hab29RETIRED

I’d say he can be better than Bieksa. Has a better shot, and moves the puck well. Question is how his hockey sense is, and how he improves his reads of when to go for the big hit, and when to play a controlled and disciplined game.

100% agree. Sometimes revenge brings some level of satisfaction, other times you have incidents like McSorley or Bertuzzi. only way to really get stupidity and cheap shots out other game, is the league to take a stance by having harsher dislike. Starting point is not to have not to have goon clowns like Parros in charge of discipline. If the goon honey after Laval’s goalie got 5 to 10 games suspension, that would take those type of cheap shots out the game. If you cross heck someone on the back of the head and the penalty for first time offenders is 5 game suspension, that will increase to 10 games for thr second infraction., and a coach gets 5 games, those types of penalties would be real deterrents.

There is a lot of positives. The D has been a lot more offensively productive than I thought - even though we are as porous defensively as I expected. The offensive is worst than I thought (mainly because of Dach going down, and Caufield’s recovery time from shoulder surgery), but it’s been improving. i said last year 25-26 is the year we should be targeting to make the playoffs, and I still think that is the year we legitimately can EXPECT to be able to make it. Any earlier is based on luck, and a hope and prayer. We are going through a co plate rebuild. Management has managed expectations accordingly. Not sure why people here keep getting upset about a big loss, or getting their hope up for that playoffs after a surprise win. we have a young D, and don’t have some of the major pieces needed on the team yet (Hutson and Reinbacher). the guys here are going to be inconsistent. That’s part of the growing pains of a young D. We also need to to add more talent up front and have Suzuki, Caufield, Dach and Slafkovsky at a minimum to show they are all legit Top 6 guys and at least two to be legit top line guys - the top line has looked good the last 10 or so games - so we are getting their. Hopefully they continue to progress!

It is. But are goaltending is not good enough for us to win significantly more games because only the goaltending carries us for a sustained run during the season like Price carried us. last year because of the goaltending we finished 5th last instead of 3rd or 4th last. This year it’s been good enough that at the end of the year we may finish 25-26, instead of 27-28. The goaltending has been good, but it’s not even close to being good enough as Hasek or Price good that would be required to get us into the playoffs.

There no way I’d move Wifi right now. Definitely not for Lavoie. we finally have good prospects, we aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, and probably not next year. Why are you so eager to give up on guys until we know what we have? IF wifi, does develop into a decent physical shutdown puck moving D, that is a bit of a unicorn, why trade him before we have a better gauge of his ceiling?? It’s not like we are gong to be able to win this year or next year,‘and none of the players you are suggesting are going to make a difference in where we finish during that next two years. I don’t see us being a legit playoff team until our young D develops and at least one of Reinbacher or Hutson is capable of being an NHL player.

There’s a difference between having young players in the minors, developing and winning, as they develop, and sending guys that belong in a hit NHL down so that they can win in the minors. we are trying to develop NHL players, winning at a level lower than you should be expecting a not much of an accomplishment. It’s as bad as the friends I have honkept their kids back in school for a year, so that they will be bigger than the other kids in their class, and have have better chance of making sports teams🙄

Struble had played one bad game - he shouldn’t be sent down. We are developing players for the nhl, not the AHL. Guys that need time should be in the AHL, guys that don’t, shouldn’t be sent down so that they can win at a lower level than they should be.

I’m hoping he gets us a first at the deadlines. If that happens, that’s what I’d be most thankful about Savard for.

100% agree. This year and next I’m just looking for an increase in production from Suzuki, Caufield, and Slafkovsky to play better. I really thought Suzuki was going to get over 80 points and Caufield over 40 goals. I also see this year and next as a time to get a better read on our young D. Is Guhle trending to be a top pairing, or middle pairing? Can Barron be a middle pairing guy, and will Wifi be a guy that can be part of the future. I’m really happy they sent wifi down for development this year. Better now than when we get more crowded on D. While I was looking for high production from Suzuki, Caufield and Dach this year, I still thought we’d finish between 25 and 28. Is still think we finish between 25 to 27 - unless the Sens really pick it up. we are not a wildcard or bubble team yet. We were a bottom feeder that overachieved because of goaltending, and look better because of the OT/SO loser point.

