Can The Habs Think About Playoffs This Season? | The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro July 15 2024

On this episode of The Sick Podcast, Eric Engels joins Tony Marinaro to discuss whether or not the Habs can push for a playoff spot this upcoming season, what the rest of the Atlantic division looks like, how does Kirby Dach fit in this team, should Lane Hutson start the season in Montreal and much more!
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#Habs #MontrealCanadiens #Canadiens #NHL #TheSickPodcast

[@philthevibe7229]

Everyone here should sub to this guy for making good hockey content in july.

[@bigpopa8751]

Fact 😬

[@pilonpatrick573]

I wouldn't mind another top 10 pick, as long as we progress. This year, Savard, Dvorak, RHP, Armia, all those contracts finish, plus the retention on Petry and Allen. The big push will be in '25-'26, imho.

[@sebastiencarrieres8825]

Let's finish 22nd and win the lottery, how about that?😂

[@boomermtg8560]

The real push will be 26-27. Unless Demidov makes the team next year.

[@powers1500]

If they don't get any serious injuries to key guys like Suzuki, Dach or even Matheson, they will likely finish 10th to 16th. They will surely be better than last year. However, too many teams like Buffalo, Ottawa and even NJ to jump over to make the playoffs.

[@Bartman721]

Sick

[@victorjoseph8948]

No one knows yet if Habs will make the series. Lets let them create the chemistry among the players and we will see where it all goes.

[@maximegiroux8353]

Problem is how the Atlantic is stacked. I wouldn't be surprised if 5 teams from the Atlantic made it, and the Habs didn't but still had more points than teams from the Metropolitan who did make it. How many more points would the Habs have gotten with a healthy Dach and a healthy goaltending situation as opposed to the throuple? 6? 8? 10? Add the progression of the youngsters. You can make a case for them making it this year. Hope is allowed.

[@stevefowler4427]

I agree. They will at times during the season, will be knocking on the playoff door. What I look forward too, is seeing the training camp battles, in who does what. See how the Hutson's, Xhekaj's Mailloux's etchave improved form their offseason training. A big part of their playoff chances lies in injuries. Will Dach play more than 6 and a half periods this year? Will Devo play more than 6 and half periods this year? How many games will Guhle play? Gallagher, Armia, Newhook, Evans, Savard. Anderson, etc... the list goes on... Sucks when there are more injured starters than there are in the team's starting line up.

[@malakaspawt3190]

14:20 Detroit won't finish behind Montreal. Detroit are either going to make the playoffs or they're going to fall short and finish in the bubble.

[@powers1500]

If Suzuki get seriously injured early in the season, they will be pick top5 again...but if they are remaining healthy, they will likely pick 10th to 16th !!!

[@LenStgelais]

Look its simple as that IF DACH and NEWHOOK GUEHLE Play the entire Season and theres finally no major injuries in the team the Canadien will make the playoff

[@darrellhickey1990]

LOL

[@LenStgelais]

@@darrellhickey1990 i get that response usually when poeples dont have any arguments against mine

[@bigpopa8751]

I don't think they're close to be honest. Ghule's absence wasn't really a factor last year, missong omly 12 games. And while I agree Dach is a great player, I don't think he has proven to be a difference maker so far. We'll have to wait and see for that though, he has the potential l. And finally, Newhook only has limited second liner potential. At best. And he also played most of last season. So I'd argue that, him alone, is a none factor here. IMO, the Habs playoffs' window starts in 2025-2026. And the runs with Cup potential in 2027-2028 and up.

[@LenStgelais]

@@bigpopa8751 thats the différence between you and me i consider Newhook and Dach a factor at least for 12 more pts than last witch is very conservator and never forget that slav Caulfield Suzuki Will continue producing more pts and NEVER forget that Hugues will trade for a top 6 winger so only 12 pts more get us in the playoff last year the last team got in with 90 pts 🤣😂🤣😂.... So your analysis is base on Everybody not producing i simply don't agree

[@bigpopa8751]

@@LenStgelais Agree to disagree. We'll see at the same date next year who was right. Still. No need to be mean bro. With that said, no playoffs for the habs until 2025-2026 is what I predict.

