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Taxi Squads explained:

 

Taxi Squads

The Taxi Squad is a minimum of four to a maximum of six healthy players who may travel with the team (they don’t have too) and may practice with the NHL team. In the normal course of events, non-rostered players are not allowed on NHL practice ice. Not even if they are on that team’s AHL squad.

This concept exists almost entirely to allow for on-site call-up players at all times in case a member of the regular NHL roster either tests positive for COVID-19 or has to isolate because of close contact. In the time between the start of the NHL season and the AHL training camps, the squad also serves as a place to keep the call-ups that might get used.

Contrary to early reports, there is no requirement to ever play any of them in an NHL game. They are also not trapped on the squad as some early speculation implied. They can be removed to the minors, and new players added. The transfer from the squad to the AHL does not involve waivers.

Any squad member testing positive for COVID-19 is removed from the maximum count, but other injuries or illness require the NHL to sign off on their removal from that count so another player could be added.

All NHL teams must have three goalies either on the NHL 23-man roster or on the Taxi Squad this season. If the squad goalie is the third goalie, he must travel, and he functions effectively as the EBUG for his team in emergencies.

 

I have no idea what EBUG means?

 

EDIT:  If you are a Leafs fan the EBUG generally refers to the Zamboni Driver who steps in to whoop your ass!  (To everyone else - the Emergency BackUp Goalie.)  I learned something new today.

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7 minutes ago, titanfan said:

Taxi Squads explained:

 

Taxi Squads

The Taxi Squad is a minimum of four to a maximum of six healthy players who may travel with the team (they don’t have too) and may practice with the NHL team. In the normal course of events, non-rostered players are not allowed on NHL practice ice. Not even if they are on that team’s AHL squad.

This concept exists almost entirely to allow for on-site call-up players at all times in case a member of the regular NHL roster either tests positive for COVID-19 or has to isolate because of close contact. In the time between the start of the NHL season and the AHL training camps, the squad also serves as a place to keep the call-ups that might get used.

Contrary to early reports, there is no requirement to ever play any of them in an NHL game. They are also not trapped on the squad as some early speculation implied. They can be removed to the minors, and new players added. The transfer from the squad to the AHL does not involve waivers.

Any squad member testing positive for COVID-19 is removed from the maximum count, but other injuries or illness require the NHL to sign off on their removal from that count so another player could be added.

All NHL teams must have three goalies either on the NHL 23-man roster or on the Taxi Squad this season. If the squad goalie is the third goalie, he must travel, and he functions effectively as the EBUG for his team in emergencies.

 

Sounds to me that Frolik-Weal-Perry will be on the Taxi squad and probably G. Olofsson too. That would be my picks for the minimum 4 required

 

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1 minute ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

Sounds to me that Frolik-Weal-Perry will be on the Taxi squad and probably G. Olofsson too. That would be my picks for the minimum 4 required

 

Kind of my thinking too.  But they could keep Frolik and Perry on the 23-man roster and put Poehling, Weal and even Kulak on the taxi squad with Demchenko???  The problem is if/when you call up Weal and/or Kulak your Cap Hit takes a bigger spike.

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7 minutes ago, titanfan said:

Taxi Squads explained:

 

Taxi Squads

The Taxi Squad is a minimum of four to a maximum of six healthy players who may travel with the team (they don’t have too) and may practice with the NHL team. In the normal course of events, non-rostered players are not allowed on NHL practice ice. Not even if they are on that team’s AHL squad.

This concept exists almost entirely to allow for on-site call-up players at all times in case a member of the regular NHL roster either tests positive for COVID-19 or has to isolate because of close contact. In the time between the start of the NHL season and the AHL training camps, the squad also serves as a place to keep the call-ups that might get used.

Contrary to early reports, there is no requirement to ever play any of them in an NHL game. They are also not trapped on the squad as some early speculation implied. They can be removed to the minors, and new players added. The transfer from the squad to the AHL does not involve waivers.

