottom pairing Dmen and bottom six forwards. This is a farce and I truly can't believe what has happened to our team.

 

Everything lies on this years draft and hoping Tavares takes a big paycheck from us.

 

God help us all

 

 

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1 hour ago, Trizzak said:

He's priming a Pacioretty trade when he talks about "attitude" needing to change, right?

 

Tony Marinaro has no chill, but I wish he was more subtle about it. There's no need to specifically name guys when you mention players not helping the team. I can't see anyone - players, coaches, managers - appreciating him calling out Alzner by name as a guy who "didn't help the team."

 

Bergevin keeps missing the point when reporters question the guys he brought in. He falls back on, "These guys weren't brought in for what you thought they were brought in for." Marc, babe, they're questioning why you brought in grit guys instead of guys with, y'know, offensive talent. NO ONE looks at the grit guys and think, "Oh thank god, finally someone that can score."

 

He's just so ####ing smug.

 

I agree. MB radiates an arrogant smugness, which I could tolerate coming from an accomplished Cup-winning GM. But not from this bumbling clown. It's like when he chides us for wanting him to get a C by saying sure, he could destroy the franchise and the future to get a stud C, but he's too responsible for that, etc, etc.. In other words, he redefines the parameters in order to make the goal seem put of reach, then smugly derides the fans for not understanding that it's out of reach. Meanwhile in six years he has not acquired a SINGLE top-6 C. And pats himself on the back for it. Insufferable.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

This is great news! The code has been cracked!

 

We can continue to use Benn on first pair and expect excellent break out passes with a little better attitude. The exciting news is that we haven't seen the real Schlemko yet either so expect elite break out passes from him as well.

 

MB was so close but just missed it with Character...What we really needed was ATTITUDE.

 

What really gets me excited is Molson declaring how much better the food will be next year as well. The fans were upset this year and grumbled a lot and SURELY this was due to sub par hotdogs. I for one am excited about a better fan experience.

 

We were 30th in scoring this year but that was due to Price having an off year. Price needs a better attitude and he will score more goals next season.

 

We are on the right track, we shipped out the player with the worst attitude already. Subban hated to win and would never do what it takes to succeed.

 

They were right about Galchenyuk too! that scrub does not have the proper attitude to play centre and he never will. May as well ship him out and laugh at the team that tries to play him there.

 

Attitude has nothing to do with the coach however, I mean what do we expect CJ to do with such a sorry lot?  :wacko:

 

I did not expect much from this presser but holy crap this was the worse one ever. MB is a delusional egomaniac and Molson is a buffoon for continuing to believe in him. Bring on the new batch of bottom pairing Dmen and bottom six forwards. This is a farce and I truly can't believe what has happened to our team.

 

Everything lies on this years draft and hoping Tavares takes a big paycheck from us.

 

God help us all

 

 

 

Post of the year right here

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MB said a bit more on his interview on 98.5fm. He seemed more sincere in French than at the press meeting in English.

 

He took responsibility for not acting early enough when he saw warning signs at training camp.

 

He also re-stated that he did set the market for Radu with his initial offer made in January, but the agent's term request was for 8 yrs, that didn't change until June. He restated that his offer was the exact same as what he got from Dallas not less because of taxes.

 

He also took the blame for misjudging (his word) on the quality of his défense. He said he wants to be the one to mend this

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I also listened to the press conference in my car and I have to say that I was a little disappointed with what Bergevin and Molson had to say! 

 

I'm willing to give them one more chance to see what they can do this off season, but if Bergevin can't find that elusive 1st line center before the season starts, i'll be asking for his head!

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