Do the Habs even make the playoffs

[franklin]

It's preseason. They're gonna be fine.

[havanablast21]

These guys couldn't even go 3 rounds with the Marlies yesterday. Seriously... when you ice all your best players and get beat down by the Toronto Marlies (Brown, McElliney and Leivo(part time) were pretty much the ONLY Leaf Rostered players... Marincin if you feel he's a Leaf).

Move over Vancouver, we have a new "Worst Team in Canada". Bringing in Drouin would have been awesome... had they managed to keep Radulov. 1 step forward 1 step back on offence. And 2 or 3 steps back on D. Even with Price... their D is admittedly worse or at the very least, needing time to develop/gel... and they STILL don't have the Offence which is what they've needed all along. The Habs have been known to be a defensively strong team for years who just can't score. not they still can't score and their D is in question.

esh...

[2014olympicgold]

It?s preseason, settle down, pretty sure Pitts last yr went 0-6. Even as a Leaf fan I can say confidently if Price is healthy, they are in the playoffs.

[havanablast21]

It?s preseason, settle down, pretty sure Pitts last yr went 0-6. Even as a Leaf fan I can say confidently if Price is healthy, they are in the playoffs.

Big If. And unlike Evans, I don't believe this team is any better, in fact, on paper I think it's worse than last year and their pre-season play has done nothing to sway me. Take away that early season surge last year, and the Habs may not have made the playoffs last year. Remember how horrible they played down the stretch? I could see the start of their season playing like that.

All in all... I think it's time they finally bring in a guy who can competently General Manage this team regardless of the language he speaks.

[2014olympicgold]

Big If. And unlike Evans, I don't believe this team is any better, in fact, on paper I think it's worse than last year and their pre-season play has done nothing to sway me. Take away that early season surge last year, and the Habs may not have made the playoffs last year. Remember how horrible they played down the stretch? I could see the start of their season playing like that.

All in all... I think it's time they finally bring in a guy who can competently General Manage this team regardless of the language he speaks.

In the playoffs and better than last yr is different.

The GM continuously fails to do what the team needs I think. With like 8mill in space this yr, and 6mill coming off the books next yr for sure (Plekanec), and Pax making 4.5 for this yr and next yr, they could have signed Radulov to help their offensive woes. For a team to bank on Byron and his like 20% shooting for 20goals is ridiculous.

Tampa, Toronto, Mtrl, and Boston I think all battle for the top 3.

I also think it's completely silly to eliminate any coaching/management candidate that can't speak french. That's just poor hiring

[evans334]

I also think it's completely silly to eliminate any coaching/management candidate that can't speak french. That's just poor hiring

I think Habs ended up with the best of both worlds though with Claude Julien.

He's known as one of the better coaches in the league and he is as the habs fans refer to a "gars d'chez nous" aka a french speaking coach.

But I agree, it's silly.

I think this team will struggle out of the gate but will find a rythm 10-15 games into the season.

New players and new coach.

[bergman]

It will depend on the effect of losing the left half of their D-corps and how well Drouin and Danault can play (two of their top three centres). They have two 30-goal scorers, two 20-goal scorers, Drouin, and Weber on the PP. In addition to those players they’re adding Charles Hudon and Lehkonen could hit 20 goals by adding 2 to last year’s total. The scoring will be about how the defence can move the puck and how the team plays as a whole.

[2014olympicgold]

It will depend on the effect of losing the left half of their D-corps and how well Drouin and Danault can play (two of their top three centres). They have two 30-goal scorers, two 20-goal scorers, Drouin, and Weber on the PP. In addition to those players they’re adding Charles Hudon and Lehkonen could hit 20 goals by adding 2 to last year’s total. The scoring will be about how the defence can move the puck and how the team plays as a whole.

Who are their 2 30 goal scorers? MaxPac and? Drouin? He hasn't scored 30goals in his career. I wouldn't be surprised if he put up 30goals, but you can't bank on it.

Byron scored the second most of the Canadiens and shot the puck 96 times. He scored at an unsustainable rate. Even Gally scored at a high rate (16+% shooting).

Scoring will be an issue, but they're lucky they have Price.

[Kofax]

Guys, come on. They went 0-6 in the preseason scoring 9 goals total!

Obviously that means their going to win East and set goal scoring records!

In conclusion, preseason means nothing.

[lucafen4]

They're a bubble team. They lack the depth to say they'll be a top 3 in that division - Tor, TB, Fla are all significantly deeper - TB/Fla have their own goaltending questionmarks - completely different.

I think Bos could be a surprise team if the kids can step up. Every team has question marks in that division. Mtl's are bigger.

[Jouko-Pouko]

If we look at their 'D', they have Weber who is a top pairing guy, Petry who is a 2nd pairing guy, and Alzner and Schlemko who are fine on your bottom pairing, and then a bunch of guys who should be #7 at best. Maybe Price can make them look better than what they are but I wouldn't expect any team to go very far with such a horrible blueline. I mean, they need two more guys on their top-4 and one of them should be good enough for the top pairing.

[hockeyrobot]

I think Habs make it. The East is going to be a gong show of mediocrity but the Habs come in ahead of that group, but behind the TB, Leafs, Pitt and maybe CBJ group.

[Team Gordy]

Big question marks for me are Drouin, Danault and Plekanec down the middle and no elite puck mover on defense. I'm not convinced Drouin is top line center in the NHL, much better on the wing.

Habs could really struggle.

[yougo]

Move over Vancouver, we have a new "Worst Team in Canada".

esh...

LOLLLLLLLLLLLL

I've been a huge critic of the Habs in the past years(even before the Subban trade), but this take is just trash. The Habs are, with a healthy Price, a playoff lock. Their D is horrendous if you ask me. Bottom tier in the NHL no questions asked but the Habs have a top5 coach in the NHL with Claude Julien who has made miracles with the Bruins D in the past.

[LawMan]

i dont think they will unless price steals enough games.

i think 5 metro teams (pit, wsh, nyr, nyi, cbj) will make the playoffs, leaving 3 spots for the atlantic (tb, tor, bos) in my books.

Generally agree with this. I see them batting with Boston and NYI for the final spot. Also Ottawa is right there as well.

Tampa
Toronto

Washington
Pittsburgh
Rangers
Columbus

All ahead of the Habs IMO, leaving a group of NYI, Boston, Ottawa, Philly and Montreal to battle for 1-Atlantic and 1-wildcard spot.