All Activity

If Kotkaniemi teached us something, it's not to take too much from the results at this U18 tournament. Guessing the scouts go there to evaluate some specific skills and character aspect of players' game more than how they actually perform.

Sportsnet is showing 1993 Stanley cup finals game 5. Montreal against the Kings. I’m really struck by the amount of hooking, holding, slashing, interference that happens as routine play. The hockey is slow and grinding. It’s funny just how much I idolized those players for being so great and I’m not sure that most of them would survive in today’s NHL. Nostalgia vs reality is a funny thing.

T-minus 14 days

That is ( THANKFULLY ) only for next season and 25/26 ... his contract expiring really won't "add" money to the cap but it will give HuGo back cap flexibility they haven't had since hired.

Plus Iginla scored 2 goals for Canada today.

That does sound amazing, you can't have too many good prospects especially at center.

Three points for Helenius today

Well this sounds amazing. It does seem like he is in competition with Beck for third line centre once Dvorak is gone. Best player in the league is exciting. Habs have a bunch of prospects about to push for roster spots and I’m looking forward to that

both players are at their lowest value and are reclamation projects. If there are not physical or mental health issues or substance dependencies, the trade makes sense: LAK gets a player at a lower cap, with less term that under the right circumstances may help them in the playoffs since he has performed well there in the past when he was clicking MTL gets a center with size and who is not prone to injury locked up for a long time and with good potential under the right coaching, It is a high risk/reward bet. With salary retention, he becomes an excellent option at 3C, on the power play, and as a good option for 1C/2C if there are injuries. This is one player the Habs can sign because of Price's LTIR

What's odd is that Tampa isn't playing bad at all in that series. They could easily be up if it wasn't for the good version of Bobrovsky showing up. Don't sense a rebuild is in the cards either way; with a bit more cap flexibility opening up, they might take one more crack with this crew.

This isn't the first time this has happened to him, crept up a couple of years ago as well. I legitimately think they're not sure if it's just migraines or if it is a concussion even though he keeps passing baseline testing which makes it hard to say anything. Of course, at this time of year, you're lucky to get upper-body or lower-body as an announcement.

There would a cost attached to LA retaining $2m for more 7 years, even if Anderson only has 3 more years left. The shorter term wouldn't make up for the skill difference and retention alone. You'd also have to believe there's no way LA sells PLD low after paying so much for him just last off-season. Anderson's value is at it's lowest point now, after last season.

I thought about trading Dvorak to them, but he would not fit in their cap. Also, they seem to have young Cs that can probably take the 3C With LAK retaining salary, PLD would fall under the cap hit of Suzuki and others For LAK, Anderson would provide the physicality PLD sometimes provides, in a contending team he would produce at 20g40p rate which is fine on a 3rd line. He would do well in the playoffs for them. I also doubt LAK makes this trade, but I can make the argument and feel it is possible and not too far fetched

Both guys are in a Jonathan Drouin situation, back when MB acquired him. There was a reason TB was moving a 23-year-old 3rd overall pick. His relationship with management had soured - but also they may have wisely discerned that he was a basket case. Normally a 23-25 year old C with high pedigree is not going to be available at all, if their team has no concerns about them. (Exceptions do arise, e.g., the Black Hawks dumping Dach). I'd be worried about that trade disrupting our salary structure - Suzuki should be our highest-paid guy - but would probably make the deal. I don't see LA making it, though. Sure, they are relieved of five years of PLD's contract on the back end, but they want to contend now. This deal would commit them to $7 mil in cap costs over the next three years without making them a better team. That doesn't make sense to a team that wants to contend.

We were talking trade, right? Like, either the LAK retains salary, and we do something like: to MTL: PLD ($8.5M/8yrs), I would be fine with $2M retained over those two years to LAK: Anderson ($5.5M/3yr) Straight up, one for one with the salary retention. If LAK are not willing to do the salary retention, I would ask for one of their draft picks or prospects to take on salary. With Price on LTIR the habs can take this salary.

