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Post by habsorbed on Jan 15, 2020 23:37:37 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. The pressure will then be on MB to do something. He himself has said that the break will be decision time. Will be interesting to see who he moves and for what.
I can see him trading Kovy for an asset - 2nd rounder and claiming what a great gm he is to get Kovy for nothing and turn it into a 2nd rounder. Problem is we don't need second rounders. We need elite talent.
Which leads to the biggest problem: when you're a seller at trade deadline, you're not getting elite talent no matter what you want to give up. You're getting future prospects and draft choices. So we just start the merry-go-round again with MB saying he's making the team stronger , and we should all be patient.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 16, 2020 1:49:23 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to attending Bbinz post Habs career Business Administratoon lectures at the local.... bordello University. Does he have enough (cough) business experience?
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Post by seventeen on Jan 16, 2020 1:50:58 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. The pressure will then be on MB to do something. He himself has said that the break will be decision time. Will be interesting to see who he moves and for what. I can see him trading Kovy for an asset - 2nd rounder and claiming what a great gm he is to get Kovy for nothing and turn it into a 2nd rounder. Problem is we don't need second rounders. We need elite talent. Which leads to the biggest problem: when you're a seller at trade deadline, you're not getting elite talent no matter what you want to give up. You're getting future prospects and draft choices. So we just start the merry-go-round again with MB saying he's making the team stronger , and we should all be patient. Maybe if the Bell Centre was half empty, the sight might slap Molson across the head.
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 16, 2020 6:15:05 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. The pressure will then be on MB to do something. He himself has said that the break will be decision time. Will be interesting to see who he moves and for what. I can see him trading Kovy for an asset - 2nd rounder and claiming what a great gm he is to get Kovy for nothing and turn it into a 2nd rounder. Problem is we don't need second rounders. We need elite talent. Which leads to the biggest problem: when you're a seller at trade deadline, you're not getting elite talent no matter what you want to give up. You're getting future prospects and draft choices. So we just start the merry-go-round again with MB saying he's making the team stronger , and we should all be patient. Maybe if the Bell Centre was half empty, the sight might slap Molson across the head. Itll never happen... they should rename the building "The Bo Peep Centre"... because it's full of sheep.
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Post by franko on Jan 16, 2020 7:03:28 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. Are you calling MB a moron? Because he's going to say that until a team is officially eliminated there's still a chance. He'll decide to wait just a little bit longer, until the trade deadline. Plan from the beginning, no? A second rounder will be nice; he can trade that for a third and a fifth, because you can never have too many draft picks.
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Post by Tankdriver on Jan 16, 2020 8:23:17 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. Are you calling MB a moron? Because he's going to say that until a team is officially eliminated there's still a chance. He'll decide to wait just a little bit longer, until the trade deadline. Plan from the beginning, no? A second rounder will be nice; he can trade that for a third and a fifth, because you can never have too many draft picks. I can't give this enough of a thumbs up. Dscribes him to a tee. Was he picked in the 5th round for f-sakes? He should doing everything in his power to trade up this year.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 16, 2020 10:52:28 GMT -5
franko, I fear you are right. The media is making a big deal that Berg won't make any roster decisions until the break. Two games to go. I find it hard to fathom that he will be "mentally ready" to concede this season yet. Trust me. Hope. Anything can happen. Injuries.
The reference to Berg trading a second for a 3rd/5th is both so funny and so cringe-worthy. That is the stuff of nightmares for Timmins and Churla. Speaking of Churla, I was really skeptical when he was parachuted in and given such a key 2IC role at the draft under Timmins. I look at things very differently now, as I think he could run the draft now based on the type of players he has targeted and helped select over those drafts since he has arrived.
As for Kovy, he is a prime candidate for being flipped at the deadline. He has looked great since his arrival, and no doubt a bunch of contending GMs are watching closely. How good would he look in PIT for that cheap salary hit? The sad part is he has also looked way better than a bunch of regular roster players that the Habs have playing right now. Could Berg also be thinking that he would be an upgrade over one of his many scrubs in the lineup? I have learnt to expect the unexpected. Not because Berg once told us to do that. Instead, because he never appears to have an overall plan in place, so any move fits into whatever the "plan of the moment" is in his head.
