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Good news ... but just a baby step in the re-hab process

Caufield - Suzuki - Anderson Slafkovsky - Monahan - Armia Gallagher - Evans - RHP Pearson - Condotta - Pezzetta Matheson - Savard Struble - Guhle Xhekaj - Kovacevic Montembeault Allen

Dumont has a long history of Habs articles... managing EOTP at one point, working directly for the Habs on their website, being at the athletic, and now at MHN. I dont think hes overly negative or biased. I think hes one of the better Habs writers out there and i typically dont like the hockey now sites.

Yup, the point is without a transcription or video of exactly what Gagnon said, I have no idea how to evaluate this. Is he credible? of course.... but his words can only be parsed through knowing exactly what they were otherwise its just a game of telephone.

The D is underrated (as a work in progress) because of the lack of a marquee name, i.e., a top-10 pick that commentators can focus on. But the Hughes era has been defined so far by wave after wave of defensive prospects coming in and looking good. Meanwhile, Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are waiting in the wings. So, yes. It’s going to be an elite D corps. The projection that the Habs will peak at “pretty good” is nevertheless reasonable given the lack of impact FWs. That being said, would this be the prognosis if Dach and Newhook had been healthy and had nice, developmentally progressive seasons in the way that Slaf has? So frustrating to have promising players sidelined for months.

Maybe its not so mucn a demotion for Slaf as seeing if he can get a second line producing. We have been a one line team for a long time.

Since we are talking about what assets are most important in a player it might be interesting to see how everyone would rank them. I think the important assets would include (correct me if I am missing anything): 1. skating (speed, edgework, agility) 2. skill (puckhandling, passing, shot) 3. Smarts (hockey IQ) 4. Work ethic/determination/heart 5. Size I didn't rank them in any particular order although I think size might be #5 for a lot of people. I know it's not really that easy to rank them and there are various degrees in each category. A player might be highly skilled, a great skater but if they are lazy then they might be useless. On the other hand a player might have a huge heart (ie Gallagher) but if they are lacking in the skill area then they might not be effective so it's not that easy to say what asset is most important. Perhaps if a player is totally lacking in one area then it really hurts them. I think size would be #5 for me but it might also depend on the position. Size might be more important for a defenseman than a center. Thoughts?

New 4th line centre. Lucas Condotta recalled by the Montreal Canadiens (habseyesontheprize.com)