GHT120

The other two names I've thought of in such a two-pronged approach to replacing Weber are Montour and Harmonic ... thoughts?

"forgive and forget" was a short-hand reference to the fact that MB moved him for some sort of off-ice reason (never formally expressed) ... regardless of what he felt the issue was, I doubt Bergevin would "forgive" it and bring Subban back.

Smith had a decent season ... but it was his first season with a Sv% above .920 since 2011-12 (and those are the only two times he has done so in his 15 seasons) ... at least the deal is only $2.2M ... basically good backup money.

I doubt the ECHL would be preferred by the habs over the OHL.

Assuming extensive surgery on hip and/or knee is performed soon, if it were to require an 8 month recovery (i.e., full season) I would be concerned that it sounds like a potentially career ending injury for a soon to be 34 year-old goaltender.

When pigs can fly ... MB doesn't strike me as the forgive and forget type ... and clearly their parting was not entirely amicable.

I am happy to hear he is better ... hopefully his issues are resolved ... and, absent any official announcement, as they apparently were not physical in nature, I don't feel any need to know the details ... mental or psychological health is highly personal. As for next season, for some reason I can see him with Caufield and Suzuki ... such a line might lack a pure "dirty work" element but it would allow Drouin to emphasize his strength, playmaking, alongside two legit scorers ... focus on the other two might facilitate his own goal scoring ... and having another solid shootout option can't hurt.

Ideally I subscribe to the general "dominate at one level before moving up" philosophy ... 15 goals in 22 games with Hamilton is outstanding, but still only 22 games ... wouldn't mind seeing him stay in the OHL ... no need to rush

At least Richardson should have some insight to provide ... he was in the Sens organization for much of Hoffman's Ottawa career, and was his HC for two of Hoffman's stints (92 games) in the AHL.

The key will be how they replace Weber's minutes, and Price for however much of the season he misses ... and (IMO) whether they can add a top 4 puck-moving defenceman, which IMO is needed, for the regular season at least

Agreed ... four more seasons @ $4.45M ... 8 team no-trade only kicks in after 2022-23 season ... upped his goal scoring this season (25g/82gm) ... wonder what they would want ... expect they might ask for KK ... not certain I would consider that ...

The premise of the rebuild was that Seattle would select Price ... with Weber also out for the season (forever?) two foundational pieces of the Cup-run team would be gone, three if Danault leaves ... that could/would have made a rebuild (or a deep-dive retool) a viable option.

Makar would be tremendous ... problem is that an offer sheet ties up that money, and the related picks, for up to 7 days as Colorado decides whether to match, if Makar even signs the offer sheet ... also, since Hamilton has been given permission to talk to teams the Habs could know before free agency opens whether they have got a deal in place, making the rest of free agency (and the hunt to replace Weber) easier to manage.

Broadcasters could have been given 4-5 names from each team at 10:00 this morning so they could prepare. IMO ESPN got screwed over ... the only issue would have been having some selected players in-person ... but that could have been handled via video ... the world is VERY used to that now.

I wonder if there actually were any/many ... doesn't seem like the Kraken got paid to take on any bad contracts ... teams may have learned from Vegas pilfering teams last expansion draft.

Don't know that they even needed two hours ...really just require long enough for the NHL to confirm that Seattle has complied with all the draft rules before picks are announced.

CapFriendly shows Joseph as having one more year at $737,500 before becoming a RFA ... with Fleury gone maybe an offer sheet for Cal Foote (2017 14th overall, 6'4", 225 lbs, RHD) ... no more than the $1.125M (i.e., can be fully buried)

$1.356540 million to be exact (that extra $56,540 just makes it ever so slightly more difficult for TBL) ... AB-B has certainly lite up the AHL (.48 gaols/game) ... not certain offer sheets have to be one-way contracts (expect they do) but even so all but about $230K could be buried ***if*** ever necessary ... might even be tempted to make it a two year offer if that increased the likelihood of his signing.

Smooth maneuvering by PRICE to keep Allen ... from all reports, MB did not approach Price asking him to waive his NMC (which I believe MB would have had to do by a week ago yesterday) ... Carey approached MB shortly before the deadline for players to waive their NMCs (end of last week) ... having never asked Price to waive his NMC, clearly MB was willing to either lose Allen or trade him and lose someone else ... Price managed the roster perfectly.

That would have cost MB something ... and with a decent RHD semi-prospect available it might have been somewhat costly BTW I say "semi-prospect" only because he turns 23 in November and this will be his fourth pro season ... players time as a "prospect" only lasts so long.

I am happy with the signing ... veteran coach with professional experience ... should be able to hit the ground running, no learning curve.

And there is no cap on spending for a scientific research program to accomplish that.

If I was the producer I would do it in "random" order so that totally by chance the last two picks are Toronto and Montreal ... Laffs and Habs at the end would keep the most fans watching in Canada (let's face it, most viewers are in Canada) ... maybe throw TBL as the third last given the array of "better known players" from which the Kraken to may select.

Sportsnet has the draft scheduled for 90 minutes (8:00-9:30) ... so the pace should be decent (theoretically 3 minutes per player) ... and that isn't taking into account the undoubted blah-blah to start (e.g., Bettman , some combination of David Bonderman, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tod Leiweke) ... more reasonable than I expected.

Looks like the 2021-22 NHL schedule just got more challenging ... not quite a return to a "regular" 82 game season. On the bright side, once official the "who should be on the Olympic Team" debates can begin ..