[@galkanftw]

The Habs have to compete versus other teams that did not make it but might be right in there. So we have th obvious NJ devils and Detroit St.Louis had a nice bounce back season as well we have the Wild and the Pens.I feel the Pens are really strugglign to hang on in the battle but one team that seemed to be down and out the Capitols have refurbished their team and might again be be a serious playoff contender. So that is a lot of teams for the Habs to overcome to get in and that is IF

[@SamuelAtalla]

I liked the talk on Dach. Can you guys him on the show and pick his brain on how he feels? Dach, Hutson are huge additions next year. How much success they’ll have will be the biggest factor for this team taking a step forward next season. We know what we’re getting from everyone else.

[@djclovissio2338]

Honestly, if Matheson nexts at the 1 minute mark of the PP and let Hutson do his magic, I really believe the Habs could be something else... Let's hope Hughes will make room for Hutson, Mailloux and Reinbacher next summer because the habs are gonna be close to a complete contenders team with Demidov and these awesome D's

[@SamuelAtalla]

@@djclovissio2338 Yeah I’m excited to see how Roy, Beck, Kapanen and Hage fair with the team too. Such a young group.

[@MountainDrew96]

A torn ACL is nothing these days. In many cases it makes you a better athlete. It did for me.

[@acidraindrops1]

You’re the best tony

[@galkanftw]

That is the thing about blind faith people only see THEIR team "are we getting better" you have to factor in the rest of the league as well not just our team.Other teams are also getting better and yes some will be getting worse.

[@markdesantis8343]

Dach has never played a full season in 5 year career. Yes he is Injury prone, Eric drinking koolaid 🥤

[@edtamboni4752]

In 5 years he's had a 70, 64, and 58 game season. Wake up.

[@jacobperez10]

Eric is just the typical safe, fake media reporter who's protecting his relationship with the players vs representing what the fans want which is the truth

[@markdesantis8343]

@@edtamboni4752 exactly, never played 82 games

[@paulgiardetti1579]

Detroit, Buffalo, and jersey will make it, Ottawa will take a step as well

[@charles6180]

C'mon Tony & Eric, Dach has played 212 games out of a possible 410 in 5 yrs so can't count on him to be healthy. There are far too many (ifs/will) Habs make the playoffs. Will:- -The 1st line continue to improve (need over 100 goals) -The 2nd line score at least 60, assuming Dach, Newhook & Roy. Max scored 15 by Newhook. -The bottom two lines score enough to support the top 2 lines & will Monty / Primeau improve. Stop putting pressure on Hutson to be the difference maker on the PP. Give him time. One more year and then Armia, Dvorak, Savard, Evans, Pezzetta & RHP will be off the books with many replaced by top prospects and we see how the rebuild is progressing.

[@paulgiardetti1579]

With the losses of personal that everyone had , there is less margin for error, tampa,Florida Carolina Toronto all depth issues, Ottawa, jersey, Buffalo and the Habs will be better organically, it will depend on whose healthy

[@HubCityIcon]

6:33

[@djd2819]

I think the Habs will be significantly better this season - goalies will be stronger, D more mature and stable, and forwards stronger and better - especially if Dach stays healthy. This is how good rebuilds work. Will they make the playoffs? Probably not but their chances (in my books) are not zero. Last season, in mid January, the Habs were 19-18-7 and only four points behind TBL in the standings and honestly I thought that they had a shot at the playoffs. However, they had a lousy February - something that happens late in the season to weak teams that lack lineup depth and Montreal was that weak. The difference maker for Montreal last year was how weak they were in games against division rivals (5-13-8). Even Toronto and Buffalo had losing records against division rivals but they won 10 and 11 of their games, respectively. I can see Montreal improving enough this year to win more games against the likes of Buffalo, Ottawa etc to improve by another 10-12 points over last year's performance. That puts them in the hunt come early April. What they do with that will come down to talent and grit.

[@paulgiardetti1579]

Habs will be in the mix

[@boomermtg8560]

If they dont add offensive help on attack. They wont make it. The key if they dont add. Can Dach stay healty? Even the if Dach play 75 games +, lets be real here.

[@nathanielherz8920]

To have any chance of making the playoffs, the Habs need 15 more points. That's a tall order. I'd be happy with a ten point jump.

[@sebastiencarrieres8825]

Florida will regress a little, Toronto will be stable and Boston, well, they've been supposed to be regressing for the last 5 years, so we'll see. These 3 teams should still be top 3. Tampa will struggle a bit and should battle with Detroit for the wildcard. Buffalo and Ottawa both look poised to take a step, like the last few years, so I still have doubt. Habs should be a bit better, but will they reach .500? If yes, not much more.

