GHT120

Key is consistency ... set a standard and call everything the same

O/T Predictions PENS: Hornqvist HABS: Chiarot

Think a concern is that "his man" would get many more scoring chances than he would ... but Evans would IMO bring much more to the table than Weise ... and be available for faceoffs too (51.8% in his short stint with habs this season)

Sometimes not being able to stay on your feet pays off ... it will look like a blistering slapshot or a beautiful deke in the boxscore

Because Smith has a HUGE 24 games of playoff experience over his 14 seasons while Koskinen has none? Veteran bias? Stupidity? Likely a combination of all three ... but whatever the reason it proved to be wrong ... very, very wrong

As expected by most Matt Murray gets the start The cheap shot to take is 2-time Stanley Cup Champion Murray versus 0-time Stanley Cup Champion Price ... but Carey has never had a Crosby or a Malkin to lead his team ... let alone both ... or a complete TEAM built as well as those two Pens teams. I am conflicted as like others I long for an end to the 26+ year drought ... and I also do want veterans like Price, Weber and Petry to win a Cup ... ideally with Habs but I'm also OK if it has to be elsewhere ... but I don't see this edition of the Habs doing it ... I want the best draft pick possible (be it 1st or 9th) in a deep draft to have the best chance to add the best assets possible in another draft ... so ... Pay well Habs ... fight hard Habs ... hope Suzuki and KK take the right lessons (good and bad) from it to build on ... but I don't want a series win

Romanov helps Evans/Weal/Suzuki/Gallagher? prepare for some physical play from Pittsburgh...

I believe the days of a third line regularly matching up against one of an opponent's top 2 lines to "shut them down" are long gone ... a third line may in some cases get some specific shutdown circumstances in a game but not often ...

In Points per 60 (measured at even strength) Danault is 14th amongst centres ... meaning he scores at a mid-level, 1C pace ... legit even strength 1C ... but average, not elite ... in simple Points/Game he is 44th amongst centres ... reflecting his lack of PP time ... IMO an ideal 1C is also your 1st unit PP centre, or at very least 2nd unit. I hugely respect Danault ... but he is not an ideal 1C ... that is all I am saying.

I agree that at even strength he produces like a mid-level #1 centre ... I only suggested that I hope someone pushes him out of the way because they can do better ...

Or vice-versa ... and then MB will be nestled all snug in his bed, while visions of Lafrenière dance in his head.

As it happens, Gallagher and Tartar mesh well with Danault defensively ... as Commandant said, if Danault is placed on a third line with (say) Lehkonen and Byron for the purpose of shutting down the opponents' top line then Gallagher and Tartar will lose ice-time At some point (hopefully) Suzuki, KK or ?????? else will force Danault off that line because they can both provide much more offence than PD and drive more offence from TT and GB ... while either themselves be defensively responsible or driving so much time of possession as to offset and deficiencies.

That is definitely the "style/type" of player Mete should aspire to be.

Exactly ... this is reflected in the fact that all the Selke candidates in recent years have been top 6 players ... the days of Doug Jarvis and Guy Carbonneau matching up with the opponents 1C are long gone ...

Have to admit I am not an "advanced stats" guy ... just go with my opinion formed by watching him play ...

He became hugely popular because he was an unexpected, and pleasant, surprise in the midst of an absolute tire fire of a 17/18 season ... but I think he was overrated not by performance but by comparison to the journeymen (or journeymen to be) defencemen that filled out the habs Defence after Weber and Petry (i.e., Brandon Davidson, Mike Reilly, Jakub Jerabek, David Schlemko, Joe Morrow, Jordie Benn, Karl Alzner) ... it lead to unrealistic expectations ... he would IMO have greatly benefited from another season in London ... it might have given him the opportunity to develop the offensive skills he badly needs to offset his very average (or worse) defensive skills.

I agree ... because of his age Belzile has a very short window as a NHL prospect ... likely bottom 6 at best but not yet only an AHLer

Respectfully disagree ... IMO Mete is not good enough defensively to play 2nd pairing minutes ... he is a 3rd pairing defenceman

Clearly no need to change after such a stellar performance ... 🙄 ... pure stubbornness by Julien I appreciate Ouellette having been a good soldier in Laval for two seasons ... but Mete and Fleury (or even Juulsen) would be better IMO

VERY few ... in any sport ... and wasn't Hitchcock last with Edmonton ... brought in 20-something games into the season and let go after a just under .500 record and missing the playoffs.

He left, in part, because they told him where he fit on the depth chart ... the team had already decided not to bring him back ... he was purely a playoff depth acquisition

IMO for the present to truly be important (i.e., winning is all that matters) the team has to have been built well enough to have at least a real shot at a deep playoff run ... not the recent "make the playoffs, cross your fingers, knock on wood, toss salt over your shoulder, spin around three times on one leg and hope" standard of mediocrity ... this team is (again, IMO) still far from that so what is important is development ... throwing Poehling onto the top line would be a slap in the face to veterans as that certainly would not be giving the team the best chance of winning ... but playing Poehling/Evans rather than Weise is neither throwing in the towel nor something that should discourage the veterans; subbing the other for Weal is a trickier decision ... neither would be playing some combination of Fleury/Juulsen/Mete instead of Ouellette or Folin on the 3rd pairing be a "bad signal". To be clear ... I am not saying TRY TO LOSE ... but rather there is no use hoping and praying that useless veterans suddenly become something they aren't, but rather help youngsters become what you hope they can be.

Think it is all based on unresolved issues from the past seasons ... not created from last nights' game ... but the game provided a focus and more examples of why people feel the roster is not only inadequate but not well managed either.

Don't know if I agree with your specifics but definitely agree that this is an ideal opportunity to play youngsters

D'on't think Hudon really had a realistic chance in any event ... Poehling is (IMO) behind Evans on the depth chart but longer term has the higher ceiling ... so there is an argument to be made that in terms of development playing him might make sense ... but Evans is the logical choice as (a) Julien is trying to win, and (b) Jake would seem able to make the greater impact (relatively little as it may be) in the NOW.