2022 NHL Offseason Thread

[alfredoh2009]

1 hour ago, DON said:

Well, how will Gallagher & Drouin do after a nice long off-season? Wil all their talk about new and better year pan out, or be just talk. 

At least Hoffman & Armia arnt babbling to the media that they will should have more productive season upcoming.

We all know Hoffman aint changing, but would be awsome if he can play & score well enough to be marketable at trade deadline.

Armia maybe can rebound with a half-decent 10-15g year.  

 

well, Suzuki was babbling... wasn't he?... about making the playoffs?

[GHT120]

On 8/7/2022 at 11:46 AM, DON said:

Suzy on next 2 yrs:

"...I think that we can be pretty competitive next year even with the style that we play. I think we can surprise a lot of teams and maybe the year after, we can add a few pieces and try and make the playoffs. So that’s kind of my vision;..."

 

https://montrealhockeynow.com/2022/08/06/montreal-canadiens-nick-suzuki-enjoyed-another-first-round-exit-for-leafs/

 

 

That doesn't sound like a whole-hearted endorsement of the coach ... doubt he meant it that way, but certainly doesn't come off as positive.

[GHT120]

1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

well, Suzuki was babbling... wasn't he?... about making the playoffs?

 

Hopefully it's just a player being a player and never assuming their team won't make the playoffs

[DON]

1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

well, Suzuki was babbling... wasn't he?... about making the playoffs?

Yes, Suzuki stated he envisions the TEAM making the playoffs... IN 2023-24.Not sure what has to do with Gallagher and Drouin excuses for their own personal poor play

 

3 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

That doesn't sound like a whole-hearted endorsement of the coach ... doubt he meant it that way, but certainly doesn't come off as positive.

".I think that we can be pretty competitive next year even, with the style that we play"...

Is missing a comma.

[tomh009]

3 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

well, Suzuki was babbling... wasn't he?... about making the playoffs?

Making the playoffs the following season, was it not?

[dlbalr]

5 hours ago, DON said:

Well, how will Gallagher & Drouin do after a nice long off-season? Wil all their talk about new and better year pan out, or be just talk.

 

I do think Gallagher will bounce back a little bit next season.  He didn't look right from the beginning and was playing through injury most of the year.  With the extended break, I could see him being a bit more productive.  As for Drouin, it's a contract year so maybe that will serve as a sufficient motivator to actually get involved more than once in a while.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

2 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

I do think Gallagher will bounce back a little bit next season.  He didn't look right from the beginning and was playing through injury most of the year.  With the extended break, I could see him being a bit more productive.  As for Drouin, it's a contract year so maybe that will serve as a sufficient motivator to actually get involved more than once in a while.

 

Yeah, I can see Drouin having a career year, sucking the Habs into re-signing him to a fat contract, and then proceeding to revert to his normal mediocrity for the rest of his career. That’d be true to type. Hopefully Hugh-Gort have the sense to trade him at the deadline if that is indeed what happens.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

49 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Yeah, I can see Drouin having a career year, sucking the Habs into re-signing him to a fat contract, and then proceeding to revert to his normal mediocrity for the rest of his career. That’d be true to type. Hopefully Hugh-Gort have the sense to trade him at the deadline if that is indeed what happens.

 

Agree on that.  I hope Drouin has a good enough year that someone wants him at the trade deadline but not so good that the Habs get sucked into keeping him long term. He is 27 now, has had a lot of time to prove himself. 

[hab29RETIRED]

1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Agree on that.  I hope Drouin has a good enough year that someone wants him at the trade deadline but not so good that the Habs get sucked into keeping him long term. He is 27 now, has had a lot of time to prove himself. 

I hope Drouin has a career year. I also hope the habs Mgmt team don’t even show the slightest hesitation at moving him at the deadline - even if he is on a 100 point pace by some miracle.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

16 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I hope Drouin has a career year. I also hope the habs Mgmt team don’t even show the slightest hesitation at moving him at the deadline - even if he is on a 100 point pace by some miracle.

 

Trading a French Canadian who is having a career year. It would be interesting to see whether Hughes has the cahones to do that. Somehow I think Hughes would pass the test and do it, don't think Bergevin would. 

[GHT120]

7 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Trading a French Canadian who is having a career year. It would be interesting to see whether Hughes has the cahones to do that. Somehow I think Hughes would pass the test and do it, don't think Bergevin would. 

 

 

It will only happen if, as expected, the Habs are out of the playoff race ... so even Bergevin could have spun it as "Giving Jon a chance at a Cup".