Any squad member testing positive for COVID-19 is removed from the maximum count, but other injuries or illness require the NHL to sign off on their removal from that count so another player could be added.

All NHL teams must have three goalies either on the NHL 23-man roster or on the Taxi Squad this season. If the squad goalie is the third goalie, he must travel, and he functions effectively as the EBUG for his team in emergencies.

 

I have no idea what EBUG means?

Expect it is Emergency Back Up Goaltender ... 

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20 minutes ago, titanfan said:

I believe teams will go with 24 man rosters. 

It will allow for easier movement of players in and out of the lineup to rest players with so many back-to-backs - without having to go to the Taxi Squads unless there are injuries or Covid issues.

 

If that is the case, here is my 24-man Habs roster (lines will change, and the players dressed will change)

 

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Byron - KK - Armia

Lehkonen - Evans - Anderson

Perry - Frolik

 

Chiarot - Weber

Romanov - Petry

Edmundson - Mete

Juulsen

 

Price

Allen

Demchenko

 

(Weal and Kulak are gone)

 

That puts them $108,809 over the cap (thanks to the Alzner contract).  Only an issue IF everyone stays healthy OR we need to add for a playoff push (both good things).  If it is a trade to add for a playoff push, someone will go as a result - so that should/could even out.  If everyone stays healthy then the decision is made on who goes to the taxi squad for cap relief (Etc.)

 

EDIT: My mistake, teams have 23 man rosters.  But Demchenko is the way out of this and it solves the salary cap situation at the same time.  Technically, Demchenko can be put on the Taxi Squad (along with his $792,500 contract).  See the next post.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@titanfan I just replied to your post on the taxi squad and then found this from you.

I do not think Anderson plays on the 4th line. here is my tweak to your lineup (changes in bold)

 

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Byron - KK - Anderson

Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

 

TAXI SQUAD: Perry - Weal - Frolik


Chiarot - Weber

Edmundson - Petry

Romanov  - Juulsen

Mete

TAXI SQUAD: G. Olofsson


Price

Allen

TAXI SQUAD: Demchenko

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15 minutes ago, titanfan said:

Kind of my thinking too.  But they could keep Frolik and Perry on the 23-man roster and put Poehling, Weal and even Kulak on the taxi squad with Demchenko???  The problem is if/when you call up Weal and/or Kulak your Cap Hit takes a bigger spike.

1. Poehling needs to play to develop

2. Kulak would be lost to waivers

 

I think it is safe to assume Weal and Olofsson will be on the taxi squad. Most agree that Frolik and Demchenko are good candidates for the taxi squad. That makes 4

 

I do not think the Habs would risk loosing Mete on waivers, for that reason he will probably be on the roster; same for Juulsen.

 

That leaves the following waiver exempt players:

Lucchini, Vejdemo, Belzile

Fleury

 

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17 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

@titanfan I just replied to your post on the taxi squad and then found this from you.

I do not think Anderson plays on the 4th line. here is my tweak to your lineup (changes in bold)

 

Drouin - Suzuki - Toffoli

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Byron - KK - Anderson

Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

 

TAXI SQUAD: Perry - Weal - Frolik


Chiarot - Weber

Edmundson - Petry

Romanov  - Juulsen

Mete

TAXI SQUAD: G. Olofsson


Price

Allen

TAXI SQUAD: Demchenko

I actually changed Armia and Anderson a couple of times.   Neither one feels like a 4th line player.....

 

And i switched Edmunson and Romanov to add some experience to each pairing.  Romanov - Juulsen/Mete is a little young...

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2 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

1. Poehling needs to play to develop

2. Kulak would be lost to waivers

 

I think it is safe to assume Weal and Olofsson will be on the taxi squad. Most agree that Frolik and Demchenko are good candidates for the taxi squad. That makes 4

 

I do not think the Habs would risk loosing Mete on waivers, for that reason he will probably be on the roster; same for Juulsen.

