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Retool or rebuild. That is the question?


titanfan

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6 hours ago, illWill said:

There's not a whole of point cheering for a Habs tank at this time. Cheer whenever those balls get selected 

 

 

 

2 things

 

1) you still get a better chance of winning the lower you fall

2) you get a higher draft pick.  If you are third in the lottery, even if you don't win, you are picking top 6 guaranteed.   If you are 5th, you could fall to 8th, etc....  even with the lottery its still advantageous to be as low as possible. 

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Since we don't (and probably shouldn't) have an official Team Tank thread, here is as good a place as any to note that 17 of the Habs 20 remaining games are against teams that are either currently in the playoffs, or are still in the wildcard chase.

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5 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

Since we don't (and probably shouldn't) have an official Team Tank thread, here is as good a place as any to note that 17 of the Habs 20 remaining games are against teams that are either currently in the playoffs, or are still in the wildcard chase.

 

Which tells me even if things went right for the team this year, they likely would have been struggling for a playoff spot.

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1 hour ago, Trizzak said:

Since we don't (and probably shouldn't) have an official Team Tank thread, here is as good a place as any to note that 17 of the Habs 20 remaining games are against teams that are either currently in the playoffs, or are still in the wildcard chase.

Seems I predicted the Habs to get 95 points this year. If they can just manage to go 19-0-1 in their final 20 games, I’ll be right on the money. 

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speaking of worsening trend.... If the Islanders keep slipping out of reach of the 8th spot, then Tavares' chances of being traded or going UFA will grow.

 

Therefore the rebuild/retool from the Habs management needs to be maximized at the draft date - or come July first at the latest.

This means two things: the present top wingers/forwards need to come out of their shells. Hence a repeat of yesterday's performance against the Islanders needs to become something consistent until the end of the season, Logically this will translate into more wins than loses. And this would mean we will not get a top 5 pick.

If this doesn't happen (and the draft pick is >8th place) then the habs need to trade picks to get high profile players to add to the team to convince Tavares or any other Messiah to join the Habs.

 

But logically both scenarios together need to happen (good finish of season and good trades and UFA pick ups) 

Certain recent articles point at MB giving the moon and stars to Tavares...AND I AGREE but it depends of the player to want to accept this.

Imagine for a moment... Marc on his knees telling Tavares that the Habs have been waiting for him for 20 years TWENTY YEARS.  Tavares would go down in history - regardless of the outcomes of the next 8 years at 13 millon (or whatever max) per season-  It takes a hell of a pair of cojones to say yes to that... But if he did ..boy what a tremendous moment for player and franchise.

 

Article: https://www.fanragsports.com/islanders/dreger-eyes-potential-ufa-tavares-contenders/

 

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14 hours ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

Dominique Ducharme please. Young, decorated in the Q, knows how to properly coach Drouin, knows how to coach youngsters in the World Juniors.

 

If he is so great, why has he not been recruited to coach Laval? 

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39 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

If he is so great, why has he not been recruited to coach Laval? 

 

Cause that would mean firing the shitty coach in Laval, something this organization inexplicably hasn't done. 

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1 minute ago, Commandant said:

 

Cause that would mean firing the shitty coach in Laval, something this organization inexplicably hasn't done. 

 

Kinda where I was going with that post ;) This allegiance to an incompetent AHL coach is a major lapse in an organization that has a very small pool of potential coaches. MB's ineptitude runs through the entire operation, all the way down.

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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Kinda where I was going with that post ;) This allegiance to an incompetent AHL coach is a major lapse in an organization that has a very small pool of potential coaches. MB's ineptitude runs through the entire operation, all the way down.

 

As I've said before, people can complain all they want about this team preferring francophones, but it's not like we're even hiring the best francophones in the hockey world to manage the team. We're just hiring former hockey players so they got something to do in retirement.

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3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Kinda where I was going with that post ;) This allegiance to an incompetent AHL coach is a major lapse in an organization that has a very small pool of potential coaches. MB's ineptitude runs through the entire operation, all the way down.

I kind of agree that Laval would be a great place to groom our next “up-and-coming coach” but don’t necessarily think that it’s something we should have to rely on in terms of hiring a replacement coach for the NHL. There should be a lot of other options as well.

 

There’s arguments to be made but I haven’t necessarily thought so highly of Detroit’s replacement for Babcock Blashil or Philly’s new coach Haxtall. They aren’t bad by any means but nothing so obvious that this “new age” wave of coaching is necessary in order to be successful, whereas Quenevilles and Hitchcocks wouldn’t be better choices. 

 

With Levebvre’s terrible track record, that doesn’t excuse him by any means. He should be replaced with someone better. 

 

I guess I am one of those who are disappointed in the organization’s limitation when it comes to choosing a coach. It’s a hard argument to be made that we aren’t attempting to hire the best available person (in terms of NHL experienced coaches), when Michel Therrien is fired the moment Claude Julien becomes available. The problem isn’t only that we aren’t in on the potential of hiring a great coach like Mike Babcock, it’s that we are limited to play a certain style. If the pool of English speaking language coaches is 25 and the pool of French speaking coaches is 5, you may have 20 defensive coaches and 5 offensive minded coaches. When we realize that 25 to 5 is the same as 5 to 1, we also realize that 4 of those French speaking coaches should be defensive and only 1 should be offensive. If he’s already hired? Well Claude, you’re the best available in the world. We’re going to have to go with your style. 

 

Having a plan B in Laval would certainly be helpful but perhaps it’s even more important for our organization than others. 

