GHT120

The Habs may well end up with a Top 10 pick next June but this will not be a TANK season ... that requires management to intentionally dispose of assets that would help the team win games in order to reduce their chances of winning games ... HuGo have not IMO actually tanked since taking over ... the closest to a tank might be trading Toffoli a month before the 2022 trade deadline, ...but even that I think was roster management, not tanking since they weren't winning anyway (10 straight losses before the trade) ... what they have done is not make "short-term" roster moves for a few more wins ... but that IMO is not tanking.

His agent writes well ... but seems like intoxication of some sort may well have played a part.

Galchenyuk Jr. appeared to be heavily intoxicated and resisted officer commands during a traffic stop ... Galchenyuk Sr. allegedly told police that he was the one who ran over a curb and hit the sign earlier in the day, but witness description disputed that claim. - www.abc15.com The lack of DUI may be that the police simply can't prove he was driving ... and the reports were about several/numerous charges, so public intoxication might simply not have been "sexy" enough to include in the list ... or he might not have been charged for PI ... also, a breakdown and public intoxication need not be mutually exclusive; he could have been intoxicated during a breakdown. Regardless ... he clearly has some serious issues for which we can only hope he gets halp.

I'm hoping for a bit more offence than Evans (8.8g/82gms) ... but otherwise agree.

Their "headline" is misleading as the point of the article is that Habs fans have overlooked him ... will be interesting to see how he does at camp.

***IF*** correct, 7.5% chance at #1 pick ... in a non-generational player year, just like 2022.

Not certain an unhappy NHLer is good for the kids? Someone like Pitlick knows he is a borderline NHLer and that performing in the AHL is the only for him to get back ... Armia could bring a somewhat different situation.

Agreed ... Amongst the forwards, for no real good reason, I have the highest hopes for Roy and Heineman.

Doubt an NHL team bites, but I expect his agent is burning up the phone/text/e-mail lines to all the AHL teams and maybe even select ECHL teams (e.g., Atlanta, Cincinatti, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Orlando).

For what it's worth, the "father/parent problem" goes way back: Family ties may have sabotaged Alex Galchenyuk's rocky career with the Canadiens. - Pat Hickey, Montreal Gazette - Jun 19, 2018 There will be questions about whether the Canadiens’ coaching staff handled Galchenyuk properly. Was he given a fair shot at centre? Did the coaches give him the guidance he needed to become a better defensive player? But the question that has to be answered is: Was Galchenyuk listening to those who were paid to give him advice? We know he was listening to his father, Alex Sr. You could see them huddling after every game in the concourse outside the Canadiens’ dressing room, rehashing the game. There were rumblings from the Galchenyuk camp about the way Alex was being used. There were questions about why he wasn’t at centre, why he was getting less ice time than other players. There were even questions about why he wasn’t on the ice at the end of close games. Given his defensive shortcomings, this should have been a no-brainer, but the Galchenyuk clan saw a conspiracy that deprived Alex of opportunities to score empty-net goals. I can recall two stories that illustrate the tug of war between Galchenyuk père and his coaches. The first goes back to his days with the Sarnia Sting. During the lockout in 2012, I went to Sarnia to do a story on Galchenyuk. When the Sting’s regular practice ended, Galchenyuk’s father, who was an assistant coach with the team, stayed on the ice with his son. At the other end of the ice, defenceman Connor Murphy was working out with his father, Gord, a Florida Panthers assistant coach who was at loose ends because of the lockout. Jacques Beaulieu — he’s Nathan’s dad — was the head coach and I remarked that it must be good to have players putting in the extra work. But Beaulieu wasn’t enthused, noting that he had two coaches he didn’t need and didn’t want. The other sign of a disconnect between the family and the Montreal coaches came in 2015 when the Galchenyuks parted ways with agents Ian Pilver and Igor Larionov. The Galchenyuks were upset that Michel Therrien had benched Alex in some situations and Larionov, a respected Hall of Famer, didn’t side with the player. “Ian and I were trying to help him to become a good hockey player but, more importantly, to be a good human being,” Larionov said at the time. “I would speak to him every day; I think I spent more time talking to him than talking to my wife.“ I tried to make him understand that he has to be patient,” Larionov said. “I had to wait when I was a young player; every great player has a time when he’s going to be on the bench, but you have to learn that’s part of the game.” And Pat Hickey was not a clickbait artist ... I expect he left a lot "on the cutting room floor" because he was not a sensationalist writer. For a more "clickbait" perspective: https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/report-alex-galchenyuk-s-family-is-a-huge-problem

