REV-G Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 In these dog days of summer I thought I'd list some observations and expectations as we wait for training camps to start. I'm not totally set in believing that every statement I make is definitely accurate sir going to happen but this is a glass half full thread, and I do have positive expectations that some/much of what I mention will happen and is true. I'll put them in bullet form. Let mer know what you think. This could be the greatest..... rebuild in NHL history! I'm not talking about expansion teams, more from the original six. In my lifetime the greatest rebuild has to be Detroit. They've won the most of US based teams with eleven. Chicago and Boston have won six each. They've all gone from last place to winning the cup. We'll see what happens with the Rangers (they've won four cups) in the next few years. This statement about this being the greatest rebuild ever will take years to evaluate to see if we are able to win additional multiple cups! Canadiens front office ever! I'm talking about our core three, Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes and Marty St. Louis. The best GM's IMHO were Sam Pollock and Serge Savard. In hindsight the rest were either ok or bad. So far I love what Gorton and Hughes have done. The best coaches, in my lifetime were, Scotty Bowman! Maybe I'm missing someone but the rest for me were good to not so good. I think MSL has the potential to be one of the best but it's way too early to tell. summer of adding to the team's roster ever? This summer's drafting of Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage, then trading for Laine could be the greatest summer of additions we've had for a long time. If you factor in getting back Kirby Dach and the possibility of Lane Hutson making it, this could be the biggest uptick in on-ice talent we've had for a very long time, maybe ever?? number of elite prospects we've had for a long time. I'm using the prospect to mean not a regular player yet. For so many years we've had prospects but I think we have two elite prospects right now in lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov. I can't remember having two of that quality for a long long time. combination of young defencemen ever. The best defencemen group for me was Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe. But this may be the best young group that I've seen. Again, only time will tell. young first line we've ever had. The key word here is young. We'll see. Agree or disagree with my observations? Do you have any other possible greatest ever...? Also I've been following the Canadiens for just over 60 years. It would be fun/interesting to see how many older guys we have still following Les Canadiens! Let me know if you've been a follower longer than me or close! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan89 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 I don’t think it’s the best in nhl history, Pens rebuild got them 3 cups. But I would say this is the best Canadiens rebuild in team history. for the first time we have depth on the main roster and we have talent up and down the farm system. What that means to me if we get injuries we now have the depth and talent to over come them. This is an example of when you have guys in place that have a vision and execute it to a T. We’re in a great spot with the cap and our young nhl core locked up. We got talent up and down from forwards to D to goalie in the farm systems. We got a boatload of picks in this years draft. We can still make a trade for a top young player if we want to. man am I looking forward to watching this team play for years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 It’s genuinely too early to tell if this is even a good rebuild. I share your enthusiasm and I agree that this might be the greatest rebuild… Slafkofsky has to be a star Dach has to play at a high level for a whole season Hutson, Reinbacker must be high end talent. One of our goalies has to emerge as a solid starter. Demidov has to be a star I think in about 3 years we will have a solid idea of what kind of a job HuGo has done but things are looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 5 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said: I don’t think it’s the best in nhl history, Pens rebuild got them 3 cups. So did the 'Hawks Toews/Kane/++ rebuild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 On 8/24/2024 at 11:32 AM, REV-G said: This could be the greatest..... rebuild in NHL history! The best true "salary cap era" rebuilds were the Pens and the Hawks ... the Wings had some significant pre-salary cap holdovers. One argument in the Habs' favour (assuming that, ultimately, this all works out) is that it was done without a top three overall pick (in their first "rebuild Cup" the Pens had two #1s and two #2s, Hawks had a #1 and a #3). EDIT: Incredible brainfart on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 Best front office? Very good indeed so far, but Pollock+Bowman is a pretty damn high bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 3 hours ago, REV-G said: Also I've been following the Canadiens for just over 60 years. It would be fun/interesting to see how many older guys we have still following Les Canadiens! Let me know if you've been a follower longer than me or close! Just a bit short of 50 years for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 53 minutes ago, tomh009 said: Just a bit short of 50 years for me. ditto We are putting horse before cart, lots of good stuff 'may' happen but wont. Will be several good prospects who wont pan out as hoped, as always. Hutson is dandy offensively, but even Quinn Hughes seemed to get outmuscled in playoffs around his own net and he is better skater than Hutson with 5 NHL seasons under his belt, so who knows how he will handle NHL forecheckers (he seemed to try and pick-pocket NCAA forecheckers and not get into physical fight for pucks or take a hit to make a play. Team needs more offense and better defense and seem a long way from where want to be. I guess i will reserve judgement for when see how plays out over next few years, but I cant complain about new Mgmt and very curious how numerous young players (like Beck, Mailloux, Reinbacher, Roy, Engstrom, Kapanen) do in pre-season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 5 