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Post by folatre on Jan 16, 2020 11:25:51 GMT -5
There is no chance of playoff hockey, none. I agree with you guys that Bergevin is unlikely to do much next week and even as the trade deadline approaches I think he will only make minor sales (maybe Kovalchuk, maybe Thompson).
Bergevin has basically hand picked the entire roster so he wants to believe in these guys and he will probably rationalize that Price was not Price this season and there were too many injuries, etc. For me it looks illogical to keep the band together for another season because this veteran core, aside from being likable, is not good enough. To keep all of them or most of them together seems borderline pointless.
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 16, 2020 11:34:45 GMT -5
Two more games until the break at which time only a moron would think we still have a chance. Are you calling MB a moron? Because he's going to say that until a team is officially eliminated there's still a chance. He'll decide to wait just a little bit longer, until the trade deadline. Plan from the beginning, no? A second rounder will be nice; he can trade that for a third and a fifth, because you can never have too many draft picks. You can never have enough Weals and Cousins... They are forward version of MB when he was a player
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 16, 2020 11:38:47 GMT -5
franko, I fear you are right. The media is making a big deal that Berg won't make any roster decisions until the break. Two games to go. I find it hard to fathom that he will be "mentally ready" to concede this season yet. Trust me. Hope. Anything can happen. Injuries. The reference to Berg trading a second for a 3rd/5th is both so funny and so cringe-worthy. That is the stuff of nightmares for Timmins and Churla. Speaking of Churla, I was really skeptical when he was parachuted in and given such a key 2IC role at the draft under Timmins. I look at things very differently now, as I think he could run the draft now based on the type of players he has targeted and helped select over those drafts since he has arrived. As for Kovy, he is a prime candidate for being flipped at the deadline. He has looked great since his arrival, and no doubt a bunch of contending GMs are watching closely. How good would he look in PIT for that cheap salary hit? The sad part is he has also looked way better than a bunch of regular roster players that the Habs have playing right now. Could Berg also be thinking that he would be an upgrade over one of his many scrubs in the lineup? I have learnt to expect the unexpected. Not because Berg once told us to do that. Instead, because he never appears to have an overall plan in place, so any move fits into whatever the "plan of the moment" is in his head. Send Kovy and Carey to Colorado for Byram and something else... eat 3 mill of Carey's cap. The Avs have cap space, they have 4.25 coming off the books (Barrie and Orpik are done) They project to have 24M in space next year
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Post by The Habitual Fan on Jan 16, 2020 12:41:20 GMT -5
You can't trade Carey if he doesn't want to go and there hasn't been any indication he wants out...yet. He seems content at the moment to knock off a few more Montreal Canadiens goaltending records first. It is certainly a conversation MB should have with his agent however.
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Post by folatre on Jan 16, 2020 13:40:12 GMT -5
He never said he wants out (but hockey players following hockey code almost never directly ask for a trade), but Price has on more than one occasion expressed impatience with Montreal's ability to contend for silverware. I agree, Bergevin (or better yet Molson since he is the President) should reach out to Price (and Weber for that matter) and be open and honest about the reality that Montreal may not be strong enough to make the playoffs in 2020-21.
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Post by Boston_Habs on Jan 16, 2020 13:44:23 GMT -5
20-21-7 47 points in 48 games
Ugh.
We're squarely in that dreaded "no man's land" in the league, where no one wants to be. A thoroughly mediocre team with no reasonable shot at the playoffs and no reasonable shot at a top 3 pick, let alone Lafreniere.
And yet Bergevin will whistle past the graveyard with Price and Weber in the back seat. Trade one of our franchise players? Bein non, luh!
Like I said in another post, I get that Berg doesn't have any easy or obvious moves. But he has some nice young prospect talent and some possible surplus up front. He needs to improve the D and establish some difference makers in the top 6.
Can you get back to contention with Price and Weber? Maybe or maybe not. Does dealing Price or Weber make the Habs any more likely to contend in the next 3 years? Maybe or maybe not. It depends what we get back and how good Cayden Primeau really is.
But whatever Bergevin has done in the past 7+ years HAS NOT WORKED. All the decisions big and small, the picks, the trades, the FA signings, etc. have added up to a steady deterioration in our competitiveness, especially over the past 4 years.
I honestly don't know how Berg can survive if this is how things shake out. If I'm Geoff, I tell Bergie not to do anything at this point. Let the next guy make the moves.