I think "potentially" is the right word. I have very serious concerns about Dubois now, don't see how the Habs take on that contract, he hasn't shown up this year. I just don't see how or why you would take a chance with his current contract. A hard NO for me. Zegras on the other hand is a little more interesting for me. He had a crappy year with injuries so the asking price is likely a little lower than it would normally be. His contract is not ridiculous for a guy who should be a 60 point a year guy, perhaps higher. If the price is right then Zegras is potentially the more interesting of the two.

And using $8.5m of your cap (would also be the highest paid player)( for a third line centre isn’t costly?? We need to boast the second line, and add more scoring. Don’t necessarily need a centre as the priority. If we do get a centr it’s someone go can be a 1b type of second line centre and then Dach can play the wing. those two aren’t the only two options. PLD is with his third team and has yet to have a good year where he was a consistently good player for the ENTIRE season.

$8.5m for 7 years for a guy who doesn’t show up in more games than he does? No thanks. If he wasn’t French there wouldn’t Ben be a discussion about trading for him.

I have said before that I think is is a "dark horse" prospect like Struble was. Not talked about too much but developing very well.

PLD for sure, but only if the asking price is reasonable. He would be a great 3rd line center for the Habs and could fill-in for Suzuki or Dach any time they may be injured. Zegras is probably too costly for my liking

It's very interesting to note that there are two potentially high-impact, relatively young C who will likely be available on the market this summer: Dubois and Zegras. Of the two, whom would you rather acquire? Zegras is younger and a better contract, we know that. But then again you could probably get Dubois for far less valuable assets in return because of the salary. 🤷‍♂️ (I suspect HuGo will acquire neither, and will instead surprise us. But who knows).

I don't really hate Tampa, even though they've absolutely owned us over the years; but it's about bloody time the sun finally sets on them. It irks me, sort of in general, when soulless markets like Tampa or Vegas enjoy massive, bloated success for years and years. (I tend to think of Carolina the same way, probably unfairly since they did endure years of suckage). As for the Canucks, Pettersson - who I love as a player - looks completely lost. It's so bad that he'll probably need time to work his way out of it. The Preds have also done a good job of containing Hughes, JT Miller, and Boeser. But the Canucks will argue that they did show up last game - they had a ridiculous number of shot attempts and dominated possession. I think an underplayed story tonight is the return of Tyler Myers. His replacement, Juulsen, was putrid, and with Shakey DeSmith in net they cannot have a rodeo clown taking minutes on D. My other thought on that series is that it's a war of attrition. The Preds have been blocking insane numbers of shots and absorbing considerable physical punishment. They can win the series that way, but then again it might wear on them over time. Keep blasting pucks at them. And FFS stop missing the net when you do get a chance.

U18 prelim games Cole Eiserman 3g, Cole Hutson 1g1a (in 9-0 game). Helenius 1a Iginla/Greentree 1a

From TVA Sports, via Google translate: Oliver Kapanen's head coach at KalPa in the Liiga, Petri Karjalainen: “You hit the jackpot with Oliver,” he said. "What I told him at our last team dinner was: “First, win a spot with Finland at the World Hockey Championship and second, make sure that in October you play in Montreal.” ... The rumour is that Kapanen will sign with the Canadiens, but will play one last season in Europe once his camp is over in Montreal, if he does not obtain a position in the NHL, of course. ... “In the home stretch of the season and during the playoffs, he was the best player in the League,” said the hockey man, without an ounce of hesitation in his voice. "If he continues on this path and continues to make giant strides, he will at least be close to a position in Montreal. I don’t see why he wouldn’t be involved in a hot fight.” ... He's a kind of Sebastian Aho, Karjalainen continued. “Aho and Kapanen have similar strengths. These are two players who are not necessarily spectacular, but very effective in both directions of the ice. You win hockey games with players like them in your club. Oliver will not lead the first line in Montreal, but he can become a second or third line center for a while."

Rohrer 2g 3pts 13 playoff games, up 3-2 in Swiss Finals Engstrom 4a 13games, down 2-1 in SHL finals.