[@malakaspawt3190]

32:40 There's really only 1 out of 8 spots open for a D with the Habs right now unless we make a trade. Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Xhekaj, Barron, Harris, Struble, and X. We still don't know who will play where because there's only 4 Laval defensemen confirmed; Trudeau, Jacobs, Wotherspoon, and Sevigny. Well, I mean 5 if you count Reinbacher, so it's technically Hutson or Mailloux who will pick the X spot on the Habs. That is unless both play in the AHL and the X spot is given to a forward. Right now, they've got too many forwards, so not so sure about that one. If there's a trade then maybe both of them could be part of the Habs roster. However, if the idea is that Hutson and Reinbacher are the Habs top 2 of the future, we might as well pair Hutson with Reinbacher in Laval. There is literally no one in the 7 starting Ds (the ones we know) that are untouchable for the right price. Though I think that Guhle, Xhekaj and Barron are the ones Kent Hughes wants to keep the most. Matheson, Savard, Harris and Struble are those he wants to trade the most, but not for peanuts. If we're unable to trade Savard, he'll be UFA on July 1st 2025. Harris and Struble will be RFA. Matheson will have 1 more year after that. We just signed RFA Barron so he's safe for a bit. The projection of the future (short term/in a few years) is probably something like: HutsonReinbacher GuhleMailloux XhekajBarron ...for the time being until we see what happens with Konyushkov, Engstrom, Nurmi, Trudeau and more. It's not impossible that Hutson takes the X spot and Mailloux and Reinbacher are assigned to Laval. If that was the case, Hutson would be in the race for the Calder. Cutter Gauthier, Shane Wright, Matvei Michkov, Logan Stankoven, Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson? That would be an interesting race to follow! But I would prefer if all of them played in the NHL, but they won't this year. The logic says that Struble and Harris aren't going to go be both sent down to have Reinbacher and Mailloux take a spot. It makes sense to have Hutson take the X spot because he is the best defenseman they have right now. I don't know if I'd go that far and say he'll be top 3, but he is capable of it if he has lots of ice-time with lots of power play time. I wouldn't be against Mailloux taking the X spot and having Hutson&Reinbacher join the NHL next year with Demidov either! The off-season is still "young", we just have to wait and see what's coming next.

[@malakaspawt3190]

15:55 Tony, with all due respect, we really-really don't need 4th liners like Brandon Duhaime for 2024-25. Not only we have lots of players like him but we also don't have room for him. 13 forwards on the Habs: Slaf, Suz, Caufield, Gallagher, Dach, Roy, Newhook, Anderson, Armia, Evans, H-Pinard, Pezzetta, Dvorak + 2 goalies = 15 There's 8 spots left for defensemen. Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Xhekaj, Barron, Mailloux, Struble, Harris Laval's defensemen for the moment: Trudeau, Jacobs, Wotherspoon, Sevigny, Reinbacher, Hutson That's 6 Ds, so there's 2 spots right now. I heard stuff about Engstrom so if he's there that's 1 spot left. We already have 15 forwards in Laval. Simoneau, Davidson, Dauphin, Arseneau, Gignac, Barre-Boulet, Farrell, Condotta, Xhekaj, Kidney, Mianscum, Heineman, Beaucage, Tuch, Perreault 15 forwards +2 goalies = 17 8 spots for defensemen you've got 6 with Hutson and Reinbacher, 7 with Engstrom. No room for Kapanen, Beck, Hage and Mesar. They're all AHL ready but it is what it is. Kapanen will stay over seas at least one more season. Beck turns 21 in Feb so he can play one more year in the QMJHL. Hage is so young that they probably don't want to burn him. He'll likely play the next 2 seasons in the USHL and literally burn the league. It's my personal belief that Mesar required a trade when he was told he wasn't going to play for Laval. I think he doesn't want to play in the QMJHL, and that's why he's on the trade block right now. There is a reason why Hughes patched/plastered all these spots with 1 year contracts, with the exception of Mianscum and Davidson who got 2 years extension. He's preparing for the bunch of players that have their contracts ending July 1st 2025. That's going to be a very very intense time for Kent Hugues. I hope he signs Draisaitl. Right now the Habs are in a very very good position!

[@komirules]

Hutson or Reinbacher could make the habs. They will have to make room.

