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We fleeced them... badly.

From Pierre Lebrun's athletic column today Habs GM Kent Hughes is leaving no stone unturned in surveying the forward market and trying to line up potential trade scenarios for this week and perhaps into the summer. The search for a No. 2 center might be too hard this offseason, so a compromise might be a top-six winger with pop. Some of those calls Hughes is making are in that direction. Montreal, armed with the No. 16 and No. 17 picks Friday night, is trying to find a partner who would be interested in a picks/prospects package. But the Canadiens aren’t going to force it. If the price to attain a top-six difference maker is out of their comfort zone and hurts their long-term planning, they’re willing to stay patient, whether that means an in-season trade or even next summer. The No. 1 priority, as Basu wrote, is to become a long-term contender that takes multiple swings at a title over time. The priority is absolutely not about making sure they make a short-term swing just to make the playoffs again next year. The longer-term view wins out.

One of the potentially greatest outcome would be him winning a cup in Montreal!! Not only would we get our 25th cup, but imagine the angst and outrage in Toronto of seeing Tavares win in Montreal - they would be furious at Toronto management and ownership!!

Draisaitl is one of the most clutch players in the NHL. The counter argument seems to be that no one is clutch but only great. From that standpoint, it’s easy to dismiss every statement in regards to him because in reality he is a great player. With that being said, one can be a great player and clutch at the same time. The conversation seems to have taken a specific route into the definition of clutch relating to how someone performs in the regular season versus the playoffs but it’s more than that. It’s the mental state of how someone performs when there are key moments within a specific game. In one sense, all 60 minutes are equally important. In the other sense, there’s the shift where the game is on the line for both teams. There are plenty of good and skillful players who one wouldn’t necessarily want out in those moments. On the other hand, there are also less skillful players who one would want out on the ice because they seem to perform in those moments. To me, it’s not purely about a statistic but more-so a mindset. Because that mindset is not necessarily quantifiable, it’s easy to dismiss that it exists. There are plenty of players who suffer from mental health issues in professional sports, so it’s a lazy argument to state that the world has weeded out the mentally weak once it comes to professional sports and not true because once again, there are many different variables that make up a professional player. One may have the skill but not the mental ability to perform under pressure. One may have skill but lack the tactical and strategic defensive mindset of a clutch player on defense. There’s no one definition of what a clutch player is, but they do definitely exist. In terms of who is clutch, I could see how that is debatable. Here is a list of players who scored important goals this year. “Game ending goals”, “late game winning goals”, “game winning goals”, “late game tying goals”, “game tying goals” were some of the criteria used in determining who was clutch when it came to scoring important goals for their team this year. Are they all great players? Sure. Are players like Wilson, Rossi, Boldy, or even Nick Suzuki top 10 players in the league when it comes to “greatness”? Possibly? Swinging back to Draisaitl. He is at the top of the list. He is a great player but so is McDavid who doesn’t appear. The next player on the list was Marner, and that’s where the debate surrounding what clutch means comes into play because some argue that players like Marner cannot elevate their game in the playoffs, however it turns out that he scored important goals for his team this year, and he also scored an important overtime goal for Canada in the 4 nations cup. McDavid also scored the game winning goal for Canada at the 4 nations vs USA but is he clutch, or was being surrounded by other great players beneficial to both players discussed in this paragraph? I do believe there could be some variance when it comes to clutch related statistics and that it can be a somewhat difficult thing to measure. With that being said, I do believe it exists in sport and denying it is like saying not a single player feels pressure prior to the game. Yes, even professionals feel pressure and while some thrive off of it, others can be impacted. Just off the top of my head, Hellebuyck is an example that comes to mind in the reverse sense of being clutch and handling pressure. Anyway, like you said it’s a topic that has been beaten to death but it all stems from one’s perception of what clutch even means. If it’s based off of a specific mindset, then it exists. There are simply toooooo many circumstances where clutch can be used to deny that it fully exists. Clutch can be elevating your game when the games are more important (playoffs, game 7, etc.). It can be a player who seemingly makes key defensive plays when the game is on the line. It can even be a player who raises their game when the going gets tough, period. While all NHL players are professional athletes, not every single one of them has a growth mindset. A player with a fixed mindset, will think things like “I can’t” whereas a player with a growth mindset will believe “they can”. I already know that the rebuttal will be that all professional athletes have a growth mindset and that’s why they are professionals but considering my profession is being an athlete turned coach, I can say with 100% certainty that it isn’t the case. Most are, but some got where they are with pure skill rather than that elite mindset. If these negative thoughts creep into a professional’s mind, and they do, then the reverse is possible as well.

