Link67

https://www.rds.ca/hockey/canadiens/canadiens-un-retour-d-andrei-markov-n-est-pas-envisage-1.6859174 The gist of it is........ Habs are not interested in bringing Markov back, time to move on to the next rumor.

You know what you can't question? How much more the Jets fans are pissed about watching Chiarot go, than Hab fans are of watching Benn go. We can paint it however which way we want to, but the Jets fans watched him play way more than any of us did combined, if they are upset about losing him, that dissipates most of the apprehension I would have about him joining us. He is no top LD, but he seems like a perfect candidate to play with Petry, Benn had the chance to be, and ended up losing the spot to Kulak. It is the kind of piece that has a veiled bias and vehemence to it about the Habs, lots of media people can't contain bias in their content, positive or negative bias. I can tell just by the salty barb at Alzner being around, and suggesting he is equal to Chiarot. If he was objective and didn't personally care about whether the Habs Fail or Succeed, he would have basically said the team has thus far made lateral moves, and left out the more personal barb towards the team out of it.

Nah that is being presumptuous, It's not sentimentality if he is brought in to be in and out of the line up as needed and not a relied upon top 5 option, it is an option that could and should be considered, even if you don't end up going for it. I'm just saying, we have to be open minded to these types of things because they cannot hurt us if we are using it for the right reasons. If he comes in super cheap on a 1 year deal to be an "assistant coach" who still plays, and only gets about 30 to 40 games in a limited specialist role, while influencing certain parts of his game that were very effective onto the others during practices, it's fine by me. If we are looking at him as a stop gap for the top 5 in any capacity,who may need to play almost every game instead of being out there hunting for a legitimate top 4 LD, then that's a problem. I seriously doubt they would consider the latter, but this regime has stunned me before with this type of thinking, I just feel more confident that they have learned from past mistakes and doubt that is a road we travel again.

Look, the truth is what has or doesn't have value is a matter of personal perspective, literally what the bartering system was built on. What you might see as valuable, might be viewed as complete junk to someone else, simple as that, always has been. As far as trying to make a stink about down votes and such, like there is some kind of non existent stigma on down voting, is silly, to put it lightly. The system to rate a post is there, its a fine thing to have in any environment where discussion is prevalent. Trying to call people out about how they rate a post while in the same breath claiming they are not respecting another person's opinion is a contradiction and a half, considering that rating a post is also a form of someone else's opinion about an opinion. If they very much agree or disagree with your post is entirely their right, expressing it is entirely their right, you may find it harsh, the same as they may have found the post harsh. Ultimately there is no difference with someone POSTING their opinion and someone RATING their opinion, if you believe in one you should believe in both, because you are agreeing to allow people to express their thoughts one way or another. Anyways, i'm getting side tracked, back on topic... Really wondering if Bergevin is working on some other kind of big swing right now, because it seems like the easy back up plan at this point, to infuse the top 6 with some talent, would be to really pick Vegas' brain about Gusev. It just seems like they would let him go for adequate asset replenishment, the kind of assets we have in abundance and would be an affordable top 6 contract probably under 5 mill per. The fact we are not going after this obvious situation leads me to wonder if we are not currently working on pulling a bigger fish out of the pond until we either get him on the boat or the line gets cut.

You really think 1 million cap hit more for a team with zero cap issue was going to seal the deal, that they give a damn about the extra 1st round pick? They were clearly not about to let their best player walk, 8.5, 9.5, 10 mill, they would have matched it. The only deal they wouldn't have matched, is one we would be crazy to make, that would compromise our own team salary cap for years. They just spent the whole season trying to market themselves to their fan base in a new way, it picked up steam, they had a good run, and you really think 1 million more would have swayed them to decide to throw all that progress away by letting their fans know "if someone throws big cash at our top players we are backing off, sorry we are cheap?" Nah..

I disagree, without the balance you are up s**ts creek and the boat is sinking. Imagine how disastrous a pairing of Karlsson and Klingberg could be against lines like Stamkos/Kucherov, Ovi/Backstrom, or McDavid/Draisatl every shift. You need the offensive driving guys in your pairings, no doubt, but you also need the insulating, defensive minded guys who can break the puck out efficiently and win the battles down low on the pairings too, because the offensive minded guys certainly aren't going to do that for you. It is a balance, both roles are essential, each pairing should be balanced with some of each, complimenting each other well. Beyond that you have to evaluate it player vs player, not style vs style. Like I said, a pairing of Karlsson and Klingberg would have just as many pros and cons as a pairing of Weber and Vlasic. Swap them around to create balance with Weber and Karlsson, or Vlasic and Klingberg, suddenly the pairings pros increase and their cons decrease. Which is better or more important? Ultimately whichever style is lacking on any particular team's D that doesn't allow them to have proper balance.