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: It’s genuinely too early to tell if this is even a good rebuild. I share your enthusiasm and I agree that this might be the greatest rebuild… Slafkofsky has to be a star Dach has to play at a high level for a whole season Hutson, Reinbacker must be high end talent. One of our goalies has to emerge as a solid starter. Demidov has to be a star I think in about 3 years we will have a solid idea of what kind of a job HuGo has done but things are looking good The biggest question mark is definitely the goalies. We've had a few great goalie prospects that never worked out, most never saw much NHL action. Fucale comes to mind and Primeau is not looking to be the replacement for Price he was pegged to be. Fowler gives me hope, but as with all prospect goalies, I'll believe it when I see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 42 years for me. i am excited but still waiting for some proof that our expectations are met. the is no individual award worthy player in the NHL roster and the core has little to no experience in the playoffs . For me, winning the cup is what a successful rebuild is all about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parksville habsfan Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 60+ for me. Started with 1 game a week on cbc radio. No Tv in the in the small isolated town on the mid coast of B.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Boagalott Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 I've been a Habs fan for 45+ yrs. I'm 48 and born in 75 and I've been a Habs since 78. I agree with your assessment and have been saying that this rebuild has the potential to be the greatest rebuild of all time. Like others have said, there have been 3 teams to win 3 cups in 10 years (Wings, Pens, Hawks). Many other teams have attempted rebuilds and have failed, but the Habs aren't making the mistakes those team made. ex: Oilers, they missed on numerous high picks (Yakapov, Hall, etc), plus they failed to draft enough dmen with high picks. They didnt draft enough Goalies either. The Leafs - they're overpaying their guys and don't have enough grit to win more than 1 round. Sabers - they're the Sabers (not sure what else to say). Same for the Sens too. Currently, the Wings also seem to be floundering their rebuild - they started signing UFAs when they didn't need them and needed more high picks. NJ - they had a crap year last season but it could interesting to see what they do. IMHO, the Habs are nailing their rebuild because they are not just getting high almost can't miss picks due to their rebuild. i.e. teams that suck at scouting and drafting must have those high picks. The Habs are crushing it on later round picks and I'd say that's the key differentiator. Of the 3 main teams to win 3 Cups in 10 years I'd say only the Wings really got key players in later rounds or great draft deals on their players. ex: Datsyuk and Zetterberg. The Habs have a plethora of players that should be drafted much higher in redrafts for those years. ex: Nick (not 1 of their picks, but he'd go higher), Cole, Hutson, Roy, Beck, and likely Mailloux, Fowler, Kapenen, Florian, Aatos, + more. Even Demidov too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 35 years. I think this team, and this league is so historic that for anything to be the best ever, we need to see the results. its way to premature for best ever conversations. Most of these probably need multiple Cup wins, lets make the playoffs and win a few rounds before its even a discussion.... I hate to as it, cause I like you Rev-G, but this thread has the same kinda feel as many Leafs Fan type "best ever" or "this is our year" kinda posts. I get being optimistic but Best of all Time discussions is a lot further than I'm willing to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 2 hours ago, TurdBurglar said: The biggest question mark is definitely the goalies. We've had a few great goalie prospects that never worked out, most never saw much NHL action. Fucale comes to mind and Primeau is not looking to be the replacement for Price he was pegged to be. Fowler gives me hope, but as with all prospect goalies, I'll believe it when I see it. I think we have a credible starter in Montembeault, and that’s more than we have had since Price. The question is whether one of our prospects can be more than just a solid starter, but at least goaltending is not a major weakness for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepsi Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 Love the enthusiasm and I am the most optimistic that I have been in years -Thank You HuGo! However, as someone else said, I am tempering my expectations for a few years as they have not done anything yet! - Dach appears to be made of glass; - Hutson has not proved anything; - Laine is potentially damaged goods; - Reinbacher has not wowed anyone yet; - Cole has not scored as expected; - Goaltending is mediocre; - D-men are young playmakers and unproven at keeping puck out of the net.. etc. The odds are that one or more of these guys will disappoint; thus I prefer to be cautious rather than at over-hyping at this point. I am ever hopeful but have been let down by years of poor drafting, so maybe we are just seeing a competent management for a change - for that I am thankful. Sorry to be a Denis Downer and I hope they prove me wrong. BTW, I have been a fan since 1968 (56 years) and was spoiled in the 70's. Maybe my bar was set too high with those magical teams. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 I agree that, while the optimism is fun, it is way, way, waaaaay too soon even to declare that this rebuild has been a success! Let alone “the greatest rebuild of the cap era.” This team has done absolutely NOTHING on the ice as of yet. Zero. And until it does, this is all just feel-good fantasizing, like imagining how great it will be to kiss that girl when you haven’t even asked her out yet. As for the question of greatest rebuilds, the Hawks and the Pens are certainly front-runners, but what about TB? They have been an absolute machine for a decade. ‘Only’ two Cups, but they feel (to me, anyway) like they’ve been a more consistently awesome team over the past decade than the Pens, or perhaps any 21st century club other than those Hawks. A sleeper candidate is Boston. Thank God, only one Cup, but they rebuilt at the same time as Gainey Rebuild 1.0 and have been more or less formidable ever since. I always feel like they were sort of the Bizzarro version of Gainey Rebuild 1.0 - the rebuild that actually succeeded, and led to perennial contention, exactly what we were all hoping Gainey would accomplish. Sadly the forces of evil prevailed, like with the Star Wars prequels. And we can only hope that we’re about to enter the ‘Original Trilogy’ phase of the Montreal-Boston storyline, where the good guys come storming back and demolish the reign of evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 4 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: A sleeper candidate is Boston. Thank God, only one Cup, but they rebuilt at the same time as Gainey Rebuild 1.0 and have been more or less formidable ever since. I always feel like they were sort of the Bizzarro version of Gainey Rebuild 1.0 - the rebuild that actually succeeded, and led to perennial contention, exactly what we were all hoping Gainey would accomplish. Sadly the forces of evil prevailed, like with the Star Wars prequels. And we can only hope that we’re about to enter the ‘Original Trilogy’ phase of the Montreal-Boston storyline, where the good guys come storming back and demolish the reign of evil. Gainey rebuild is probably a poster child for the rest of the NHL on how to not do it. He let FAs walk instead of getting value back, started a rebuild and then abandoned it in a couple of season to tool up for the playoffs. Meanwhile, Boston made some great deals, got some good players and good draft picks that worked out well for them. Granted they made great picks with those draft picks, which is never a guarantee. The Raycroft and Thorton deals alone set them up really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 Just now, TurdBurglar said: Gainey rebuild is probably a poster child for the rest of the NHL on how to not do it. He let FAs walk instead of getting value back, started a rebuild and then abandoned it in a couple of season to tool up for the playoffs. Well, a deeper problem is that all those prospects who were supposed to be stars mostly turned out to be duds. Only Price and Pleks really delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 14 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Well, a deeper problem is that all those prospects who were supposed to be stars mostly turned out to be duds. Only Price and Pleks really delivered. Perhaps, but when I think of Gainey the GM, despite what good things he may have done, I can't help but think back to the Gomez trade. Sometimes a trade works out very badly but you can see the logic at the time. That trade, in the salary cap era, was mind boggling right from the beginning. I absolutely loved Gainey the player. The GM not so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 13 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Well, a deeper problem is that all those prospects who were supposed to be stars mostly turned out to be duds. Only Price and Pleks really delivered. That doesn't excuse the list of player Gainey let walk to FA. Koivu, Komasarek(when he was actually good), and Kovalev. You can't let those player walk to FA and nothing in return to enter a rebuild. The return for just those 3 as rentals at the time would of been a bag of higher draft packs or equivalent. While the picks they made were duds, if you throw enough shit at the wall... This doesn't include the rentals of Tanguay, Lang and Schnieder that they didn't do anything with either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 4 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: Perhaps, but when I think of Gainey the GM, despite what good things he may have done, I can't help but think back to the Gomez trade. Sometimes a trade works out very badly but you can see the logic at the time. That trade, in the salary cap era, was mind boggling right from the beginning. I absolutely loved Gainey the player. The GM not so much. Don't forget the infamous trade that the league nixed that would of sent Price, Subban and Pacioretty to Tampa Bay for Lecavalier. If memory serves me right, there was a 1st going to Tampa as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: As for the question of greatest rebuilds, the Hawks and the Pens are certainly front-runners, but what about TB? They have been an absolute machine for a decade. ‘Only’ two Cups, but they feel (to me, anyway) like they’ve been a more consistently awesome team over the past decade than the Pens, or perhaps any 21st century club other than those Hawks. The way I see it, Tampa did a successful rebuild, yes--but, more than that, they managed the team so as to achieve consistent top-notch results year after year. To me, that's a separate, and a yet more difficult thing, than climbing up from the bottom with the help of early draft picks. And teams that have managed that in the cap era for five-plus years can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 3 hours ago, TurdBurglar said: Komasarek(when he was actually good) Komisarek left after the 2008/09 season ... he injured his shoulder in a fight with Lucic in November 2008 and I don't believe he was ever the same thereafter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 22 minutes ago, GHT120 said: Komisarek left after the 2008/09 season ... he injured his shoulder in a fight with Lucic in November 2008 and I don't believe he was ever the same thereafter Komisarek was a reasonably effective NHL defensemen when paired with Markov. Markov was a great partner to have. He became a UFA and signed a 22.5M, 5 year contract with the Leafs. The Habs were smart not to match. The Leafs soon realized he wasn't that good, not without a partner like Markov anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 32 minutes ago, GHT120 said: Komisarek left after the 2008/09 season ... he injured his shoulder in a fight with Lucic in November 2008 and I don't believe he was ever the same thereafter Yeah, but my point was Gainey let him walk to FA for nothing. If there wasn't any intention to resign him, they should have dumped him at the deadline to get some capital back. It was quite obvious that off season that they were entering a rebuild, which isn't something that was decided after the season was over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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