2020 Offseason roundup

[hab29RETIRED]

2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

If Price were left exposed, I'm pretty sure Seattle would take him. Expansion teams generally don't get the chance to add a big-name all-star with difference-making capability to their roster. And for good reason - teams generally aren't self-destructive enough to leave such players unprotected.

Yep. Even if Price had his worst year ever this year, I can’t see Seattle not taking Price if he was exposed.  
I think a more likely scenario would be that if this rebuild is a bust, Seattle would probably be one of the few teams Price may be willing to accept a trade to because of family reasons.

[DON]

3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:34.

Didnt know Peca was a philosophizer.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

TSN was talking about the fact that we will see the same Canadian refs all season long. 
 

PLEASE TELL ME LEE IS AMERICAN 

[tomh009]

38 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

TSN was talking about the fact that we will see the same Canadian refs all season long. 
 

PLEASE TELL ME LEE IS AMERICAN 

 

He's from NB, I believe.

 

But I don't think that necessarily means anything. 27 of the 33 NHL refs are Canadian, so most of the other divisions' refs will be Canadian, too.

[Neech]

18 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:34.

 

We have the strongest team we've had on paper since 2014. None of our core pieces are over the hill, as far as we know. Given this, wringing our hands about possible cap trouble in 2-3 years seems quixotic. Yes, Weber can't have too many years left playing at this level (which is a notch below his prime years but still quite strong), and although Petry has aged like fine wine, he too can't have much more left. Price probably has 3-4 years before he craters.

 

Lots can happen in 2-3 years. The team today, finally, probably doesn't suck. MB has finally filled longstanding roster holes. That is way more important in the present than hypothetical cap problems at some indefinite future point.

 

What if this team looks like the one from last season with some depth improvements?  That's not worth locking in for longterm, especially with most of the core on the wrong side of 30.  I agree we'll be tough to play against, but do we have the talent to contend?  Our flexibility is gone, so we better hope so.

[tomh009]

Of course it's possible that this edition of the team will be a disaster like you fear. But there is no evidence for that yet.

 

As of now, analysts and prognosticators expect the Habs to be a playoff team, the team is very upbeat and most of us here believe that this is the best team we have had in years. If we all turn out to be wrong, changes will need to be made. But I think it's too early to hit the panic button.

[Neech]

1 minute ago, tomh009 said:

Of course it's possible that this edition of the team will be a disaster like you fear. But there is no evidence for that yet.

 

As of now, analysts and prognosticators expect the Habs to be a playoff team, the team is very upbeat and most of us here believe that this is the best team we have had in years. If we all turn out to be wrong, changes will need to be made. But I think it's too early to hit the panic button.

 

I'm not hitting the panic button, more like the 'reality check' button. I like how the team looks on paper, and if KK and Suzy take big steps forward we could be a force to be reckoned with.  I just don't think the moves made this offseason by MB were particularly good longterm management.  We're locked in for a while with a team that, last time we saw them, was middling at best. Plus, when you look around the league, no one else was giving out the type of the term that we were in this market. Other teams made improvements without sacrificing flexibility.  The scenario that I see as most likely, unfortunately, is that we have a decent team over the next couple of years, but without a road to contention. Basically what we've been used to over the last 20 years.  

[GHT120]

8 minutes ago, Neech said:

... I just don't think the moves made this offseason by MB were particularly good longterm management ...

 

He was in THIS SEASON mode ... his contract expires after 21/22 and I suspect he will do most anything to try to earn an extension before the offseason starts.

[Neech]

Just now, GHT120 said:

 

He was in THIS SEASON mode ... his contract expires after 21/22 and I suspect he will do most anything to try to earn an extension before the offseason starts.

 

Most definitely... as I said, his moves reek of a guy whose job is on the line, and who knows he won't be around to clean up the mess if it doesn't work out.  Unfortunately, a modest improvement into a bottom bracket playoff team will probably be enough for Molson to give him a lucrative extension.