That's easier to say now with hindsight but at the time, Primeau had a 2.00 GAA and a .932 SV% in 70 NCAA games with many suggesting that there wasn't much benefit sending him back to school to play a 35-game season against weaker competition, similar to the argument of why the Habs needed to sign Fowler this year as there wasn't much left to prove. A goalie turning pro at 20 is normal if he was drafted out of the CHL so was turning Primeau pro at 20 really rushing him?

Frankly, I think we should move Xhejac to the wing. You can’t have a dman that sits in the penalty box 5+ min every 2 or 3 games.

Maybe if you go back far enough in history. Definitely not a grandson (or great-grandson), though. On the other hand ... he's heading to Cornell for NCAA hockey in a few months--just 59 years after Dryden did the same. I think that's enough of a legendary connection, even if he's not not related to Yvan.

I’ll be in LA tomorrow! Cant wait!

Another stellar contribution to the discussion.

It doesn’t make much sense to me to move prospects like Kapanan, or Mailloux and our pick, to only move up 2 or 3 spots in a draft where there isn’t enough separating players in the 12 to 16 range. We not only may end up drafting a player at 13 or 14 that isn’t as good as the guy we would have taken at 13, or 14, but those picks may not even turn out to be better than Kapanan or Mailloux. It doesn’t seem like it’s worth giving up Mailloux/Kapanan type prospects unless we could get into the 6-8 range. Last year, I would have mov d wither or both as part of a package to draft Buium or Parekh, but I don’t see those types of prospects in the 9-12 range this year. id rather move prospects like them or save prospects like them as part of package to fill the 2C hole.

Cap hit percentage is starting to get looked at a lot more now as it allows for an apples to apples comparison. If a player signed four years ago for $8M, what's the comparable now? Instead of guessing 9 or 9.5, look at the CH%, multiply that by the salary cap, and there's your equivalent money to try to negotiate up or down from. Now, with projections for two more years after next season, teams and agents can start to factor that into negotiations by using CH% multiplied by the projected salary cap for that year which is why I think there's going to be some sticker shock on the UFA contracts as it's the big projections moving forward that simply haven't been there before.

A consistent 15-goal, 30-point player? He's reached both of those marks twice in five years. He's a guy who got more ice time in Vancouver with their centre troubles and shot at a whopping 18.1%, 5% higher than his career average. It's extremely likely that it's not repeatable which is going to drag that goal total down. He's also probably not playing 17 minutes a game with most teams so that has to be factored in. If Dvorak played 17 minutes a game, he'd have more points to. Don't get me wrong. I like Suter. He's a Swiss Army type of player that's useful to have. If he was willing to sign for 3C money, I'd be happy if he signed with the Habs. I have no reason to think he'll accept 3C money as Vancouver has already offered that and had it turned down. I don't want the Habs to overpay based on the outlier, unlikely to be repeated year and because the centre market is so weak, someone's going to. Based on your evaluation of Granlund's cost, I'm also guessing you have Suter's price tag much lower than it's going to be.

However, I think he is better than what we've got

Genius insight here, thanks for chiming in. Just trying to match your snark big fella. Surely as the Snark King around here, you should understand.

I think certainly any player can be traded to make the team better. The question for me is do you give up one of your better prospects for a guy that may or may not help you a lot for a year or two? Malkin will be 39 when the season starts. Not sure how much gas is left in the tank. If I am trading Mailloux and some sort of package I would prefer it to be for someone who is more than a stop gap. Good item for discussion though, I see both sides. Still thinking signing Granlund is the best way to go. Will have to overpay but that's the way it goes.

