I think they’re a couple of years away from contending once again for the playoffs.
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46 Comments
2:47 Dang, Shannon speaking to Gen Z on their terms. On god
Suzuki and Caufield are overpaid. They are paid like 1st liners and perform like second/third liners. Gallagher contract and Anderson contract are also brutal.
On defense, you have Hutson, Mailloux and Reinbacher coming soon. Very overcrowded with talented kids. And Mesar and Beck on offense a couple years away. So I'd say they are 2 years behind Detroit. 25-26 season should see the rise of the Montreal Canadian.
They have solid prospects on D and some prospects upfront that look like they will be middle 6 fowards. What they really need is a bluechip foward. If the rebuild fails it will be for the same reason they've being average for the last 25 years, lack of elite offense
Lane hutson will pass harris struble and arber when they sign him.
This rebuild of the Canadiens is quite unusual. They've already had extra draft picks and have more to come, yet they still have a high payroll with a number of questionable contracts for veterans. It's like Marc Bergevin had 2 personalities–one was trading contracts for cap space and picks, and the other always thought he needed one more veteran to make a run in the playoffs.
Montréal is in phase 2 of rebuild, meaning there stacking less prospect in the next draft and building more the future core. If you look at the depth chart, it's clear the problem is in offense, they need at least 3 more young talented prospect. The first line of Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky is great, but they need to build a second one and as much as i like Roy Mesar, Beck, Dach and Newhook, i'm not convinced yet. In defense, it's stack like crazy, first come, first served ! I have never see that much talented depth for a long time in defense ! Most of the top prospect play in other league but Hutson, Rienbacher, Engstrom and Konyushkov are gems ! In the net, it's the great mystery but i like how Dobes and Fowler are developing, plus Primeau and Montembeault have some great flash ! This year it's stil ok to lose, next year we change gears !
As a Habs fan, this rebuild reminds me of Nashville , for a while they had ordinary forwards with D-Men coming up year after year. Not sure it is the way to build in 2024 !
They are building the old ways with positions that takes longer tp develop, finishing with forwards. Already had a lot of young promising Ds before adding Reinbacher and then proceeded to draft 3 goalies in that last draft.
I am also not as enthusiastic as most on Lane Hutson… and also wondering if the Reinbacher pick (Right D) was an indication they would try to distance themselves from the controversial Mailloux pick from the previous 7th floor and look to trade him…
Going into the offseason, I hear we have some 22 picks in the next two years. Players + picks can be used to get a impact player from another organization wanting to rebuild.
Guhle, Struble, Xhekaj, Hutson, Reinbacher and Mailloux would be my ideal top 6 defensemen in the next few years. Matheson has more direct assists to the other team for goals against than he has goals for himself. He's constantly turning the puck over, move him whenever there's a chance.
The rebuild is going well, but it's onvious what the Habs are still severely lacking, apart from experience for the young players: Offensive talent. I still consider the 2023 draft to be a blunder, even if Reinbacher evolves into an elite D (to be paired with Hutson in the future). Joshua Roy is looking promising on the wing and a steal at the draft, at least.
MTL desperately needs more consistent goal scoring and above all, better centers. Monahan is really good, but he isn't gonna be our center in the future and even when Dach comes back (not before January 2025, at best, due to the type of injury he has to recover from), this team is always just one injured center away from falling apart, in my opinion. The center depth just isn't there at the moment.
A quick look at discussion forums will show that a solid chunk of the fan base is sick and tired about the Habs not featuring an offensive superstar for the last 3 decades at least.
The team is looking good in front of the net. Montembeault is turning into a solid starter and if Primeau doesn't pan out, we still got Fowler on the way (note that the Preds were apparently willing to trade Askarov and 2 picks to the Habs for 5th overall, so that's added pressure on Reinbacher moving forward).
The D is gonna be fantastic in the future. The main question right now is about which veteran D to move. Matheson or Savard? They both fill the role of the veteran leader for the young D.
Looking at Laval these last few weeks, a great chemistry is cooking between Xhekaj and Mailloux, so they're probably gonna become our 3rd pair for years to come. Us fans really want our sheriff Xhekaj back (especially when pkaying against Ottawa), but playing in Laval with Mailloux seems to work great for X so far. Xhekaj and Mailloux will likely start the season in MTL next season. Both Barron and Harris will probably get traded at some point and are not seen as long term players in MTL.
Barron just got sent down to Laval. Stephens has been placed on waivers, so that's where his "trade value" is right now. Monahan should logically be worth at least a 1st round pick, and/or a young center prospect. I don't know what we can get for Allen. Probably a 2nd round pick, if pitched to the right team searching for a backup goalie. Pearson is coming back soon it seems, so if he plays well, we should be able to deal him at the trade deadline.
One last thing before I end this report: Arber Xhekaj's little brother, Florian Xhekaj, will probably play on the 4th line for the Habs in a few years in the future. Good energy player who showed a notable improvement in his production since last season. He reached his production from last year in only half the time, something I consider worth mentioning.
Have a nice day. Your channel rocks!
Lane Hutson will be the X-Factor on the back end. If he pans out & is an offensive star then it will give the Habs better opportunity to upgrade the forwards with their extra D. Him & Reinbacher in Laval this spring should be a ton of fun to watch.
Great rebuild review, Shannon!
I think next season will be the turning point of this rebuild. We’re seeing multiple young players coming into their own this year, and prospects are getting ice time with the Big Club & Laval. There’s a decent starter in Montembault, even if he’s not a top 10 goalie.
The lack of an explosive forward has been the club’s Achilles Heel for, what, over two decades? If we can get one in the next two seasons, I think the rebuild will be successful. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Forgetting Lane Hutson
#BrianLeetchNumber #NCAA
Sam Montembeault was the difference between a top 3 draft pic and a top 5 draft pic last year. The worry is if he regresses right when the team is ready to compete or not.
