Off-season over/under: How many goals will these Habs score next season?
The NHL is in the dog days of the off-season.
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Sure, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has managed to swing trades the last two Augusts — acquiring Patrik Laine in 2024 and shipping Jeff Petry in and out in 2023 — but for now, it's the calm before the pre-season storm.
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The Habs already had a busy summer. On the eve of the NHL Draft, they acquired offensive defenceman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders and signed him to an eight-year, $9.5M AAV extension. Then they added a trio of Quebec-born forwards in Zachary Bolduc, Samuel Blais and Joe Veleno to compensate for the losses of Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Emil Heineman.
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The Habs finished in the middle of the pack in scoring last season: 17th in the league with 243 goals. The club expects improvements on offence to come from within.
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1. Patrik Laine: over/under of 25 goals
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In his debut Habs season, the Finnish sniper scored 20 in 52 games, good enough for 31.5 had he played all 82 games. Laine has had trouble staying healthy in his career: the last time he suited up more than 70 times was the 2018-19 season. Last training camp, he suffered a knee sprain that kept him out until December and he didn't show blazing speed upon his return. But if he's healthy, few in the league possess a shot as potent as his. There's also the motivation of being a pending unrestricted free agent next summer.
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2. Juraj Slafkovsky: over/under of 25 goals
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For two consecutive seasons, the former first overall pick in 2022 has come out of the gate slowly, only to pick up the pace in the second half. After an injury-riddled rookie campaign, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound winger scored 20 and 18 goals in his next two seasons, but considering his chemistry with the top line, more is expected as he develops. At just 21 years old, is this the season he improves his consistency on the scoresheet?
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3. Ivan Demidov: over/under of 20 goals
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Who really knows what to expect from the Russian rookie. He didn't look out of place in two regular season and five playoff games after unexpectedly coming over from Russia, and after watching Lane Hutson capture the first Calder Trophy by a Hab since Ken Dryden, fans are clamouring for Demidov to make it back-to-back. It's easy to get carried away with the 19-year-old forward, but there could be growing pains as he adjusts to a new league with less time and space to create offence.
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