habscout

According to a recent TSN article, the Sharks are planning on signing Evander Kane, and pay him around $7M per season; San Jose was one of the teams rumoured to be interested in signing Tavares. That would eat up a big chunk of their available cap space and would take them out of the JT sweepstakes. So either they believe Tavares will stay with the Islanders, or they think he's interested in signing with another team. I would love to see the Habs sign Tavares, but I am doubtful Montreal is his key destination. Paul Stastny is a possible signee for the Habs if they overpay to get him. Since the Habs do not have a true #1 or #2 center, Stastny would at least fit the second slot role. https://www.tsn.ca/off-season-watch-is-kane-worth-7-million-1.1093762

I just noticed on the Habs Operations page, Dudley was listed as the "Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations". I forgot Dudley was a VP; I thought he was an assistant GM. If that means this was a lateral move, then that's a slap in the face to Bergevin and the Habs. But like Bergevin says, "if you want loyalty, buy a dog". https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/team/hockey-operations

I am not surprised as I heard rumours about this back on April 28. Dudley is known to be a smart hockey person and recognizes the hole Bergevin has created. His contract was going to expire on July 1st so he's jumped ship early for a better position and before the ship goes down. If the Habs have a similarly bad season again next year, how likely would Bergevin and his team keep their jobs in the spring of 2019?

When it comes down to deciding between Zadina and Svechnikov, I lean towards the latter for a few reasons. He has a 2" size advantage which is very helpful when stepping up to the NHL. His production was impressive considering he came back from an injury that cost him over 2 dozen games. His offensive numbers are similar to Zadina's but it was earned in a junior league that is known to be better defensively, so one can make the argument he really earned his points. Although Zadina is a good skater, Svechnikov is at an elite skating level. Both players are somewhat lacking defensively, but so was Ovechkin as a junior age player. I am hoping Carolina chooses Zadina for whatever reason they like [anti-Russian bias, connection to prospect Martin Necas] to leave Svechnikov available at #3 for the Habs. If that doesn't happen and the Habs decide to choose Zadina I will be ok with that selection, but I suspect he is less NHL ready than Svechnikov is at this time.

I don't have an issue with signing this kid, but the odds are really against him making it to the NHL. He's going to need to take the slow development path with time likely spent in the ECHL. The same applies to Habs free agent signee Hayden Verbeek. Mitch Brown from The Athletic wrote an excellent article on this topic back in late March and focused on Hayden Verbeek. The Leafs are reportedly on the verge of signing 26 year old Swedish center Par Lindholm, which is disappointing news to me as a Habs fan. I am using this comparison since Lindholm is also an undrafted prospect at center, but with his age and experience of playing against men in the SHL [Sweden's highest pro league] for the past 4 seasons, then he's a less riskier prospect to become an NHL pro player than Alain. The Leafs have been drafting and signing more Swedish players under Shanahan/Lamoriello so that may have been a more attractive feature for Lindholm choosing the Leafs, assuming other NHL teams were also interested in him and talking to his agent. https://www.tsn.ca/report-leafs-to-sign-swedish-c-lindholm-1.1071962

Before the end of this season, I would have bet anything that Lefebvre would swap positions with Daigneault, so Bergevin didn't get any blood on his hands and none of his buddies lost a paycheck. Well if Syl is truly gone that is a step in the right direction. Too many people have excused his team's poor records. In the past pundits said he wasn't helping to develop any/many prospects; this season when the Habs needed so many players called up some were saying Lefebvre should get some credit. Bottom line I believe Sylvain is a poor coach. Any worthy coach can get the most out of the players he has, season after season. I can understand that not every high level coach can produce a winning team out of a less than stellar roster, but someone with good coaching skills should at least get a contending team out of a hockey team at least once in a 6 year span. Alas, Sylvain did not, so now he's gone. I hope the Habs will hire a good junior level coach like Dominique Ducharme or Benoit Groulx, before Tampa hired him to coach their AHL team.

Someone posted the original TSN690 interview on Soundcloud. You can listen to it here. I plan to compare it to the TSN690 "editted" version later. Bergevin on Melnick in the Afternoon - Soundcloud The new "transparency" era is a somewhat interesting one, but to me it seems like a bone to placate the dog-like media in Montreal. I heard that the Canadiens long-time head of communications, Donald Beauchamps, will be leaving the organization. I find it interesting that at the same time this message of "transparency" is now forthcoming from the Habs as of the start date of their end of season press conference. Maybe Donald was the scapegoat for the Papal-like secrecy behind the Habs communications? I have heard Chris Nilan gripe at least once a month on the air about how difficult it is to try to get anyone from the Habs organization to come on the air for his show for an occasional interview. So I guess maybe one of those times must have been when Geoff Molson happened to tune in to the radio? Perhaps that's wishful thinking. I fear and feel, that this version of the Habs is on the precipice of a lengthy slide into the cellar dwellars of the league, similar to the dark ages under Rejean Houle. As I type this, I am watching the Jets versus the Wild in game 2, and Paul Stastny just scored. If I was him, I would seriously consider any offer that Winnipeg makes to keep him before July 1st. The guy has already reached his peak contract at $7M/season, so realistically he must know he will never get more than that amount. He could stay and play in Winnipeg for less, a team that is clearly on the rise. Or he could take his chances on a bigger payout by a team like the Habs, one that will struggle to get back into a playoff position. Personally I think he's a fine #2 center, but if he signs with Montreal he would be deemed their #1 and I don't feel he would succeed in that environment. -Norm

I am listening to the Habs end of season press conference. Pat Hickey asked Marc Bergevin a question along the lines of "where do you go from here?". Part way through the explanation Hickey pointed out that Price had a down year. Bergevin's response, well a lot of players (in the league) had a bad year. And then he added this to back up his point, "Pekka Rinne had a bad year." Seriously, Bergevin really doesn't know what he's talking about! I thought that comment was way out of line, so I looked up Rinne's stats and noticed Pekka had improved his GAA by 11 points, his save percentage by 9 points, he posted 11 more wins, 6 fewer losses and 5 more shutouts that the season before !!!!

I almost expected CJ to play the "veteran"" Benn and Alzner for the full 2 minutes, or at least 3/4's of it. No problem, for starting the GDT.

Well the Habs got a nice goal by Deslauriers on a good pass by Carr. 3-3 [I told you all to take the over tonight!]

Wow, what a shot by Malkin! The top power play capitalizes to take the lead 3-2. Team tank is back on track. :-(

Big penalty kill for the Habs against the Penguins #1 powerplay. I was a little surprised to see Juulsen gets that much time killing the penalty, and a little pleased to see him do well. It didn't hurt to see him cross check Kessel to the ice in front of the net. :-)

Petry misplayed the body, then the puck took an unfortunate deflection of Byron's stick to go in; Penuins tied it up at 2. I hope everybody took the Over on this game tonight.

Penguins are in the game, making it 2-1. They are starting to wake up, generating some chances.

Yeah Chuky is playing well. As for Price, I think I'd rather only see him practice to end this season. Why risk anything to play a regular game now.