Yeah this reeks of "I need another bottom 6 forward because some of the players filling that role last season are on the way out". No big deal, will probably make more sense when the other shoes drop later in the summer.

A good first pass is as much about the ability to pass accurately as it is to make the right decision with little to no risk of giving it up to the opposition when the responsibility of the first pass is yours to make throughout a game. A combination I think we can agree not all Dmen are consistently able to pull off around the league, some guys will drive offense but their first pass is a Russian roulette of outcomes throughout a game. Some guys will be hard on the puck, win their battles and chip it off the boards playing the whole game almost like its a PK, very rarely making a heads up play out of his zone. Some guys will go win their battles, and before they even reach their blue line, make a heads up play of passing the puck to a team mate with high efficiency and low risk. The latter category is where guys like Weber and Chariot fall into, they don't drive offense, but they are very efficient on their half of the ice, and their good first pass allows them to support a healthy transition game. Defensive Dmen with a good first pass are an essential part of a balanced D corps in today's NHL, imo. If you mesh them with offense driving partners who can skate up and down the ice, what you get is a combination of forward support, very good transition, and lowered turn over totals while that duo is on the ice.

I like the signing, salary is easy to work with, term is good. Brings punishing, physical play, as well as a good first pass and sound decisions in his own zone. Also has experience playing against top 6 opposition having played next to Big Buff. His career is also trending in the right direction, his responsibility and role has been growing, his numbers have been growing. All in all I like the player, I like the contract, and I like what he brings to the table. With that said, he is not an ideal candidate to play with Weber, they bring too many of the same elements to the table to be good complimentary pieces for each other. He is however, an ideal candidate for Petry, who could then go rogue and help the forwards more often, knowing he has a steady force holding down the fort behind him. This signing does improve the D, but it does not improve it in a significant way, and does not bring Weber an ideal partner. I see... Mete - Weber Chariot - Petry Kulak - Juulsen While it may be better than anything we could have put together last season, it is not a big enough leap forward to transform us into a team that can make some noise in the playoffs, much less a low key contender, which is disappointing. I am not disappointed with the player, he will have a positive impact on this D. I am not disappointed with an improvement, because it is one. I am disappointed with CURRENT situation, because a lot can change from now until training camp, but thus far, having the cap to fix some important holes and make quantum leap improvements to this roster, we only have decent improvements to show for so far. I will keep a measured and patient approach leading into training camp, but I think we can all agree this is a welcome step in the right direction towards improving the team, it is also not nearly enough.

Please tell me more about how well Edmonton and Buffalo have been doing with franchise top Centers they have heavily invested in and no goaltending to speak of? How has Florida been doing with 2 top Centers and no goaltending to speak of? How much do you think that is about to change with a 10 million dollar goalie now?

Better? Doubtful.. They just subtracted Kadri, Gardiner, Marleau, Brown, Zaitsev, Hainsey, Ennis And Added Barrie, Ceci, Kerfoot, Spezza That is a loss of roster depth and potential cumulative scoring totals

Being the highest paid player on the team as a goalie has nothing to do with the equation, it is like you are trying to say you can't win a cup unless a forward is your highest paid player? Let me flip this on you and ask, did very good to great goaltending not play a significant role in L.A's multiple cup wins? How about Fleury and Holtby's performances to take both their teams to a cup final with .920+ SV%? How about Rask and Binnington's performances to help carry their team's to a cup final, Jesus, would the cup winners have even made it to the playoffs if not for their goalie!? Easy to discount the importance of a goalie just because you feel like dumping on ours, based on his salary, but guess what, he gets paid the most on our team because he is the best and most important player on it at the same time. Bottom line is, you would struggle to find a team who has made a cup final in the last several years who's goalie wasn't putting on great performances and had great numbers to back it up throughout the playoffs. Price is capable of all of that and more, i'm not sure what you have to gain trying to dispute that fact. Lets just have a look at the importance and stats of the goalies during these playoffs, and note the teams who were supposed to be contenders vs those who ended up being contenders. Now look at the goaltenders and their performances, then you can keep telling us about how insignificant the goalie position is in today's NHL, and how we are fools for having invested in one of the best ones. Teams who were supposed to do well Teams who did do well Tampa - Vasilevskiy - .856SV% St.Louis - Binnington - .914SV% Nashville - Rinne - .905SV% Boston - Rask - .934SV% Vegas - Fleury - .909SV% Dallas - Bishop - .933SV% *Washington - Holtby - .914SV% Colorado - Grubauer - .925SV% San Jose - Jones - .898SV% *Carolina - Mrazek - .894SV% There is only 1 exception to the trend on each side of this, and ultimately what this shows us currently is, regardless how good your team may be, it cannot contend during the playoffs with sub par goaltending. Flip side, great goaltending can carry you to a deep run, a final, or even a cup win regardless if you are one of the best teams entering the playoffs. Goaltending still matters, a great deal in fact, investing in that position is not a mistake, and what other choice do you have other than invest in your best players, regardless of position.

