PROJECTING Canadiens’ Opening-Night Roster

23 comments

1. Excellent projections

2. Great job, coach! I like the extension to Matheson. Too many want to unload him, but he's too valuable to dismiss too easily.

3. You need more experience you now are assistant coach

4. Not bad at all. I think some bottom 6 prospects will surprise and fill roles sooner than we think. I think KH will unload some of those big contracts to make room for Beck, Tuch and/or F. Xhekaj. Otherwise, i think youre spot on.

   What are your thoughts on Mesar? Is he getting traded?

5. i dont see a cup in your crystal ball coach just 3 more years of bottom 10 finish😉😉😉

6. Really don't understand the idea of extending Matheson…I do think he will age well because of his skating but its forcing Guhle on the right side which is not ideal.

7. Great show Coach…your projections are fascinating and hopefully end with a strong playoff team.

8. Matheson is a great mentor for the young players, but you could trade him for a top 6 player. He does have value, so i think the Habs could maximize his value until the trade deadline. I think Guhle would be better playing on his natural.

9. I may be a bit biased here (read: genius) but id give arber 8xwhatever….2?3?

10. I think we will 100% be trading Matheson by the time 2025-26 begins. Even if we don't, he would never accept a new contract for only 3 years or for only $4M. He will be coming off career seasons and it will be his last chance to get cash in and get some term.

11. Sounds pretty good to me coach 👌 let's see what happens

12. I can see Florian xhekak make a case for him self

13. I hope Beck Makes the team 🙏 4th line. Hutson Aswell

14. Almost perfect Coach. Only area that I disagree is that I want to see Matheson traded while he has value for a young winger. This would be the trade piece that you referred to. He is the only asset to get a middle 6 forward for.

15. I think you are underestimating the value of Florian. He is working hard to upgrade his skating, physical strength, and also his puck handling and shooting skills. He will cut Heineman out of the lineup! He has been improving his scoring skills a lot in the last 2 years. If he continues this progress over the next 2 years, I believe he will be at least a 3rd line player. A 3rd line player that can score, check, hit, and fight, if necessary.

16. You are WRONG🙂 about 25/26. There won't be a UFA playing on the second line. Roy will be on the second line. His Hockey IQ and skills are good enough to play alongside Dach and Demidov. If there is a UFA he will be playing on the third line with Newhook and Gallagher.The fourth line will have Beck Heineman and one of the Rocket graduates. Mailloux will be on the second pair of d-Men. Matheson will be traded for a forward.

17. You are WRONG🙂 about 25/26. There won't be a UFA playing on the second line. Roy will be on the second line. His Hockey IQ and skills are good enough to play alongside Dach and Demidov. If there is a UFA he will be playing on the third line with Newhook and Gallagher.The fourth line will have Beck Heineman and one of the Rocket graduates. Mailloux will be on the second pair of d-Men. Matheson will be traded for a forward.

18. Hey very interesting video Coach
    I think Roy could do a very good duo with demidov … like he did with connor bedard in the world junior.
    This guy has a special perk that he can play with high end talent because of his high hockey IQ . Like an X Factor perk
    Dach Roy and demidov making a line.
    Or susuki caufield dach was great
    And demidov slav and roy😮😮😮

19. Fun to watch, hope of course that this does not materialize as they could possibly still be getting top 5 draft picks each year. However your salaries are high so that means you think Ghule going to be a 50 point guy, Newhook 70 points and hutson 60+ points and Dawes 80 points. In which case the team would be a low level play off team waiting for Demidov to reach stardom and leap over Slaf. I think they need to keep their cash and add somebody terrific as a free agent.

20. Why not get rid of Newhook

21. My projected line ups for 2024-25:

    Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
    Newhook-Dach-Gallagher
    Roy-Dvorak-Anderson
    ABB-Evans-Pezzeta
    +RHP, Armia

    Matheson-Guhle
    Hutson-Savard
    Harris-Struble
    +Xhekaj, Barron

    Monty
    Primeau
    +Dobes

    Matter of how Hutson does for me. If he barley plays or just is in the AHL for defensive development then we probably are bottom 7 again. If he's a Calder Finalist and our players play up to their standards we could easily be a 40 win team.

22. I also wanted to make a comment on what I believe our prime future unholds with our current roster.

    Slafkovsky-Suzuki-Demidov
    Caufield-Dach-Hage
    Newhook-Beck-Roy
    F. Xhekaj-Davidson-Mesar

    Hutson-Reinbacher
    Guhle-Mailloux
    Harris-Struble

    _________________________
    Forwards:

    Nick Suzuki: 85-95 Point Two-Way Center, Consisent Top 5 Selkie Votes, Captain, Ironman. Elite

    Juraj Slafkovsky, 70-100 point power forward winger, One or more seasons top 15 in Hart, Top 10 in Hits every season, Defense. Elite

    Ivan Demidov, 90-115 Point sniper winger, 1 Top 3 Art Ross, 1 Top 5 Hart, HOFer, 40 Goal Scorer. Superstar

    Cole Caufield, 75-90 Point sniper winger, 1 top 3 Maurice Richard. 35+ Goal scorer. Elite.

    Kirby Dach, 55-70 Point Power Forward Center, Bill Masterson, Top 10 in Selkie, Top 25 in Hits. Great

    Michael Hage: 40-50 Point Playmaking Winger. High IQ. Solid

    Alex Newhook: 45-55 Point Playmaking Winger.. Good

    Joshua Roy, 30-40 Point Two way winger. High IQ. Good

    Owen Beck: 20-35 Point 55% Faceoffs PK1. Solid

    Florian Xhekaj. 10-25 Points. Fighter. Grinder Winger. Average.

    Emil Heinemin: 20-35 points sniper. Consisent Goal scorer. Solid

    Jared Davidson. 20-30 Point two way Center. Solid.

    _________________________

    Defense:

    Lane Hutson, 55-80 Point Offensive Defenseman. 2 Time Norris Finalist, Elite

    David Reinbacher, 30-50 Point Two way defenseman. 3 Top 20 Norris seasons. Top 15 in Blocks. Top 20 in Hits. Elite

    Kaiden Guhle. 30-40 Point Two way defenseman. Top 10 in Blocked Shots. Top 10 in Hits. Fantastic

    Logan Mailloux. 40-55 Point Puck Moving defenseman, Top 25 in Hits. Almost Elite

    Jayden Struble, 15-30 Point Defensive defenseman. Good

    Jordan Harris. 20-30 points two way defenseman. Good

    _________________________

    Goaltending:

    Jacob Fowler. 50-65 Games One top 5 Vezina. 2 top 10 Vezina Starting goaltender. Average .912 SV%. Elite.

    Primeau. 15-25 Games. Average .905 SV%. Good.

    Every player on our team has a promising future. Not all of these guys will pan out this way. Buts it's their most likely scenario. We still have a potential Elite forward from the 2025 draft and future free agents/trade aquesitions.

23. I would play ghule on his strong side