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New players means new lines - What would you do?


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45 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

Where goes Frolik ?

 

22 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

Taxi squad.

 

Or 4th line ... if he "kicks in" the proverbial door in TC and early season 

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1 minute ago, GHT120 said:

 

 

Or 4th line ... if he "kicks in" the proverbial door in TC and early season 

Taxi squad

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5 hours ago, PMAC said:

Taxi squad

 

Wasn't disagreeing ... OR and IF are conditional options (predicated on the "kicking in the door") not predictions ... being conditional, with a high-bar trigger, they also reflect the likelihood he is on the taxi squad

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54 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said:

... I think Byron will be traded  to save cap money 

 

I very much like Byron but it would be the best solution (IMO) ... the question is whether MB is willing to pay the price to get another team to take Byron

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2 hours ago, Habsfan89 said:

Toffoli / Suzuki  /Drouin 

Tatar  / Danault  / Gallagher 

Armia  / Kotkaniemi  / Anderson 

Lehkonen  / Evans  / Perry 

 

Extra Frolik , Byron, Weal 

 

I think Byron will be traded  to save cap money 

 

 

With the extra depth and how that affects the cap, it is becoming harder to put together a lineup. having three young centers will probably mean that MB will trade wingers for an experienced center for the taxi squad, another $750k signing

 

that would trasnlate in a lineup of:

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Drouin-Suzuki-Toffoli

Lehkonen-Kotkaniemi-Anderson

Byron-Evans-Armia

==============

Frolik-$750k-center-Perry

 

Where Byron, Weal or Armia may be packaged for the $750k-center. The Habs have a few waiver exempt prospects that can play on the 4th line at the NHL level.

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Given the Perry signing, I will forecast the following:

 

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Drouin-Suzuki-Anderson

Toffoli-Kotkaniemi-Armia (Toffoli being capable of LW, we believe)

Lehkonen-Evans-Perry

 

And I'd say that this would be a pretty balanced lineup -- I would not be concerned about any of the four lines at this point.

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10 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Given the Perry signing, I will forecast the following:

 

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Drouin-Suzuki-Anderson

Toffoli-Kotkaniemi-Armia (Toffoli being capable of LW, we believe)

Lehkonen-Evans-Perry

 

And I'd say that this would be a pretty balanced lineup -- I would not be concerned about any of the four lines at this point.

I wouldn't mind bring back Thompson for the 4th line center job.

Lehkonen  / Thompson  / Perry could be a very interesting 4th line.

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25 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Who gets waived for the taxi squad?

 

 I’m guessing Byron, Perry, Armia, Frolik, Weal

 

So, you are suggesting to give up Armia on waivers? He would surely be claimed. Perry might not. And who do you include on the roster, then, assuming 13 forwards? Poehling? Someone else?

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6 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

 

So, you are suggesting to give up Armia on waivers? He would surely be claimed. Perry might not. And who do you include on the roster, then, assuming 13 forwards? Poehling? Someone else?


Perhaps I’m misunderstanding the taxi squad but I believe the Habs will keep Poehlling and other young players in minors instead of taxi squad. 
 

I think everyone would pass waivers except maybe Armia and if the plan is to move taxi squad in and out of taxi then we need to waive them first. Perhaps we remove Armia from that list but I wouldn’t be surprised 

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Normally I don’t give line configurations much thought. They are highly fluid and change several times per game anyway.

 

Still, I was looking at our depth chart this morning, and we must have what is absolutely the most hard-to-play-against right side, all the way down the line from #1 RW to #6 D, in all of hockey.

 

Ah, but the left side. There’s the rub. The LD will hopefully be less of a joke this season, between Edmunson and Romanov: we have to hope that the former is a very canny insider-knowledge type pickup (acquired on the premise that the Habs’ system fits him better than Carolina’s) and that the latter can crowd out either Kulak or Mete, neither of whom has been that great, although Kulak has a higher ceiling IMHO. Anyway, LD remains a patch up job. Sometimes patch up jobs work, but when your best LD is Ben Chiarot it’s wing-and-prayer stuff.

 

Meanwhile at FW our left side is borderline feeble - heavily dependent on Drouin to be good, which is always a dubious proposition, and tethered to Tatar, who may be gone after next year and who seems to be a playoff bust. Byron is broken down and a limited player anyhow. And Lehkonen is a rock-solid 3rd-line W with the offensive talent of a Zamboni.

 

https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/pages/montreal-canadiens-organizational-depth-chart

 

If you move Toffoli to LW, the entire picture changes. Suddenly the Habs are nicely balanced. I don’t know why but I don’t trust the Habs to make that obvious move. More likely, Toffoli comes in at RW and plays so well that Armia gets crowded out and ends up dealt away for pennies on the dollar. I just have a feeling...

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Depth of roster may be huge if compressed schedule and Covid become big factors and Habs do have solid depth.

Armia having to play on 4th line and Toffoli needing to switch and play LW on 3rd line seems good problem to have, unless you are Armia who will be back to reduced role and maybe only get 7g.

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1 hour ago, DON said:

Depth of roster may be huge if compressed schedule and Covid become big factors and Habs do have solid depth.