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Post by jkr on Jan 16, 2020 14:08:07 GMT -5
Don't hold your breath waiting for Molson to make a tough decision about the hockey club. He's content to play Nero while Bergevin is burning down the team.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 25, 2020 20:57:58 GMT -5
Attention Claude Julien and Marc Bergevin:
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Post by Boston_Habs on Jan 26, 2020 13:03:01 GMT -5
Don't hold your breath waiting for Molson to make a tough decision about the hockey club. He's content to play Nero while Bergevin is burning down the team. The tyranny of sunk costs. You are more likely to invest or continue on a path where you are already invested, even to the point of negative returns. It's playing out in front of us. The psychology of Bergevin to justify previous moves and insisting on not cutting bait on "his guys". The psychology of Geoff Molson from backing up his GM on the Subban trade to not firing when we bottomed out a couple years ago. Heck, Geoff basically put it out there when he said "Bergevin was the man to clean up his mess." The tyranny of sunk costs. That's not to say that a different set of moves will have a better result. But if Berg were fired today, the next GM would probably trade Tatar and Petry at the deadline if he can get great value. He may even trade Price and/or Weber to totally hit the reset button and build around the young core that Berg has assembled. He might even trade Gallagher. The point is another GM would have no attachment to the previous decisions, which is why teams and companies in all industries get rid of the old CEO and hire a new one. Sometimes you need to start clean. The tyranny of sunk costs. Nobody can be sure that another GM will have more success or make the right decisions in his own right. It's even possible that Bergevin really is building to a contender and we just can't see it yet. But the odds aren't on his side. Success is a balance of good decisions and good fortune, and Bergevin has come out on the short end of both since he got here almost 8 years ago.
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Post by UberCranky on Jan 26, 2020 15:03:47 GMT -5
Success is a balance of good decisions and good fortune, and Bergevin has come out on the short end of both since he got here almost 8 years ago. Disagree. Success is planning and good decisions. Having done that, one can take advantage of circumstances that favor the above. Fortune means that it's a suprise to the recipient, which means they did nothing more then stand around until a meteor hit them on the head. By definition....horrible management.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 26, 2020 15:48:32 GMT -5
As my boss used to repeat ad nauseum...."hope is not a plan".
Plans don't always work out, but at least it's a direction one can follow. Meandering doesn't get you to point B. When you manage by the seat of you pants, you're counting on luck and as LyftCranky says (I hate Uber) not having a plan is horrible management.
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Post by UberCranky on Jan 26, 2020 18:22:55 GMT -5
As my boss used to repeat ad nauseum...."hope is not a plan". Plans don't always work out, but at least it's a direction one can follow. Meandering doesn't get you to point B. When you manage by the seat of you pants, you're counting on luck and as LyftCranky says (I hate Uber) not having a plan is horrible management. Is that like Lyft'n'TuckCranky? Because the bra industry is beckoning for.... "Lift'N'TuckCranky Bras for the Man B**bies In Your Family" Attachments:
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Post by seventeen on Jan 26, 2020 19:48:35 GMT -5
If the bra fits......
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Post by Boston_Habs on Jan 27, 2020 9:37:21 GMT -5
Success is a balance of good decisions and good fortune, and Bergevin has come out on the short end of both since he got here almost 8 years ago. Disagree. Success is planning and good decisions. Having done that, one can take advantage of circumstances that favor the above. Fortune means that it's a suprise to the recipient, which means they did nothing more then stand around until a meteor hit them on the head. By definition....horrible management. For sure. I only meant that sometimes things happen outside your control or planning that have an impact on results. Like having the #3 pick in 2012 in what turned out to be a lousy draft year. OTOH, Pittsburgh gets Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in back to back drafts to set them up for the next 10 years. A year later and they would have been picking Erik Johnson. Even in 1993 our Cup run was helped along by Pittsburgh getting knocked out by the Islanders. Now the saying goes that "luck favors the prepared man", so you still need to know what to do with it and do all the right planning and decisions, but you still need the bounces to go your way too.
