2020-21 Canadiens Thread

[Darts]

Who are the undrafted prospects with superstar potential they should be targeting though? Haven't heard of any truly elite untapped prospects in goal tending lately. Does that mean MTL is destined to suck balls until one finally emerges and they can turn the ship around from the net outwards, per their system? Is there a plan B that doesn't include drafting the next Price, Roy, Esposito, Vachon, Worsley, Laroque or Plante?

Plane B would then be to draft/trade/free agent/steal defensemen like Robinson, Savard, Lapointe, Langway, Chelios, etc.

Apparently, the two best prospects currently are forwards (Wright, Bedard?).

BTW: The Habs were allowed to protect only two goalies in the intra-league draft. They protected Worsley and Vachon. (Dryden was ineligible.) So, the Blackhawks grabbed Esposito just like they grabbed Glenn Hall years earlier. Tony Esposito does have his name on the Stanley Cup once.

 

[bemeup]

Plane B would then be to draft/trade/free agent/steal defensemen like Robinson, Savard, Lapointe, Langway, Chelios, etc.

Apparently, the two best prospects currently are forwards (Wright, Bedard?).

BTW: The Habs were allowed to protect only two goalies in the intra-league draft. They protected Worsley and Vachon. (Dryden was ineligible.) So, the Blackhawks grabbed Esposito just like they grabbed Glenn Hall years earlier. Tony Esposito does have his name on the Stanley Cup once.

Connor Bedard is without a doubt the best junior prospect out there, however, he is not draft eligible until 2023, he is only 16 as of now, so any team trying to tank for him would need to get the 1st pick, which of course means also winning the draft lottery.

 

[shack]

BTW: The Habs were allowed to protect only two goalies in the intra-league draft. They protected Worsley and Vachon. (Dryden was ineligible.) So, the Blackhawks grabbed Esposito just like they grabbed Glenn Hall years earlier. Tony Esposito does have his name on the Stanley Cup once.

Why didn't they follow the Montreal system and keep the best goalie of the 3?

 

[Darts]

At the time, without hindsight, Esposito was not considered better than Worsley or Vachon or maybe even now with the benefit of hindsight. None of the 3 are ranked in the top 100 NHL players. Meanwhile the Habs had Dryden coming up in the system and is ranked 4th best goalie of all time.

"The top six goalies in that top-100 ranking were Sawchuk (ninth overall), Plante (13th), Hall (16th), Ken Dryden (25th), Bill Durnan (34th) and Roy (35th)." 4 of the 6 are Habs. (Both Sawchuk and Hall were in the Red Wing system at the same time before Hall left.)
Top 100 Goalies: How the list came together - The Hockey News

 

[Darts]

Connor Bedard is without a doubt the best junior prospect out there, however, he is not draft eligible until 2023, he is only 16 as of now, so any team trying to tank for him would need to get the 1st pick, which of course means also winning the draft lottery.

Of course, there are a lot of ifs. If Montreal had the opportunity would they draft Wright and/or Bedard? Edmonton has had Connor McDavid for 6 full seasons and missed the playoffs 3 times and got bounced in round one twice.
Connor McDavid Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

 

[Darts]

Tony Esposito is an interesting case study. Apparently, he was signed as a free agent by the Habs so they did recognize his talent.

It is really unusual for the Habs to give something for nothing. Esposito was rated 3rd behind HOF Worsley and HOF Vachon with FHOF Dryden already in the system. Perhaps the Habs did shop Esposito around and found no takers.

With the benefit of hindsight, the Habs didn't miss losing Esposito. During his first 2 years with the Hawks, the Habs had Vachon who was followed by Dryden for the next 8 years. Esposito's final 5 years were unremarkable.

 

[Darts]

(Please don't run to the mods (or is it your moms) about my post.

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Speak to the issue - do not speak to the poster, make allegations about their beliefs, bring up old posts, etc, etc.

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[John Wick]

Plane B would then be to draft/trade/free agent/steal defensemen like Robinson, Savard, Lapointe, Langway, Chelios, etc.

Apparently, the two best prospects currently are forwards (Wright, Bedard?).

12 of the top 32 rated and currently undrafted prospects for the 2022 draft are defensemen. Who in this group fits the MTL system best based on their skills, size, and style of play?

 

[Darts]

12 of the top 32 rated and currently undrafted prospects for the 2022 draft are defensemen. Who in this group fits the MTL system best based on their skills, size, and style of play?

