GHT120

Don't think he was referencing the losses but rather the quality of Montembeault's play, this year and in the past.

Great news ... but doesn't preclude a stay in IR ... even perhaps lengthy if there are broken bones.

That too

If they were to do so, I would prefer a first for next season than a second this year.

But that is likely still better than any other specific/individual position ...

It can be both ... if teams are close enough to the wild card they will trade to try to make the playoffs

Looking at the NHL standings it may behoove H&G to make any trades sooner than later ... currently there is no real playoff race in the east, Boston is 9 points up on CBJ ... in the west , Dallas is chasing Los Angeles for the last wild card spot; Anaheim is tied with LA but has played 3 more games and Vancouver is chasing Dallas but have played 2 more games ... by the deadline the playoff races COULD be all but settled. PLUS In the case of Chiarot, 6 of the top 9 players on TSN's trade bait board are defencemen ... with Hampus Lindholm 15th really only because it seems less likely he will be dealt than the others ... hold onto him for too long and Montreal could be on the wrong end of a Kovalev-ish trade,

It will certainly be interesting ... frankly, I don't care if it is important to any player to get back on the ice, the team has to do what is best for the team ... it may or may not be for him to play again this season. THAT said, since he has not even returned to skating in full equipment (unless he managed to somehow do in it in secret) an update to say that "I want to play before the end of the season but don't have a timeline" seems somewhat strange.

The way his rehab is going, more and more I fear mediocre

I admit I missed it too when I just skimmed through.

The way his rehab has twice (3 times?) failed to get beyond skating in full equipment before returning to off-ice work, I have any expectations for Price ... ***NOT*** saying he will not play again, but even if he does I will be concerned about both how well he can be expected to play AND how durable he will be ... the worst possible result would be the 17/18 Price ... no help on the ice, eating up $10.5 of cap space and not eligible to be placed on LTIR.

Should not Belzile and Niku not also show waived demoted to Laval to be clear ... they were not lost Charles-David Beaudoin seems out of place ... he has never had an NHL contract (per CapFriendly) ... seems he and Laval agreed to a mutual termination of his AHL/ECHL contract as he had a good offer from the Swedish team ... there are other Laval/Trois Rivières transactions as well.

Teams, and players, are rarely if ever as good as they look at their best or as bad as they look at their worst ... certainly playing so much better and most importantly for me with confidence and conviction, this team still IMO needs changes to build for the long-term.

Agreed ... if Hammond is ANYWHERE near as good as he looked Sunday there will be an awful lot of pro scouts unemployed come summer ... teams always need goaltending depth with only 8 NHL starts since 15/16 all the teams' scouts obviously had written him off (including no starts anywhere in 20/21) ...

TSN690 also mentioned that Price and Edmundson were both doing "off-ice" training.

Its only 68 days ... pretty much one every second day ... you're tough ... you'll make it

An opponent left unattended in front of the Canadiens' net scoring a goal ... wonder what percentage of the now 194 goals against meet that description?

And we all know whose avatar is responsible for that (😉).

I believe they are at the 23-man roster limit and have no other available defencemen with Schueneman on the Covid list.

Agreed ... the ONLY reason I would feel a need to play him is if they have a great offer but it is contingent on seeing him play (unlikely, but possible).

I assume Stapley gets his once the 22/23 season starts for cap/contract purposes ... NCAA free agents would be a way to speed up a rebuild ... likely not top-half of the roster players (i.e., Top 6, top 4 and starting goalie) but certainly potential for ELC bottom half players.

Would not shed a tear ... but not worth retaining salary IMO if that is what it takes to make the deal ... there are two more years on his deal.

Don'y know whether they should, but: Brett Stapley dreams of an offer from the Canadiens - TVA Sports (www-tvasports-ca.translate.goog) " ... Stapley's profile is interesting. The right-handed center player shows a lot of creativity on the ice. He likes to set traps for the opposition and his play patterns are difficult for defenders to read. He's a very cerebral player," noted his head coach at the University of Denver, David Carle. He's faster than he looks and he's good on his edges. With the puck, he can throw opposing players off balance and make them look bad. When he moves his feet, he is quite dynamic in the offensive zone and in the transition phases ..." In case the translated link doesn't work: the original TVA article is here He showed slightly less offence than Jake Evans in his first two years, about the same in the third and is on pace to slightly exceed Jake this season ... at very least would seem like a good signing as as bottom 6 centre depth for one of the 25 open contract slots for 22/23.