[alfredoh2009]

35 minutes ago, Neech said:

[...] I just don't think the moves made this offseason by MB were particularly good longterm management.  We're locked in for a while with a team that, last time we saw them, was middling at best. Plus, when you look around the league, no one else was giving out the type of the term that we were in this market. Other teams made improvements without sacrificing flexibility.  [...]

I disagree, he has not sacrificed any prospects or draft picks with the signings he made this offseason 

There are a couple of long term contracts that may hinder the team at the end of those contracts but for the most part the Habs contracts are favourable to the team and give the Habs a lot of flexibility to make trades

 

In addition, they are well position for the expansion draft

[Prime Minister Koivu]

We haven’t show anything yet and we might suck. 
 

True statement and I certainly won’t complain if fans have dialed back expectations. 
 

Why am I so jacked? HOPE

 

MB has done nothing to help this team for years. Sure he digs up the Semin’s looking to strike gold and he did trade a top pairing Dman for a winger to play centre but he has not helped the team. 
 

This time he addressed a bunch of holes. Is Edmundson the Dman we need? Nope we need a #1 LD but holy crap he helped the team.
 

I think we underestimate the value of Allen and it is key. So many back to back games in a compact season. Our back up will win more than theirs and Price won’t have to play all these bak to backs. 
 

Salary cap is not scary as some people claim. We will have relief next year but a casualty is likely Tatar. Anderson is a scary contract but if he scores then it could look like a great contract. 
 

Many things need to go well for us to compete  Suzuki and KK need to play well, Romanov needs to be great, Anderson needs to fill the net, Toffoli needs to score, Our PP must at least be decent, not to mention injuries. 
 

For the first time in years we are built to complete. No star but 4 lines that can cause havoc. Who else in the North has our depth?

 

If it crashes then so be it. Our GM did a lot for this team and I think we are going to compete. 
 

GO HABS GO

[hab29RETIRED]

6 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

We haven’t show anything yet and we might suck. 
 

True statement and I certainly won’t complain if fans have dialed back expectations. 
 

Why am I so jacked? HOPE

 

MB has done nothing to help this team for years. Sure he digs up the Semin’s looking to strike gold and he did trade a top pairing Dman for a winger to play centre but he has not helped the team. 
 

This time he addressed a bunch of holes. Is Edmundson the Dman we need? Nope we need a #1 LD but holy crap he helped the team.
 

I think we underestimate the value of Allen and it is key. So many back to back games in a compact season. Our back up will win more than theirs and Price won’t have to play all these bak to backs. 
 

Salary cap is not scary as some people claim. We will have relief next year but a casualty is likely Tatar. Anderson is a scary contract but if he scores then it could look like a great contract. 
 

Many things need to go well for us to compete  Suzuki and KK need to play well, Romanov needs to be great, Anderson needs to fill the net, Toffoli needs to score, Our PP must at least be decent, not to mention injuries. 
 

For the first time in years we are built to complete. No star but 4 lines that can cause havoc. Who else in the North has our depth?

 

If it crashes then so be it. Our GM did a lot for this team and I think we are going to compete. 
 

GO HABS GO

Not getting a top pairing dman notwithstanding, this is by far the best summer MB has had. I don’t like the D - there’s a lot of question marks, I think Chariot and Edmondson belong as 2nd/3rd pairing on a good team.  

having said that, we are significantly improved on the wing and the offence should be better.  We couldn’t score and I think bumping Byron and Lekonan to the 4th line out of the lineup is a definite improvement.  Even if Anderson doesn’t earn his salary, having Gallagher, Taffoli, Tatar and Drouin (even with his inconsistency), gives us real top 6 winger potential. The question mark up front is if one of Suzuki or KK can play all season in the playoffs. If they do we should be a top 3 team in our conference.  
 

while the D isn’t as good as I’d like, they should be tougher to play against, but at the end of the day, the D can look better if Price is Price.  Our backup is also a viable option and not a garbage pickup like the rest of MB’s backups were.

 

there’s a lot of question marks, but their is also reason for a lot more optimism.  I’d probably be less optimistic if we were still in the Eastern Conference, but every Canadian team has flaws and question marks, so I think we have a much better chance of getting the top 4 than the past two times we got there.