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Montreal Canadiens 2021-2022 training camp


alfredoh2009

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22 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

 

 

Key things I’m looking for this year to get a better idea of what we have are the following - training camp is not going to be the time to get answers to these questions):

1. Will Suzuki finally be the legit #1 centre we have been waiting to get for over 2 decades (koivu was close, but injuries, and illness prevented him from reaching his full potential)?

2. Will Caufield show more signs of being a future superstar?

3. Is Romanov going to take a step forward and be at least a top 4, and will another young dman become the missing puck mover we need?

4. Will Dvorak actually be a the top 2 centre we need?

5. Can Drouin finally be consistently good and a difference maker for a whole year? 
6. Which Price are we going to see - last year regular season Price, or the playoff Price (last, but probably most important question)?


If all of these are positive answers, we have a chance at the playoffs - otherwise we probably miss.  
 

 

 

 

 

Those are definitely good questions, but if all of those things happen they are guaranteed to make the playoffs.  Even if 2-3 of those happen there is almost no chance that they wont make the playoffs.  Its more like if most of those things dont happen theres a chance that they wont.  

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3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I don't think we need ALL of these to hold true. E.g., we didn't need Drouin last season; anything he does is a bonus, really. I also think (4) is highly likely to occur - likely enough that it wouldn't even make my own list of preseason questions.

 

The others, though, I'd tend to endorse, and to agree that most or even all of them have to happen.

I don’t see us as a playoff team.  I think you need a lot of things going right - that includes Drouin and Hoffman contributing positively to get us over the hump. I think with some of the losses - Weber’s goals, you need Drouin or Hoffman to contribute.

As much as I have ragged on Drouin since the Sergechev trade, I have more hope/faith in Drouin putting things together than hoffman being a factor. 
 

qe have a lot of wingers. But really only Taffoli, Caufield, and Gallagher (assuming his hand injury bad luck is over), that I think can contribute consistently. Anderson is hot and cold, and Armia is also streaky. We need another guy to contribute consistently, and on skill, I think that needs to be Drouin.
 

 

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56 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

 

Those are definitely good questions, but if all of those things happen they are guaranteed to make the playoffs.  Even if 2-3 of those happen there is almost no chance that they wont make the playoffs.  Its more like if most of those things dont happen theres a chance that they wont.  

Unless there is a big drop off by Boston, or Florida, I think we need the majority of things to go well - there is no margin for error in our division, and in the Eastern conference.

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20 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I don’t see us as a playoff team.  I think you need a lot of things going right ....

That's true for a lot of teams (no, not Tampa) in today's NHL: a combination of problems (low production from a key player, an injury and some bad luck) can easily knock a decent team out of playoff contention. Really, the Habs are not unique in this regard.

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28 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

That's true for a lot of teams (no, not Tampa) in today's NHL: a combination of problems (low production from a key player, an injury and some bad luck) can easily knock a decent team out of playoff contention. Really, the Habs are not unique in this regard.

There is a difference. I think we have a lot more holes ad question marks. With the other teams it’s more of an issue of not executing and realizing the potential.   I think we need good luck and strong efforts. Other teams have guys who can take over games and win them the game. Tampa’s loaded. Toronto has 3 or 4, Boston and Florida have a coulole of those guys.  We don’t have a game breaker, unless we get playoff Price, or if one of the kids takes a huge leap forward.

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I have real questions on Boston.  I think they are the vulnerable team here.

 

I don't like coyle/haula as their 2nd and 3rd centres.

 

I dont like the defensive depth after mcavoy.

 

I dont believe in linus ullmark as a #1 goalie.

 

Marchand and Bergeron are only getting older.  What if they start to fall off even a little bit?

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I think we are a bubble team. 

 

That means we are neither a clear-cut “playoff team” nor a bottom-feeder. And as with last year, we will be a tough out if we do make the playoffs, but on a lesser scale.

 

The loss of Weber is huge, but we should keep in mind how mediocre Weber was last regular season. The guy we are subtracting is not the Weber of 2017, but rather a #4 defenceman whose shot from the point was a shadow of its former self. My point being that the drop-off from him to Savard is not as big as people think, or as big as it looks on paper, at least in pure on-ice hockey terms. (His presence, leadership, etc., are another story, about which I have no real idea). Frankly, I think management knows this, quietly.

 

Much will depend on the extent to which the players buy in and the coaches get the team playing cohesive, smart team hockey. The coaches will also need to make the most out of Hoffman, who was brought in specifically to improve the PP. I disagree with Habs29 that Hoffman *cannot be* effective; but I am concerned that our coaches will refuse to accept his one-dimensional strengths as a sniper and drive him down the lineup. That would hurt our depth down the left side.

 

The team’s biggest vulnerability may be at C. If one of our top-two guys go down - and I worry about Suzuki in this regard - then we are done for sure. At least when we had KK, you could *imagine* him stepping up as a #2C for a while. I can’t see Evans or any of our other guys doing that.

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Wideman appears, as expected so far, will likely need a defensive d-man to cover for him when he is on the ice. Hopefully Norlinder can outplay him over next couple weeks, but guess Petry will be it for offensive d-men this year.

How well can they do without Weber's offense, does Romanov have untapped offense and will show it this year? 

