The Chicoutimi Cucumber

That is a real gamble. They’re trying to do what Hughes did with Slaf, lock up a kid early before he hits his stride. He is very popular in the room and seems to bring a ton of positive team spirit and energy. Short term, it is obviously an overpay, and also grinds against what I still think is an important principle, i.e., make a kid earn it - although he seems like a motivated guy.

Hearing him described reminded me immediately of Juolevi, who triggered a very similar response from the fanbase in Van when he was drafted. It was almost exactly the same thing: guy with size, does everything well but has no particular signature skill, seemed to go higher than everyone expected, etc. The fan reaction turned out to be correct. Hopefully that’s not going to be true here. That’s pretty helpful - it suggests that the pious cliches from greybeards like me that ‘defencemen take longer,’ ‘big D take even longer than that,’ etc., may be increasingly obsolete.

Totally irrational - this is not analysis - but DR has felt like a cursed pick right from the moment Price garbled his name. We were then told he’s one of those guys who ‘does everything well’ but has no signature elite skill, which feels a bit like being told the girl you’re being set up with has a great personality. Then he goes on to get all these injuries…and after two years of floundering, finally has a solid but not electrifying season in Laval. It’s strictly a ‘feel’ thing but there has been literally nothing in his arc from the moment of his being drafted to get excited about. Rationally speaking, you have to look at him and think he has a decent chance to put it together and evolve into a highly capable, top-4 RD. But that ‘feel’ thing probably colours the fan response.

I agree. Acquiring that elusive impact C - or even that top-6, impact W with size - will HURT. It’s going to cost us more than we would prefer to give up. And if and when such a deal goes down, I suspect a lot of fans will denounce it as an ‘overpay.’ Unlike some, though, I don’t think we can wait forever and burn through Suzuki’s best years. If we haven’t made a major move by the deadline, I’ll be disappointed. Yes, we didn’t look too impressive against CAR and faded as each series ground on (saved by Dobes in consecutive Game 7s), a Semi-Finalist is nothing to sneeze at and standing pat when we have very clearly-defined holes in the roster starts, after a while, to feel like negligence. (We’re not at that point yet, but it’s slowly drawing closer).

Feels like he’s been around forever, but of course he’s only 21. Big D take longer to develop and of course, his development has been stalled by brutal injuries. I really want him to step up, but if he’s not able to make the jump, I think he should probably get another year before we decisively downgrade him.

Good call. HuGo seem quite prepared to go with the 'donut' model for Line 2 - i.e., two stud W and a dodgy C. While Connor isn't the 'power forward' they ideally want, it's pretty hard to turn up your nose at talent like that. I think the preoccupation with size, a power game, and at least some ability to play C, plus a younger age point, means that Vilardi will actually be the guy HuGo target. Assuming that Winnipeg starts a fire sale.

I think we are. Look at Dobson. Still, there will always be a certain percentage of players who want to play in the USA, or in the sunbelt specifically, or just in lower-pressure markets than la belle province.

It's quite a chain of inferences: 1. Winnipeg decides to rebuild 2. Scheifele agrees to waive his MNC to go to Montreal 3. Winnipeg will accept less than Hage as part of a return AND that return will beat what other teams offer I'm not even sure (1) will happen, let alone the others. Scheifle would be an absolutely perfect acquisition, though, hence all the chatter.

100%. If you want Scheifele, you pay through the nose. That's all there is to it.

Scheifle is a beast, the perfect add for us, but he won't come cheap. The dilemma is he is 33. We'd be asked to sell a major part of the farm for a guy who has maybe 3-4 years to give, at most. If I'm the Jets I want Hage back. And the market for C is so starved, Winnipeg will probably get a return equivalent to Hage from some contender hot to win right now. Plus this assumes the Jets are going to full rebuild. That would be the sensible play, but it all depends on the whims of the owner, so who knows. As for Dobes - the key to him is his incredible mental toughness and resilience. You can't bottle that, you can't teach it. I would be very, very careful about moving him; that is an elusive and absolutely elite quality that I've seen in very few young G. In that specific respect - and only that - he resembles a young Patrick Roy. Don't bet against guys like that.

