CerebusClone

We looked slow, however not because our players are slower, but because Calgary's execution and transition game was much more effective. You also have to give the other team some credit sometimes, for example on the first goal, Calgary capitalized on a simple turnover in the offensive, with a couple quick passes Tkachuk was already entering the offensive zone, instead of dumping the puck he deked, pivoted, opened some space for Giardano who got a great shooting opportunity. While the Flames are playing with great confidence, meanwhile our players are still adjusting not not dumping the puck every time they can, and trailing last night this was evident as we reverted back to dump and chasing. Our forwards have lost the confidence to do what Tkachuk did on on the first goal, in the same situation without the great easy opening we would have shot the puck on Elliott, or sent it behind the net to chase it. We can see some improvements since Julien took over, especially on defense, but our players are still not programmed to keep control of the puck. Julien said it best when he took over, this team has no self-confidence... If we played with more confidence, guys like Pacioretty, Radulov, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Danault, Byron, Mitchell, Shaw, etc would be circling around in the offensive zone, like they did in the first 10-12 games of the season. Every game earlier we were saying how Montreal was just too fast for the other teams, all four lines were fore-checking and just circling around in the offensive zone. Our players didn't get slower...

In a way this is like Galchenyuk's rookie season as a center, he has much to learn in terms of positioning, and mastering what is probably the hardest position in hockey. He was quite decent against the Canucks, he generated absolutely nothing offensively last night in Calgary, and wasn't great in his own end either. Unfortunately at this point he is obviously unable to take any two wingers, and make them look better than they are like Koivu did in the past, Plekanec at times a few years ago, or even Max Pacioretty over the last few seasons... but like I mentioned Galchenyuk is a "rookie" center so it is normal, and I'm not too worried yet. I will be very interested in observing Galchenyuk's progression next year under Claude Julien from day 1 at training camp, if there's player who could really blossom under a highly structured coach like Julien it is Galchenyuk. If he's willing to learn, he could take that step to superstar status next year...

Timmins always said he will draft the best available player, in his team's view, and not draft based on short term needs, position, of anything else. Personally I like that mentality, and have no problem with it, you never what will happen moving forward including trades, injuries, surprises (ex. Byron, Danault), disappointments, etc. For example back in 2005 many criticized the Habs for drafting a goalie with the 5th overall while we had a young Jose Theodore coming off some strong seasons, and just entering his prime at 26 years old; they wanted either Gilbert Brule or Anze Kopitar. Well Jose Theodore sort of collapsed immediately after that, Gilbert Brule was a bust, and granted that Kopitar became an excellent player, however Carey Price has become arguably the most impactful player in hockey, and his presence alone makes the difference between being a contender and having trouble making the payoffs.

We'll see for Delarose, the good thing we can maybe say is that lately, for the time, he's been contributing offensively more consistently. If not mistaken he has 10 points in his last 14 games, which would be some quite decent production coming from a 21 year-old two-way forward (assuming this he could maintain that level, and it is not just a lucky streak). I don't see Top 6 potential at all anymore, but we know his defensive game and hockey sense were NHL caliber, so if he can give us a little bit of offensive production, we could still get a solid depth player with very good size and mobility. Flynn turns UFA after this year, and there's a chance we could lose Mitchell at the expansion draft, we will need good players for the 4th line. ps. If we want to be ultra positive... Delarose's production levels at the same age in the AHL looks very similar to Philip Danault's, even higher, except that Delarose played less. You look at their stats at 20 and 21, Danault didin't exactly do any better... there is still hope LOL !

Two questions about that First which of these players are truly helping us win versus hacking at the puck well enough to allow our key players (Price, Weber, Pacioretty, Radulov ...) to lead us to a win? here are a couple youngsters chipping like Danault and Lehkonen, but they never player for us at the AHL level. Byron stepped up this season, Mitchell is playing some solid hockey, Petry is playing perhaps his best hockey, same for Emelin ... but again none of them played for Lefebvre. My answer to this first question is that McCarron is playing quite well, but in a very limited 4th line role, and that's about it. Scherbak scored a PP goal, that was one game. Some might want to mention Beaulieu, but he was mediocre in the AHL under Lefebvre, he's now progressing again after being away from Lefebvre. Other than that, Andrighetto fails to stick with the team over and over, Carr is mediocre, and the other guys (Farnham, Johnson, Hanley...) are all marginal players playing marginal hockey. The second question is whether these players that played under Lefebvre and helping us now, have they actually improved during their time in the AHL playing under Lefebvre? Michael McCarron is a first round pick, he joined us in the AHL after a great OHL season where he was the first line center of the Memorial Cup champions, and now he's playing decent hockey as a limited 4th line center... is that thanks to the amazing work of Sylvain Lefebvre, or is it just the strict minimum we could have expected of him at this point?? Scherbak scored one PP goal in his first game, woohoo!, after one year and a half Lefebvre transformed a highly skilled offensive player, one of the best offensive players in the WHL, into a guy we're afraid to give ice time to, but is able to score a PP goal while being all alone with the goalie in front of the net. I'm not a Therrien fan, but I can give him some credit this season. However even though I would love to give Lefebvre some credit for developing our young players, I'm sorry I have a hard time seeing significant progression in the players who play under him. McCarron was good enough to play on our forth line last year, and he's pretty at the same level now, any improvement I would award more to experience and maturity.

