Machine of Loving Grace

Not what I said, but in some ways compared to last season? Yeah they were. Goal differential was smaller and they won more games. They also lost way more games to injury than last years Habs. Things are late 90s bad. That's just reality. Their only hope to win more than 35 games is the best goalie in the world dragging them to win games they don't deserve. This team has no chance at a Cup and a weak chance to make the playoffs. That's just reality.

I got zero issue with the man aside from the fact he was a poor choice for captain, which again is not his fault aside from accepting. It was a lose lose situation. The real leader is the goalie and nobody wants to allow goalies to wear the C. So he got the pressure. I'll never know what was up with Markov as well. Rumours were that he rejected it but he said that wasn't true. If it wasn't true there shouldn't have been a vote. But it's old news now. He was our Kessel. We handled a superstar winger poorly. His streakiness became an issue that a real top six centre would have alleviated. Maybe we should have moved him in 2014 to be our Richer to get a Muller but again, old news. Now we got a captain on his way out.

Recchi was a RW but ended up a HOFer. Cancels Pacioretty out. Weber as a 1D and Damphousse as a 1C cancel each other out. Price is the only thing you got. 2018 Habs yet to have someone as good as Koivu was as a young prospect. Drouin is not Koivu. Kotkaniemi who knows. Poehling who knows.

Which is perfectly fine. It's just looking forward to this team is like looking forward to the 98-99 Habs.

To keep Desharnais at centre from 2013 to 2017, screw up his 2013 third overall centre, and play a winger at centre despite all evidence you shouldn't, and that's just one of many issues. Grows into a good GM? That's the problem. You are looking at several years of failure and brushing it aside like it's the first month on the job. He got a team with good pieces and the best goalie on earth to hide a lot of issues and decided to sit on it until it was too late. That was Marc Bergevin. He protected a bad coach, was obsessed with toughness, screwed up down the middle, and thought tinkinering would somehow bring this team to a Cup. Like what confidence do you have that if Bergevin and Julien are still here in 2022, that Kotkaniemi would not be playing wing because Julien doesn't like him at centre? It's a very real possibility because Bergevin has learned nothing. Luckily that won't happen because I don't think see him surviving past this season.

He inherited a team better than he thought it was and then didn't react to how good it was until it was too late. He thought he had a rebuilding club and was shocked when they won their division in 2013. In 2014 he added Briere and some goons. That was it until the deadline when he finally added a guy in Vanek. They went to the ECF. In 2015 they had one of the best records in the regular season and did nothing to make the offence better. Only added Petry. In 2016 he thought Semin, Kassian, and Flash was all the club needed. They started out strong and nosedived. In 2017 he finally added to the offence with Radulov but every other decision he had was rooted in grit and toughness. The club won their division but was fragile. 2018 comes around and they just plain suck without Radulov and Markov. So bad in fact this club is now a lottery team with no future. So no, he didn't inherit a Cup contending team. He wasn't Brian Burke in 2005 getting the Ducks. But it was a team better than its 2011-2012 record indicated, which he didn't pay attention to, and he didn't react anywhere near fast enough to make them a contender. And in doing that, his talent in their prime aged out of their great contracts, and the club is now a bizarre shambles of half "attempt to make the playoffs" and half "we're just collecting prospects". Bergevin isn't a guy who ran the 70s Canadiens into the mud. Bergevin is the guy who had a perfect opportunity to build a Cup contender while his division and conference was weak and instead wouldn't pull the trigger. And now his division is strong, his conference is strong, and he's wasted the 20s of the best goalie in the world.

If you look around the league, 2008-2012 was a mediocre time for a lot of teams when it came to the draft. It isn't exclusive to Montreal.

Martin Brodeur quit the St. Louis Blues today. Belief is he's going back to New Jersey.

See, the one thing about DLR that bothers me is that when he was drafted, talk was that he already had his defensive game figured out but he needed to be better offensively. And Therrien decided to rush him into the lineup at like 19 because he was already good enough to play at an NHL level defensively. And now he's what, 23? And the team has continued to play him in the bottom six, including in the AHL where I've seen lines where he wasn't in the top six. Why does this bother me? Because we should have been trying to develop his offensive game because we already knew what we had defensively. He would have got better defensively with minutes but would hopefully play with offensive players to develop that way. Instead we lean so heavy on his defensive skills he's now just a young fourth line defensive forward and not much else. Why was this the best we could do with him? Maybe he could have been a good pick with the right work, but not with Therrien and this pro development.

Depends on how big of a shake up we see after Bergevin is finally canned. It took Chicago 50 years and blowing up what could have been a powerhouse 90s team for the son of the worst owner in hockey to finally turn it around and bring a Cup back.

Good for the Leafs, about time Charlotte Grahame isn't the only one out in Colorado (she has been VP of hockey administration since 1996 for the Avs.)

