No. Goaltending isn't good enough and defence will get exposed, especially in tight games

Blues decline. We have no need/cap space/or interest in Armia

That's what they said about the young guys this year, "they're too inexperienced" blah blah blah, it's always the same thing, yet the D proved this year they were not too inexperienced and thrived.

They finished as the worst Atlantic team after the RS was over

Not due to the defense, due to lack of scoring up front and an injury riddled lineup

How do you add photos?

They allowed the 4rth most goals this season

Allen played like Murray and did you not see the comment about injuries the last third to half of the season we played with 8+ AHL players on the active roster.

That was the first portion, and don't be that disrespectful towards Murray

When I watched the Leafs play the Habs, the Habs defense got exposed 7+ times for lack of communication, getting beat to pucks, missing first passes etc. that can't happen in 1 goal games

I like the Dubois move, and its almost a certainty Caulfield gets that deal. In saying that, this team doesn't compete with the rest of the east. Ottawa, Buffalo and Detroit were all better this year while all getting better and thats simply the division.

I'm curious to see what they do with slaf. I'm not high on him, and he may need some ahl time to get comfortable in NA. I'd start him, Farrell and Roy in the ahl. If they can dominate then you call them up later in the year.

I see from your comments that you believe in the defensive group. Matheson had been great, Savard is always a steady presence. Guhle looks to be a potential top 4 guy and Xhekaj looks like an nhl player. In saying this, it's still a weak group. I'd like to see a legit player beside Matheson. Barron is fine, but should be in a position to play big minutes. Getting another guy to take that spot would really help set the defense.

The will struggle to score goals next year unless a prospect truly breaks out. Goaltending also isn't wildcard level. I don't see them as a wildcard team for probably 2 ish seasons but they could absolutely prove me wrong.

It’s insanely unlikely especially in a stacked eastern conference

The goaltending is simply incomparable compared to other teams

9 players on the Habs played more than 60 games, 9!!! 12 players played more than 54 games (which is 1/3 of the season) Look at the lineups from our 2 losses to the Leafs (players who should have been in the AHL or scratches on February 18, 2023 Belzile, RHP, Kovacevic, Pezzetta, Pitlick, Schuneman, Ylonen) (injured players (Guhle, Xhekaj, Edmundson, Monahan, Slafkovsky, Gallagher, Dach, Evans and Caufield) now lets look at the next games roster (players who should have been in the AHL or scratches on April 8, 2023 , RHP, Kovacevic, Pezzetta, Pitlick, Schuneman, Tierney, Wideman and Ylonen) (injured players (Guhle, Xhekaj, Monahan, Slafkovsky, Anderson, Dvorak, Savard, Harris, Dach, Evans and Caufield)

So yeah the Leafs dominated a bunch of AHL players and 13th, 14th forwards and 7th D men but struggled against our fully healthy lineup!!!

The Leafs didn't struggle against the Canadiens, pucks just didn't go in (+plus missing 3 empty nets in the 1rst game and 4 in the second one, both being 1 goal games and easily the worst game of the month for both). The 7-1 game, the Habs didn't get a shot on goal until 10 minutes in while the Leafs weren't playing with Rielly and Brodie and the guy with the 2nd most TOI was Erik Gustafson. It was so bad, David Kampf tried the Michigan and Wideman tried taking shots at the Leafs playoff history. The 5-1 one was without McCabe, Lafferty and Schenn and the Shots were 41-30 (the Leafs were playing Woll, their backup). Both of these loses featured; Suzuki, Matheson, RHP, Armia, Hoffman, Evans, Barron, Gallagher, the Goalies, Pitlick, Edmunson (who was supposedly worth a 1st), Pezzeta, Ylonen and Kocavic while the 5-1 game also adds; Anderson, Harris, Dvorak and Dadonov (who turns into Gurianov for the 7-1 game) which is 14 players that you still have in your wild card lineup.

