Habs Fan in Edmonton

Florida has been hot, all of a sudden they are ahead of the Leafs. Habs will have to get really hot to get there, not impossible but the odds are not good. Getting Armia back certainly helps.

Fair point, he creates more chances than most because of his speed and work ethic. If he had more of a scoring touch he would easily score 30 goals a year and his paycheque would be much higher. Like any player, do you get good value for the money you pay? Given everything Lehkonen does I think the answer is yes.

Excellent post, you captured my thoughts about Lehkonen perfectly. His value would be more understood on a contending team. Pretty much a perfect 3rd line player.

I think that taking on a bad contract (hopefully not a long term one) would likely have to happen if they were trading Price or Weber, more likely for Price.

No question that it depends a lot on the return. Agree on that. Agree that Price's contract is a big impediment. I think so much of goaltending is confidence and Price's confidence has taken a hit playing behind a mediocre defence. I think in the right situation Price could do what Patrick Roy did in Colorado when he went there.

For me the big question is what to do with Price and Weber. Do you trade them for some young talent/draft picks or do you keep them around to help mentor the young players? I see the benefits of both. There is no doubt in my mind that Price could be a difference maker for the right team who is chasing the cup. He still has 5-6 good years in him as there are many cases of goalies playing at a high level into their late 30's. Weber maybe 2-3 years but his leadership is invaluable especially as a mentor to the young defenceman coming up. What to do.

OK, what should they do?

I agree with a chunk of what you said. I want the Habs to be cup contenders every year, absolutely. I just try and focus on what the Habs should do right now to help get us there rather than going back and complaining about past mistakes. I don't agree with everything management does, just think that MB has done much better the last couple years.

Other teams know we got him for nothing but if he keeps playing like this and the Habs are out of the playoffs come the trading deadline then there may be a little bidding war driving up the price. A hot Kovy could be a very valuable addition for the right team. It all depends on whether they have a realistic chance at the playoffs come the deadline. I am just really happy to see him playing well given the money he gave up just so he could keep playing. A true sportsman.

Love it, glad to see KK stick up for his teammate. Hopefully Poehling is OK? Did he play after? i didn't see the game.

How do you define a winning team? Last year they had 44 wins and 30 losses, you make it sound like they were horrible.

Agreed, how much extra cash and beer sales does Molson's get when the Habs go a couple rounds in the playoffs. A ridiculous argument in my opinion. You can criticize the moves they have made but to think Molson makes more money when the Habs don't makes the playoffs (because of some extra cap room) is just silly.

I agree with this post. MB has improved greatly over the past 2 years, obviously Molson gave him a mandate to build through the draft so MB didn't didn't feel the pressure to sacrifice the future to get a little better now. Although it might not feel like it today, I think the Habs are much better positioned for the future.

You are right, Holland is really over rated. It is so obvious . So glad he wasn't the Habs GM. "Under his leadership as GM the Red Wings won the Central Division ten times, the regular-season Conference title five times, the Presidents' Trophy four times, and the Stanley Cup three times, and won more regular-season games (789) and postseason games (118) than any other NHL team."]

Holland is a competent GM, never claimed he was god. If Detroit had drafted terribly you would probably blame the GM but since they drafted well then I guess the GM got lucky. You also have to develop these players properly, I guess Holland got lucky with that too.

True enough, I am guessing we could get him back for a whole lot less than Domi.

Of course we can say that 2 years later. That's how it works, you make a trade and it takes time to determine whether it was a good one or not. I know MB was criticized heavily at the time for this trade but he took a chance and it worked out.

If the Habs could sign him for the right price then sure. The thing I like about Kovalchuk is that he is obviously not doing it for the money as he walked away from good money in LA. He just wants to play. I am cheering for him.

Happy for Kovalchuk, plus his trade value is going up.

He loves tulips and canals.

Looking back, easy to say it was unwise, not sure how predictable it was. Medical science is far from perfect especially when dealing with head injuries. I trust the medical staff thought he was good to go and they know way more than any of us. I just hope he fully recovers and if that means staying out for a prolonged period of time then so be it.

I don't disagree, I have said before that a year in the AHL is a good thing. Absolutely the Habs have rushed some guys. I don't think KK should have stayed up last year, Fleury did a spend a year in the AHL, Mete was too soon, dela rose did spend time in the AHL, in a perfect world most young players spend a little time maturing and learning in the AHL.

I said a week ago or so that I joined tank nation, here is what I mean by tanking: 1) I still want them to play hard and win games, I don't want them to develop a losing mindset because that can be a hard habit to break (see Edmonton Oilers the last 13 years, still trying to recover). 2) I am a realist, the Habs are too far behind and have too many teams to climb over and are too hurt to have any real chance of making the playoffs so I expect/want MB to make strategic moves come the trade deadline, not necessarily a fire sale but look for opportunities to add draft picks and good young players where he can 3) He still needs some good veterans to mentor the young players, this is really important so keeping Gallagher/Weber is really important in my opinion. 4) I know I use the Oilers a lot as an example but they are a great example of what not to do, messed up so many draft picks by rushing them, not enough good veteran leadership etc etc. Management in Edmonton has been horrible. Finally they got the right guy in Holland.

As much as I would miss Carey Price, I would make that trade as well, especially if Carey is unhappy and miserable, they are not getting their money's worth at the goalie position and it's certainly not all Carey's fault. So much of goaltending is confidence and it's hard to build confidence behind Montreal's defence right now.. Adding Carey to Colorado would make them a real tough team, maybe the Stanley Cup favourite.

You are correct, I forgot he played in the playoffs last year. The Avs are fortunate to have pretty much the best contact in hockey (from a team point of view) in MacKinnon.