 

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33 minutes ago, DON said:

Wideman appears, as expected so far, will likely need a defensive d-man to cover for him when he is on the ice. Hopefully Norlinder can outplay him over next couple weeks, but guess Petry will be it for offensive d-men this year.

How well can they do without Weber's offense, does Romanov have untapped offense and will show it this year? 

 

Weber was down to six goals in 48 games, or a 10-goal pace over a full season. His offence really was down substantially, and losing five goals or so of that will not be a major impact. The silver lining is that not having Weber on the PP will remove the temptation to keep feeding pucks to him and make our PP more difficult to play against.

 

Offensive defenceman options, in addition to Petry? Wideman, Norlinder, Niku. Will one of them play well enough to be in the top six D-men? Don't know yet. In an ideal world two of them would make the cut, and we would have Petry + 2 as offensive guys, and pair them up with Chiarot, Edmundson and Romanov for balance.

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Weber, in a down year last year still on 32pt pace, Habs have ZERO d-men (aside from #26) who will put up 30pts. I would wager a huge amount on that, baring a trade.

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5 hours ago, DON said:

Weber, in a down year last year still on 32pt pace, Habs have ZERO d-men (aside from #26) who will put up 30pts. I would wager a huge amount on that, baring a trade.


i still think a trade or picking a PMD on waivers will happen before the beginning of the season

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6 hours ago, DON said:

Weber, in a down year last year still on 32pt pace, Habs have ZERO d-men (aside from #26) who will put up 30pts. I would wager a huge amount on that, baring a trade.

I'll take that bet...

 

Why not... I feel lucky tonight

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1 hour ago, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said:

I'll take that bet...

 

Why not... I feel lucky tonight

Do you feel lucky, thats dandy; but which particular Hab d man will score 30+pts? Wideman? Romanov? Norlinder?:spamafote:

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Junior players cut from camp on the weekend (Sunday, Sep 26)

 

 

 

2021 pick #142 cut from camp today (Tuesday Sep. 28), RD Sobolev:

 

 

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revisiting @dlbalr's article on the invites to the rookie camp. I will start following Xhekaj more closely:

   https://www.habsworld.net/2021/09/looking-at-montreals-rookie-camp-invites/

 

 

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Great to see Guhle playing well.

Too bad the NCAA prospects couldnt attend. Would be interesting to see how Harris...and Struble stack up on d and Farrell/Tuch up front.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canadiens-notebook-drouin-feeling-love-guhle-standout-lines-take-shape/

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19 minutes ago, DON said:

Great to see Guhle playing well.

Too bad the NCAA prospects couldnt attend. Would be interesting to see how Harris...and Struble stack up on d and Farrell/Tuch up front.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canadiens-notebook-drouin-feeling-love-guhle-standout-lines-take-shape/

 

I cross-checked the training camp list against the Habs draft picks and I noticed that too. Hab's depth is very nice but still two years away from starting to make a significant impact... post Price-Petry cup window

 

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21 hours ago, DON said:

Weber, in a down year last year still on 32pt pace, Habs have ZERO d-men (aside from #26) who will put up 30pts. I would wager a huge amount on that, baring a trade.

 

Yep, you make a great point, and I agree that it’s a legit problem. It is in fact quite insane that we subtracted offensive push from a blueline that *already* was inadequate in that respect.

 

The dip in offence from the back end will have to be compensated for by increased offence up front - especially from Caufield, Hoffman, and Drouin. Considering what non-factors Drouin and Tatar were last season, I don’t think this is an impossible scenario. We only need 30 additional points from the three of them to make up for the loss of Weber’s offence - at least in theory.

 

That said, we’re not putting our FWs in a position to succeed when we have exactly one D-man who can make creative plays. Hopefully Romanov can progress a bit in this respect and some sort of rotation of the #7s (Kulak, Wideman, Niku) can paper over the ridiculous deficiency in this respect.

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If Romanov and Savard can play well together, that would free up Chiarot to be the deffensive LD to shelter either Widemand or Niku on the third pairing.

Not great for Chiarot, but a better use of the Habs defensemen IMHO

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20 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

If Romanov and Savard can play well together, that would free up Chiarot to be the deffensive LD to shelter either Widemand or Niku on the third pairing.

Not great for Chiarot, but a better use of the Habs defensemen IMHO

Tend to agree ... the key may be whether Wideman or Niku can play well enough to allow the third pairing to play decent 5-on-5 minutes

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9 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Tend to agree ... the key may be whether Wideman or Niku can play well enough to allow the third pairing to play decent 5-on-5 minutes

Wideman did not impress and 1st thought was of ol softie MABergeron, when saw a few plays. But, is just pre-season and maybe his puck-moving will be enough to offset defending weakness?

Niku is just a injury depth guy isnt he, not likely to play regular in NHL?

 

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10 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

If Romanov and Savard can play well together, that would free up Chiarot to be the deffensive LD to shelter either Widemand or Niku on the third pairing.

Not great for Chiarot, but a better use of the Habs defensemen IMHO

Is be very surprised to see Chiarot playing in the third line. Firat if all I can’t see this coaching staff putting him that low. Secondly, we don’t have the horses, to put ahead of him. I think Two if Chiarot, savard, or Edmondson in the third pair, would be a luxury and a great situation to be in.  I just don’t think we have the guys to bump them down, unless someone really exceeds expectations, or another big trade happens.

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