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Jan 29, 2020 16:15:06 GMT -5
Disagree. Success is planning and good decisions. Having done that, one can take advantage of circumstances that favor the above. Fortune means that it's a suprise to the recipient, which means they did nothing more then stand around until a meteor hit them on the head. By definition....horrible management. For sure. I only meant that sometimes things happen outside your control or planning that have an impact on results. Like having the #3 pick in 2012 in what turned out to be a lousy draft year. OTOH, Pittsburgh gets Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in back to back drafts to set them up for the next 10 years. A year later and they would have been picking Erik Johnson. Even in 1993 our Cup run was helped along by Pittsburgh getting knocked out by the Islanders. Now the saying goes that "luck favors the prepared man", so you still need to know what to do with it and do all the right planning and decisions, but you still need the bounces to go your way too. I keep hearing we have a great young team that is three years away from contending. Then i heard this great comment on the radio. If you were the GM that won the Lafreniere sweapstakes and Bergevin offered you any 3 players on the Hab’s roster plus an exchange of picks to drop back 5 places on the first round, would you do it. NO! The young kids we rate so highly are potential third line NHLers. We couldn’t package them to make dropping 5 spots attractive. Great young prospects, BS! 11 years in charge and hoping to contend, not win in three years. That is failure. Injuries? Where did “no excuses go?”
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Post by folatre on Jan 30, 2020 11:28:32 GMT -5
First overall picks simply do not get moved. So whether it is Yzerman or Dorion or whoever holding that pick, they are not trading it.
Molson and Bergevin need to focus on asset management and player development with an eye to 2021-22 and beyond. Not all the veterans on this club can stay. There are five guys about to become UFA after next season (Danault, Gallagher, Tatar, Petry, Armia) and none of them are going to take shorter than four-year deals and I would imagine that most of them would find five or six year contracts.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that none of the soon to be UFAs want to leave so they all opt to accept deals that are at least reasonable approximations of their worth on the open market.
So the Habs could conceivably start the 2021-22 season with the following players (age in October 2021, AAV or estimated AAV, contract duration or estimated term):
Price, 34, 10.5, 2025-26 Weber, 36, 7.86, 2025-26 Petry, 33, 6, 2025-26 Byron, 32, 3.4, 2022-23 Scandella, 31, 3.5, 2023-24 Tatar, 30, 6, 2025-26 Chiarot, 30, 3.5, 2021-22 Gallagher, 29, 7.25, 2026-27 Danault, 28, 5.25, 2025-26 Armia, 28, 4, 2024-25
I am not saying this is exactly what will happen. I am merely illustrating that Montreal would have too many non-difference makers moving into and through their 30s making too much money. And therefore if it is inadvisable and unviable to keep the entire gang together, then why is it such a bad thing to trade a couple of them this spring and maybe one or two more next season? A Habs fan I see regularly for work keeps telling me well we cannot subtract guys because then we will not have a good team next season. I struggle to understand this reasoning. Look at this team, they are heading for a third bottom ten finish in five years. Moving two or three or four of them is not going to cost the Montreal Canadiens a Stanley Cup.
Molson needs to forget about the playoffs next season and place the strategic focus on the development of young players and how the roster should be constituted in 2021-22 going forward.
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Post by Tankdriver on Jan 30, 2020 12:34:11 GMT -5
First overall picks simply do not get moved. So whether it is Yzerman or Dorion or whoever holding that pick, they are not trading it. Molson and Bergevin need to focus on asset management and player development with an eye to 2021-22 and beyond. Not all the veterans on this club can stay. There are five guys about to become UFA after next season (Danault, Gallagher, Tatar, Petry, Armia) and none of them are going to take shorter than four-year deals and I would imagine that most of them would find five or six year contracts. For the sake of argument, let’s say that none of the soon to be UFAs want to leave so they all opt to accept deals that are at least reasonable approximations of their worth on the open market. So the Habs could conceivably start the 2021-22 season with the following players (age in October 2021, AAV or estimated AAV, contract duration or estimated term): Price, 34, 10.5, 2025-26 Weber, 36, 7.86, 2025-26 Petry, 33, 6, 2025-26 Byron, 32, 3.4, 2022-23 Scandella, 31, 3.5, 2023-24 Tatar, 30, 6, 2025-26 Chiarot, 30, 3.5, 2021-22 Gallagher, 29, 7.25, 2026-27 Danault, 28, 5.25, 2025-26 Armia, 28, 4, 2024-25 I am not saying this is exactly what will happen. I am merely illustrating that Montreal would have too many non-difference makers moving into and through their 30s making too much money. And therefore if it is inadvisable and unviable to keep the entire gang together, then why is it such a bad thing to trade a couple of them this spring and maybe one or two more next season? A Habs fan I see regularly for work keeps telling me well we cannot subtract guys because then we will not have a good team next season. I struggle to understand this reasoning. Look at this team, they are heading for a third bottom ten finish in five years. Moving two or three or four of them is not going to cost the Montreal Canadiens a Stanley Cup. Molson needs to forget about the playoffs next season and place the strategic focus on the development of young players and how the roster should be constituted in 2021-22 going forward. I agree but I think you are a little light on the salaries. I see Petry making min 7, Tatar, 6.5 and Gallagher 8, Danualt 6. We always seem to overpay our players to stay.