Interesting assessments from elite prospects

You missed the biggest one. Demidov for more than 2 games.

FWIW; Wheeler with another mock draft. 2025 NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Scott Wheeler predicts the first 32 picks - The Athletic Pronman with another ranking;

In my opinion a massive overpay for 2 aging players who are overpaid. Barry Trotz couldn't say yes fast enough.

Fixed that for you. 😊

I think the logical thing here is it goes in this order. 1. Decide if the player is someone you want to extend and how much/how long you are willing to do it for. 2. See if the player wants an extension and feel out what he wants in terms of money and term. 3. If 1 and 2 are close enough to be compatible, negotitate the the contract. 4. If 1 and 2 are not compatible ask for the trade list and see what other teams are offering. 5. Explore the trade options and decide if you want to do in offseason or wait for an in-season trade or continue to try and extend. The buffalo meeting seems like step 2 more than anything. Where it goes next, we dont know, but i dont think they met for the trade list. Just some exploratory talks in general terms to see what both sides have as initial offers.

Lions win 3-2, Cavallin saves 31 of 33 shots. https://echl.com/news/2025/06/lions-take-series-lead-with-3-2-win-in-game-3

Im looking at the points more than just pure goals. Hes been an adequate 2nd C most years after his big year in vegas. He was excellent in 2023-24 and arguably with borderline 1c production that year, but of course 2024-25 was not a good year at all and would be below what 2c production would be needed. Hes left handed and adds to the defensive prowess. The deal would be cheap for a 2c but expensive if he doesnt reach that level. Acquisition cost would be low as Vegas seems to want to dump him and there are the issues you mentioned. I put him in the bucket of not a first, second or third choice, but not a terrible fall back option

The asking price at the deadline was believed to include multiple first-round picks for O'Reilly. Considering the Habs spending multiple first-round picks on a second-line centre veteran with two years left on his contract would be a terrible idea, I'd put the odds between slim and nil. He would not make them a Cup contender; he wouldn't even make them a contender to finish top-three in the division so they should not be paying the premium to get him. Making a big trade for the sake of finding a veteran doesn't make much sense for the Habs. If they're going to part with quality assets, it needs to be for someone who is going to be around for a while, not more of a shorter-term rental. Yes, they need centre help but if you want a short-term option, try to do that in free agency even if you have to overpay a bit on the money side. That way, those tradable assets can be better spent at the right time. And if you strike out in free agency, then you look into a short-term veteran but only if the acquisition price is reasonable. Otherwise, given where they are, standing pat makes more sense than overpaying for short-term help given that they are still a bubble team at best.

Nah, I want to see McDavid win the Cup. As a player of his greatness deserves. The “Canadian” factor means very little to mean one way or the other (in this context; I’m as “elbows up” as the next man in terms of the wider issues).

I agree. I'm not dumping Dach off the team, but I also think we need another plan for 2C as well. If he succeeds on line 3 and moves up the lineup, thats a good problem to have.

Pronman's ranking of undrafted prospects. NHL Draft 2025 best players available after Round 1 include Blake Fiddler, Malcolm Spence - The Athletic

For a 70point 25 year old Dman? Im sure its not enough with Mike Ryder, Halak and a 2nd.

the account has 9 followers, he's fake as ####.

Biggest offseason of your life buddy. This upcoming season will determine your fate No pressure

And 8m is going to be market value for his level of defenceman. Sure hes a top pair guy but not a Norris level of a Makar or Hughes, but those guys are going to be 12-14 when they sign their next contracts. The cap going up is going to rise the top earners and rising tide raises all boats Id rather a forward than a defenceman when push comes to shove but 8m is not an unrealistic ask IMO.

I am not interested in Suter knowing that you would have to overpay because he is a UFA, he is not the solution as a 2C and I believe Beck or Kapanen MAY turn into a very good 3C. Save the money for Tavares or Granlund.

I like Granlund/Tavares as place holders. Suter had an outlier year at age 29 and someone will overpay there. I would rather overpay for a known commodity like Tavares or Granlund.