I find it hilarious that people are scoffing at the attempt in our own market, this was the best form of an over payment we can handle, structured in a way that was least convenient for the opposing team to handle. Any offersheet always has a way better chance of failure than success unless you make a ridiculous offer that will hurt you more than your counterpart. You honestly think us giving 10mill+, with the important players we have to sign in the next 2 years was the way to go? Let's go on and be a cap strapped team by 2021, making sacrificial lambs out of who knows who to try to make it work, while also having no important draft picks left to alleviate some of the debacle? Yeah great idea guys, lets just keep on going with the irrational, not big picture oriented plans of attack. I'm sure that won't make the situation a boatload worse than coming out of this empty handed and no worse than we were June 30th, right? Trying to say we didn't make the poison pill poisonous enough is a flawed statement in its every form. What is the use of making the poison pill so vile, that when they refuse to take it, and force you to take it, you're the one who dies? There is a reason why all offer sheets have been matched, except for one, and that one worked out about as well as leaving the steaks on the table while the dog is unattended, for the team who took it. We took a measured approach which would have allowed us to get the player without messing with our cap to catastrophically in the coming years, while also tightening the vice in the area which we felt they were weakest, organizational dollars. It didn't go our way, oh well, a nice try none the less, let their owner puff his chest about money not being an issue while getting 21 million arena gate all year long. Let him act like he doesn't already owe millions elsewhere and that he won't need to likely get a loan in the next few days to deal with the first 11+million dollar cheque they owe to the kid who wanted to go elsewhere and signed a contract elsewhere, like that's not going to sting. We move on, an attempt at an improvement was made and it didn't pan out, there are still many avenue's available to improve this team, none will likely impact the roster as much as the addition of Aho, but improvements are still within reach.

Ugh... So in the event of the worst case scenario, the team minus Shaw and Deslaurier but with the full time addition of Poehling and Suzuki are much worse?

Everyone pissing about it not being 9 to 9.5 million instead is absolutely missing the point, just like MB stated in the presser, the extra 500k or million over the course of the year will not make a difference, it is the bonuses that make the difference, and front loaded bonuses to boot. You think adding an extra 35k per bi weekly cheque was going to be the make or break point for Carolina? You think a higher cap hit matters to them, they aren't even cap strapped. You think maybe asking a low budget NHL team who has been losing money year after year to dish out 22 million in lump sums during the next 12 months is the most effective and only play to hit them where it hurts and give yourself the best chance to walk away with the player? I'm thinking so. You also inflict the grievous wound of paying all that ridiculous money to a player who does not want to be in your organization and you can't trade him without paying him that 22mill. It could trigger that innate response to say "To hell with that, i'm not cutting 22 million dollars worth of cheques, an entire season's worth of gate revenue, to this kid who doesn't even want to be here." Either way, this was a brilliant play with the best odds of success, there was no other strategy with higher odds, the high signing bonuses were the way forward here. They can still shop while they wait, deal with maneuvering after, the only guys they would really be interested in at this point who are left are Gardiner and maybe Dzingel. If they really want Gardiner, there is nothing stopping them from making him an offer and signing him regardless of what is going on with this offer sheet shuffle things around after. You know, for all the fantasy talk we see offseason after offseason about offer sheets and wanting your GM to be aggressive in his hunt to improve your team, some of the reaction to this well planned move is pretty disappointing. People just refuse to give Bergevin props, but they are right there within seconds to give him wallops though, and if they are forced to give him props it is the most reluctantly forced thing ever, veiled behind the hope his plan fails all together so the wallops can continue two fold. The man has made some blunders over the years, he has also done some pretty savy stuff, it is time to stop pigeon holing him into the peg where he can't do anything good even when he does something good, the negative twist must always exist. He put himself and his team in a bad spot based on some of his failed ideas in the past, but man am I going to plainly admit he has dug himself out of that spot commendably and through good to very good decisions,consistently, over the course of the last 24 months. Not many GMs would have the resolve to dig out of such a hole in a market like this, and not many would have been resourceful enough to pull it off the way he has, I'd argue majority of current GMs would have failed to make the situation better in such a short amount of time, if at all. He is adapting and evolving on the job, he is much better at what he is doing and how he does now than he was 3 or 4 years ago even. I can honestly say he has changed my mind about what he is capable of as a GM, and that happened simply because I was open minded enough to have my mind changed at all. Some of you here, and many on social media could perhaps do the same, it is pretty hard to give this guy a bad mark based on his body of work during the past 2 years, and 2 years is a long time. Perhaps a little recognition and hopefulness going into the next 2 years would be in order? Just a thought.. End Rant, Apologies

