GHT120

After all the non-calls throughout the game the Habs got a big break, that they couldn't convert, in O/T.

Slaf didn't ... not only potentially hurting draft lottery position but that triggers a bonus that (as was pointed out by @dlbalr) ends up charged to next year's cap ... that thanks to LTIR for Mr. "I don't want to be a burden".

"My son weighs about 25 pounds and I struggled to hold him in my arms for more than a minute without discomfort," he said Tuesday morning during a lengthy interview with La Presse. Despite a "daily routine" that allows him to cope with pain, sitting or standing for a long time is now painful. Air travel, therefore, is "difficult". "I got to a point where I couldn't go on," he says. "I spoke with the medical staff of what my life after hockey could look like if I didn't stop. There was a lot of doubt about how it would affect me in the long run. When we started talking about it, it became real. Life is long after the end of a career."

RDS shows Pezzetta take a clean hit and head straight to the bench, then locker-room, holding his right shoulder ... they haven't seen him return.

Mailloux should get lots of TOI ... unless he utterly stinks (don't expect he will) ... he is paired with the Habs highest 5-on-5 and PP TOI defenceman, (also 2nd highest PK TOI) and MSL showed his willingness to give a "1st-gamer" lots of ice-time as long as he performed well-enough to merit it.

Players hiding injuries is something no training/medical staff can prevent and it means they can't protect the players.

I expected to Montembeault to get the start in the home finale ... does this speak to Primeau "climbing the ladder"?

I-M-O this summer is not the time to be signing 9 UFA forwards ... unless (in the I win the LottoMax tonight fantasyland) Reinhart, Marchessault, Guentzel or Monahan want to accept a VERY Habs-friendly contract ... OR ... HuGo somehow manage to clear out some of the dead/dead-ish wood, bad contracts and are looking for "bridge veterans". They need to see how Roy develops at the NHL level ... whether/how soon Heineman and/or 2024-1st-rounder might be NHL ready ... how Mesar / Beck / Baby Xhekaj / Tuch do in the AHL ... whether a Dach/Newhook-ish "draft trade" pans out ... so next year HuGo et al can plan for 25-26 and beyond without having spots blocked by "try to make the playoffs in 24-25" signings ... I'm not expecting a real playoff push until 25-26.

Any extensions only count against the cap in the first season of that new contract ... Barron and Xhekaj are RFAs as of July 1st ... but unlike the CFL, the Habs cannot "use up" unspent 23/24 cap space to extend them now. As of July 1st (i.e., this summer), they could extend July 1, 2025 UFAs Dvorak*, Armia*, Evans**, Pezetta*, Savard** and Kovacevic** ... and ... July 1, 2025 RFAs RHP*, Slafkovsky***, Haris**, Struble**, Guhle***, Primeau*** * - unlikely ** - possibly *** - YES PLEASE

At most, he will get 2/72 of his AHL contract ... assuming it is the same as the AHL value of his ELC, that is $2,569.44 ... one game of his NHL ELC would have been $11,280.49 ... while that would have been some nice "pocket change", the REAL motivation for asking/hoping for a 23/24 ELC would obviously have been to burn a year and get to RFA, then eventually UFA if all goes well, a year sooner.

I believe the cap year is July 1st - June 30th ... not that it really matters ... Habs have over $5M of cap space (per CapFriendly) ... unless HuGo have REALLY big plans at the draft.

Well ... come July 1st

Unless the Habs take a lot of penalties, this is likely one of Savard's lower TOI games of this season ... and Harris/Kovacevic get quite a bit more than their usual 16-17 minutes per game ... but worth it to protect/insulate Hutson.

Read somewhere that if he signs a 23/24 ELC he is ineligible for Laval ... if he signs a 24/25 ELC he can sign a PTO with Laval and join them.

but is the first year of the ELC 23/24 or 24/25?

AND ... doing it as a 17 yr-old.

Here’s the projected lineup against the Wings: Forwards 22 Caufield - 14 Suzuki - 20 Slafkovsky 11 Gallagher - 15 Newhook - 40 Armia 49 Harvey-Pinard - 71 Evans - 17 Anderson 55 Pezzetta - 28 Dvorak - 56 Ylönen Defensemen 8 Matheson - 52 Barron 54 Harris - 26 Kovacevic 48 Hutson - 58 Savard Goalies 35 Montembeault 30 Primeau

Some unknown rookie supposedly playing tonight. More details when available.

Of course if he regresses to his norm he tanks his trade value.

"Talk" is that the outstanding issue is whether he signs for 23/24 and burns a year or signs a 24/25 ELC.

No doubt they have value ... but where they fit beyond next season will, I-M-O, have more bearing on what (if anything) happens to them this summer, or at the 24/25 deadline.

Hopefully HuGo's moves will be with 25/26 and 26/27 in mind, not just 24/25.

I tend to agree with @Commandant on this ... Armia has played well enough since the New Year to have value to some other teams, especially if "July 1st" doesn't address their needs that he fills ... not likely to require retention or garner much return.