Edited Jan. 9, 2020 at 11:16 p.m.
As frustrating as it may be for Montreal fans, I still think MB deserves one more season... I mean let's face it, MTL will likely get a top 10 pick in the 2020 draft and add another great prospect to their farm system (he won't play in MTL until at 22-23 tho I think).
But next year, Brook will most likely be there, as will Romanov. Cousins, Kovy, Scandella, Folin, Kinkaid and maybe even Tatar and Petry will be gone by next year so the younger players will have plenty of room to grow.
I could totally see a D-core composed of Romanov-Weber Mete-Fleury Chiarot-Brook working out great next season... it would be shaky at times (look at the NYR D core this season) but it would be interesting and Romanov, Brook and Fleury could gain a lot of experience learning from non other than Shea Weber.
At forward, Danault, Domi, Drouin and Gallagher would most likely have to lead the way for another year, but Poehling, Suzuki, Koktaniemi, Caufield and maybe even Evans and 1-2 others could make an impact. Between the pipes, Carey Price could mentor Primeau for a year or 2 before he gets moved (tho MTL would have to retain at least 2 mil per year).
That being said, Claude Julien deserves to be fired at the end of the season. Ducharme should replace him with Bouchard as an assistant. Those two could/would/should(IMO) be important pieces of MTL's coaching staff for a decade... maybe even 15 years, who knows?
My lineup for next season:
Drouin-Danault-Gallagher
Domi-Suzuki-Caufield
Poehling-Koktaniemi-Armia
Romanov(PP)-Weber(PP+PK)
Mete(PK)-Fleury
Chiarot(PK)-Brook(PP and PK)