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 30, 2020 14:21:15 GMT -5
First overall picks simply do not get moved. So whether it is Yzerman or Dorion or whoever holding that pick, they are not trading it. Molson and Bergevin need to focus on asset management and player development with an eye to 2021-22 and beyond. Not all the veterans on this club can stay. There are five guys about to become UFA after next season (Danault, Gallagher, Tatar, Petry, Armia) and none of them are going to take shorter than four-year deals and I would imagine that most of them would find five or six year contracts. For the sake of argument, let’s say that none of the soon to be UFAs want to leave so they all opt to accept deals that are at least reasonable approximations of their worth on the open market. So the Habs could conceivably start the 2021-22 season with the following players (age in October 2021, AAV or estimated AAV, contract duration or estimated term): Price, 34, 10.5, 2025-26 Weber, 36, 7.86, 2025-26 Petry, 33, 6, 2025-26 Byron, 32, 3.4, 2022-23 Scandella, 31, 3.5, 2023-24 Tatar, 30, 6, 2025-26 Chiarot, 30, 3.5, 2021-22 Gallagher, 29, 7.25, 2026-27 Danault, 28, 5.25, 2025-26 Armia, 28, 4, 2024-25 I am not saying this is exactly what will happen. I am merely illustrating that Montreal would have too many non-difference makers moving into and through their 30s making too much money. And therefore if it is inadvisable and unviable to keep the entire gang together, then why is it such a bad thing to trade a couple of them this spring and maybe one or two more next season? A Habs fan I see regularly for work keeps telling me well we cannot subtract guys because then we will not have a good team next season. I struggle to understand this reasoning. Look at this team, they are heading for a third bottom ten finish in five years. Moving two or three or four of them is not going to cost the Montreal Canadiens a Stanley Cup. Molson needs to forget about the playoffs next season and place the strategic focus on the development of young players and how the roster should be constituted in 2021-22 going forward. I agree but I think you are a little light on the salaries. I see Petry making min 7, Tatar, 6.5 and Gallagher 8, Danualt 6. We always seem to overpay our players to stay. I would trade Price, 34, 10.5, 2025-26 Byron, 32, 3.4, 2022-23 Scandella, 31, 3.5, 2023-24 Tatar, 30, 6, 2025-26 Gallagher, 29, 7.25, 2026-27 Danault, 28, 5.25, 2025-26 I trade Price, Tatar and Gallagher, because I think we get a good return on them, even if we have to eat some of Carey's salary. I Trade Byron, Scandella and Danault because I think they can be easily replaced from within. I don't think the return will be great but we need to give the kids more icetime Petry, I give more money and less term
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Post by frozone on Jan 30, 2020 14:41:07 GMT -5
First overall picks simply do not get moved. So whether it is Yzerman or Dorion or whoever holding that pick, they are not trading it. Molson and Bergevin need to focus on asset management and player development with an eye to 2021-22 and beyond. Not all the veterans on this club can stay. There are five guys about to become UFA after next season (Danault, Gallagher, Tatar, Petry, Armia) and none of them are going to take shorter than four-year deals and I would imagine that most of them would find five or six year contracts. For the sake of argument, let’s say that none of the soon to be UFAs want to leave so they all opt to accept deals that are at least reasonable approximations of their worth on the open market. So the Habs could conceivably start the 2021-22 season with the following players (age in October 2021, AAV or estimated AAV, contract duration or estimated term): Price, 34, 10.5, 2025-26 Weber, 36, 7.86, 2025-26 Petry, 33, 6, 2025-26 Byron, 32, 3.4, 2022-23 Scandella, 31, 3.5, 2023-24 Tatar, 30, 6, 2025-26 Chiarot, 30, 3.5, 2021-22 Gallagher, 29, 7.25, 2026-27 Danault, 28, 5.25, 2025-26 Armia, 28, 4, 2024-25 I am not saying this is exactly what will happen. I am merely illustrating that Montreal would have too many non-difference makers moving into and through their 30s making too much money. And therefore if it is inadvisable and unviable to keep the entire gang together, then why is it such a bad thing to trade a couple of them this spring and maybe one or two more next season? A Habs fan I see regularly for work keeps telling me well we cannot subtract guys because then we will not have a good team next season. I struggle to understand this reasoning. Look at this team, they are heading for a third bottom ten finish in five years. Moving two or three or four of them is not going to cost the Montreal Canadiens a