Anyone else noticed that Pacioretty has been taking faceoffs recently, and has been great with a success rate of 66.7%!? He won 20 faceoffs out of 30...

Ohh... would have to look at the replay, but that looked like a pretty cheap shot to the head by Emelin...

True, but he's been pretty good and somewhat consistent this season in the AHL. I doubt he will be recalled, but at this point we need players who can do something with a puck.

We need skills, not more grinders, and it could be time to give Scherbak a chance. Although Delarose has produced consistently as of late, I would prefer seeing him than Farnham on the fourth line.

Different situations. I'm not talking about trading dead weight, damaged goods or even retired players away to another team, but what would still be a very good defenseman who happens to make 1M or 3M in actual salary versus a cap hit of 7.85M. On the contrary a good active player who saves a team almost 5 to 8 millions in salary is actually a value to a low budget team. If Weber becomes dead weight that's another story, but I'm not expecting that at all, and it's the type of thing that could happen with any of the other players we'll soon resign to long term contracts (Price, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk ... will all cost a lot of money over many years ... and they can all get recurring injured or magically start underperforming all of a sudden).

The thing is also even if Weber's performance level drops to a point where is cap hit is unacceptable, he should not be difficult to trade. There are a few teams like the Coyotes who should be very happy to add a somewhat prestigious name like Shea Weber to their roster (in the hopes to help ticket sales), and at the same time add a lot of cap hit for little actual money. Still I would expect Weber to remain the same until he's 35-36, then have a slight drop in his offensive numbers while remaining a very solid defender. Also by then there's a chance a 7.85M cap hit might not be that much anymore, star players are now hitting the 10M+ mark while already we're seeing some good-but-not-that-great players in the 6-7M range.

In Radulov's case, I think we need to resign him now. He seems happy in Montreal, he 's contributing, and I don't mind exposing let's say Mitchell to ensure Radulov stays in Montreal. The impact of losing Radulov is far greater than losing a Mitchell. Another guy in a similar situation will be Markov. I'm pretty quite sure there is no risk of him signing elsewhere during the off-season, it looks like he will play his entire career with us, therefore we could look at resigning Markov only after the expansion draft... however it is still unclear whether the NHL will look at these cases, and if so, what type of penalties team could face. The other option would be t expose Alexei Emelin, and protect Markov, which I personally don't have a problem with if we really have to.

Bergevin could also be setting the table for the upcoming Price negotiations. We should not ignore the possibility that Price may look at his options next year instead of resigning blindly, for example he may look at the possibility of going back home to play for Vancouver, or he may not feel Montreal is doing enough to become a top contender, and therefore may look elsewhere to avoid having a legacy of the great goaltender who never won the cup. So on one hand Bergevin probably wants to make Price more comfortable. I'm guessing Price gets along well with Montoya, Montoya isn't out to take his spot as number 1, he's very experienced, he's been quite good, and that removes some pressure off Price's shoulders. On the other hand, in the catastrophic case were Price decides to not resign with Montreal, Bergevin will need to change his plans, and having an experienced quality goaltender like Montoya will help, especially if the Plan B is one of the kids like Charlie Lindgren. Either way signing Montoya is probably a good thing...

Beaulieu can be good, and can be a contributing member of the team as long as we limit our expectations. He's a different player, but he reminds me of Brad Stuart ; the Sharks originally thought he would be a star defenseman, they gave up on him, and he became a solid depth defenseman for the Wings later on. Hopefully Beaulieu can do that with us, and not some other team. Obviously Beaulieu is not the great offensive-minded defenseman we originally thought he could be - playing with a powerhouse in the juniors skewed his numbers - he could not put up good numbers in the AHL, and he is not putting up numbers in the NHL. However he can help an NHL team with his puck rushing abilities, and if he works on his consistency he is capable on strong overall play. I would say is upside now is that of his teammate Jeff Petry, great size, great speed, strong overall game, and maybe 20-25 points on a normal season.

I fully agree, a lack of production can come from multiple sources, including forwards, defensemen, lack of preparation, poor coaching strategies, etc. Every case is different, and you need to analyze the play in the ice... statistics are just an indication, and don't tell the whole story. Still individually I do remember Gallagher doing his thing, being a pest around the net, and trying to position himself to jump of loose pucks. I also remember Pacioretty playing a game similar to what he does during the regular season. The big difference in my opinion from regular season to the playoffs was Desharnais not being able to do much in the playoffs' increased intensity, tighter defensive play, increased tolerance from referees for interference, and too often just ending up in the corner on his ass or losing the puck after failing to see an opening (and yes here that is also his teammates responsibility to find ways to make themselves available for a pass). Too often plays just seemed to die whenever he carrying the puck.