More habs vids please
Don't forget about Newhook! He looked phenomenal before he got hurt
No mention of Lane Hutson, really?
Playoff team in 2 years time, contenders by the late 20’s early 30’s.
At least 5-6 years before they make the playoffs wildcard
Even then it will be no enough for them to be a good team for a run.
Surprised you didnt put Newhook on the don't forget also.
As a Habs fan, I have no complaints. We're not a playoff team yet but I am confident in the management of this team. I have no problem waiting a little longer.
Forgot Newhook and Hutson
Only hope is to draft a superstar forward to, at the very least, be entertaining to watch. I don't hold it against them that they havn't won since 93, what i do find depressing is that they havn't found a way to be consistently dangerous over multiple seasons in 30 years. Longshot or underdog vibe forever, I don't see that changing with Suzuki (Koivu feeling of deja vu) as our most productive player. Bad age balence on defense is a problem (8 players between 19 and 23), even if we let 3 of them go 5 defensemen asking for big pay raises in rapid succession is not ideal
oh.i guess i can say something.
might be a wall o words though that ok?
firstly this is year three of the rebuild.
secondly,habs fans dont really like being bottom feeders.
thirdly,this is year three of the rebuild.
so what would i as a fan expect from the team going forward.?
i would expect the same as gorton and hughes have done in the past.
savy trades for talent coming off an elc that the team cant afford.
with roy now on the island.fans will begin comparing him to msl.its a thing we do in habsland,compare.
so imo management needs to fast track the rebuild from a 5 year plan to 4.otherwise they will have to hump around in 2 years looking for a new french speaking coach when the best one is in ny.
in my opinion the team isnt really that far from contender status.but the weakness is glaring atm.no puck moving rhd,no scoring from anyone other than monahab suzuki and caufield.
that problem is solved if roy works out as well as pinard,with dach and newhook in the wings…what do they need?
a puck moving d? reinbacker
top 6 that can score? dach and roy and pinard.
the habs have more picks than they can use.but they are lacking pieces that can easily be found from within,savy trades.,and a pick from next years draft working out.
hopefull he is a rhd that moves the puck.
because hudson is 150 lbs soaking wet atm.with chicken legs.i dont consider him an ahler atm let alone a nhler…
see wall o words just like old times:P
This team will be in the gutter for the next 10 years horrible team
The standings always reflect the truth behind any rebuild
great analyses, thx!
Two midgets and the first overall flop isn’t that great. But building with lots of high potential defensemen is something I do love.
Everybody who isn’t a Montreal fan thinks this team is better than it is
Still 2-3 years from the real team. Could sneak in before then. A true shut down D-man and a big-name C would put them in the hunt. Cap and free agency with Monsieur St. Louis to play for, will make them a true contender. Montembeault as a backup would be pure luxury. Kent knows what he's doing. This could be team that Habs fans have been waiting patiently for.
Go Habs Go 🔵⚪️🔴
Slafkovsky really needs to be the explosive forward you were talking about.
Habs used to win stanley cup while having the best NHL player on the team.
Missing on Bedard will cost us 3 cups minimum.
Finally a habs video!!
L A N E H U T S O N
When Nashville was contending and Vegas now , big mobile defense that contribute on the scoreboard , even right now Montreal is top 5 on goals from defense . The process is looking good , being sent down to laval for young players has been working for making them better . Montreal will probably not be elite down the middle and get most of the scoring from the wings and d . Weare going to end up trading some really good young defensemen soon as we have to many in the system .
I'm not sure if I agree with the idea of needing that top, star offensive player for Montreal. I prefer a solid team that can roll four lines like what they had during the 2021 playoff run, and they're already half way there. A top line of Suzuki-Caufield-Slafkovsky, potential second line of Newhook-Dach-Anderson, and their really solid D core, if not Stanley Cup contenders, will at least make other teams work for their wins.
Any Habs fans watching the youngsters coming around thinking every time they have a lapse in jugment: "meh, as long as they learn something when it doesn't work out". Some say the young players were brought up too quick, I think being able to mature in the NHL with less pressure (well for Montreal that is) is a great way to learn and directly contibute to the team. What would be dumb would be to change rebuild strategies without giving the current one proper time to work out.
This team has some good pieces in place. Please stay the course and draft/develop. No need to rush things like the leafs did with JT.
Justin Barron needs to start playing way better by next season otherwise he will be trending towards being a bust.
Newhook and Dach injuries clipped them, but they desperately need a dynamic forward, a 1 st liner who plays big, or has elite all-round skill. They have a lot of vets who filing chairs that developing players should be using. 3 years of good GM and coaching work, and patience.
Next year, they'll be there, if they don't get unlucky like this year, where 2 masterpieces are missing, they could have been there this year had Dach, one of the masterpieces to Caufield 26 goals in 40 games not been taken away for the whole season after 2 games where he had two of those triangle plays with Suzuki and Caufield. Now that Allen has been surpassed by Monty, who's clearly shown he is capable of being a #1 goalie. Also Newhook is sorely missed and likely will be away too long. They didn't have the insane amount of missed games due to injury like last year or the year before (I think they beat their own NHL-wide record for that last year, just a season after the other) this year so far but the injuries have been more critical.
Slafkovsky is going to hit! If you watch him play now you see a huge change in his confidence and skill, he’s getting so good at winning battles in the corner and in front of the net! He’s just not quite getting the points yet but he will be our best player soon he’s going to be amazing he will be our explosive forward
Do you think they have a chance to get Zegras?
Lane Hudson