Habs 2026 Offseason Thread

[AH$$$]

Nico is a better fit and doenst want to play there anymore

 

[Habsy]

Hischier?

 

[GEEMAN]

It depends which 2C you can get for him. If it's Nico Hischier I would do it. McTavish? Not so much.

Nico is a butterfly looking for 10 mil, fuck that

 

[Alan C]

Injury talk starting to leak Nick thigh muscle injury. Slaf shoulder and knee, Dobson wrist still fucked

 

[GEEMAN]

not worried....i've been advocating overpaying to get the center....you know that for the past 20 years on this board i've been relating all the Habs failures to not having top centers...

This goes beyond the 2C issue

Last year was the probation get your feet wet playoffs

This year was a solid year but this playoff run showed we dont compete or battle enough

Our top line was non existent when it matters and our bottom 6 carried our offence

We were doomed in round 1 without them and Dobes

Last 4 games were terrible no compete , finish , etc......thats not on a 2C issue and troublseome overall

Is 13 going to be a regular season player only and a butterfly like the Leafs in the playoffs

Plenty of info for Hugo to go over in the summer .

I dont mind losing when you battle but being outshot , outplayed most nights and expecting bounces and support cast carrying a team is a recipe for disaster .

 

[GEEMAN]

I'm sure Hughes knows that, he overpaid for Dobson to get a top pairing right D.

No overpayment at all , 2 firsts and a non core player for a 25 year top pair D is a bargain

His contract is fine and will look better when other vets cash in this summer

 

[GEEMAN]

Mason McT, Nico, Thomas, Larkin

Or they go with a big winger like Knies, and pair him with Demidov (and Newhook maybe).....

The question remains....does having an effective 2nd line make Cole-Slaf not play lazy in the playoffs ? Not sure them being ineffective was all because they had no 2nd line to support them....they had their chances but didn't convert

That line was terrible , nothing to do with a second center need

 

[CH1]

No overpayment at all , 2 firsts and a non core player for a 25 year top pair D is a bargain

His contract is fine and will look better when other vets cash in this summer

yeah. first rounders past 10th overall are more spec plays than blue chip assets

 

[wiseguy1]

Injury talk starting to leak Nick thigh muscle injury. Slaf shoulder and knee, Dobson wrist still fucked

And Guhle

 

[CH1]

Caufield is not a line driver...so if Suzy and/or Slaf were hurt, 13 probably tried to do too much and ended up doing almost nothing

 

[CH1]

I think Marty also learned a lot.

One area might be load management. I don’t think we’re gonna see the likes of Matheson and Suzuki play so many regular season minutes. Can’t empty the gas tank just to move a few slots in the playoff pecking order

 

[Krustchev]

Hope he's also learned to play d-men on their natural sides, and yes, I know we're a right d-man short.

 

[Habspatrol]

All recent Cup winners had size too.

And skill.

 

[Krustchev]

And skill.

We have lots of skill, other than at 2C.

 

[Habsy]

I think Marty also learned a lot.

One area might be load management. I don’t think we’re gonna see the likes of Matheson and Suzuki play so many regular season minutes. Can’t empty the gas tank just to move a few slots in the playoff pecking order

Rolling 3 lines and two D pairings the way he did really aided the fatigue. I hope he does learn.

Now get him competent assistants.

 

[Krustchev]

And skill.

We have lots of skill, other than at 2C.

 

[Habsy]

We have lots of skill, other than at 2C.

We don’t have skill and grit though. We have skill or grit.

 

[Krustchev]

We don’t have skill and grit though. We have skill or grit.

For the most part. Matthew Tkatchuk's are rare finds.

 

[worm]

Nico is a butterfly looking for 10 mil, fuck that

Dominate 5 on 5 player playing hard match ups.

But i guess style over substance is more important eh

 

[worm]

And skill.

Better trade skill for grit. Worked for the leafs!

Meanwhile the canes are all skill no grit and they just rolled us