Habs Fan in Edmonton

It depends on the price, Savard is a gritty guy, plays tough and is a good teammate. Won't score a ton of points. They will need a RHD. I don't think Josh Brook is ready yet.

Agree with much of what you say but very cautious about Deangelo as I think they have a great room and they don't want to ruin that. It's doubtful MB is willing to spend the likely 9M required to get Hamilton and that's assuming he would even want to come to a hockey crazy market like Montreal. Savard would be my first choice assuming the dollars and term are reasonable.

True, some will never believe he is rehabilitated. He did face the music in the interview which is a good start, not an easy thing for a 17 year old to do. But again, his actions going forward will be the important thing.

He said the right things. However his actions going forward will determine whether they were just words or not. I hope it turns out to be a good story. The Habs knew they would get negative publicity over this pick so I am sure they will do everything they can to help him. The obviously must think picking him was worth the risk. Time will tell.

Yes, he has a ton of work to do to change people perceptions but it can be done. Craig McTavish spent a year in jail for vehicular manslaughter. I don't think anyone would question Craig McTavish's character now. He did the work. It can be done. It won't be easy for him.

You make some very good points. I have mixed feelings on this pick. It could be a great story if he turns his life around or it could go the other way.

I can only assume that MB thinks his character is salvageable as he has to know he will get grief over this pick.

That is probably correct. Let someone else pay 9+. I would pay 9 for Cale Makar, not Dougie Hamilton.

I am also quite happy. Sometimes it's better to do nothing when everyone else is going crazy. Chicago paid a big price in picks and salary. Save the cap room for the right deal. (ie like Tyler Toffoli).

I agree, they dumped some bad contracts but those contracts only had 1 year left anyway and he still has to replace some of those 3rd/4th line guys. Giving up the #9 pick for a rebuilding team does not seem wise. Looks like an impatient move for Benning.

I just don't want MB to overpay. Nice to have some cap room so you can land guys like Toffoli when the opportunity comes up.

The term for Keith and Smith is only 2 years so it won't be a massive mistake (unlike paying Jeff Skinner 9 million a year for the next 6 years, that's a massive mistake). There is absolutely no question that Holland is feeling the pressure to win now and will spend to the cap limit. I would love to find a way to get Bromberg from the Oilers.

Barrie had a good year, got a lot of points on the power play with McDavid and Draisaitl so his stats are definitely inflated. I think we all know that. Not very physical or great defensively but a good puck mover. Hard to say if the fit would be a good one.

Smith did have an excellent season, keeps himself in great shape, very popular in the room and it's not a lot of money. There will be a lot worse signings out there.

I know, easy to carried away sometimes, I am guilty of that too.

Not sure why all the debate about PK Subban. His play has gone downhill, his cap hit is 9 million next year, the chance of PK wearing a Hab uniform are about the same as Connor McDavid wearing one next year. Almost nil.

Thank you very much for providing this information. Certainly more troublesome for Nashville than Montreal.

I know this has been discussed so my apologies for asking again but if Shea Weber retires due to injury issues, are there any cap recapture implications for Montreal, for Nashville or is there no simple straight forward answer. Thanks

I think that is the key "no long term bad contracts", they have lots of flexibility/cap space. They will make some noise signing free agents.

That's optimism. Hamilton hasn't been able to find the right fit yet, not sure the right fit is a hockey crazy market like Montreal.

Yes, if Seattle had taken Price then we would be talking rebuild. Now, not so much as MB won't have as much wiggle room with the cap.

I would have been shocked if they took Price so no surprise here. Overall it looks like a win as MB didn't have to give up drafts picks/players so certain guys wouldn't get taken.

Agreed, if KK gets 5.25 then what does Suzuki get?

I agree 100%, 34 years old, injury concerns, 10.5M cap hit. I would be shocked if Seattle took him. There are better options for spending that kind of money. You could throw a chunk at Gabriel Landeskog and have an excellent captain for the next 7 years.

I agree, Ron Francis said the following "the one thing we think is extremely, extremely valuable in this environment is cap space". That doesn't sound like a guy willing to use up 10.5M in cap space to sign a 34 year old goalie with injury concerns. Perhaps MB read that comment and decided it was safe to leave Carey unprotected.