We Are Witnessing NHL History

We Are Witnessing NHL History

On this graphic, we have every NHL team that existed in the early9s and the total amount of 100 point scorers per NHL team. So, right off the bat, Edmonton and Pittsburgh stick out like a sore thumb. To my surprise, even with all the star power this current Dallas Stars have and the legends who have played there, they’ve only had a single 100 point score in franchise history. A lot of teams in the middle with between five and 10 100 point scorers with the average split between the league being 6.12. But do you notice something odd here? We are missing a team. Huh? The Montreal Canadians are the only team that existed in the early 1990s who haven’t had a single 100 point scorer. Not one. Pittsburgh had 25. Montreal, one of the biggest sports franchises in the world, arguably the most historic franchise in NHL history, is now going on a 40-year drought without a 100 point scorer. Absolutely absurd, especially when you consider that since the ’90s, Montreal is the last Canadian team to win a cup. And if we remove the last two Oilers trips to the finals, Montreal in this time frame has had more playoff success than any other Canadian team. Doing so without that true superstar up front. As these rosters have always been built from culture with a net out roster construction philosophy, as Montreal is the only team in NHL history to have a Vzna winning MVP goalie paired with a Norwe defenseman to not win a Stanley Cup. And if you ask me, it’s because they can never obtain that true superstar forward. They tried in the draft. to select from the Sernia Sting. Alex Galchenyuk. That’s a smart move and the right move for Montreal. But that didn’t work out too well. We’re learning more about the arrest of a former Coyotes forward, Alex Galchenyak. He would try to trade for that player. Comes to Gomez. He fires. He scores. Scott Gomez ends the drought only for that trade to crash and burn. And somehow they were never able to attract that player in free agency. Maybe they were just too cheap. I I don’t know. As one of the biggest signings they would make during this era was $23 million to Carl Olner, who would last one season in Montreal before being buried in the miners. So, it then begs the question, if this team had the same culture, commitment to defense, an elite goalie, and a cornerstone defenseman, what in the hell would happen if they did have that true 100point star? Because what if I were to tell you that this current Haps team today has not one, not two, but three players who could soon eclipse that elusive benchmark. As we are currently witnessing what I believe is arguably the greatest rebuild in NHL history. And today’s video is sponsored by SeatGeek. 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That’s code RobTalksi 10 for 10% off your tickets. Because what I love about this rebuild specifically is that the bunch Canadians got lucky for one, how did teams pass on Debondov? I don’t know. But at the same time, they didn’t necessarily use the best off the board mentality when it comes to drafting. No, they strategically drafted a team that would have high chemistry. As one of the most fascinating parts about this rebuild is that somehow Kent Hughes has achieved near perfect synergy. Think about a player like Cole Caulfield. Because Caulfield is a small player, it will always be extremely difficult for him to drive his own line. It’s not a knock against the guy, but it’s just the truth. And it’s also why many teams would pass on him in the first place. However, if you put the right pieces with him, it can hands down negate the problems from having a smaller frame. And well, that’s exactly what the Havs have done. Nick Suzuki is a very smart two-way center who can drive the play from out of his own zone. But to be honest, Suzuki is small, too. Yaki can compensate with his lack of size from his hockey IQ and stick work. But when you’re going against those mutant defensemen, there will be many times where you get outmuscled during board battles. And well, that’s where your ice comes in. As the kid himself is a 6’4 bulldog who still has many years to keep building strength on the puck. Therefore, you send him in first as the F1 to attack the puck. Nick Suzuki’s in the support role as the F2 who can help retrieve the puck or wait for that pass. And Cole Coughfield is the ROR who’s just waiting for that perfect shooting lane on display. Sabosski is the F1. He wins the board battle, finds Suzuki open in the slot. Suzuki doesn’t rush a shot and finds a wideopen Cfield. Pick it off. Suzuki centers a caulfield scores. On this next play, Suzuki wins the board battle and gets a down low to Slaf. And at this point, Slaf retrieves the puck, looks behind him to see if he has a size mismatch. He does. He sticks out his big ar and plants himself for any contact. He then easily absorbs the contact, which now allows him to regain composure where he finds a wide open caulfield. the slot. Cfield scores. The beat goes on for Cfield. His 26. This same reason is why the Oilers value a guy like Zack Heyman. He attacks the puck with speed, wins board battles for McDavid. It’s also why it’s hard to separate Dryidle and McDavid five on five. As Dryidle’s strength on the puck and ability to reather and find McDavid with a perfect pass is just invaluable. That’s what’s been so masterful about Ken Hugh’s rebuild with the Habs. As we’re in a game where you can’t just load up with star players and expect that they’re going to instantly gel with each other. Or more crucially, we’re in a game where it’s been proven time and time again that prioritizing smaller skilled scorers may work in the regular season, but it’s a recipe for failure come the playoffs. As one of the only times in recent NHL history where a team had multiple smaller players who won a cup was Braden Point and Cucharov leading Tampa to back-to back cups. However, point was able to compensate from being an elite two-way player. And Cutro is one of the greatest scorers, if not one of the best players in League history. So, not a great example for many teams as every other team without fail was led by players or had top players who were physical mutants as this exact rationale is why I think there’s been such a drastic shift in teams being willing to draft off the board. Think about Mappe Mitchkov in 2023. Now, we don’t know the whole story about Mitchkov and if he actually had a list of teams or just Philly he was willing to play for, but Montreal already had Suzuki, Caulfield, and Lane Hudson. Cfield and Suzuki were already solidified stars on the rise. Hudson was a great bet from his NCAA career. So then I ask