We are not a playoff team even with a better second line. Our D is still learning to play. While I think Dach looked like he eas ready to take a big step forward, we don’t know if Newhook is a 2nd or 3rd liner. While we would have been better, I don’t think we’d even be a real bubble team by we get to games 70-82.

So am I. But o do think that Roy will become a good coach at the NHL level. Who knows if he has a lot of success he may be a viable candidate for us in the future - but only if he proves he can win and play nice with others while doing so. Let another team develop him.

100% agree. Only thing that surprises me is that we are ahead of the Sens on the standings.

I don’t get the constant playoff talk everytime we string a few wins together. We are not close to be being a playoff team. East has been lousy and our loser points make it seem we are closer to a wildcard than we actually will be in another month. I said at the start of this year, we don’t have the D to be a playoff team, and I haven’t seen anything to change my mind. The D has score more than I thought they would have (while the forwards have scored less than I thought they would). Unless Hutson and Reinbacher suddenly are suddenly playing like Makar and Seider in their first years, we probably aren’t a playoff team next year either. 25-26 is the year we should be targeting for the playoffs. we have a young team with an extremely young D. It’s going to take time. Wifi isn’t going to make us better, and either is Kovacavec.

As well as the cost to resign him. I’d love to add him if both were right, but I’m pretty sure Anaheim is going to be looking for a PLD type deal. We dodged that bullet, and as much as I’d love to add a guy like Zegras, I wouldn’t want to pay the price Anaheim will be looking for.

He’s no Tremblay. I think he will probably be a good coach. Just don’t think he picked a very good team for his comeback.

Agreed. I thought for sure Ottawa would hire him. Sens were dumb bringing back Martin as a tempo coach I nstead.

Agreed. But it won’t be a reasonable price if the price LAK paid for PLD is what ANA things it can get for Zegras.

I’m sinking it is reference of a large part of the fan base wanting to overpay for PLD - who so far has been a bust in LA.

Let’s not forget that this mgmt team does seem to have a development plan, rather than expecting guys like Mete to be a top pairing right away - or putting them into that position because they have zero depth.

I’m okay with that. I also think that Lekhonan would have been a better player to play with Suzuki or Dach during their development, and would have been a guy that could have been moved later. He is a guy who actually did work his ass of every shift and want the big elusive unicorn the habs have been chasing forever.

IF Reimbacher is a top pairing D (a legit top pairing guy (not a guy playing here out of necessity), we made the right choice. However if he is a 2nd pairing Dman, we made the wrong choice. i wouldn’t have felt so strongly that we make the wrong pick, if it wasn’t for the overall consensus that this was a draft with a lot of elite forwards, but not really a one with elite high-end dmen. D was already the strength of our prospect pool, so unless we get a legit top pairing RHD, we made a mistake. Just like we made a mistake taking KK, instead of Hughes or Tkachuk because we had no centres and MB stated many times you can’t trade for higher end top centres (which HuGo proved wrong at two successive drafts).

100% agree. He is a guy who can score on a hot streak, but really isn’t an offensive guy. He is effective when physical and he is skating and playing hard. However, he takes far too many nights off, and at times he looks like he needs to go see the wizard for a heart, a brain, and despite his size - courage. He would have been a decent resigning for $2m (number I said how how we should have gone about Jennie was a UFA), and a great to have at around $1.5m to $1.75m. I wish we had let him walk and resigned Lekhonan to the same contract, but that ship sailed a long time ago. Typical MB and his size fetish. 100% agree that we can’t move him without eating 50% of his salary and even than may need a 3rd team to eat 25%. If we could get a decent pick to eat 50% for this year and next, I’d make that deal in a heartbeat - even if it means we lose our last retention spot.

If his timing is/was good off because of his shoulder, and he’s back to normal, I can see him going in a year where he scores 20 goals in the second half.

Thats why I wanted is to take Michkov or Leonard at the last draft. Michkov could have been a Kane type of winger, while Leonard could have given us two lines with big wingers.

If I had a dollar for every time someone brought up that Armia is on a 20 goal pace, I’d be making more more than he is🙄