JDLagrange

My hopes aren't high on this guy. On a Winnipeg team hit with tons of injuries on defense and struggling to find warm bodies, he couldn't crack their line-up. It's low risk I guess. Lost Mete to waivers, signed Niku in the depth chart.

That's also my take. I read someone this morning on Twitter claiming that Gallagher could slide in instead of Anderson to "make it a stronger defensive line". Anderson is as strong if not stronger defensively as Gally. Further, what I like about the Drouin-Dvorak-Anderson line is that Jo and Andy had great chemistry last year. They have styles that complement each other very well. And since Devo is the team's #2 centre, it makes sense to put him between them. It also gives two shooting options when Drouin dishes the puck.

That's exactly what it boils down to. They do have a choice and they also know the consequences of their choice. Whether we (or they) agree with the rules or not, the ramifications are clear either way.

That's interesting. Looking at your list, I can't help but notice a common denominator with three of them: Tinordi, McCarron and Scherbak were all kept in Montreal with no ice time for long periods of time because the Habs were afraid of losing them to waivers. I remember at the time writing how detrimental it was for their development for young players to sit for so long without playing. They did the same, although not quite as bad, with Victor Mete. Don't get me wrong, the players must take the steps to stay in the line-up and have their fault, but as an organisation, having them eat hot dogs in the press box game in, game out, is shooting yourself in the foot for the development of your young prospects. We in BC are you Don? I'm in Nakusp. Moved here from Penticton a couple of years ago.

That's exactly why I used Suzuki. He had a good camp at 19 and they could have kept him. Instead, they returned him to junior and gave him a list of things to work on. One of the things, according to Suzuki himself, was to "play faster", meaning making quicker decisions and at a higher tempo, which he did. When he came to camp the following season, he was a better player because he was sent back.

I just watched the interview with Chantal Machabee and I was pleased. Unless someone suffers from depression or anxiety, it's very difficult to wrap your head around what goes on in someone's mind. And even then, not two individuals are the same. I cannot imagine spending 2-3 nights without sleep and go play a hockey game, even less so at that level... sometimes 3 games in 4 nights! You know that whole BellLetsTalk day, the so-called progress this society is making about mental health and the importance of acknowledging it and being kind and understanding? We'll see who takes it to heart and who is just giving lip service to "look good" on that day. I, for one, will be 100% behind Drouin this season, hoping he lives up to his great talent but mostly, that he stays healthy both mentally and physically. And I know that a vast majority of Habs' fans are with me on that and those are the people that matter.

First post here. I feel like it started when Sylvain Lefebvre was fired to be replaced by Joel Bouchard. It was a step in the right direction. You need a communicator to develop young players and Lefebvre was as far as it gets from there (I spoke to a couple of players who played for him). Guys were sat and didn't know why, rarely given "things to work on" to improve. It goes much deeper than this but the one thing that I would suggest doing is to be more patient with players' development. Rare are the players who can have an impact in the NHL at 18-19 years old and in Montreal, it's even worse. If a rookie has a good camp, don't keep him unless you have a plan to play him regularly and not sit him every time he makes a mistake. And if he's 18-19, unless he's an exceptional like McDavid, send him down for a year of maturing, like they did with Suzuki. Give them a list of things to work on and follow up with them. I like the way the Habs handled Suzuki and Poehling. More of that and less of Latendresse, Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi type of rushing.