This whole Jake Gardiner thing really seems likely now with all the different reports coming out on Twitter. I'm hoping playing with a Stalwart like Weber at his side, it really brings out the effectiveness of his game and he becomes another Petry on the Right side for us. I am also very happy to see all the Simmonds to Montreal talk die off over the last few days, that was getting nerve wracking.

If Duschene signs here for the money i'm hearing getting thrown around, it would first and foremost, be a mistake. Secondly the easy solution would be to place Kotka on the 2nd behind Duschene, put Danault on the 3rd, and determine what you are doing with Poehling after training camp. Kid only played 1 game, I know we are all wrapped up in his performance but unless he comes in a dominates the training camp and preseason games, there is no telling if he doesn't start the year in Laval, last season was last season. In the situation where he kills it at camp and must make the team, you have to move him to the wing for the time being. The best forwards must make the team by opening night, regardless of position, especially guys who can play C/W. Suzuki and Poehling might both make the roster this year if they have strong camps, none would likely play C if Duschene is in fact signed. (If Duschene Signs) (If he doesn't sign) 1: Drouin - Duschene - Domi 1: Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Domi 2: Tatar - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher OR 2: Tatar - Danault - Gallagher 3: Byron - Danault - Poehling 3: Byron - Poehling - Shaw 4: Armia - Thompson - Shaw 4: Lehkonen -Thompson - Armia You can see the congestion Duschene's addition can cause if you couple it with the possibility that both Poehling and Suzuki could have great camps and make the roster, you have to certainly move bodies out and still have players playing our of position. An interesting puzzle to solve to say the least.

There are a few issues with trying to get Letang, Penguins are no longer as cap constrained now that Kessel is gone, so the pressure to move a big contract is fading fast, Letang could have been a candidate at that point. Also, we would have to have Letang play on his offside here to get him with Weber, there is no telling if he can do that at a high level for a consistent period of time, like an entire season for instance lol. Lastly, the Penguins will not want a forward as the centerpiece in this deal, they would be looking for a highly valued D prospect or fringe NHL D prospect coming the other way as well as gaining some significant cap relief, that is literally their only reason to move Letang at this point. Drouin is a trade option for us with Philly, because they have D depth and are looking to use it to bolster their forward position, Penguins are not on that boat, they want to bolster the D of the near future, while keeping the forward situation relatively similar or slightly weaker than previous years. We would essentially have to consider a package involving guys like Lehkonen, Juulsen, and add in a valued D prospecs like Brook or Romanov a long with a high pick. I don't even think a conversation is able to start unless you are willing to let go of 3 out of those 4 names. And we also need to start watching our own cap, starting in 2020 our cap situation is going to start changing dramatically. If we keep putting ourselves in propositions where we are taking on big contracts while giving up very little of it ourselves to offer cap releif as the main trade piece, we could easily be a team bailing water out of our own boat in 2021. Like much of these teams are doing this summer.

Fear not my friend, he is almost certainly going to Nashville, just like the 2 Russians are going to Florida.

Its not necessarily that he can't possibly find some confidence to be an NHL 6th/7th Dman at some point, somewhere, but the odds are heavily stacked against him and his play style. Worse though, is he has no chance at all of bumping Mete, Kulak, and Folin out of the line up, so other than some catastrophic LD injuries here, it is mission impossible.

