Habs Fan in Edmonton

I like that proposal too, love it from a Habs point of view but not enough for Winnipeg. Winnipeg would also be taking on 10M/year in salary, not a chance. I think the Habs wait for the lottery to see where the balls fall. If they get the #1 pick and they love Wright then PLD is not coming to Montreal. The money and resources required to get him can be better spent elsewhere.

I think he would be a great addition but it comes down to what you would be willing to give up and what can you sign him for. I don't think Suzuki/Caulfield are going anywhere. I think the Habs #1 pick would be a big component in any deal. A trade like that would signal that HuGo wants to accelerate the rebuild process and that Winnipeg want to do a major rebuild. I don't think I want to trade the #1 pick but Dubois won't come cheap, he is only 23 and he and Suzuki would be a formidable 1-2 punch up the middle for a long time.

That might be the reason. You would think they would want very good young center in return as that would leave a big hole up the middle and Scheifele is 29, not a young buck anymore.

He is certainly getting more than $5M in his next contract, likely 7.5-8 at least on a long term deal. I agree about drafting Cooley or Wright and then being a little patient and let them develop. The only way I could see adding someone like Dubois is if they were able to get a contract like Gallagher or Price off the books and I don't see that happening.

Perhaps, to me a "re-tool" shouldn't include trading a big, strong and talented 23 year old center as those are hard to find. That doesn't make sense to me.

No doubt, there is no questioning his mobility or his hockey smarts.

I wonder why the Jets would trade him and he wouldn't be cheap nor should he be.

I tend to agree that they won't be looking at any big free agent signings this summer. The big challenge will be the Price and Gallagher contracts. I think we are stuck with both. Hopefully Gallagher will have a bounce back year next year. I think Gallagher will work hard this summer and be ready next year but nobody else wants to pay him 6.5M/year unless he can really turn things around which is doubtful but possible. I still think Petry has value, not sure about Hoffman and Armia, those will be tough to get rid of. Drouin will likely have a career year as he is in his contract year so he should have some value at the deadline.

Good post. Tank has been the most overused term on this forum. I know I am repeating myself but the Habs DID NOT tank this year. A multitude of factors came together to cause a horrible year (setting a league record for man games due to injury being one of them). They don't need to "tank" next year although they could very well finish at the lower end of the league without "trying" to tank. There is a difference between "tanking" and taking a long term approach although the result can appear to be the same in the short term.

Exactly. We will likely be bottom 10 anyway continuing with the rebuild and getting rid of bad contracts. There is no need to deliberately ice a terrible roster as it sends a terrible message and hurts player development. Certainly nobody bullied Price into playing, if he was playing it's because he badly wanted to play.

Indeed.

I am getting a little nervous. The players aren't concerned with a high draft pick, nor should they be. They get played to play and they are doing that. It's just us fans who are overly concerned. They have made it close enough for my liking.

No arguments here.

Yes. At this point you need to look at the big picture. With only 2 games remaining after this one, the highest draft pick possible in the 1st round and each round after is the most important thing. I don't enjoy losing to Boston etc but I can suck it up for a couple more games.

Do you think anybody on this site enjoys watching the Habs suck right now?? I am pretty sure the answer is no, losing is simply a means to an end right now.

Well, I think there is a good chance they will finish bottom 5 this year. We will see what next year brings but another year of high draft picks will certainly help the rebuild.

I agree with your analysis. I see what you are saying about Suzuki but I don't have the same nagging concern as I don't expect him to be an elite, high impact (85-90 points/season) player. If he accomplishes that, great. My expectations are a little more modest. I see him more of an excellent #2 centre (70-75 points/year) on a championship type team. Someone who consistently plays a 200 foot game. Now if you have 2 like Suzuki then you are set. We need to find another one in the next 2 drafts.

From my brother's collection. Obviously being a Habs fan runs in the family.

Guhle with a goal and assist tonight, 3rd star.

Arizona has a slightly easier schedule. I think Arizona needs 1 more victory as I think the Habs have 1 win left in them.

Who would have thought. It would have been nice to get the OT win but maybe that's a little greedy.

Now 4-1, don't expect much from Arizona. One thing we know for sure, Habs will draft no lower than 4th in the 1st round and no worse than 34 with their own 2nd round pick. Hopefully the Flames go out early so that pick is around 25? It's a big draft year for them.

Yup. Can the Yotes pull off a miracle? I don't have to cheer for Seattle anymore.

Agree about Petry, I noticed that too, led to one bad turnover. Harris is such a good skater, had one bad moment where he fell down but is looking real good.

Not surprised Knuckles would get a little choked up. He was a heart and soul kinda guy.