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Hey everyone! Episode #61 of the HW podcast [the Xavier Ouellet edition] is online! Many Habs topics were discussed, and many laughs were shared among hosts Paul Macleod, Jonathan Rebelo and Norm Szcyrek. Apologies for a technical hiccup with the Podomatic widget earlier, as the code was not working with the HW website now. I have updated the article to include a direct URL to the podcast, and a link to the Podomatic page that hosts it.

At least with Benn, I guarantee he will be gone before the trade deadline. I'm very sure there will be a playoff bound team that needs depth on defence due to a regular being injured. Schlemko I hope will rebound somewhat this regular season, although he hasn't shown much so far in the pre-season. They won't be able to move him. I don't even want to think about Alzner. :-(

For the love of all the Habs past greats, please send down or cut Despres! He's been terrible tonight, and was not any better in the first game.

Think back to Sergachev's rookie season when he started with the Habs. During the pre-season he looked very good. But when the regular season began, the flaws in his game appeared, showing he was not yet ready. The Habs braintrust made the right decision to send him back to the OHL. That's what I worry about for J.K. is they keep him as an 18 year old for the whole season, and the expectation on him to succeed are immediate and in his face every day by the media, especially since this team is not expected to be good this season. Give the kid at least another season to develop in Europe.

The newest HabsWorld podcast is now online. Episode #60 [the Jose Theodore edition] covers a number of Habs topics and a few non-Habs ones too. As always, we enjoy your comments, so feel free to leave us feedback [bad and good] either here, on the iTunes page, or the podOmatic website. http://www.habsworld.net/2018/07/habsworld-podcast-episode-60/

I think that's due to his skating, which is rated as either average or below average. Poor acceleration, especially for a smaller forward. Mind you that's something he can work hard on to improve somewhat. I think he has a fairly high ceiling due to his other skills being so good.

I knew that was going to happen. Not the Minnesota part, just that he would be drafted just after I mentioned I was surprised he was still around.

Oh you mean Khovanov? Yeah I'm surprised he hasn't been taken so far. But missing half a season [due to hepatitis from a trip to the Caribbean] means he wasn't as exposed to the visiting scouts.

They also compared him to Andrew Shaw.

On the NHL Network, they said Harris scored first in the dreaded VO2 Max test! Nice!!

Yeah I agree. His compete level makes me think about Gallagher, another smurf. I'm not anti-smurf by the way because if he can help the Habs, then I am on board.

After I complain about a lack of CHL picks, they select Cameron Hillis from the OHL. A speedster offensive smurf but he's a center.

Yeah I agree. There were a number of decent CHL picks they could have considered taking, just to jumble up the geographic area where they are selecting. So far it's all Europeans.

Ugh. They traded down to a 3rd round pick and a 5th round pick??

Definitely a good pick. He will be a pro player but I'm not sure if his offensive game will go up a notch, or if he'll just remain a good defensive player. He's in a similar position to Jacob De La Rose, but I'm not saying he'll become the same player as JDLR.