Stanley Cup. Molson needs to forget about the playoffs next season and place the strategic focus on the development of young players and how the roster should be constituted in 2021-22 going forward. My gut says you are right. We need to forget about next season. But whenever I go back to the team stats, especially the high danger scoring chances, I come out with the opposite conclusion. This team regularly outplays/out-chances the opposition. Goaltending has failed this team more than anything else. You can argue that we need a true finisher (or two) to convert more of our chances... but I think an easier argument can be made that our $10.5M goalie should at least be providing league-average goaltending. So should we really blow up a team that consistently outplays the opposition? Don't get me wrong, I'm like everyone else in the sense that I want the #1 draft pick. I'm willing to tank in order to land the generational talent. I want a few 80+ point players. I want 40 and 50 goal scorers. But the reality is that many teams have orchestrated the perfect tank jobs, but their rebuilds have been anything but successful. So how does a team like Toronto do everything right yet still find themselves outside of a playoff spot? Or Buffalo? They seem to be doing things the right way, but there are too many teams that have failed with their rebuild attempts for me to put my hopes in that route. The secret sauce is something beyond tanking, I'm convinced. Tanking this season should be a no brainer. The season is lost, so of course we should do it. But tanking next season? Someone needs to prove to me with numbers first that the failure of this season is due to something other than our goaltending.
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Post by CentreHice on Jan 30, 2020 14:55:41 GMT -5
How about the state of our D, frozone, in tandem with the goaltending? It's not exactly the best in its own zone.
Throughout most of Price's tenure, whenever he falters or is missing, it's been straight down the drain. This year, he's had goal support, though...and is well below par.
Going back to Theodore, there's been quite a bit of strong goaltending which has prevented us from low finishes--from perhaps building properly/strongly through the draft.
Like an O. Henry story.
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Post by mikeg on Jan 30, 2020 15:56:56 GMT -5
Prediction - In 5 years we will still be running this thread complaining about the same things and the dynamic duo of MB and GM will still be in power. La plus ca change....
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Post by folatre on Jan 30, 2020 16:33:52 GMT -5
Tank, for sure. I agree. My estimates are probably on the lower end of what these guys would angle for. And that reinforces the case that you cannot keep this many players making serious money into their 30s because today's NHL is about building around younger talent and locking those kids up for good money through their 20s.
Fro, yeah I hear you man. The analytics suggest the Habs should score more goals than they do. It comes down to lacking natural snipers as well as bigger bodies to create more havoc down low. The reality is Julien teams have good possession and shot numbers (d-men shoot a lot and pinch a lot) but with such a large sample size (3+ seasons) of average to poor outcomes in the standings I just do not feel overly worried about moving on from some guys.
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Post by frozone on Jan 30, 2020 19:35:43 GMT -5
How about the state of our D, frozone, in tandem with the goaltending? It's not exactly the best in its own zone. Throughout most of Price's tenure, whenever he falters or is missing, it's been straight down the drain. This year, he's had goal support, though...and is well below par. Going back to Theodore, there's been quite a bit of strong goaltending which has prevented us from low finishes--from perhaps building properly/strongly through the draft. Like an O. Henry story. Totally agree, our D can certainly improve. But my point is that the skaters on the team have done enough to make it to the post season if we had better goaltending. In other words, if you were to list all the reasons why we're not sitting in a playoff spot right now, goaltending would be #1 on that list. The only team that I see at the top of the league that is overcoming bad goaltending is Washington. Then you have teams like Vegas who I think are a bit like us: not quite good enough to overcome bad goaltending. These teams are left somewhere fighting for their playoff lives... the zone of painful mediocrity. Tampa was living in this zone for a while but are now proving they are elite.
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