GHT120

(1) If? (2) That is what they WANT to do ... but as I showed earlier, right now they can't do that without trading a veteran ... so 🤞Hughes can pull it off

Respectfully, unless they've decided to LTIR Price before the season to make it under the cap ... cuts will be primarily cap dependent to set the roster for that first game ... for example, as @dlbalr pointed out (somewhere), demoting Slafkovsky before the season means if he is brought back up his caphit goes from $950K ro $4.45M because his performance bonuses have to be counted in ... once that first game is played the Habs can LTIR Price and then make roster decisions based on who they want playing where.

Looking at CapFriendly, it seems somewhat obvious to me that a trade(s) must be in the works. The above shows an opening night lineup with 13 forwards, 7 defence and 3 goalies ... but a minimum 12-6-2 game roster as each category has one injured player who cannot suit up ... and is still almost $1.3M over the cap. They could tinker by not demoting Lindstom (if he clears waivers) and sending down Barron, but that only saves $25K and means Barron's cap hit becomes $1.2M if he is later recalled (thank you @dlbair for the explanation). *** IF *** HuGo want to start the season under the cap without using LTIR then someone needs to be moved out ... Armia and Pearson seem the likely candidates, both would undoubtedly require a sweetener to be included ... as a pending UFA, I expect Pearson would be somewhat easier to trade and the sweetener would probably not be as severe ... once Pezette/Ylonen slides in to the roster spot they even end up with about a $1M in cap space ... they MIGHT also take back a player/contract in the deal ... if it is a useful player the overal return is lessened, if it ias a "bad" contract the overall return increases. Evans would be easy to move but it seems short-sighted to trade him just to get under the cap ... trading Anderson would resolve the cap issue AND bring back some useful asset(s) but I wouldn't expect that is even a remote possibility. *** IF *** HuGo have decided that they are stuck with LTIR then they need to take on a couple of bad salaries to make use of the (up to) $10.5M that Price on LTIR provides (No guarantee that Dvorak and Wideman are out all season so no reason to start them on LTIR unless necessary).

Beyond that, there was the TINY issue of the Habs being tight to the cap all season

Unlike with horses, medical assessments on players, other than things that show on x-rays and MRIs, all depend on the player providing honest answers.

It would be fun to know if the Habs also put in a claim ... Chicago didn't

Sending Reinbacher "home" was the right move ... he looked good but I expect he will be even better next fall.

I do not pretend to have his @dlbalr's depth of knowledge ... but the "strip down" approach would be for one game, so don't know whether the complexities to which you refer would be problematic.

Per CapFriendly the Habs are $6,177,916 over the cap with 27 players ... so as many as 7 players could be "moved", having a minimal 20-man roster for the first game and then do the LTIR stuff "in-season" and fill-out the roster ... so I wouldn't say it is guaranteed that they have to LTIR before the season ... and that is without any as yet unexpected trades.

Montembeault not "pumped up" for pre-season ... or ... Montembeault looking like Montembeault?

Or maybe Newhook for RHP ... CC can flip-flop if needed

Were Primeau to perform well it might make him tradeable ... if he gets pumped it likely settles the nonsense about keeping three goalies as he is unlikely to be claimed on waivers.

Expect their Monday lineup will be STACKED!

You ARE excited about the lineup ... 😉

I'm not certain how many teams would prefer Primeau to their current/projected NHL backup, or be forced to carry three goalies, just to keep him away from Tampa.

A presumed two-month starter ... no guarantee it is just 8-10 weeks ... and even if it is, goalies returning from back surgery don't jump right back into starting 73% of their teams' games ... I expect Vasilevskiy to need strong support to play his way into form through most of the season, with the target being getting him ready for the playoffs ... much depends on how confident they are in Jonas Johansson, with his 35 NHL games over six North American pro seasons.

Doubt HuGo want to use their 3rd salary retention slot ... and Allen at $1.925 is still very challenging for TBL to fit under their cap ... but Montembeault, with a $1M AAV, would be a dream for them ... so, would you trade SM for TBL's 2024 first round pick, if not transferred to Chicago (i.e., if it is in the Top 10) ... OR ... one of Hugo Alnefelt/Ethan Gauthier/Isaac Howard and their 2025 first, if not transferred to Nashville (same condition) ... OR ... two of Hugo Alnefelt/Ethan Gauthier/Issac Howard and their 2026 first?

I like the idea, but TBL is not expected to use LTIR for Vasilevskiy precisely because he is expected back in later 2023, and his full AAV would return to the cap when he did ... they are in a horrible cap crunch ... currently $6,948,333 over the cap with Seabrook ($6,875,000) expected to go on LTIR ... 6 of their 10 skaters with AAVs of $2M or more have NTC/NMCs ... a trade would be challenging, to say the least ... TBL's next two first round picks are already traded and not certain how deep their prospect pool is at this point ... so I don't know how the cap could work or what they could offer, unless HuGo just want to move Allen's cap hit out of town. Now MONTEMBEAULT would be easy for TBL to fit under their cap, but it would take AN AWFUL LOT for HuGo to even consider moving Samuel.

LIKE it

The 67s enter the season projected as one of the better teams in the OHL, even CHL, while Peterborough (to be kind) is not ... maybe James Boyd can pull off a trade so you can watch a lot of his games down at the Civic Centre (I just don't use OSEG's name).

And RDS

I was glad to see the ***IDEA*** of trying Pearson with CC and Suzuki yesterday ... for many years the NHL top lines seem to have become a league of duos with a complementary player to round out the line ... CC and Suzuki are a proven duo ... if healthy, Pearson brings an intriguing mix of toughness and physicality ... he is obviously mot nearly on their level, but it fdoesn't mean he can't be the complementary player they need ... it would also leave Monahan to "mentor" Dach and Newhook(?) on the second line ... if after a few games it becomes obvious it doesn't work then they know that Monahan and Dach have had success in that role last season ... exhibition season seems the perfect time to test drive the idea.