GHT120

Tanking would involve moving out players expressly to make the team worse ... any further player movement will be for the purpose of reducing the cap hell that HuGo inherited ... it may have the effect of removing talent but Armia and/or Hoffman are the most likely to be moved and neither is a linchpin to success ... the roster as constructed is unlikely to make the playoffs ... I doubt that HuGo make an effort to improve the team's overall performance (although I would expect a veteran defenceman with more experience than talent to be added to insulate the youngsters), but IMO that is not the same as expressly "tanking".

I expect that the trigger was "it doesn’t seem to be an area of concern for Hugh-Gort at this moment" ... somewhat out of left field.

Romanov reported as having a $2.5M AAV ... I expect Dobson will be higher

The first four years of Dryden's career (full-time) the habs may not have been the dynasty teams but were still amongst the best in the league ... 108 pts (.692), 120 points (.769, won Cup), 99 points (.635) and 113 points (.706).

Me too ... thought the Goals Saved Above Average was the most interesting chart.

Dryden comparison is IMO irrelevant as for those 8 years the Habs were likely the greatest, or at very least one of the greatest, 8-year teams of all-time. The first 11 years of Roy/Price's careers (Roy's full career with the Habs) it varies from year-to-year but overall their goal support seems somewhat similar ... Roy won slightly more games as a percentage of starts ( .525 vs .514. ). In those 11 seasons: Roy's Habs made the playoffs 9 times, he won 61.9% of the 113 games he started ... 1 first round exit, 4 - 2nds, 1 - 3rd, 2 Cups Price's Habs made the playoffs 8 times, he won 43.9% of the 57 games he started ... 4 first round exits, 2 - 2nds, 2 - 3rds (although he started only 1 game in the first 3rd round run) What conclusion did you draw from the chart? EDIT: initially reversed some playoff stats

Roy opens the scoring versus Finland ... from the "dirty area"

Nice ... although if past experience means anything, unless he tears up the league, he likely gets limited ice time ... especially as he is potentially NHL bound ... unless this China-based team has a different philosophy (Just Win Baby ?).

In his presser, Monahan seemed to imply he wants/hopes to be back as soon as possible but also accepted he doesn't want to rush ... I wonder: How much the latter was respectful of his new GM having mentioned a November target Whether Hughes mentioning November was based on medical advice or just wanting to temper expectations; and Would it be less stressful on Monahan's hips to let him at least start on the wing? Centres seem to have more defensive responsibility, which entails more skating.

Guess Carey owes Bergevin a dinner.

I tend to agree with you ... .868 Sv% in 12 games with the Habs ... in 33 games with Laval .909 ... so a 14 game hot streak (.936) is impressive because it was in the playoffs but not something I take as proof he will soon be NHL ready ... hopefully he carries it over to the 22-23 season with the Rocket.

Hughes mentioned November ... but conceptually the same difference ... and if necessary, centres can always flip to the wing ...

MonaHabs? Monahan? He has a contract, so no need to sign ... NYIs are focused on making playoffs (and they 🤞 beyond), so a centre coming off two bad seasons, two years with hip surgeries and starting the year on LTIR is an unlikely trade target ... ***if*** they want to add a centre, Dvorak seems like the only Hab they might be interested in (since Suzuki is a no-go from the get-go). NYIs have a bit over $11M in cap space ... rumours I seen are that Romanov and Dobson have agreed to contracts that have just not been announced, and the need to clear cap space was related to also signing Kadri I read at the time of the Romanov trade that the reason he was moved is that HuGo et al don't have a very high opinion of him.

Not yet officially ... it just seems like it's trending that way ... he went through almost a full season of rehab last season to come back and not be able to perform at even an NHL-average level ... I would be very surprised if he wants to do that again ... but athletes sometimes won't stop until it becomes absolutely impossible to continue.

Unless he is a VERY unique individual that will likely be the result ... unfortunately (from a business perspective) the structure of his contract does not allow for the "free cap hit" that made Weber's contract potentially interesting to low budget/cap-floor teams (although he ultimately ended up with a high budget team in Vegas) ... these last four years of his contract ($10.5M AAV per season) will still cost $31.25M in real salary/money, unless the contract is heavily insured (but that strikes me as unlikely).

From the perspective of Price, his family and his fans absolutely ... but if it is the end of his career there may finally be some certainty that will allow the Habs to plan its future in goal and manage its long-term cap.

At least there is some good news

I have to wonder if Price really wants to go through another surgery with no promise of being able to play, and play well, at the end of the rehab.

IMO ... one branch compared to a tree.

It may be unfair, but I just don't see Bergevin as having been able to construct such a complex trade (or perhaps not having any interest in doing so) ... HuGo built in options about which pick to claim and in which draft, to optimize the return ... 2023 would have been ideal but since it cost the habs nothing but cap space, or the need to create it (other than HI Goa beer, buying Treliving) that would have been too much to hope for.

Seems it may be the conditional (lottery protected) 2025 pick Calgary got from Florida in the Tkachuk deal.

The Islanders are still somewhat cap restrained ... Romanov and Dobson yet to, at least officially, sign ... not certain they would be looking to add the players HuGo want to move. I was also thinking about using the pick to move out a bad contract ... a first might just be what it takes to get rid of two years of Hoffman (sans retention) ... way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way too little to even consider being able to move Gallagher (😉).

Hughes (or HuGo collectively) does seem willing to roll the dice ... while I agree that Dadonov and Drouin (and perhaps others) are likely to move no later than the deadline, Monohan could come off LTIR before then and a strong market may not yet have formed to get a good return. But I think Price going on LTIR would not be unexpected ... I think there is a good chance that he either can't physically handle it as the season progresses, and/or his injury will "get worse" if he is unable to perform to a level he finds acceptable.