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What kind of analysis is this? Our offense is defunct for multiple reasons, playmakers being the least of our concerns. What is more troublesome are how skewed we are, positionally, up front, we got Wingers trying to be Centers, Centers trying to be Wingers. We lack a legitimate 1C, probably even a 2C but lets worry about one issue at a time up there. Then we have a D core that is carried by 2 guys, both playing from the same side, also happen to be the only 2 capable of producing points on any kind of regular basis. We have no one on the Left side capable of eating minutes while driving some offense on a consistent basis for the forwards. Those are the real issues plaguing this offense, you have to be properly setup at the forward and defense position before you can even get into what style of players you need to compliment each other better and further upgrade that offense. You need a real 1C, you need a real top 6 with maybe only 1 guy out of the 6 being a bubble guy, the rest have to be hands down top 6 guys. You need at least 3 of your 6 Dmen to be very good all around players who are capable of playing big minutes, solid in their own zone, while contributing to team offense, whether on the PP or 5 on 5. We are obviously not there yet, and need to get there before we can even consider talking about how many natural goal scorers, playmakers, or net drivers we are lacking to make it better.

I tend to agree here 3rd overall is a gift, if teams want to move down to get it they are the ones who need to offer the moon and the stars. Not us dangling it out there like a well seasoned carrot acting like it is a very expendable gift horse. You keep that pick, you screw Button's list, and you pick Zadina, and enter the next phase of your plan knowing you have now added an elite winger in the mix, making wingers already on the team the ones you are willing to give to fill needs. The only reason to deviate from this plan is if someone makes an offer we can't refuse for that 3rd pick. I am not even sure why we are debating how we can give this pick up for this, that, and the other thing, we don't want to make a trade with this pick, we want someone to blatantly overpay for it, or we use it, plain and simple in my books.

https://awinninghabit.com/2018/04/23/montreal-canadiens-news-congratulations-khl-andrei-markov-2018-gagarin-cup/ Andrei Markov with Ak Bars Kazan wins the championship. All reports shows he logged lot of minutes and key to the underdogs winning. attitude hey? MB was dead wrong here, you do not let Markov and his loyalty and wanting to remain in Montreal go. The exact attitude that is required to continue the Legacy of what is left of this team. Now how ironic if both these defencemen go on to win their respective championship titles ( PK Subban ) Bergevin,..now where is the attitude adjustment ? Is it the team or IS IT YOU MB? Well down Marc and bringing a once storied and class Team , now to its current state. With you at the helm, this team will sink further to an abyss that will take a decades to correct! Will we see this team win again for decades? Hmmm Go on and keep wearing your fancy suits and be proud MB what you have done, or NOT done!! ........

I like it when people make me look more clever than I am. Keep up the good work, Joe!

I think the other big difference is size of the players and just how much stronger all players are now. I loved watching the fights like the one in the nordiques playoff series where almost the entire team fought. Back than,not everyone that fought trained 12 with weights all year and they weren’t “fighters”. Only the goons really trained as fighters (not withstanding when Savard brought in a boxer to train the team during the smurf years ?,), so there was less of a chance of guys hurting someone Now with all of the training that the players being bigger and stronger, they can do a lot more damage to each other. It’s no surprise that it is mainly the dedicated fighters (who were bigger/stronger than the average player and fought a lot more), are the ones who mainly have the brain injuries. i see no reason for fighting anymore. You can police the rats by giving them meaningful suspensions. If someone low bridges, or gives a viscous slash or head shot, start suspensions at 10 games and that will weed out those actions. Expand the unsportsmanlike to be an option a major and add suspensions that start at 5 games and you won’t have Pinocchio kissing or licking players anymore.

I see what you did there...

I think the instigator rule, ostensibly designed to curtail 'sideshow' fights, ironically had the effect of relegating fighting largely to goons, who would carefully coordinate fighting opportunities according to an arcane formula so as to avoid being instigators. (Well, except for Laraque, who just politely opted out every time ) The main reason fighting has withered seems, however, to be advanced stats, which demonstrate pretty conclusively (or so I understand) that teams with goons on the ice surrender way more scoring chances, etc.. Once teams realize that, they start insisting that *everyone* on the team be a quality hockey player. So much for the goons. Add to that the concern over concussions. Even though fights often don't cause them, it's still hard to celebrate watching young men receive repeated and intentional blows to the head. I used to love hockey fights (as well as boxing), but now they tend to make me wince, knowing the damage that concussions do. Finally: I'm not seeing this huge spike in cheap shots, myself. The cheap shots were always there, and the kind of unbelievable punishment that used to get doled out, especially in the slot, now tends to get called by officials. Meanwhile Scott Stevens-style headhunting has been cracked down on. I think fighting is a 'solution' to a non-problem, basically.

The Habs are in 'win now' mode?!? No offence, but...

TAKE THE BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE. if Hughes is the best player, you take him. The kid could be the next Brian Leetch. Having that as a LD on our team is going to add offence. A great puck moving defenceman adds as much offense to a team as a great winger. Most services have Zadina as the #3 right now... but if Hughes finishes this tournament the way he's started it, i have a feeling that at least a few will have him at #3. He's been that good in the US' first three games... arguably the team's second best defenceman... as an 18 year old, on a team with NHLers.

Sharks and Penguins both lose their respective series, so the Leafs 2nd round pick (from the Plekanec trade) will be 56th OA. Washington's 2nd round pick (from the Eller trade) will be between 58th and 62nd, depending on the rest of their playoffs.

That can happen, but I don't see it as a "risk". He's developing, SHL is a good league. He'll continue to develop just as much there as in the AHL.

I am hoping he ca follow what Lehkonen did

"Attitude" is not helped when a team sees its management throwing its most distinguished veteran on the scrap heap even though he can still play, and then letting a blood-and-guts power forward who drives the team's offence walk as a UFA - and then proceeds to blame the players for assembling a transparently inadequate roster. The main attitude adjustment has to occur in the front office. I would love to see PK Subban hoisting Lord Stanley's mug and rubbing it in the face of all those constipated old boys and double-standard subliminal racists who declared him a 'problem' for committing the heinous sin of having a personality.

As fans we typically know more than the players, coaches and management so I will defer to your opinions instead of theirs.