 

That leaves the following waiver exempt players:

Lucchini, Vejdemo, Belzile

Fleury

 

Don't disagree with most of what you wrote.  Where exactly is Poehling going to play?  There will not be an AHL.  Roster is too deep for him to fit.  Taxi Squad means he can practice and travel with the team and be called up.  Still think that is the best place for him.  I want him to play too....

 

Losing Kulak isn't great, but something has to give....     My hope is that we can trade him for a draft pick, rather than losing him to waivers.  I think he could fetch a 2nd round pick (3rd for sure) without us having to send cash to sweeten the deal..

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Just now, titanfan said:

I actually changed Armia and Anderson a couple of times.   Neither one feels like a 4th line player.....

 

For me it was the salary of Byron and how effective he is against the other team's best players. He would complement well KK and Anderson.

 

Armia has played 4th line before in Winnipeg and is less consistent than Byron. If Anderson is injured or does not perform well, Armia can be moved up.

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Just now, titanfan said:

Don't disagree with most of what you wrote.  Where exactly is Poehling going to play?  There will not be an AHL.  Roster is too deep for him to fit.  Taxi Squad means he can practice and travel with the team and be called up.  Still think that is the best place for him.  I want him to play too....

 

Losing Kulak isn't great, but something has to give....     My hope is that we can trade him for a draft pick, rather than losing him to waivers.  I think he could fetch a 2nd round pick (3rd for sure) without us having to send cash to sweeten the deal..

 

Habs are in win-now mode. Kulak provides excellent depth for a stanley cup run

 

Did I miss the news on the AHL? I thought they were going to have a Canadian division...

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1 minute ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

For me it was the salary of Byron and how effective he is against the other team's best players. He would complement well KK and Anderson.

 

Armia has played 4th line before in Winnipeg and is less consistent than Byron. If Anderson is injured or does not perform well, Armia can be moved up.

Hard to argue with that.  I actually think people don't realize that value that Byron brings to the lineup.  His speed alone is valuable.  And he wears an 'A' for a reason.

Too many posters quickly put - 'let's get rid of Byron'.  Is he the Rodney Dangerfield of the Habs?  (Just dated myself I guess).

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2 minutes ago, titanfan said:

Hard to argue with that.  I actually think people don't realize that value that Byron brings to the lineup.  His speed alone is valuable.  And he wears an 'A' for a reason.

Too many posters quickly put - 'let's get rid of Byron'.  Is he the Rodney Dangerfield of the Habs?  (Just dated myself I guess).

 

I love Rodney Dangerfield ! And yes, we just carbon-dated ourselves

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3 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

Habs are in win-now mode. Kulak provides excellent depth for a stanley cup run

 

Did I miss the news on the AHL? I thought they were going to have a Canadian division...

They are hoping for a Feb. 5 start, and yes they are planning a Canadian Division.  The problem is there are only 4 Canadian teams (2 in Ontario, 1 in Manitoba and Laval) and they don't have government approval yet.  I am skeptical at best they will get it.  The NHL had a hard time.  With the current situation in Ontario and Quebec I think it is a 50/50 shot at best.... 

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1 minute ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

I love Rodney Dangerfield ! And yes, we just carbon-dated ourselves

 

 

This works perfectly with the Age theme.  LOL.

 

I switched Edmundson and Romanov to add some experience to each pairing.  Romanov - Juulsen/Mete seems a little young...

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4 minutes ago, titanfan said:

 

 

This works perfectly with the Age theme.  LOL.

 

I switched Edmundson and Romanov to add some experience to each pairing.  Romanov - Juulsen/Mete seems a little young...

 

To be honest, I have Mete with Juulsen and Romanov on the Taxi squad because he is waiver exempt.

 

I want to see Romanov win his spot on the starting line-up.