Police were responding on July 9 to a report of a car hitting the curb, a sign and an SUV and saw a man on the ground that they later identified as the hockey player. An older man, later identified as Galchenyuk's father, helped him off the ground and got into the drivers' seat of a white BMW while Galchenyuk was in the passenger seat, police said ... The father drove off and police pulled over the car and talked to the younger Galchenyuk. - Mike Brehm, USA TODAY - July 13, 2023

"According to The Athletic's Rick Carpiniello, DeAngelo and Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev were involved in a brief altercation inside the tunnel leading to the team's locker room immediately following the loss. DeAngelo was on the ice for Pittsburgh's overtime goal while Georgiev was in net for the Rangers." - Pete Blackburn, Feb 1, 2021 - CBS Sposrts And some do agree on the "idiot" part "Tony DeAngelo isn’t unique in his ubiquitous comments that scream racism, homophobia, and rightwing fanaticism… he’s just not afraid to say them in public ... And that’s the problem with Tony DeAngelo. Well, truly the problem with Tony DeAngelo is he’s a racist and a bigot, who happens to be a talented hockey player ... Tony DeAngelo is a conspiracy theory loving, fact denying, non-inclusive, bigot ... In one season in the OHL, DeAngelo was suspended twice for “contravening the rule which attempts to keep homophobic, racist, sexist, and the other derogatory language used by small minds – out of the game" ... Follow that by his brazen support of Donald Trump…including the factually incorrect and unsubstantiated statement by Trump that he won the 2020 election, and COVID denying, a picture begins to be drawn ... The problem with Tony DeAngelo, is there are thousands of Tony DeAngelo’s we never see or hear from publicly, but they torment marginalized people and players nonetheless ... “For every vocal racist, there’s a thousand silent ones,” Akim Aliu ... The problem is, there are thousands of Tony DeAngelo’s" - CKSN.ca - February 3, 2021

That is a potential roster that could make viewing Laval games a must this season ... as excited as we all get over prospects ... of the 11 D/Fs, it would probably be great if even 2 of them became regular Top9F/Top4D with the Habs.

An interesting turn of events.

Is he a RHD by any chance?

Assuming he gets clearance from the NHL after meeting with Gary Bettman ... back in early June (6 weeks ago) it was announced they would meet in "the coming weeks" ... I expect he will be cleared, but it may yet take some time if the NHL wants/needs to keep some separation between Mailloux and the rumoured soon-to-be-announced results of the 2018 WJHC Team Canada investigation.

Katie Strang @KatieJStrang Senior investigative writer, The Athletic;

Sounds like he MAY have brought it on himself.

An NHL source told ESPN that the Coyotes discovered an "off-ice situation" impacting Galchenyuk that was previously unknown to the team. The NHLPA said it is reviewing the decision on the behalf of Galchenyuk, who will become an unrestricted free agent again.

Seems like a leadership signing ... suppose that wil an influx of youngsters they wanted some continuity for those that played or were around The Rocket at all last season.

Newhook will be the fifth player from Newfoundland and Labrador to suit up for the Canadiens — which has a strong fan following in Newfoundland and Labrador — joining Michael Ryder, Darren Langdon, Terry Ryan and Brad Brown. Ryder was an excellent goal scorer for the Habs (84 goals in 260 Games, 26.5g/82Gm) ... I expect it may take some time for Newbook to score at that pace, but he could still be a better all-round player.

Hope he ends up more like Bobby Smith than Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

I like the deal ... Newhook is further along in his development (obviously) than would be the 31st amd 37th picks, who might not even be rookies until the team is serious about the playoffs, if ever ... around the draft fans fall in love with the IDEA of draft picks ... if the Habs had made the trade at the deadline )I know it wasn't a likely deadline deal) I doubt those who were the most vocal when it was would have been as upset.

Doesn't impact my perception at all, but another outstanding (IMO) contract by Hughes.