GHT120

As the cap is no longer an issue come the playoffs I expect it will disappear ... but if they go the "bubble" format for the playoffs to try and protect the players and better ensure games are played then there may again be a roster limit (think it was 28 last Fall).

I expect Merrill will get regular duty but Gustafson (along with Kulak once Chiarot is back) will allow Ducharme to give Weber in particular, but others as well, a game or two off without having to rely on Mete, Ouellet or Leskinen to fill-in somewhere (don't expect it will be a straight in&out, pairings could get shuffled) ... might not be ideal for winning as many games as possible but once they are truly satisfied they are in the playoffs it will be time to prepare for the playoffs ... Poehling, Blandisi and Lavalagher might even get a game or two if the cap allows ... last game against Toronto would seem perfect for Poehling

While Anderson scores the game-winning goal ... Domi freaks out Called for a hook, a cross-check and a 10 minute misconduct ... in about 10 seconds of play

Likely in the playoffs ... but it all depends on the five games against Calgary ... Flames take 4 of those and things get tight ... with Calgary playing Ottawa and Vancouver 6 times before the end of the season

Not top 5 IMO ... might be good for 3-on-3 if you could change the game roster before O/T starts ... problem is he has to play, or at least sit on the bench, for the first 60 minutes

Good period ... keep it up fellas

Wasn't disputing that, but Mantha would at least provide about 40% more goals ... if you are going to be inconsistent in the effort you give you have to produce

All it took to finally get an early lead again was for Galchenyuk to set it up so perfectly it couldn't;'t be missed. Thanks Alex

Me neither ... seems to fly in the face of bergevin's focus on character ... at the right price DeAngelo could be a very big "value signing", despite any values issues ... but I would hope Bergevin would require some very serious convincing by reliable sources before he even considered it.

Probably the best option under the circumstances

You may may be the most POSITIVE Habs fan with which I have ever had contact

And yet neither of those two, or even combined, would attract offers anywhere remotely near what Detroit got for Mantha ... a 2021 first, a 2021 second and a 25 yr-old who averages 22 goals per 82 games, even taking account of the Wings assuming the two years left on Pánik's contract ... unlike Drouin and Armia, Mantha is a proven 25-26 goal scorer with potential to be better ... Drouin and Armia are proven 15 goals scorers with maybe the potential to reach Mantha's norm ... I would gladly have dealt Drouin for Mantha ... but Detroit would never do that ... Drouin is now (IMO) at best a 3rd line winger and then only if the line has a goal scorer for him to feed as JD is otherwise worthless.

I sounded like a prepared answer IMO ... try to use some humour to deflect

What that means is that none of the teams that are in, or possibly have any hope of trying to make, the playoffs (about 22 by my count) and likely knowing they had no chance of landing him on waivers were willing to offer even a 7th round pick for a defenceman with 185 games of NHL experience and a $735K cap hit to fill even a 7/8 depth position.

And by the time it is (they are) what will the core have left in the tank? From the current roster, the Habs have a little over $16 million in cap space for next season with Tartar, Danault, Lehkonen, Stall, KK, Perry and a 7D to re-sign or replace ... so not likely to have any big moves to significantly improve ... to advance towards being a serious contender, it will depend on KK, Suzuki and Romanov improving faster than Weber and Price slide, just like this season ... hoping for Herculean efforts in the playoffs.

Who is to say who could have been traded if the Habs were willing to pay the right price ... many believe that Caps overpaid for Mantha, and the Leafs for Foligno ... but both teams saw what they wanted and went and got it.

He was playing Romanov level (3rd pairing) minutes on defence for the team with the second worst GAA in the NHL ... some of that may be related to goaltending but not entirely ... not a CV for top 4 minutes on a team hoping to maintain a playoff spot ... IMO

IMO selling could well have cost MB his job once the season was over ... it likely would have meant either missing the playoffs or a weak first round exit ...either way not extension material ... IMO Bergevin did what he did this off-season because the cushion on his chair was getting warm

One season that was about half his offensive production (59% of goals, 43% of assists) in about one-third of his career ... inspires no confidence in me

Depth never hurts ... especially at that cost ... but other than being new, do Merrill or Gustafsson really have the chops to help Weber?

17:24 TOI 3rd pairing defenceman this season ... typical Bergevin move ... although Gustafsson at least has gotten some decent PP time the last three seasons ... a different option in the mix

We have a trade to report Blackhawks get Adam Gaudette from Vancouver for Matthew Highmore The rest of the NHL is in awe

No, nada, zero trades since 2:00 a.m. ... networks must be having kittens

Perpetual "once you make the playoffs anything can happen"

With Ottawa having traded two defenceman and Detroit and Buffalo one each I would bet heavily on it, and I am not a betting man by nature ... having said that, watch it be Anaheim who gets him