GHT120

In the hypothetical ... short-term success should never override long-term plans ... once, for whatever reason, H&G decided Toffoli was tradable a run of success for a few games is no reason to change their mind.

Agreed ... only for this season, really the remainder of this season, leaves full flexibility going forward

Have no particular hopes for him but he has seemed to be a "good soldier" ... the type of person that every team needs on their AHL team ... whether or not his goaltending keeps him there (AHL not Laval) is another question

He was one of my favourites as well ... but sadly he was never available ... it will be interesting to see if he stays in Anaheim despite not getting the GM's position ... if he does, I then have doubts he would ever have been the right guy for the Habs.

Alzner's buyout drops from $1,958,333 to $833,333 for the next two seasons, but it is still there.

The counterbalance to that is that the Habs only have him for one more season ... Jake, Frederik Andersen and Semyon Varlamov are likely the top UFA goalies summer after next and Allen will be the youngest of the three (32 vs 33 vs 35) ... no guarantee they will be able to keep him around ... but could make more sense to look at him as 2023 deadline trade bait.

Based on his NA stats, Klostin strikes me as Evans/Poehling-ish ... not much of a sweetener in addition to the first rounder Perron would be a good piece as I expect he could be flipped at the deadline, especially if salary was retained Don't know that I would want the Habs to use one of three salary retention slots for this trade deadline and the next three seasons on Armia I wonder if STL would like to move Scandella (3.275) rather the Habs than retaining salary on Armia ... would be even better cap-wise for the Blues than Habs retaining $1.7 on Armia ... Marco is 6th in 5-on-5 TOI on Blues blueline ... his only real role seems to be on the PK, he is the top TOI D (but this season Chiarot could fill that role for STL) ... MS would give the Habs a popular, local, veteran LHD who would free up Edmundson for a trade (likely after the season) ... JE should have good value.

50% is the maximum allowed retention.

Per CapFriendly, NYRs only are using 45/50 contract slides ... so I expect in the concept of that trade that Hughes would push to include an AHL contract ... maybe two if he could.

I also agree with your conclusion ... one difference I find is that Gorton and Hughes are MANAGERS with hockey experience, not HOCKEY GUYS with some management experience ... as long as they hire the right "hockey guys" the Habs should be better off ... also, both just strike me as fundamentally smarter than anyone the Habs have had in some time, for whatever that is worth ... I prefer smart over not.

It would undoubtedly make him easier to trade ... but do H&G want to use up one of their three "retention slots" for next season on Byron (rest of this season too if traded before the deadline? $64,000 question is what their plans (if any) are for those slots.

Certainly has the Gorton connection from NYRs days.

That $80 million is certainly a negative legacy from MB ... even if they do manage to move out contracts with term I expect a lot of entry-level players or low-salary veterans next season.

Not certain if you meant the lists in terms of this deadline or essentially "before next season" ... I took it as the latter Agree with the players on the "need" list ... but I would add Petry I would move Lehkonen to either "need" or "want" ... I think the return would warrant it ... as a 2023 UFA I don't expect him to be around more than next season ... so if not this deadline then next ... but might fetch a bit more this season 9a) coming off a strong playoff run and (b) being a RFA which gives some contract control. I would move Kulak to "want" In a rebuild I am OK with keeping Byron as a veteran presence for another season unless the return is very good Don't see Evans or Poehling as "Not willing" ... they have yet to show me they are more than marginal 3Cs Ylonen struck me as an out-of-left-field inclusion for "not willing" ... he hasn't really impressed me with the Rocket ... and if we are including non-NHL players there is a list of "amateur" prospects I would reference before Ylonen

The danger of skimming ... apologies all

He skated with Edmundson this morning I believe the "Chaumont is an insider reference to a TVA Sports reporter

Or perhaps 50% and an up to $1.75M expiring contract if needed ... or a YOUNG $1.75M player with a year or more remaining for whom the contract represents good value (but as part of the AAV balancing, not the actual return ... unless the player is really good)

Wonder if the MSL, and Hughes, hirings had anything to do with Patrick dumping his agent

You don't always get to decide the order ... if nobody is making serious offers on the players you really want/have to trade (e.g., Chiarot) but a team offers what you have decided is the right return for a player you don't have to trade then that determines the order ... Calgary was hot for secondary scoring and didn't want to wait ... IMO it is smart way for them to approach things once they decided they need something ... never understood waiting once you identified a need ... unless it is purely cap related. IMO, hopefully H&G have in their minds set a minimum price for every player they are willing to trade ... makes it easier to handle incoming calls.

Season G G/82 2012–13 2 16.4 2013–14 12 15.9 2014–15 23 24.8 2015–16 31 31.0 2016–17 16 20.8 2017–18 24 24.0 2018–19 13 13.0 2019–20 18 28.9 (25.4 until 6 in 10 games with Vancouver boosted it) 2020–21 28 44.2 2021–22 9 19.9 Last season was at an astounding, and unsustainable, rate of 44.2/82 amidst the Canadian Division Covid Chaos ... his only other 30/82 was his actual 31 goal season six seasons ago ... he ended up close two years ago, but that was skewed by a 49/82 pace over 10 games with the 'Nucks ... my point was/is not that he is a very good but not elite scorer

Since when is Toffoli a reliable 30-goal man ... 31 goals once ... 44.2/82 games in amid Covid Confusion last season ... but he had only one other goals/82 games season above 25 (see my post above) ...

Part of that equation is also who is trading for him ... if it is a team solidly in the playoffs they may not be as motivated to make a deal now ... if it is a team chasing a playoff spot then they may want to make a move sooner and take themselves out of the bidding by the deadline.

The return was less than I had hoped for ... so I decided to take a look at Toffoli's career. His per 82 games goal scoring has been: Season G G/82 2012–13 2 16.4 2013–14 12 15.9 2014–15 23 24.8 2015–16 31 31.0 2016–17 16 20.8 2017–18 24 24.0 2018–19 13 13.0 2019–20 18 28.9 (25.4 until 6 in 10 games with Vancouver boosted it) 2020–21 28 44.2 2021–22 9 19.9 Excluding last season's VERY unusual circumstances, and his legit 31 goal season in 15/16, Toffoli is a 21g/82 games scorer ... so an elite 3rd line scorer or a solid 2nd line scorer for a Cup contender ... In that context I perhaps had over-valued him. I also wonder if in his (presumed) discussion with Hughes he indicated that although he would be happy (as he said publicly) to be part of the solution, if the Habs were going full rebuild then he would prefer (but not demand) a trade to a team chasing a Cup ... AND/OR ... that he loved Montreal and if traded would look forward to speaking to Hughes in the summer of 2024 as the Habs should be looking to add veterans for a playoff/Cup chase. ALSO, per CapFriendly the Habs can now take on full-AAV contracts of a total of $8.66M ... that leaves Hughes some flexibility to be a "third-team" in some deadline deals ... that assumes Price is out for the season, which is looking possible as he seems to have again stopped his rehab at the basic "skating in full equipment" stage,

OR ... show he is healthy if he wants to be traded (a possibility, despite what he has said, not a prediction).

TVA wondering whether "Carey Price is done for the season" ... or beyond ... they note that he hasn't skated since Tuesday and that what he was doing up to then was very basic. They got a bit excited when they arrived this morning because someone told them that Price was on the ice and taking shots ... turns out it was McNiven ... but still good news.