GHT120

Montreal ***may*** be the only team willing to make a substantial (but not LAK level) offer without an extension being signed.

I think that is the "glass is empty" perspective on PLD ... IMO he wanted out of Columbus because of John Tortorella ... not the first player with that opinion, and CBJ was so impressed by the rest of that season that they then let JT walk when his contract expired a few months after the trade ... AND ... not certain PLD actually has asked Winnipeg for a trade ... he told them that, like their other pending UFAs, he won't re-sign next summer and the Jets are desperate to optimize their assets ... what I recall hearing from NHL related folks and "real" experts (i.e., not Internet clickbait bloggers) is that PLD is a good teammate, excellent two-way player and hard to play against ... how much he is worth on a long-term deal or in a grade is a separate debate.

We will likely never know officially ... some RESPECTED journalist might get a whisper and share but most of that will be claimed to have been the ask will be clickbait BS.

I suspect he didn't see an NHL future and decided to start getting paid ... but that is just a guess.

Whatever the case, I prefer to give you credit and blame Elon 😃

BTW - if these are posting properly thanks to anything done by HabsWorld, many thanks ... if it is something Twitter did, WTF did idiot Elon do in the first place?

Montreal's pick ... thank you Marc Bergevin and Christian Dvorack

Karlsson, DeBrincat, get paid to take Blake Wheeler, Scheifele ... there are options ... including saving real-world salary $$$ in a rebuild.

AND ... taking back a contract (likely only until it expires July 1st).

I agreed ... they need another year, at least.

Wild Hypotheticals (just for some fun) #5 for #8 and right to swap first-rounders in 2024 and/or 2025 I'd stay away from the Flyers, Briere seems to be on an early "winning streak" #5, #31 and Dvorak for #10, #25, #29, 2024 2nd and Marco Scandella* Edmundson to Laffs for #28 * - Blues apparently want to get rid of Marco ... he is a 2024 UFA and I do seem to recall him playing some right-side when he was here (one-year stop gap) ... Blues reportedly want/need a 3C.

I agree ... I suppose he potentially could block Beck or Mesar if they have an outstanding training camp but get sent back to the OHL because there is no room ... personally I see both back in junior regardless of whether or not Monahan had signed.

Especially when the team is circling the drain.

The old "4 out of 5 Dentists agree"

Agree ... also don't see Dvorak, or perhaps even Evans, being around in a couple of years and no young centres ready for NHL IMO.

Pending any trades, the Habs have 13 NHL contract forwards at the moment (per CapFriendly) ... it includes Pitlick and Pezetta but doesn't count Belxile, Ylönen and RHP who all played 30+ games last season ... or Farrell who joined the team for the end of the season ... let alone any of the other youngsters/prospects ... it will be interesting to see if HuGo can make enough moves to have room to consider even trying to sign Gurianov.

Safe travels.

This clip is from a few months ago, but Dan Robertson (former Habs radio play-by-play, current Jets play-by-play) had some interesting comments on PLD (starting around 6:40) ... until injured he was borderline dominant every night, terrific player, strong on the puck, welcomes contact, absorbs hits, hard to get puck away from him, takes a few too many penalties but also draws a lot ... recently heard another interview with Robertson where he said similar things and also praised PLD's defence, team play and that he is hard to play against every night. Perhaps not just about the points.

Per Puckpedia, Moliver is not a very busy agent ... FOUR clients ... Igor Shesterkin, Evgenii Dadonov, Pavel Dorofeyev and Timur Ibragimov.

Kelly Buchberger Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com There is only one Kelly Buchberger listed ...no idea why his year in Laval wasn't worth listing

With CC et al at the Grand Prix ... now its hanging out with David Savard

The Hockey Hall of Fame’s selection committee announced on Wednesday that seven more will be inducted into the hallowed halls as the Class of 2023 this fall, headlined by a trio of netminders. Goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon will be joined by Caroline Ouellette and Pierre Turgeon, as well as Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix in the builders category.

But are they ... “I’m not going to tear down the roster,” he said. “For us, there might be a few bumps in the road ahead, but we’re going to try to get better and make the roster better every day.”

Even if that is true (tend to agree), would the Ducks risk it ... CBJ or SJS trading down with 'Yotes or caps would also be a serious threat.

Of course that would be putting their fate in someone else's hands ... if, for example, they traded with the Habs, and CBJ and/or SJS were to believe the Ducks want Michkov they would threaten to take him, or even trade with Arizona Washington (rumoured to have interest) to try to get assets to not do so (or to flip picks) ... it could cost most of whatever the Ducks got to tarde down (or even more if somebody hires Keven Costner) I believe the "Yzerman approach" that they refer to in the 32 Thoughts is that you just have the cajónes to take the player you want wherever you are drafting.