GHT120

Waiving Armia and Lindstorm leaves the Habs, by my calculations, $2,627,083 over the ceiling and with 27 players ... since nobody else requiring waivers was waived, I expect that today or tomorrow Harris, Barron, Xhekaj and Norlinder get "sent" to Laval to get to the 23-man roster (14F, 5D, 4G) ... and they will be almost $1.4M under the cap. Once the "5 p.m. Monday" roster is set, on Tuesday Price, Dvorak and Wideman go on LTIR and whoever they want as the 5/6/7D get called up (assuming they don't claim someone on waivers). If the plan is to keep Armia in the NHL they would have 15 forwards ... too many IMO; I wonder if they even need 14 ... Slafkovsky or RHP could go Laval without waivers, or HiGo could "in-season" waive Pezzetta and/or Ylonen and hope that with rosters set nobody claims them. It also still leaves them in the uncomfortable situation of having 3 goalies, which I can't see lasting long. So still interesting things to see.

TVA reporting that Armia and Lindstrom on waivers Les Canadiens soumettent deux joueurs au ballottage - TVA Sports CONFIRMED

I like @dlbalr's suggestion that Dvorak goes on off-season LTIR until he is healthy ... that move alone puts them less than two million over the cap ceiling. The $64,000 Question for me about the "Monday 5 p.m." roster is whether they keep Primeau in the NHL ... if they do, then I see Pezzetta & Ylonen getting waived and Harris & Barron demoted to Laval ... leaving a 23-man roster with Price and Primeau both included ... the next day (or soon thereafter) Price and Wideman get added to in-season LTIR and the necessary 7th defenceman gets brought back ... if either both of the "waived forwards" clears they could bring one back as the 13th forward but I am not certain they would bring both to have 14 forwards. If they risk Primeau on waivers then one of Pezzetta/Ylonen is to the "Monday 5 p.m." roster in his place. EDIT: Forgot Norlinder ... he puts the post Dvorak overage at about $2.5 and he goes to the AHL for "5 p.m. Monday" roster.

Neither Monahan or Newhook are playing 4C ... Evans is the 4C (*) and the top 3 centres are Suzuki and 2 of 3 from amongst Dach, Monahan and Newhook, with the other going to Top 6 wing. * - Once Dvorak returns I expect the "start the season" 3C moves to the wing and they hope Dvorak can play well enough to trade.

Agree, Armia is on the team until somebody is stupid enough to trade for him ... my expectation is that he will be bottom 3 regular, with occasional shifts up to fill-in for various reasons ... my unrealistic hope is that he EARNS regular 3rd-line minutes, with occasional top 6 and PP time ... allowing Hughes, at some point, to move him for a similar AAV expiring contract, or MAYBE an expiring worse contract and a pick/prospect if LTIR cap-space makes it possible.

a) 33-41-6-2 = 74 points b) 8th c) 26th d) 5 20 e) 74 points for Suzuki

And it was as time expired

He laid out MacEwan with a decent hit ... MacEwan went to the dressing room with a shoulder/elbow(?_) problem

#92 for a 3rd year player (Pitlick) does not inspire my confidence for his future.

I like Steve Warne (despite him being a Sens fan) but the "one last chance to impress" characterization of the Sens lineup is either political level spin-doctoring or an admission that the Sens are looking for a couple of goons.

Interesting ... or just the number of recognizable names showing up increasing?

Fair-ish point ... but hard to imagine that $3.4M for a 12/13th forward would not be problematic.

That Smilanic didn't have a contract (NHL or AHL) I expect was a clue that they were not expecting much from him ... is it possible that he/Demin/both get offered a straight ECHL contract with T-R? ... of course whether they would want to commit to that is another question ... Smilanic is a bit of a disappointment given that Hughes reportedly "wanted" him, but of course what we don't know is who else Florida was offering in the alternative ... doubt it was Spencer Knight (deliberate exaggeration).

Very true ... but in the next two years they have Montembeault to extend or replace, 8 RFAs to deal with, 9 UFAs to replace and then the following two years come Dach and Newhook ... a growing cap cannot hurt that process.

Because as the rebuild progresses the Habs will have some need of spending money.

Looking forward ... POTENTIALLY good news for 24/25

I understand that Slafkovsky to Laval to start the season means his $3.5M in performance bonuses then immediately get locked onto the cap, in addition to his AAV, when he is recalled.

Would that not leave them playing short-handed (10F/4D-ish) for the first game? I may be wrong ( @dlbalr ?) but I don't think it is as simple as filing the cap-compliant roster and then immediately adding players back before you even play a game.

Hopefully this is a sign of the new medical/training staff being overly-cautious and not recurring injuries.

OR ... HuGo accept all the deficiencies of LTIR'ing Price before the first game ... I'm hoping for a trade ...

One step at a time ... Gallagher is here until he, or his contract, retires ... ... or asks out (and Question, if HuGo gets the chance, is not whether Sokolov is a Top 6 forward but whether he is better, or has more upside, than Ylonen or Pezetta.

I remain convinced Pearson or Armia will be traded (with not-insignificant sweetener) to get under the cap for the first game without using LTIR (or once again Price will go on the off-season LTIR, with the attendant bonus issues and lack of cap space accruing during the season) ... Sokolov is a 23 yr-old, 6'3", 222 lbs winger who has averaged 23 goals in 2.5 AHL seasons, who would have been a top 3 goal scorer for the Rocket in each of those seasons ... he might be an interesting acquisition to offset whatever my assume trade "costs" ... and, I am not as enamored of Pezetta or Ylonen as some.

It might be more a question of which of them can be traded and with the least ridiculous sweetener ... pending UFA Pearson's AAV is $3.25M, but his actual salary this season is $4.25M ... Armia's AAV is $3.4M and his salary is $4.8M this season and $3.8M next season. I expect Pearson would be slightly easier to trade, but many of the teams with cap space are also budget conscious, so it likely wouldn't be cheap to move him ... but I expect Armia would be worse.