Armia having to play on 4th line and Toffoli needing to switch and play LW on 3rd line seems good problem to have, unless you are Armia who will be back to reduced role and maybe only get 7g.

 

I think my point was that, assuming no injuries, we have little depth on the left side - unless you slot Toffoli in at LW to begin with. Otherwise put, I’d rather have Armia as #3 RW (where he is excellent) and Toffoli on LW than waste Armia on the 4th line and hope like hell that our left side can hold itself together with duct tape.

 

Of course, this assumes that Toffoli can bring his A-game on the left side, which ostensibly he can, although most of his experience seems to be at RW.

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8 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I think everyone would pass waivers except maybe Armia and if the plan is to move taxi squad in and out of taxi then we need to waive them first. Perhaps we remove Armia from that list but I wouldn’t be surprised 

 

Remember, you can't go below the roster minimums on non-game days; they're only going to shuttle a couple of players back and forth.  Most of them will probably be the ELC guys like Evans.  I think Weal is likely and perhaps Frolik but they're not going to waive regular players (Armia would certainly be claimed) to have the ability of papering them down on non-game days.  There's also no guarantee that they'll carry a full taxi squad to have that many players available to shuffle in and out.  (I think it'd be a mistake if they did; I'd rather send a player down without having to call someone up to replace them - they'd bank a lot more cap space that way and to do that, they can't carry six on the taxi squad.)

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3 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

Remember, you can't go below the roster minimums on non-game days; they're only going to shuttle a couple of players back and forth.  Most of them will probably be the ELC guys like Evans.  I think Weal is likely and perhaps Frolik but they're not going to waive regular players (Armia would certainly be claimed) to have the ability of papering them down on non-game days.  There's also no guarantee that they'll carry a full taxi squad to have that many players available to shuffle in and out.  (I think it'd be a mistake if they did; I'd rather send a player down without having to call someone up to replace them - they'd bank a lot more cap space that way and to do that, they can't carry six on the taxi squad.)

How are waivers and trades going to work between USA and Canadian teams?  Would they have to quarantine?  I don’t if it’s as much of an issue for Canadian players going to the USA, since Canada has tighter measures.  Did they reach agreement for waivers and trades as part of the deal with the provinces?

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9 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

How are waivers and trades going to work between USA and Canadian teams?  Would they have to quarantine?  I don’t if it’s as much of an issue for Canadian players going to the USA, since Canada has tighter measures.  Did they reach agreement for waivers and trades as part of the deal with the provinces?

 

I believe there's a 7-day quarantine for all players changing teams (even if USA to USA or Canada to Canada).

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11 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

How are waivers and trades going to work between USA and Canadian teams?  Would they have to quarantine?  I don’t if it’s as much of an issue for Canadian players going to the USA, since Canada has tighter measures.  Did they reach agreement for waivers and trades as part of the deal with the provinces?

 

Any player coming to Canada will have a 14-day quarantine. There are no exemptions for NHL players.

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So it’s likely the taxi squad will be Lingren,Weal and one of Frolik/Byron 

 

So Perry is going to have a regular spot most likely. We have some really great depth 

 

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson 

Perry -Kotkaniemi - Toffoli

Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

 

Roll four lines and plan the parade 

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2 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Any player coming to Canada will have a 14-day quarantine. There are no exemptions for NHL players.

 

Unless something has changed in the last few days, there are exemptions for NHL players, just as there were during the playoffs.  They will enter a 'working quarantine' and will have to pass 4 tests in 7 days.  The rules are in place for any player coming in who wasn't previously in that market beforehand.  Because all teams are following a strict testing regimen, they can have this in place.

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22 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

So it’s likely the taxi squad will be Lingren,Weal and one of Frolik/Byron 

 

So Perry is going to have a regular spot most likely. We have some really great depth 

 

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson 

Perry -Kotkaniemi - Toffoli

Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

 

Roll four lines and plan the parade 

Perry would be a drain on that third line.

either bump up Lehks or shift Toffoli to left and bring up Armia.

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I believe teams will go with 24 man rosters. 

It will allow for easier movement of players in and out of the lineup to rest players with so many back-to-backs - without having to go to the Taxi Squads unless there are injuries or Covid issues.

 

If that is the case, here is my 24-man Habs roster (lines will change, and the players dressed will change)

 

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Byron - KK - Armia

Lehkonen - Evans - Anderson

Perry - Frolik

 

Chiarot - Weber

Romanov - Petry

Edmundson - Mete

Juulsen

 

Price

Allen

Demchenko

 

(Weal and Kulak are gone)

 

That puts them $108,809 over the cap (thanks to the Alzner contract).  Only an issue IF everyone stays healthy OR we need to add for a playoff push (both good things).  If it is a trade to add for a playoff push, someone will go as a result - so that should/could even out.  If everyone stays healthy then the decision is made on who goes to the taxi squad for cap relief (Etc.)

 

EDIT: My mistake, teams have 23 man rosters.  But Demchenko is the way out of this and it solves the salary cap situation at the same time.  Technically, Demchenko can be put on the Taxi Squad (along with his $792,500 contract).  See the next post.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

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