Yes Draisaitl is a good example. You say he elevates his game consistently. Over the past 7 years he scored 321 goals in 521 regular season games. That's 0.62 goals per game. During the same 7 years he's played 83 playoff games (about a full season). His 46 goals in those 83 games is 0.55 goals per game. Does this show he is better in the playoffs? If we use points instead of goals the numbers shift a little. Over the past 7 years he has 1.43 points per game in the regular season and 1.51 points per playoff game. To me this just says he is a (very) good player who plays at the same level playoffs or regular season. I don't see evidence (in his point totals) that he is much better in playoffs than he is in the regular season. Even if the numbers showed a substantial difference we would need some reason to believe it wasn't just random variations.

if you look at his whole career, Bennett is .74 pts/game in the playoffs and .49pts/game during the regular season, not an insignificant difference for a guy who is not known as a big scorer.

I could not give a sh*t if he is Canadian. He's still a turd. In fact, apart from his Bruins-ness (a great sin in itself) the thing that drove me crazy about Marchand was the double standard whereby his acting like a complete dick was forgiven and even celebrated by the CBC jabbernowls - especially in 2011. If he had been Euro, Russian, or (gasp!) black, the same clowns praising him as a Good Canadian Boy would have had him tarred and feathered. I will concede that he's toned down his Gong Show in recent years, but he spent a long time as a classless puke, and I don't forgive and forget all that bullcrap so easily.

Hages' buddy Malcolm Spence Talks NCAA Path, Relationship with Hage & NHL Draft “So I know his talents. I’ve grown up with Mike and we’re really close friends. He was definitely a big factor in me deciding to go to Michigan, and playing on the same team as him is a great opportunity,” continued Spence.

Given that it's two weeks away, if they had to pull it from that venue, they'd probably be going to a virtual format as the odds of finding a theatre/arena with ample hotel capacity on virtually no notice would probably be asking too much let alone refunding all the LA tickets and selling thousands of new tickets in a matter of days.

So in other words, as long as the Habs get the best player and give up lesser pieces, you're fine with it. What's in it for Anaheim then? Matheson as a rental does little for a rebuilding team and the 16th pick + Mailloux isn't worth a centre not far removed from being a top-three pick. If you're going to acquire a player of McTavish's calibre, the return is going to hurt in a big way. Otherwise, the Ducks have no reason to do it.

This is a good question. It's not like we haven't had to go serious stretches without him over the past few seasons, that kind of provides a glimpse into what it would be like without him. And he would definitely be the type of trade capital to fetch a truly solid return. I still don't know how I feel about trading him over Matheson, but it's an interesting discussion to be had.

Goodbye you asshat

I agree, Bennett would be great but I just don't see the Habs outbidding all the other teams, especially after the playoff he is having. Granlund is more realistic.

Zacha 53-54% last two seasons, not so bad. But would the Bruins trade him--and in division yet?

Every GM is going to have good moves and bad moves, no one is perfect. The only way to judge them is the overall body of work, and its clear that the prospect pool is stacked, there is a ton of draft capital, they've signed good contracts and the cap is well managed, and the team is ahead of schedule at the NHL level. Given how bad things were when HuGo took over, this can only be seen as a big success so far. Yes, there is more work to be done, but their work to date has to get an A or A+ level of grade overall.

U serious? Maybe way down the road, but Kapanen/Beck dont even seem like would have the offense needed for top six anyways and Hage is even farther away from a top six centre role.

I’m with you.

Call me naive, but I'm giving Dach another year of hope. I just see playoff player in him. Its overly optimistic, but I've seen flashes of quiet dirtbag in him. In a copycat league, the quiet dirtbag with skill is just as valuable as a superstar when playoffs come. He will of course need to learn how to defend. I am praying that he finds his game this year. Just give us 30 to 40 points while learning defense and winning offensive puck battles. All while quietly cheating and hurting opposing players on purpose. This is not a game I enjoy or endorse, but it is the game that the league wants. Through their actions.

I also wouldnt count on Darche in the top 6. Will be hard to do that and GM the Isles.