[@malakaspawt3190]

@@komirules I believe both of them and even Mailloux are NHL ready.

[@appletile2887]

With ACL recovery, Dach will have a fast start, however around game 10 that knee will start to seize up and give him problems, it'll take a month to calm down and adjust so by January he show start up again getting points

[@RiseFromTheAshZ]

Do you have experience?

[@powers1500]

​@@RiseFromTheAshZ he is just guessing !!!

[@appletile2887]

@@RiseFromTheAshZ....... 7 surgeries

[@RiseFromTheAshZ]

@@appletile2887 wow man. He has had the best surgeons and physiotherapists to guide him in what to do, how much to push, and when to ramp it up.

[@malakaspawt3190]

27:30 I have big hopes for Dach.

[@Steve.bennet]

Ya, if he can play a full season. 7 yrs and he's been injured every yr with missed time. Guys a lemon unfortunately

[@malakaspawt3190]

@@Steve.bennet By saying the word lemon, let's hope you've invoked the ghosts of the ancient forum of MTL for they will give Dach some of Maurice Richard's essence since Maurice was also called a lemon when he got hurt early in his career. Let's hope Dach is fortunate from this point on and that he has a great career. This next season don't really matter, MTL will end up with a top 7 pick. It's the year after that things will start to go. We need to sign Draisaitl July 1st 2025!

[@djdemers8709]

They should offer sheet Byfield.... 7.X 7.65 do it!!!!

[@sebastiencarrieres8825]

Too late, signed for 6y x 6 something.

[@Koivlachance]

Will habs players get as many points if they dont play against the backup goalie almost every game?

[@steverichard2786]

No playoffs focus on moving the old crew and their contracts first.

[@atarimeejyaneeka]

What is this They found the dogs crap in the intro?

[@FEBEAULIEU]

Sick

[@essenegnostic8711]

Habs finish bottom 10.

[@JonasJ-.-]

What have Eric seen that makes him think Buffalo and Ottawa will take a bigger step than montreal, Mtl had many injuries all year and had 2p less than Ottawa last year and 8p behind Buffalo, Buffalo just lost one of their best goalscorers in Skinner and Ottawa added ullmark and perron… how are those teams closer to the playoffs?

[@paulgiardetti1579]

Washington, tampa, and islanders. Boston and Toronto are one injury away

[@pierredenonville8915]

sick

[@andrewmein7457]

Had Subban not been traded, it would have been the worst contract in Montreal Canadiens History.

[@coreysghostglowmask8650]

B's -> Wolfpack mentality... thats it... 🐻🖤💛 dont try to imitate... enjoy the show

[@habs4life41]

im sorry but this podcast was way too short... you guys finally got into a GOOD discussion then the damn podcast was OVER LIKE WTF??????????????? I WANT HABS EVERYDAY IN THE SUMMER

[@sebastiencarrieres8825]

Watch the 2021 cup run with Dangle, you'll feel better! 😅

[@malakaspawt3190]

11:25 At the moment, only CBJ.

[@rgood1204]

They can think about it like I can think about winning the billion dollar lottery. Buffalo has better talent.

[@powers1500]

Also Ottawa...

[@powers1500]

I really hope Hutson is as good as the media want us to believe..He will surely be a good powerplay specialist; but it is defensively that I am seriously wondering because of his size. Time will tell !!!

[@rgood1204]

@@powers1500 - Hopefully he is all that they say, because he doesn't make me envision Rod Langway circa 1984. Oh and New Jersey. Hughes needs to put on another 15 pounds of muscle as he gets hurt too much. Still 1.19 points/game.

[@lafuerza2564]

Whats habs second line for next year yall think ?? Newhook - dach - anderson ?

[@brianchandler9698]

The team is still too small to make the playoffs let alone compete in the playoffs.

[@jacobperez10]

Ideally we still can add either a top 6 C or #1 D-man through the next draft

[@lbc2840]

It's the same team. We'll be top10 worst team.

[@donmanolo4875]

PLD was far from impressive at Worlds.

[@donmanolo4875]

Why he wearing a hat in the house?

[@RiseFromTheAshZ]

Looks like a gazebo of some kind.

[@jacobperez10]

What's the different between "injury prone" and frequently injured lol. He hasn't played a full season, pretty simple. He's never put up 40 points, whatever nuance you want, he's far from proven as anything.

[@chosenone5471]

Sick