OffThePost.org

Habs beat Panthers (sans Tkachuk and Verhaeghe) 5-3. Suzuki becomes the first Hab since Max Domi to hit 70 points. Domi was the only Hab to hit 70 points during Marc Bergevin's reign as GM. What a complete farce that decade was.

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Lots of talk of late about the 20M worth of bottom 6 players: Anderson, Gallagher, Armia, Dvorak.

On the plus side, the Habs are finally out of cap hell and actually have lots of space to work with this offseason (19M once Price inevitably gets moved).

Armia is actually playing well now and only has a year left on his deal, so he's fine and could even be a rental next deadline.

Dvorak missed most of the year but will play the final game or two. He's only 28 and has a year left on his deal. Can he at least be a responsible 3/4 C long enough to also become a rental?

If Gallagher was making half as much, we'd all be fine with his eroding skills. He still brings heart and passion to every game. But he makes 6.5M and is more of a competent third liner at this point. Three years left on his deal, and one more before Guhle/Slaf need to be extended.

Anderson also has three years left at 5.5 per. He's a one trick pony and his one trick (legs) appears to be shot. Nothing Montreal can do except roll the dice again and hope his legs come back.

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How do you think they will use their cap space? Try and pick up under performing players with high cap from contending teams for picks and prospects or go the FA route and push for the playoffs next year.

Seems to me Montreal is kind of a tweener. Not bad enough to commit to sit at the bottom but not quite good enough to push for contention. Will be interesting to see how management uses their cap room.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Based on what Gorton and Hughes have said, they don't want the Habs losing for too long. It's three seasons of tanking now, so I think next season they want to at least compete for the playoffs without adding too many more financial commitments.

Gorton also said they're likely going after another big offensive piece a la Dach, Newhook this offseason. Otherwise, what they don't have is a lot of roster spots to take on additional cap dumps, but they will have one money slot to use.

In a year, they'll need to re-sign Guhle and Slafkovsky for 7-8M per, so whatever dead wood they add, it can't be for longer than that.

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Guhle got hit from behind by Kucherov and now his season, and Xhekaj's, could be over. Not that there's much season left.

Guhle does things few 22-year-old defenceman should have to do, so take his stats with a grain of salt. He basically has gone from 0 to 100, a rookie taking on some of the toughest minutes in hockey. That being said, he does get hit a lot, and puts himself in positions to get hurt. I hate to say it, but it's true.

As for Xhekaj, everyone went crazy when he got sent down to Laval, but it's all water under the bridge now because his a permanent top-6 guy on a team that's been rotating a lot.

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Habs lose all three to the Leafs in 2023-24. That's life.

Defence wasn't as porous as I thought it would be without Xhekaj and Guhle, but Reaves definitely had extra zip in his step knowing only Pez was there to put him in check.

Caufield now up to 23 goals, 58 points with 6 to play. I'd love to see him get 25/65 and kinda put the bad season comments to rest.

Suzuki has 74 points, so PPG the rest of the way gets him 80. Very doable if Caufield is scoring again.

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Habs lose again but Caufield has scored in four straight so CALM DOWN!

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The Habs are alone in 28th after they lost and the Sens/Yotes won. They're down 2 of their 3 best D and play mostly teams fighting for the playoffs the rest of the way. Fifth last seems like a real possibility.

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First career hat trick for Slafkovsky, who now has 40 points in his last 49 games, 48 points total on the season, and only turned 20 a couple of weeks ago.

And yet we're still only weeks removed from Byron Bader, Rachel Doerrie and others flat out calling him a bust. Haters gonna hate.

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Interesting interview on Daily Faceoff with Kent Hughes.

This is me reading between the lines, but this is what I've been getting from him:

1. He said Dach was the best player in camp and before he got hurt, and I think Hughes thinks Dach is still the highest upside guy on the team. For real. So much of the rebuild hinges on Dach coming back

2. Talked about the Newhook/Dach and there's speculation he'll try to add someone like that again with their excess picks, but there's a little more "maybe" this time around. A lot of "if there's a player like that." NHL ready former first rounders off their ELCs don't hit the trade market often, so it's possible there just won't be one available.

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Caufield has 25 goals and 62 points in a supposed bad season with a historically low shooting percentage. He'll be fine.

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Caufield reaches a career high in goals with 27 as the Habs lose their 8th straight to the Sens.

In terms of wins/losses, the Habs will end up no better than last season. But the games have been closer and the players who needed to progress did so. So not an A+ rebuilding season, more like a C+.

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An offseason trade target: Dylan Holloway. In that Dach/Newhook mold: injury issues, blocked on a team that needs to win and can't wait for him to sort through his mistakes. Didn't get a shot under Woodcroft and is now not really in the plans. But he's also Caufield's former teammate in Wisconsin, has good hands (hopefully his wrist injuries haven't hampered that), and has the sort of size and toughness to be more of a middle-six type if the scoring doesn't materialize.

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If the Habs could just go ahead and check out for the season, that would be great...

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

For both our sakes. Habs can seal up fifth last with two losses.

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Hutson played 22 minutes in his debut, Habs blew it against the desperate Wings.

He's got poise.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Habs end their season with b2b 5-4 losses to the Wings.

Last in the Atlantic three straight years, but they've improved by 20 points in that time. They'll need to make another 20 point jump if they want to make the playoffs next year.

They'll finish either 5th or 6th last, so another solid pick is coming. They've got the 27ish pick from Winnipeg.

Lane Hutson was dancing in his first two games. I don't think they'll be able to keep him in Laval for long.

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Coach Marty gets his 2-year option picked up, so he'll be the head coach for the next three seasons. They hired an inexperienced coach with the idea that he would grow with the team, so even if the team looks a little sloppy at times, there's no reason yet to stray from the plan.

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I told Anam the game was over after Kane took that penalty in OT, but they held off. Too bad they don't have a playoff spot to show for their efforts.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!