I'll leave how and who to Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes(?).

I only know that historically the Habs go goalie, defense, offense, special teams roughly in that order. It's no accident that Price, Roy, Dryden, Vachon, Esposito, Worsley, Plante, Theodore, Larocque, etc. all played for the Habs at some time. At one time, Montreal had so many great goalies in their system that they let Esposito go and didn't miss him because they already had Vachon and Dryden. So, since Price isn't getting any younger and experiencing physical and emotional issues the Habs' first priority should be to find the next Price, Roy, Dryden, etc.

I don't follow players below the NHL level or even at the NHL (now with 32 teams) level nearly as closely as I did 3 lifetime ago. So, other than Wright and Bedard (both forwards) I'm not familiar with other prospects. That is why it's too bad they had to abort the Juniors tournament.

Montreal's top pick in last year's draft was a defenseman currently playing for the London Knights. He is 6'3" and 212 lbs which fits the Montreal system of having big defensemen (check their current roster of defensemen and they are all big). In addition, 3 more defensemen were also picked in last year's draft.

• Forward Riley Kidney (63rd overall)
• Forward Oliver Kapanen (64th overall)
• Defenseman Dmitri Kostenko (87th overall)
• Defenseman William Trudeau (113th overall)
• Defenseman Daniil Sobolev (142nd overall)
• Forward Joshua Roy (150th overall)
• Forward Xavier Simoneau (191st overall)
• Goalie Joe Vrbetic (214th overall)

 

[NotADcotor]

t's no accident that Price, Roy, Dryden, Vachon, Esposito, Worsley, Plante, Theodore, Larocque, etc. all played for the Habs at some time.

Do you have any evidence that this isn't a coincidence.

 

[Darts]

Do you have any evidence that this isn't a coincidence.

Ha, ha, ha. If it happens once, it's luck. If it happens twice, it's a coincidence. If it happens consistently, it's astute management. So, will the Habs find the next best goalie of his generation after Price? History says yes, time will tell.

It might happen with a trade. Worsley (2.40 GAA with the Habs) and Dryden (2.24 GAA with the Habs) were acquired in trades.

 

[John Wick]

Kent Hughes named Montreal's new GM

https://torontosun.com/sports/hocke...iens/wcm/c5d05b6e-8a2e-46e8-9186-5e29d5d6cbdc

 

[Darts]

Kent Hughes named Montreal's new GM
https://torontosun.com/sports/hocke...iens/wcm/c5d05b6e-8a2e-46e8-9186-5e29d5d6cbdc

Sounds like both Hughes and Jeff Gorton are good choices. They have a huge job ahead of them. First on the shopping list has to be finding a successor to Price. Close behind is to find a successor to Weber. Of course, another 2-3 good defensemen and a couple of high scoring forwards would really help.

Back in the day, all one had to do was to watch the Junior Canadiens and the Peterborogh Petes to see the next generation of Hab superstars. Not so simple now.

 

[shack]

I'll leave how and who to Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes(?).

AKA, you are unable to answer JW's question.

 

[tml]

Back in the day, all one had to do was to watch the Junior Canadiens and the Peterborogh Petes to see the next generation of Hab superstars. Not so simple now.

I bet there are a lot of Hab fans(older) who are pining for those days.

 

[Darts]

I bet there are a lot of Hab fans(older) who are pining for those days.

I think the 1976-77 Canadiens were the best NHL team ever but the 1968-69 team was also pretty good with several future HOFers.

Back in the day one had to only follow the juniors to know who were the future NHL prospects but now one has to also follow the university, American and European players. As a fan, I know that the Habs definitely have to find a successor to Price and Weber. How they do it is the job of Gorton and Hughes (that's why they make the big bucks).
(126) Were the 1976-77 Habs | Toronto Escorts Review Board Forum | Terb
Montreal Canadiens Roster @ NHL 1968‑1969 (quanthockey.com)

 

[tml]

How they do it is the job of Gorton and Hughes (that's why they make the big bucks).

Don't under estimate the importance of a good scouting staff.

 

[Fun For All]

8-2 losers last night, winners of 1 of their last 10, last place in the standings...you gotta love it!

 

[shack]

8-2 losers last night, winners of 1 of their last 10, last place in the standings...you gotta love it!

I predict that they'll be better next year.

 

[jalimon]

I predict that they'll be better next year.

Would be really hard to be worst!