[DON]

Centre ranking

https://www.tsn.ca/yost-grading-every-nhl-team-s-centre-depth-1.1834140

[alfredoh2009]

1 hour ago, DON said:

Centre ranking

https://www.tsn.ca/yost-grading-every-nhl-team-s-centre-depth-1.1834140

meh 😕

 

I am a homie here and think Habs have underrated center depth. 

[GHT120]

33 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

meh 😕

 

I am a homie here and think Habs have underrated center depth. 

 

 

With Dubois and Bedard in the pipeline I totally agree

 

KIDDING

 

Currently, which I presume is the basis for the rankings, in on a "good team" context I see Suzuki as a proven 2C with legitimate 1C potential (but likely not elite) ... Dvorak as a good to elite 3C ... Dach as a 4C with significant upside and Evans as a solid 4C ... so I think the rating is pretty close to correct ... but in 2-4 years things could be very different.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

37 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

With Dubois and Bedard in the pipeline I totally agree

 

KIDDING

 

Currently, which I presume is the basis for the rankings, in on a "good team" context I see Suzuki as a proven 2C with legitimate 1C potential (but likely not elite) ... Dvorak as a good to elite 3C ... Dach as a 4C with significant upside and Evans as a solid 4C ... so I think the rating is pretty close to correct ... but in 2-4 years things could be very different.

 

I tend to agree with the guy, Habs are a 3rd-tier team at C right now.

[tomh009]

14 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Yeah, I can see Drouin having a career year, sucking the Habs into re-signing him to a fat contract, and then proceeding to revert to his normal mediocrity for the rest of his career. That’d be true to type. Hopefully Hugh-Gort have the sense to trade him at the deadline if that is indeed what happens.

In his first two full seasons Drouin recorded 0.6 and 0.65 points/game; he was third and fourth among the Habs' forwards.

 

Between the last three seasons, broken up by injuries and COVID, he only played 103 games in total, some of those injured. His production over those three seasons was down to 0.55/game, but that still was good enough for sixth among the Habs forwards (at least 80 games played).

 

He's a playmaker, not a sniper, and he's putting up more points than Anderson, who has the same AAV (but until age 33). I don't have quite the same issue with him as most people here do. I'd be perfectly happy if we were able to sign him to an extension with a reasonable hometown discount. Fifty-point forwards generally can't be had at league minimum contracts.

[Commandant]

There is also this belief that players have career years in contract years, which is statistically a myth. 

 

50% of players will outperform their previous season if its a contract year. 

50% of players will not. 

 

The sport is too difficult and there is too much random chance to just assume that a player will try harder and do better cause its a contract year. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

2 hours ago, tomh009 said:

In his first two full seasons Drouin recorded 0.6 and 0.65 points/game; he was third and fourth among the Habs' forwards.

 

Between the last three seasons, broken up by injuries and COVID, he only played 103 games in total, some of those injured. His production over those three seasons was down to 0.55/game, but that still was good enough for sixth among the Habs forwards (at least 80 games played).

 

He's a playmaker, not a sniper, and he's putting up more points than Anderson, who has the same AAV (but until age 33). I don't have quite the same issue with him as most people here do. I'd be perfectly happy if we were able to sign him to an extension with a reasonable hometown discount. Fifty-point forwards generally can't be had at league minimum contracts.

 

The problem I have with him is that I don't think he is worth the money they are paying him, scores at a rate of about 50 points a year which is not awful by any means but; he seems to be somewhat injury prone, does not do much in the defensive zone and doesn't bring much of a physical element to the team.  I just think the 5.5M he makes can be better spent elsewhere. 

 

What do you think is a reasonable contract for Drouin going forward? 

[TurdBurglar]

2 hours ago, Commandant said:

There is also this belief that players have career years in contract years, which is statistically a myth. 

 

50% of players will outperform their previous season if its a contract year. 

50% of players will not. 

 

The sport is too difficult and there is too much random chance to just assume that a player will try harder and do better cause its a contract year. 

Players exactly like Drouin are the exception.  Especially Drouin in his current situation.  He lacks motivation, and has lacked motivation since his first year in Montreal.  Everybody on here is aware of his lack of motivation.

This contract year is pure motivation for him, he has a lot to prove after missing nearly 2 seasons.  If he doesn’t prove it, he may not get a contract over $1m on a 1 year deal from anywhere, if any offers at all.  There are a lot of question marks on him right now.  If he wants some form of security in contract length and/or money attached to that, he has to have a career year and play nearly an entire season.  I would expect a good year from him, unless he has decided he either wants out of Montreal or the NHL.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

3 hours ago, Commandant said:

There is also this belief that players have career years in contract years, which is statistically a myth. 

