[serious] ELI5: Anti-habs circlejerk on this subreddit for "fans of hockey"

This has copypasta potential but I'll be serious.

Most of r/hockey doesn't watch Montreal regularly. They are a slow and an exceedingly boring team to watch and the only really judge the team based in their lowlights and record. I try to watch all the Atlantic teams including the shit ones. Montreal out of all of them looks like the best.

I do think the Habs are a much better team than their record showed this year. Don't get me wrong, they are still a mediocre bubble team.

What they have: An elite goalie, an elite RHD and one great winger in a Pacioretty, a good winger in Galchenyuk and I dunno what Drouin is gonna be next year but he's a good player as well. The talent is there. They also have some decent depth players.

The unknown variable is what they can do to fill the rest of their holes in the off season. They can get a PMD in this draft even if it's not Dahlin and if they sign Tavares they would be a playoff team no doubt. Even if they don't, they should be able to compete for a spot.

The major holes for them is their defense. As the team is currently built, they cannot defend vs a modern NHL team. It becomes really evident why they sucked this year when you watch them vs a fast team like Toronto. They were too slow to get to pucks, the Leafs were allowed to pinch in deep everytime they got the puck in the offensive zone and skated circles around the Habs. That's the direction teams like Tampa, Pittsburgh and Toronto are going in.

/r/hockey Thread