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The media crap is ridiculous. The media should not have one iota of input on the team's decisions. Why not put the commentariat of HI/O in charge of player personnel?

Could you imagine an already favoured player, say one of the Gallies, shows up to spring training next year and asks the French reporters to address him in French, then answers all French questions in French? They would be as close to a homegrown folk hero as the Canadiens have had in recent years. The French media would go bananas, and the player would buy himself a ridiculous amount of goodwill which could help down the line with contracts and captaincies, etc. Plus the player would learn a new language (that's a plus) and could get himself the hottest tutor, too (that's a big plus!)

For all of the attention, pomp and circumstance, fighting is not the most dangerous thing in the NHL today. That would be Raphael Diaz passes.

Emelin has yet to show his full potential as well. He actually has some offensive upside and a pretty good shot. Other than skating I believe he is on par or better than Beaulieau in terms of ability and skill.

But neither are near Subban's quality, so they aren't going to suddenly step in and be top-3. So even if you have Subban Tinordi and Beaulieu next season as #'s 1, 4, and 5 then where do you fill in the rest? I would pencil Emelin and Gorges in as a #4s as well, and that leaves you with Markov's unfortunately questionable status (will he recapture #2/3 form (and i think he's slowly improving so far this season already)) and a whack-load of #6/7 guys. Are you satisfied with a lineup that consists of 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6? It's not bad. But that's saying both Tinordi and Beaulieu improve drastically, and it's saying Markov regains significant form. Don't get me wrong, we have the (outside) chance of having a brilliant lineup, Subban, Markov settling into his game as a #2, Beaulieu as a 3, Emelin and Tinordi and Gorges as duelling 4's and a ton of solid depth guys. But do you make the decision going forward to build the team towards next season with those hopes? As GM, what are your goals? Are you a 'this year' guy? Next year? Two years from now? I know what my answer is, but no one knows MB's answer. If it's next year, then I think you're light on the back end. If he's two years from now, then maybe we're more than fine, because I don't think it's unreasonable to think Beaulieu could potentially be a top pairing guy and Tinordi, Emelin, and Gorges as really solid #3/4's. Personally, I look at the future and I think to myself that, while we have a lot of potential in the system, it's still *down the road* and if I've signed the core of the team which is rounding slowly into form (Price, presumably Subban, Patches, Plexiglass, etc) then I'm looking at two years and I'm thinking that in order to compete at the highest level, I think I'm going to need one more piece of the puzzle. To get that, I'm not going to sacrifice core unless - big unless - things come together so beautifully that we're looking at Cup runs this or next year. Then I consider moving a Plex (if I think it's my only option) to upgrade my D. Otherwise, I cannot, in good conscience, more Plex this season or next for an Edler-type because that's just not prudent asset management. What I want to do is find a way to spark DD, showcase my significant defensive depth, and package one of those highly rated kids (not Tinordi or Beaulieu, but some of the others who seem to have some very solid potential) to a team that needs to rebuild. That's option one. (In no case do I move my #1 picks, by the way; we build through the draft.) Having said all this, I very firmly believe this is considered another transition year by management. What we're looking to see is how well the kids develop at all levels. We're going to get Subban signed. We're going to shed some salary at the end of the year. We're going to watch the cap rise. There will be plenty of open doors in the off-season. But this year, despite everyone groaning and moaning at the patchwork D and quote-unquote three-tier second line system of much smurfiness, I'm going to be as patient as possible and work to make my assets look as good as they can. I called DD a placeholder for Galchenyuk in another thread. I think this season can be regarded as something similar. The motor is running, we'll give it our best shot, but we're not contenders at all. While no one came out and blatantly said it, there is a 3-5 year plan in place - and this time it's really working well so far. So while I agree with you that, unless something falls in our lap, we stay the course for this season, I don't agree that the two kids are going to be that highly rated by the end of the year. In fact, I think they're still at least a couple of years from fulfilling promise. If there's a move to be made, it'll be after Emelin has played more than a handful of games, and it'll be after Markov has been evaluated for close to a half season to see where he is. My gut tells me no move defensively this season. My heart tells me we need to contact the Feaster's of the league to offer them DD, Pateryn, Thrower and a signed jock for his best defender. Where's Milbury when you need him?

We've got too many # 6 and #7 Dmen. I'd consider Drewskie and Bouillon #7's on good teams and Murray a #6. At this stage Tinordi is a #5 or #6. We need to fill some holes. If we are to be a playoff team the following is what i think the makeup our defense needs to be (Emelin fills the #4 role when he is back): #1 Subban #2 gap #3 Markov #4 gap #5 Gorges #6 Tinordi spares: Murray, Diaz From our current dmen, Beaulieu is a wildcard who may be able to fall into that #4 role NEXT year. If you look at our trading chips, the only guy I wouldn't mind moving (despite the leadership he provides) from the core and would have good value is Gorges. I think Gorges a couple of prospects may be enough to get a guy like Myers, who i think needs a change of scenery and as a big man, needs time. In Montreal, he can initially be behind Subban and Markov, so there should be less pressure for him to get his game back. I really think he will end up being a solid #2 or #3 and with his contract, would be a great value if he puts it together. As hated as White seems to be here, i think he is a guy that would be highly valued by most teams. Gorges, White, Pateryn, Holland for Myers and a 3rd? At this point, I'd also like to try and waiving DD. Maybe someone will pick him up. If we hold on to him and he keeps sucking, it is going to be harder to expect anyone to have interest in him.