you this, how in the hell could this Montreal team survive a playoff run where four of their five guys on the power play are all under 6 feet tall? Where half of their top six were smaller framed players? It’s never been done and will never be done unless the league all of a sudden removes hitting or physicality. Instead, Ivan Demidov would somehow fall in their lap on the next draft. [Applause] on his back of 93. Goes after it now. He’s in. He scores. Oh my. Of course, Havs fans know this kid’s upside. But I don’t think the league understands the gravity yet as he’s one of the best overseas prospects we’ve seen in such a long time. He is quite literally a biggerbodied version of Carill Capri off who just so happened to score at a higher rate at a younger age relative to Capri off and has already shown he can take over games at the NHL level because like Capri off Demidov is able to manipulate the opposition to a T in the offensive zone. He’s a pass player who can playmake his way into perfect shooting lanes where he just so happens to have a car the line shoots. He scores a three-goal third period for Montreal and the Canadians on the road lead by two. On this play, Demidov picks up the puck on the right half wall. He looks up to see a wideopen Doppson. Matty Baneer seeing this scrambles to block off the passing lane. Demidov with his head up sees the aggression from Beneers. Fakes like he’s cutting into the slot. Psych. He’s actually going to go up top and find Line A as this playmaking leading to chaos for the defensive structure. Then allows Demod to create his own shooting lane where he sneaks into the slot. Oh, he’s there. He scores because what’s crazy about this forward crop is that they’ve been having so much success without a healthy Kirby Dock or Patrick Line. And many of their current players have yet to scrape their potential here. Bulldog might just be a middle six 30 goal guy that can play up and down the lineup. Suzuki and Tyfield with a chance. They score. Albert Kaine would dominate the SHL and has shown big upside here. On top of that, they have a handful of guys developing into the system who could also be stars. Michael Heg is just 19 and already one of the top players in college hockey. Not to mention his size and is a right shot two-way center. They just drafted a kid in the KHL. Alex Zeroski, who’s been lighting up the league as an 18-year-old, as this forward group has already shown they can compete at a high level in the NHL. And nearly half the lineup is still developing. And overall, I’ll give this team a 9.2 two in terms of their forward group and that factors in potential because what’s scary is that a Slaf can prove to be a 40 goal power forward. This core has the potential to be one of the best in the league. This past offseason, the Canadians would make a massive splash as they would go out and acquire Noah Dobson. And again, here’s that synergy or chemistry component coming in here. Lane Hudson is a smaller framed player. Kaden Goully is a two-way guy with a more defensive upside. Therefore, Dobson can either add size and puck moving with Hudson and/or be the offensive option when paired with Ghouie. I will say I think there’s a bit of redundancy here given that Dobson leans more to the offensive side of the spectrum and the fact that he won’t replace Hudson as the number one power play guy. However, Dobson size and strength of the puck can fill in a lot of holes that Hudson just simply can’t do. With that being said, Montreal has two top pairing defenseman. That is not a bad problem whatsoever. As Hudson has already proved himself to be one of the smartest and/or top offensive defenseman in the league. On this play, Hudson rushes back to block an empty net attempt. And before the puck is even settled, Hudson already has his head up and makes a perfect hailmary pass on Cole Caulfield’s tape, who ties the game. Pass the other way for Cfield. Cfield drives it in, shoots, he scores. The sheer poise on not to panic after blocking that shot and to have the vision and passing ability to make this stretch pass and the dying moments of a game where you’re down one is is just special. Kaden Goully is a perfect doodle defenseman. Mike Mat is a veteran who is more so offensive minded but is able to play physical. That’s my only critique to this blue line is that their core is more so offensive minded, which again works in the regular season, but I think it’s crucial that they find that underrated stay-at-home defenseman for those deep playoff rounds. With that being said, this core has already proven themselves at a high level, and many of these guys are just starting to scrape their potential. And if a player like Ryan Barker can come in and be that missing piece in terms of that physical, defensive-minded defenseman, not only does this team have three guys with 100 point upside, but they are slowly creating one of the best decors in the league. For now though, I’m going to give them an 8.8, which now leaves us with goalending. Now, Montreal doesn’t have that proven Vzna quality guy, but what they do have is depth. Doves has been unbelievable this year and him and Montabau have proved they can take over games around got the shot. He’s in. Save Dobish and then flip back. But it’s not like they’re building around Krie Price here, but they do have two young starting goalies who could reach that next level. On top of that, they have one of the best goalie prospects in the world and Jacob Fowler. They also have another guy named Quinton Miller who’s having one of the best rookie seasons for a goalie in NCAA history. as it’s impossible to project any goalie. You can have the most dominant junior or NCAA career only for those guys to never solidify themselves in the NHL. But when you have four, five, six goalies who have a lead upside, there is a great chance you will get that goalie. And honestly, it’s something I’ve never even seen in a goalie pipeline. It’s crazy. And I’m going to give them a 9.2. And lastly, we have salary cap management. And well, they have all their core locked up on long-term great deals. On top of that, 25 million is coming off the books within two years. They have a projected $28 million in cap space in two years. And by 2027, $63 million in cap space. So whether it’s culture, drafting, signings, forward, decor, and goalending, Ken Hughes and the Montreal Canadians have been slowly but surely pulling off one of the greatest masterclass rebuilds in NHL history. I’d really appreciate a like on this video. A big shout out to Segeek for sponsoring today’s video. And as always, thanks for watching. [Music] [Music]

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