 

50% of players will outperform their previous season if its a contract year. 

50% of players will not. 

 

The sport is too difficult and there is too much random chance to just assume that a player will try harder and do better cause its a contract year. 

 

"In his first two seasons." How have his last three been? Drouin is a fundamentally undependable player. He is always either hurt, or slumping, or whatever; there's always something. But he also has talent.  To my mind - and I admit this is unscientific - he is simply the kind of guy who slams together one really strong season, exactly when the team needs it least. That's just what he is, what guys like him are. 

 

3 hours ago, tomh009 said:

In his first two full seasons Drouin recorded 0.6 and 0.65 points/game; he was third and fourth among the Habs' forwards.

 

Between the last three seasons, broken up by injuries and COVID, he only played 103 games in total, some of those injured. His production over those three seasons was down to 0.55/game, but that still was good enough for sixth among the Habs forwards (at least 80 games played).

 

He's a playmaker, not a sniper, and he's putting up more points than Anderson, who has the same AAV (but until age 33). I don't have quite the same issue with him as most people here do. I'd be perfectly happy if we were able to sign him to an extension with a reasonable hometown discount. Fifty-point forwards generally can't be had at league minimum contracts.

 

Drouin is a #6 FW. No way is a player as soft and undependable as him more than that on a good team; and any team that sees him as a core player is going to regret it. He is a peripheral guy (in more ways than one) whose hot streaks are best positioned as an unexpected bonus at any given time, and he should be understood as a luxury piece added to an already-strong core, rather than part of that core.

 

So sure, sign him as a 50-point, soft, unreliable, oft-injured player. Don't sign him based on any other premise. 

 

If he takes a "hometown discount," that's great, but don't bet on it. My guess is that if he has a big season he will want to get paid. And some idiot GM will probably be willing to pay him. I just hope it's not us.

 

[GHT120]

40 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

...  If he doesn’t prove it, he may not get a contract over $1m on a 1 year deal from anywhere, if any offers at all ...

 

IMO that is overly harsh

[GHT120]

1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

The problem I have with him is that I don't think he is worth the money they are paying him, scores at a rate of about 50 points a year which is not awful by any means but; he seems to be somewhat injury prone, does not do much in the defensive zone and doesn't bring much of a physical element to the team.  I just think the 5.5M he makes can be better spent elsewhere.

 

Amongst forwards with an AAV of $5.25-5.75M last season, Drouin was 19th out of 28 such forwards in points per game ... so not HORRIBLE value for money.

[TurdBurglar]

2 hours ago, GHT120 said:

IMO that is overly harsh

Fair enough.  Now put yourself in a GM position.  Hypothetically, let’s say Drouin plays half a season, scoring at his 0.55ppg pace.  41 games, 22pts, and he has to take another mental health break.  I’m not trying to say he should ignore his mental health by any stretch of the imagination, let me make that abundantly clear.

 

How much would you, as a GM want to invest in a player that you know can’t handle a professional hockey atmosphere, so you don’t know how many games you will get out of him, then when you do you can only expect 0.55ppg.  He’s not a game breaking talent.  The best contract you could offer would have to be mainly based on bonuses on very low base salary.  On top of that, how do you build a team and put money into a player that you have no idea how many games he will play, without even considering physical injuries.

 

Drouin has a lot to prove to himself and the NHL community this season. 

[GHT120]

23 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

... How much would you, as a GM want to invest in a player that you know can’t handle a professional hockey atmosphere, so you don’t know how many games you will get out of him, then when you do you can only expect 0.55ppg ...

 

IMO that is an assumption about both the issues he faced and that they will recur ... last season he missed games due to physical injuries, not "mental health breaks" ... I expect he would get a contract for at least $2+ million dollars and maybe for more than one season ...and that would be cheap for a 0.55 ppg player.

 

23 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

... The best contract you could offer would have to be mainly based on bonuses on very low base salary ...

 

 

Performance bonuses are only allowed in ELCs and for one-year 35+ contracts.

[TurdBurglar]

23 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

Performance bonuses are only allowed in ELCs and for one-year 35+ contracts.

Also for the following;

 

1. The player has signed a one-year contract after returning from a long-term injury (has played 400 or more games, and spent 100 or more days on the Injured Reserve in the last year of their most recent contract).

Again, Drouin has a lot to prove to himself and the NHL community.