Talbot would be a great pick up, but he will likely want a scenario where he can truly show he is resurging, a minimal role behind Carey Price would not be the best scenario to achieve that. Miler could also be a good vet, who doesn't mind the minimal role and still provide some decent hockey, his cap demands would also likely be much more manageable for us. Elliott is pretty much in the same boat, an aging former starter, primed to begin being a serviceable back up and enjoying the role until he retires. so I'll just go ahead and say, for me, they are the most likely and best fits, for the kind of backup we are looking for.

Guys, come on.. Are we really doing this thing again? This thing still can't have objective discussion? Weber ended his season belly up after a very strong start, which is usually the case with any player who misses the kind of hockey he did. Some players don't even make it off the blocks as good as he did, they just stumble through the whole year. If you are going to try to use that to validate your self fulfilling prophecy that his impending implosion as a player, due to his age and speed, is upon us, you will very likely end up being wrong, and still have several years to wait before you can jump for joy on the I told you so's. P.K Subban, was and still is, an incredible force on any D, yes he had a down year, yes he makes too much money to play on a second pair on a team trying to contend while dealing with self inflicted cap issues. No, this trade is not his fault as a player, he has delivered the merchandise in Nashville since his trade, he was dynamic, hard to play against, showed up every game and put up solid numbers. His trade today was not a weird victory for us on the trade which sent him to Nashville, it is literally a festering over spending issue that has taken place in Nashville needing an antidote before it all starts crumbling. In my estimation, Poile has to take the blame for the Subban trade, not Subban, salary cap hits for Turris and Bonino a long with impending salary cap jumps with Josi, have forced them to make an unpleasant sacrifice of Subban and his salary. There, I didn't even struggle to write that, just spoke truthfully, and what was on my mind, objectively, about the 2 situations. So I ask you guys, honestly, what the heck is so damn hard about it? Surely enough time has passed for everyone to be thinking clearly on the matter by now, to be able to see how very good these 2 guys are and how they are assets to any team they play for.

I mean, if they were going to go for a forward at 15, might as well go for that special goal scoring talent, Cole is the guy. I'm pretty happy with the pick, still wish it would have been in play for some D help but Caufield is a very solid pick at forward, Krebs was literally the only other argument to be made at forward when we got on the podium.

Yeah I think the 15th pick would be best suited to go after Gostisbere, actually using it for me, would be option B.

Drouin was no where near as bad as the hyperbole suggests, he is at the moment, the frustratingly real example of why french Canadians don't want to play here, and the crap they very likely would end up dealing with. He is still very young and growing and maturing into the player he will be in his prime. He gets crapped on so much more than he should from fans and media, simply because he gets extra attention for being who he is on this team. He manages to average 50 point seasons as a 22 and 23 year old marred in positional experiments and confidence sapping situations, he is getting trashed left right and center for not being a player he never will be or has been. It is too much to expect any young player to deal with and succeed to his maximum capability, every turn over feels like you are costing a game 7 cup final, every failed back check makes you the laziest player in the league. Hilariously though, when the season finally derails and the player is completely without confidence and it shows every night, we still act so shocked and appalled, not once considering the kind of shitty environment we are creating for this one particular player. At some point, it just reaches an agonizing to hear, read, and watch level, I see a kid with an immensely high ceiling who plays the game in typical "highly talented enigmatic player" way. He is far from the first or only player torn from this cloth in the league, and for every time we crucify him for having a passive game or being crap defensively, he pulls out magical moments like his end to end OT winner among other things. Imagine if Florida had essentially given up on Huberdeau when he was 23 or 24 years old because he was too enigmatic and his work without the puck was lacking, how foolish would they look today? Players with a skill and talent ceiling you can hardly see when you look up, are way too risky to judge before the age of 26. Also, expecting a player who never was a 200 foot player, or a corner digger, to suddenly become one, is not putting him in a fair position, or one he can succeed in. Can he improve in those areas over time? Sure, but will they ever be strengths in his game? Not likely, his strength is the ability to pull off things few if any players on his team can, and on any given night, break a game open like only he can when he is on. It would be like the fans and media trashing Gallagher because he never goes end to end and dekes a few players out before scoring a goal his game is lacking game breaker capability, therefore he must be whipped for it. Absurd isn't it? We are honestly sitting here right now, throwing him under the bus so hard, that we are talking about swapping him for a 31 year old who has averaged less points than he has in the last 2 seasons.