Dubois doesn't fair well against the Leafs either BTW

Why am I comparing this Habs team to the Leafs? The Leafs in the RS will be games that you must win... look at Buffalo, they beat out the Leafs once, they are in a playoff spot. The Habs need to make it in the toughest division in the NHL and to be the best, you got to beat the teams that are in that dog fight with you

Alot of what you say is absolutely correct.... But the issue is health right .... you want to assume that we wont have it and that Matthew and nlyander and marner and tavares will stay healthy..... injuries are the big equalizer..... just remember toronto have only one more year of the quartet and then maybe Matthews want to win a cup and play in a warm weather state and where is your team then and of course toronto would have to trade him earlier to get something for him...

Bottom line toronto better win this year as their window only has one more year on it.... lots of old guys on toronto who wont be starring in 2 years (Tavares Brodie, Goirdano, O reilly etc)

LMAO, look at the WC lineup again, Pezzetta, Pitlick and Armia are scratches shown on the 5th line, between them Ylonen and Kovacevic 2 have to go off the roster. Evans and Gallagher did not play both games, Gallagher missed the 5-1 game and Evans missed the 7-1 game our 4 centers in both losses featured Drouin as a top 9 Center 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 that should be enough said as to why the Habs lost those 2 games. As for the early season games if your powerhouse Leafs are so good why did they lose to the Habs? Right cause early in the season we weren't icing an AHL lineup, they actually had to contend with NHL caliber players. It's easy to dominate teams who are carrying 8+ AHL players, it's a much different story when the same team ices their complete NHL lineup!!!

bottom line, a loss is a loss it doesn't matter how many times you miss an open net or how many shots you get on goal, those pucks need to go in to change the outcome of the game.

Edit*** I forgot to mention, you obviously are very, very confused since Buffalo is not in a playoff spot, they finished 10th in the east!

Didn't see the Gallagher one (looked at the 7-1 game and went on that) but Evans was def. playing the 7-1 one (2 PIMs, 1 hit). The first 2 games (again) were the worst 2 games of their respective months and clearly not bc Toronto is better

Saying it doesn't matter how many chances you get isn't accurate at all... The more chances you get, the more you are going to score and outplaying your opponent will lead to success (see the last 2 games these teams met)

I meant *if* the Sabres beat the Leafs once, they would have been in a playoff spot

This opportunity favours the Leafs the most in the Matthews era, they have everything they need and the core 5 (I'm including Rielly who preforms in the playoffs) need to show up. If they do that, they could *potentially* take a good shot at the cup. Matthews has learned how to play with and injury this year bu not so sure about Marner and Nylander...

I actually think Evans left that game after 1 shift if memory serves right.

It doesn't matter how many scoring chances you have in a game, the only thing that changes the outcome of the game is the puck actually going in the net. We have had games where we gave up 40+ shots but because of Monty we ended up winning those games. Again this isn't to say we weren't out played just that the number of scoring chances against did not change the outcome of the game cause the opposition did not score on them just like the Leafs in the first 2 games. Yes the Leafs outshot the Habs those first two games too (not as bad as the last 2) but they didn't manhandled the Habs either and the Habs actually won those 2 games because of their defense and goaltending, which was my original point, when healthy our D and Monty are solid enough to be a wildcard team. It was really injuries and Allen that derailed our season, since at the halfway point we were still close to a WC spot this year. If it were really just the more chances you have the more you are going to score then every team who out shoots another team would win every one of those games but that doesn't happen in a significant enough amount of games. The truth of the matter is that teams have ebbs and flows, players elevate their games vs certain opponents and injuries affect lineups. I guarantee you that if Montreal hadn't had all those injuries in the last 2 games, they would have been closer (we might have still lost but we might not also).

*if* the world ran on hopes and dreams everything would come up rainbows and unicorns! Meaning *if* doesn't matter, all that matters is the results. I could say *if* Montreal didn't have so many injuries in the 2nd half they could have made the playoffs. Fact of the matter is they did and we will never know if they would have or not. If the Sabres had beaten the Leafs once they may not have beaten another team twice and could have been further from the playoffs. We can play the if game all night but it won't change the facts. The Leafs lost twice to a full Habs lineup despite out shooting them and completely decimated a severely depleted Habs lineup (which was completely expected)

toronto has a 2 year window and then it will close like it did for winnipeg, Wash, Pitt, Chic and others... So they need to not keep wasting their opportunites... They need to get by tampa Bay and somehow get by Boston... They could do it if they have better health than those two teams.