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http://www.tankathon.com/nhl

 

Playing with this can make you either really happy or really sad.

 

"Hey Montreal got first overall! And I'm okay with Arizona and Carolina underneath."

 

"Oh god. Edmonton/Ottawa first overall? Montreal pushed down to seventh? Shoot me."

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On 2018-03-02 at 10:37 AM, Commandant said:

 

Cause that would mean firing the shitty coach in Laval, something this organization inexplicably hasn't done. 

French speaking front-line coaching/management is necessary in Montreal. I can live with that, it is part of the identity of the team sometimes to its detriment.

That said, I think Lefèvre should be let go this year if he can be replaced with an upgrade. Specially with the 2018 draft pick coming in a couple of years; but the new coach has to be devoted to developing players and making them NHL ready

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3 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

French speaking front-line coaching/management is necessary in Montreal. I can live with that, it is part of the identity of the team sometimes to its detriment.

That said, I think Lefèvre should be let go this year if he can be replaced with an upgrade. Specially with the 2018 draft pick coming in a couple of years; but the new coach has to be devoted to developing players and making them NHL ready

You would think there must be a young French junior coach who would fit the bill ? Not that he would win with current line up neither though.

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15 minutes ago, DON said:

You would think there must be a young French junior coach who would fit the bill ? Not that he would win with current line up neither though.

There is little incentive to go through Laval for a young coach, there are better options.

A seasoned Junior coach who want to be near family in Laval would be a better fit. Someone like Kilrae in Ottawa or the Hunters in London. 

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At least the suckage of the Islanders is giving everyone else in the league a shot at Tavares.  

 

The worse they finish the more he more likely it is that he tests the market in July. In my opinion anyways. 

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https://www.tsn.ca/radio/montreal-690/farber-pacioretty-is-done-in-montreal-1.1018494

 

Just heard this interview on Montreal 690

 

around the 4-6 min mark Farber is talking about having the very best people in the industry, and he is really surprised that the Canadiens don't do this.   

 

just solidifies the view that a lot of the retooling that will go on should happen off the ice.  One that I think most of us share

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I took a quick look at the current roster to check UFAs, RFAs and waiver eligible players for next season.

It looks like there will be lots of changes coming. Players like Hudon, Carr, Lehkonen, McCarron, Rychel and Scherbak will be competing for a regular spot. L.  Shaw and Froese are ok.

 

If we retool the forwards, there will be movement there specially with the Seattle expansion draft down the road.

 

On defence, I think Juulsen and Mete are still waiver excempt next year; so a tweak there seems more likely than a retool.

 

I truly hope the CH can settle on a Byron-Delarose-A.Shaw third line so that all other players can be evaluated in their proper spots and a retool can bring in the missing pieces.

Edited by alfredoh2009
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I don't want de la Rose as anything more than a fourth liner. 

 

He can have a game here or a game there, but de la Rose has never been an offensive contributor on a consistent basis, not in Sweden, not in the AHL, and not in 100 plus NHL games.  You don't go into the new season asking him to be a third line centre.

 

If he's the third line centre, then Danault is in the top 6 and the offence continues to be weak.   Danault might be ok on the second line, but only if your first line guy is a PPG stud, and your third line guy is just as good as Danault creating a 2a/2b situation.  When your third line c is going to be DLR who is weak offensively for the role, having a weak offensively number 2 is going to be worse. 

 

Such a setup... Danault #2, DlR #3 might give us a worse offense next season than we already have this season.  

 

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People need to turn to the realization that third line centre is going to mean something it didn't used to.

 

It used to mean your shutdown guy. Now you need a shutdown centre in your top six. It used to mean the guys who couldn't score at a top six level. Now it's going to commonly have a top six guy on it to spread the offence. It used to be a 30 point guy was a luxury. Now it'll be the bare essential.

 

If you want to compete for a Cup you need to be deep. Predators getting Turris when they had Bonino and bringing back Fisher, Pittsburgh trading for Brassard, Maple Leafs with four guys who could be Top six centres, the centres in Minnesota, this tells me that eventually it'll be expected to have three guys one would describe as a top six centre on your team. If not you're just developing.

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21 minutes ago, Commandant said:

I don't want de la Rose as anything more than a fourth liner. 

Ok, good point, a third line of Byron-Danault-A.Shaw would be solid.

what I was saying is that from the names I mentioned the CH had to make a decision of who _is_ top-6 material, who makes the 4th line a solid 4th line and who needs to be shipped out.

We have too many borderline players up front.

 

In the back, the CH has a little bit of time and some assets to trade for upgrades. 

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2 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

People need to turn to the realization that third line centre is going to mean something it didn't used to.

 

It used to mean your shutdown guy. Now you need a shutdown centre in your top six. It used to mean the guys who couldn't score at a top six level. Now it's going to commonly have a top six guy on it to spread the offence. It used to be a 30 point guy was a luxury. Now it'll be the bare essential.

 

If you want to compete for a Cup you need to be deep. Predators getting Turris when they had Bonino and bringing back Fisher, Pittsburgh trading for Brassard, Maple Leafs with four guys who could be Top six centres, the centres in Minnesota, this tells me that eventually it'll be expected to have three guys one would describe as a top six centre on your team. If not you're just developing.

I'm getting there, having watched the CH suck for such a long time Instruggle to envision a lineup that could contend for the cup.

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They need two.top.6 centres and 2 puck moving left handed d.

 

The only player i see on audition time for those spots is reilly right now.  Can he be a #4?  I doubt it but hes getting the chance.

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