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The Habs have the 9th-best rebuild in the NHL according to Corey Pronman
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

When you hear about the rebuilding of the Habs, it’s usually positive.

It’s going in the right direction, the good times are coming, the club has the potential to be dominant before too long, the youngsters in place will allow the Habs to be good for many years to come…

We’ve all heard these comments before. That said, Corey Pronman (The Athletic) doesn’t seem to agree.

Pronman published a text this morning in which he classifies “the rebuilding” of the 16 clubs that missed the playoffs last year.

Some of these clubs are not officially rebuilding, but he nevertheless wanted to make a list of the organizations best built to lift a Stanley Cup within the next ten years from among those that missed the playoffs in 23-24.

There’s a lot of talk about this, because in this ranking, we find the Habs in… 9th place.

The reactions are numerous, especially when you look at the top-8 of Pronman’s list:

  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  2. Ottawa Senators
  3. Anaheim Ducks
  4. San Jose Sharks
  5. New Jersey Devils
  6. Utah HC
  7. Buffalo Sabres
  8. Seattle Kraken

In Pronman’s eyes, these clubs are more likely than the Canadiens to lift the Stanley Cup in the next decade:

Corey Pronman explains his point by saying that there are holes right now in the Habs lineup.

Both on forward and defense, there are solutions that need to be addressed according to him :

The Canadiens need to find one or two top-notch defensemen. They also need healthy production from Kirby Dach, or they’ll have to find help at center. – Corey Pronman

Sure, when you look at the Habs’ current lineup, Corey Pronman has a point.

There just isn’t enough experience and quality on the blue line to have any hope of seeing the Habs lift the Stanley Cup… And the same could possibly be said if Dach is still having health problems.

But the quality players missing from the blue line are probably already in the organization (Hutson, Guhle, Reinbacher, Mailloux, Engström) and there are good forwards who will also arrive and improve over the next few years (Beck, Hage, Demidov, Roy).

One thing at a time.

But when you look at Pronman’s rankings and see clubs like the Sens and Sharks ahead of the Habs, you might also think that’s harsh thinking.

Overtime

– Aatos Koivu is employed on the 4th line by his club in Finland.

– And Saku’s son collected his first point of the season:

– Max Pacioretty is closing in on Toronto.

– Cute.

– Hello, Kirby.

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