GHT120

Domi line also playing well ... think he makes much more sense stylistically playing with those two than would KK

Belzile not coming back in.

A couple of nice saves ... but it could be 4-0 if not for a couple of close-in shots being put over the net ... Habs team defence still not great ... at one point in the first they had 5 players in a semi-circle around Price ... all within 6-ish feet ... with one Leaf behind the net

Anderson may need a Red Bull to stay awake

I've got the TSN690 radio broadcast (off their website) synced up to the TVA broadcast ... used TVA because if the su=ync proved to be a pain I rather suffer through TVA than the Sportsnet guys.

IMO it is NEVER a "clean hit" when the opponent goes flying uncontrollably into the boards ... Glad Belzile seemed OK

True

For the habs this season ... yes

Glad Fleury is getting a chance ... IMO best option of 3RHD SHOCKED that Belzile is dressing ... thought Poehling or Evans would get the chance ... Alex only played 20 games this season (all in Laval) ... all three are centres so any of them might make sense to replace Weise ... if only for depth on faceoffs ... unless Dale is playing much better than he did this season (in AHL or NHL) of course

Admittedly circa 2014 ... but the spirit is always the same

Yah ... Nathan Beaulieu's too ... but in the 2nd/3rd/4th rounds it is worth drafting TALENT ... Beaulieu proved to be a mistake because the Habs drafted TALENT in the first round that had no heart/head ... Reilly was a 4th rounder (by CBJ) so actually not a bad pick, just didn't pan out

Interesting article from The Athletic (if you have a subscription) on Jeremy Poirier ... seems to be an absolute elite offensive D prospect who is run down for his defence, perhaps too much ... is still only 17 and has played his two seasons in the Q on the youngest team in the league, in the midst of a full rebuild ... only defenceman to outscore him was teammate William Villeneuve (also 17, but 2.5 months older) ... Poirier is ranked from 21st to 52nd (per Elite prospects - ignoring NHL Central Scouting as it is 18th among North American skaters) and Villeneuve 50th to 105th ... Habs could have a shot at both with all their picks (three 2nds, two 3rds and three 4ths) ... defence can be improved, offence cannot be taught ...

If they had Andreas Athanasiou on RW the line wouldn't be as good but the nickname would be better: TADAAA

I am of two minds on the second point ... TO loses and the NHL likely rigs () another lottery to give Leafs lafreniere

Hopefully the extra D is Fleury as I would rather him at 3RHD than Mete on his offside ... would then like to "The Fly" Mete and Ouellette as the strengths of each seem to be the weakness of the other At forward likely between Poehling and Evans ... think Evans more likely to be useful NOW ... still hope Poehling and surpass him in the next year or two

And the players in Toronto are:

That would be logical and the right thing to do ... Habs don't always follow that approach

But at a certain point, if the strategy is sound but the players aren't doing what the coach wants that is as bad a job of coaching as bad strategy.

OR ... it could be the coaching emphasizing the BOMBER and things working better when that player is out

This is where the loss of Thompson hurts, he was a key on the PK Looks like Danault/Lehkonen and Byron/Armia likely the workhorses versus Pittsburgh ... from what looks like the roster based on practices Weise/Suzuki would look like the occasional 3rd pairing ... an argument could be made for dressing Poehling or Evans on the 4th line rather than Weise if the PK is a priority

100% ... just don't like celebrating the circumstances surrounding the habs current situation as "good luck" ... not saying illWill (despite his handle) meant it like that

Agreed ... but with some potential PKers "opposing" them on the PP units Weise, if he dresses, not likely to be a primary PK option ... hopefully

As the 30th player has almost no chance to play it might as well be Romanov ... unless they are making room for Molson or some other twit that onlt wants to be there, not do anything useful.

At 8th overall the Habs were placeholder team A ... placeholder team E (Winnipeg) won the lottery so the Habs would still be 9th ... maybe 7th if all went well for other teams and wrong for Habs if the season hadn't "paused" ... or Habs could have gotten hot and the Hawks/Yotes cold and dropped further ... but not enough to be team E But the point was not where the Habs will draft but rather that the "lots of good" sucks because of the cause.

And all that good relates to Covid-19 ... I'd gladly take no play-in and picking 9th to what got them into the play-in