 

I also think that with the top 4 the Habs have, playing Mete and Juulsen on the 3rd pair will be great for their development

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2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Sounds to me that Frolik-Weal-Perry will be on the Taxi squad and probably G. Olofsson too. That would be my picks for the minimum 4 required.

 

There needs to be a goalie on there unless three are carried on the active roster (which wouldn't make any sense).

 

Reading through the last few posts, it's worth noting that players can be re-assigned from the taxi squad to Laval and vice versa.  Whoever starts on the taxi squad doesn't have to stay there all season.  It may make sense to have a bunch of young guys like Poehling for the first couple of weeks and then start shuffling them down and bring the veterans like Ouellet, Blandisi, etc up closer to the end of January.  Note that the 7-day quarantine rule would apply so this would need to be phased in to do.

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12 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

Unless something has changed in the last few days, there are exemptions for NHL players, just as there were during the playoffs.  They will enter a 'working quarantine' and will have to pass 4 tests in 7 days.  The rules are in place for any player coming in who wasn't previously in that market beforehand.  Because all teams are following a strict testing regimen, they can have this in place.

 

17 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

I believe there's a 7-day quarantine for all players changing teams (even if USA to USA or Canada to Canada).

Thanks!

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Just now, Gordie09 said:

Does anyone think Lehkonen can transition to play centre, solid defensively, good third / 4th line type player. don't see him being any higher than the is a winning line up. Similar traits to Danault... potentially. 

 

Beats me, but Lehkonen isn’t half the player Danault is, so he will not be a replacement for Danault even if he can play C.

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16 minutes ago, Gordie09 said:

Does anyone think Lehkonen can transition to play centre, solid defensively, good third / 4th line type player. don't see him being any higher than the is a winning line up. Similar traits to Danault... potentially. 

 

It'd be tough to ask a player this far in his career to change positions but given his defensive awareness, he might be someone that could pull it off.  Having said that, I think their preference would still be to have Evans or Poehling in that 3C role if Danault winds up leaving next summer.  It's a very interesting idea though.

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Poehling's potential has been as a 3C, has it not? And Poehling should have potential for that level as well, right?

 

Of course, it's unlikely that either one would be quite ready for that by next summer.

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1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

Poehling's potential has been as a 3C, has it not? And Poehling should have potential for that level as well, right?

 

Of course, it's unlikely that either one would be quite ready for that by next summer.

 

His ceiling has varied between 2C and 3C over the years.  I'm not sure Poehling would be ready to take that spot for 2021-22 though as I'm skeptical that he'll have much of an opportunity with Montreal this season.  Evans would be the likelier internal candidate but if Danault was to leave, I suspect they'd look for a veteran on a one-year deal (someone like Nick Bonino who they've liked in the past) for that 3C role. 

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1 hour ago, dlbalr said:

His ceiling has varied between 2C and 3C over the years.  I'm not sure Poehling would be ready to take that spot for 2021-22 though as I'm skeptical that he'll have much of an opportunity with Montreal this season.  Evans would be the likelier internal candidate but if Danault was to leave, I suspect they'd look for a veteran on a one-year deal (someone like Nick Bonino who they've liked in the past) for that 3C role. 

 

Thanks, and what I meant to say in the first sentence is that "Evans' potential has been as a 3C, has it not?". Yes, I think Evans is significantly further along the maturity curve than Poehling, but he's still no plug-in Danault replacement. I think he could play 3C, with the right linemates, but it really depends on how much of a downgrade we are willing to accept from Danault, and what our cap situation is.

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Danault contract is going to be a challenge I think. If Gallagher is the highest paid forward then what would the offer be from MB?

 

 I certainly want to resign Danault and I think that he is underrated. I wonder what his demands are? Does he want 7 million a season and could he get that on open market?

 

if for whatever reason Danault leaves then there is no chance CJ plays Evans or Poehling at 3c. Better chance of seeing Drouin there. 

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