Dale Tallon needs an AGM with experience in Florida and they go way back. They still hang out at every GM meeting. Milbury is possibly the worst of all time but his true crime is not being well liked by other people in hockey ops. That's the real nail in the coffin in this league. You could be the worst that has ever taken a job but if you got friends, you got opportunities. It ain't just the NHL. Isiah Thomas got multiple opportunities at ruining franchises because he was well liked by almost everyone he came in contact with. Almost everyone.

Who was available this summer? Pretty much nobody. I'm guessing Bergevin has marching orders and very strict monitoring on the moves he can make right now (all the recent staff hirings with exception to Richardson feel like not Bergevin's decision) and come next summer when there should be better candidates (and I figure their target in BriseBois) then they will give him his marching orders. As for Bergevin, I feel he's heading to Florida the moment he gets canned so we wouldn't pay for him anyhow.

The incentives would have had to be high. If the team goes for the tank there is no need to trade him. He will help the team make floor. But I fully expect a playoff attempt then a big deadline firesale.

Brisebois? Because it's likely Brisebois. Unless he doesn't want the job. But he will be looking next summer. Especially if Tampa stops Toronto in the second round like I believe they will. As for Ottawa, I think the bigger difference is that we know Molson has money and the team is in absolutely zero financial strain. They got their ducks in a row. They can pretty much turn a profit without playing a single game just on merchandise and brand value these days. Ottawa has an owner that doesn't want to spend and wants everyone to do the spending for him, but also wants to pull off a contender at the same time. It's crazy. And the scary part is, Ottawa got pretty close to a contender a few times with those constraints due to good drafting. Dorion needs to be given the green light to blow it up there, which will be easy. Stone, Duchene, and Karlsson, no excuse to get out of that without at *least* three first rounders. Which of course puts more pressure on the Habs. If Ottawa is in a full rebuild, Detroit is already there, Buffalo is trying to get out, Toronto is out, Tampa is a powerhouse, Boston is still strong, and Florida is a wildcard, what's Montreal?

Which means they were told Karlsson wouldn't talk to them.

Ottawa has no first rounder so the Canucks first has to be in the deal. Sens will need a D to claim is the heir to Karlsson so that means Hughes or Juolevi. By that point they have something that needs more but adding Boeser is too much. I just don't see Karlsson agreeing to goto Vancouver. I think Dallas is still the right way to go, it's just Dallas doesn't want to give up Miro Heiskanen.

According to Friedman, Karlsson talks have increased, mostly with Western Conference teams, and Vancouver is seeing what they can do to be in on him.

It's like getting a new job but it doesn't start for another year so you gotta keep working the job you hate until it begins.

I think there was a real possibility about two years ago of Montreal making a trade for Seabrook. I think any attempt to get him now would be rejected by Molson. Drouin, Shaw, Alzner, Weber, and Price are the only deals that go beyond three years. The only way we were acquiring a deal longer than that is for the purposes of a buyout or to get picks and prospects and Seabrook wouldn't fit that unless Chicago gives us... a lot. Like a lot. In the end I think we get the first round pick we want for Pacioretty, but after that... not sure. The scenario in my head is near the deadline, Colorado is leading their division and suddenly gets a couple injuries so they decide to give up their first round pick (since they got Ottawa's), A.J. Greer, and a prospect D (Colorado is weak at LD so not Girard or Zadorov) for Pacioretty. Colorado has the money to sign him.

He needs to pick an exit date and pack for it.

Max's trainer says he's in the best shape of his life. Which is 99% trainer fluff but 1% likely a detail that he's 100% healthy and ready to go for opening season, and a healthy Pacioretty is crucial to have a tradeable Pacioretty. Best case scenario he scores like eight goals in the first 10 games on one of his hot streaks and a team getting shut out just panics and offers something big for him.

97-98 and 98-99. So 20 years ago. Ugh.

Man I was sure I was gonna open this up and it would say he was traded for McCarron. They were drafted beside each other. The Stockton Heat are not a good development team for anyone but neither was Laval with Lefebvre so hopefully he develops with better coaches. Either way I'm glad to get rid of Rychel. I've known that spoiled brat since Windsor. His dad almost tanked his entire organization to bring him to the Spitfires and when he finally got him, everyone knew that there was an unwritten rule to always pass the puck to Kerby. The joke among the scorekeepers was, "Are you sure that wasn't a goal by Rychel?" anytime Windsor scored. Whatever the case is, I hope we trade Hunter instead of him just leaving. We got a good train going: - Sven Andrighetto for Andreas Martinsen - Martinsen for Kyle Baun - Baun in the Plekanec deal for Rychel - Rychel for Shinkaruk

Stamkos - Malkin/MacKinnon - Kucherov