GHT120

So we all hope, but less and less certain it is true ... while JD has TALENT, but Ribeiro always had an edge to his game that Drouin hasn't shown

That was always the risk ...

Murray is an interesting option ... he has missed a lot of games throughout his career ... when healthy he has been productive ... can he handle playing 5-on-5 minutes with Weber ... on the plus size, he has played a lot of PK throughout his career, so they could potentially stay together there ... Edmondson on the 3rd pairing with Romanov (or Chiarot potentially) would certainly be an upgrade

Allen didn't look great on THAT one ... didn't seem to try to cut down the angles ... of course Petry was beaten like a drum too

"Needed to" isn't the same as "could have" with a bigger player leaning on his stick going for the tip

Nice that the Quebec Government gave Habs permission to have one front-line worker family attend each game in one of the suites

Agreed ... just not certain how many there are available that cold push Edmondson down to pairing with Romanov

Mete did as much as he could and Lewis still stole his lunch money and eat the snack Victor's mom packed

Before last night Allen played last Thursday and before that march 19th ... I doubt he is overworked ... if Price is out for any length of time then, all else being equal, I would look at Primeau for the first or second game against Calgary next week. Who should be subbing? IMO, the Habs have nobody who could allow a top 4 defenceman to rest without creating a serious issue ... and with Gallagher out they are also thin in terms of subbing out any top 9 forward .. except perhaps Drouin who on too many nights could be replaced by Weal with little difference, except Weal would likely work harder.

Wish I could agree with the "would".

All good points ...and don't disagree with you ... but the Leafs, for example, go into games with the expectation that they should dominate not could ...

I know ... but while all you said, or didn't say, or meant is all true the fault remains ... very difficult to successfully "go for it" with a 2nd and 3rd year centre unless they are Crosby or McDavid ...

The fault of Bergevin is deciding the re-tool is "done" and ready to go "all-in" (Anderson, Toffoli and Perry) when the forward corps is built on two young centres who are still a year or two from being able to perform at the level commensurate with expectations ... MB and Habs are expecting more out of KK and Suzuki then they are currently able to give consistently

Zajac may not have been a need but he would not have been a useless addition either ... solid 3rd/4th line veteran ... include Armia in the deal and the cap-hit is more than covered with Gallagher's LTIR ... OR ... if Fitzgerald is willing to make the NYI deal, MB might even have been able to move Byron to NJD for a reasonable cost I would prefer the puckmoving LHD but don't want MB ignoring chances in the vague hope of chasing an even rarer asset

deadly talented ... but until their last game they had gone 10(?) without a PP goal ... of course that only dropped them all the way to 23.9% and 9th in PP%

MB couldn't better that deal????? Better be that the players would waive their NTCs for Montreal ... the return is weak ... retain %50 and only get a 2021 first, 2022 conditional 4th and two seemingly marginal AHL prospects?

Only player contracts count against the cap ... can't MB hire someone to teach the players and coaches how to make changes ... there were four skaters more or less in the play and two other skating towards it ... plus Allen

BIG cost ... but add in Armia or Lehkonen and possibilities open up without needing to have to convince an unwilling team to retain salary, or pay a willing one to do so ...

LOTS of time for those discussions after the playoffs

Don't think we were discussing it in the cosmically BIGGEST context ... but ... Eichel is rumoured to be on the block in Buffalo this summer and at the ancient age of 25 come next season and five years of cap certainty (albeit at $10M) this may be the opportunity to try to get one at centre no less

Don't know that anyone would disagree ... but suspect there re few D available that would be a worthwhile upgrade ... so any improvement by trade may have to be a matter of the possible not the ideal

I would prefer to trade Armia precisely because he is still on the Covid list ... Habs will be without the player they acquire for 7 days ... no reason to be without an on-ice asset as well, if it can be avoided ... and since Armia would be included primarily for cap purposes, not necessarily as an asset going forward for CBJ, that Armia can't play is essentially a moot point.

He is not what he once was ... since his last 20+ goal season (26 in 16/17) he has scored at a 16g/82gm pace ... THAT said ... I always disliked him in games against Habs not only for his skill but also a bit of an edge to his game ... would be a very nice addition ... he has a NMC & M-NTC (10 teams) ... but so did Staal ... for a few months he too might waive the NTC if Habs are on it ... $5.5 million cap-hit, but if they are dealing him, for the right price CBJs might well retain half of that. I would propose Armia (for cap balancing purposes), 2021 2nd, 2021 4th and CBJ retaining 50% and work from there ...

Never said I wasn't impressed ... just pointed out why others weren't signed ... for a 19 yr-old to play 13 of 23 games on a team with 20 forwards on the roster is in and of itself impressive ... but he has also bene impressive on-ice when I've watched

In his case it is more new place, new coach, new opportunity to win confidence and icetime, maybe a full-time role