Équipe: 2023-24 Canadiens de Montréal

Date de création initiale: 31 juill. 2023

Publié: 31 juill. 2023

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

A lot of Habs fans, myself included, talk about this guy like he's dirt. "He's so bad at hockey!" "Can't score anymore!" "Refuses to play defense!"... and so on.

I'll admit it, I'm not a fan. I have treated him as a cap dump for the better part of a year. But how about this for some perspective:

Of the 16 forwards who will be fighting it out for a roster spot this upcoming season, Hoffman ranks 4th in most goals scored over the past 2 seasons. I'll say it again, only 3 forwards have scored more than him the past 2 seasons: Caufield, Suzuki, and Anderson.

Said another way, on Goal Scoring and Goal Scoring alone, Mike is ahead of the likes of Dach, Newhook, Slafkovsky, RHP, Monahan, Dvorak, Gallagher and many others. I know some of these are loaded as RHP & Slaf were rookies. But still...

Why are we so quick to dismiss him? Did we forget that in order to win hockey games... you need to score goals? Are we walking away from him because:

1) We are convinced he is taking minutes away from a more deserving player who will score even more than he does given those minutes? Can't we just play him lower in the lineup?
2) We think being better defensively will be the difference between winning and losing? In the playoffs? Definitely! In the first half of the regular season? Debatable.
3) We think he is bad for the culture? Worse than burying out your 4th best scorer? What message are we sending, "we want you to score less"?

I dunno. Have we misjudged the guy? Maybe Mike needs better linemates like Dadonov found in Dallas? Please tell me why I'm wrong?