dlbalr

Vincenz Rohrer will play for Austria at the Worlds. David Reinbacher, somewhat surprisingly, won't due to injury.

So the fun part with this is that the buyout date isn't set in stone. It's the later of June 15 or 48 hours after the Cup Final ends. I think the last possible date for the Final to end is like the 24th or 25th. If it's the 25th and it goes the distance, they wouldn't be able to get in a 1/3 buyout.

The early signing sets it up that the Habs could issue him a qualifying offer to retain his rights, just in case something clicks over there and he becomes a bigger threat. Doesn't mean they will but it makes it easier to do so.

He did? He brought in Chiarot, Edmundson, and Savard on NHL deals and signed Xhekaj to his ELC. If anything, I think he was a little too enamoured with the big, physical defencemen you're describing; he certainly didn't move away from them.

Very much a possibility. I could also see a clean house scenario where all three go.

There's a good chance he'll be sixth soon enough.

I think Stephens has a chance at re-signing. I don't expect Maillet to though, that one didn't quite go as planned so I think he'll move on. Keeping Paquette-Bisson would be nice but he needed some convincing to come back for this season; would he want to stay in the mentor role or try to go somewhere where he can play a bigger role? I'm surprised you have Galipeau in the not expected to be back column. I think that's exactly who they'll try to bring back in that 6/7 role as depth. I'd scratch Guindon off your list. The fact they didn't even give him a sniff after his junior team was eliminated tells me they're moving on. And from the lines, Keeper will almost certainly move on. He could barely crack the lineup when healthy so I suspect he'll look for somewhere with more of a chance to play.

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.

His heart wasn't in Columbus, his heart wasn't in Winnipeg, now maybe his heart isn't in LA. Maybe his heart just isn't into hockey? I think that would be the likelier scenario over pining for Montreal.

They can make the offer to Guentzel with Price still on the roster by using offseason LTIR though; they don't have to move Price to do something like that if they wanted to. Notwithstanding that Utah intends to be true buyers and probably won't take on any more deadweight contracts, why give away a roster defenceman to do what can be done without doing anything? Seems like a waste of an asset to me.

Prosvetov wasn't much better in Colorado than in Arizona considering the quality of the roster in front of him. He also has one foot out the door already as a KHL contract for next season is believed to be in place. If that's what they have to turn to, they're in deep trouble.

At first glance without giving it much thought: Xhekaj: 2 x $1.4 (the Harris deal) Barron: 1 x $900K one-way Guhle: If extended, 8 x $6.5 Slafkovsky: Don't think he'll extend, think Habs will offer 8 x $7.5-$7.75. That's on the low end for #1 picks so his agent may suggest waiting. Ylonen: Takes a year at the minimum or is non-tendered. Could also go overseas and Habs then retain his rights with a QO.

Kidney didn't exactly impress this year (and might be more of a winger than a centre) and Mesar might be too small to be a centre. So we're looking at Beck and Kapanen as prospects whose stock is on the rise, maybe Xhekaj one day in a lower role. Not bad but the cupboard isn't fully stocked on the prospect front at centre. On the NHL roster, there's some depth but with two pending UFA's, it's short-term. Add to that some uncertainty as to where Newhook's long-term position will be and there is definitely room to augment that position. It's certainly better than it was a few years ago, sure, but there's a lot of room to add still.

Add Maillet, McKay, Paquette-Bisson, and Kaskisuo to the list of free agents from that lineup. Of the ones you listed, I think Galipeau might be back and if Durandeau takes an AHL deal (he'll be hard-pressed for an NHL two-way contract), I could see him back. Norlinder/Cederqvist/Andersson might all get qualifying offers if they sign overseas before the QO deadline in June so it's possible they'll at least be with the organization (technically) for a little while longer. Off my additions, I could see them wanting to re-sign all of them in the right scenario. Long story short, some of these free agents will be back. (Stephens and Keeper are also free agents from those who didn't play the last game), I think they'll try to re-sign Stephens but Keeper will move on.) By the way, Laval lost 2-1 yesterday, got goalie'd.