Could not agree more. Those two dumbbells wanted subordination - consolidating their own precious authority - more than excellence. It’s interesting to contrast their bullying, top-down War on Fun with MSL’s approach. He is a coach who is confident in himself and not afraid to let his players express themselves. The opposite of that ‘old school’ nonsense that called itself Character but was really just repression.

Not to my limited knowledge. I think it looks cool, though.

Whoops! My bad. Well, in that case DON is right. Plenty of time to make the assessment, and quite possibly to add new G talent to the system

On the one hand, you’re right; neither is a proven #1. On the other hand, few teams these days run a #1 in the classic sense of Carey Price or Henrik Lundqvist - it’s more about tandems. And if you look at it that way, Dobes has surely established himself as a guy who can give you 40 games per season, and if Fowler fails to so establish himself, that will be disappointing given his pedigree. Losing either of them probably will be a big blow, and having only one year to assess whether Fowler is better than Dobes is really unfortunate.

UGGGH

Good update, thanks. I suppose I don’t really care, although I guess you could reach a point where the league becomes SO big as to be almost unwieldly and the Cup a distant dream over the lifetimes of fans of most franchises. I don’t know that 33, 34, or 35 is that point, though. At some point you might have to think MLB-style, two separate ‘leagues’ (Conferences) that meet in the Final and largely play within themselves over the regular season. You do have to hate the idea of more low-tax jurisdictions attracting talent to cities that don’t give a f**k about hockey. It seems preposterous that they’d keep going back to Atlanta - remember that classic definition of insanity? - but like all soulless greedbags, they’re going where the money is.

That is a good, rational assessment. But personally I would prefer that that piece of alpaca feces get run over by a bus.

Yeah, pretty good.

Still more alternative jerseys, silly gimmick but harmless, and I guess they make money wherever they can. Tangential point, but I wish the Habs would permanently replace their white jerseys with these from 1944-47.

Removing a player doesn’t improve the team unless their replacement is superior. MSL wouldn’t dress Arber if he felt he had a clear-cut superior option. He is more than a goon. The issue is with DR and Engstrom banging on the door, whether Arber can hold on as our most-of-the-time #6 D-man. Personally, I would like to keep him for now, since those other gentlemen have proven exactly zero as yet. He is a top-5 NHL fighter, and when he’s on his game he can be a serviceable #6 physical D-man. (I wish he could get that cannon of a shot off more often, but no longer believe he will be able to make that adjustment). And he is definitely part of the magic chemistry set that HuGo have assembled. I’m in no hurry to move him BUT you do have to doubt whether he has a future with us beyond this season.

As me and Brian remarked a few days ago, I don’t rule out AT ALL that the media and clickbait artists read this site, as well as other Habs-related sites, and pick up stuff. They are desperate for content, and your Granlund idea is a pretty good one IMHO. Take a bow.

The question is whether the Dach move was a mistake. Yes, it was a mistake, because we could have had Nazar instead. If we had not made the trade, then drafted someone other than Nazar, that would also have been a mistake, because we could have had Nazar instead. The Dach trade does not cease to be a mistake just because maybe the Habs would have made a different mistake (not drafting Nazar) instead. As for whether Dach can find his form, hey, we live in hope. I’ve just seen too many of these types of high-potential, low-result players come through the turnstile over the years to be too optimistic about him at this point.

I think you make the assessment based on the assumption that the Habs would have picked the right guy. It is factually correct to say that the Habs could have had Nazar instead of Dach. They chose Dach. Nazar is better than Dach. Ergo it was a mistake. I still maintain that after Dach played a bunch of games for us, opinion even among initial skeptics about the trade shifted strongly to being pro-Dach. Some people on this very board were saying he had the potential to be better than Suzuki 'if he can stay healthy.' Only after returning from injury in 2024-25 and looking absolutely terrible did that narrative disintegrate. Nobody believes in Dach any more. Either his potential was a mirage or he is damaged goods. At most we hope he can establish himself as a decent bottom-6er. So: no, it was NOT a self-evidently terribly move to go and get a 6'4 220 lb C with considerable upside. But still, it has obviously not worked out. What mitigates my pain somewhat is that Nazar is not self-evidently 'the answer' at #2C either. He's too small. If you don't see us winning the Cup with Suzuki-Nazar as our 1-2 punch down the middle, then what the heck, maybe it was a gamble worth taking.

Granlund sounds perfect. Injuries might be a concern, but we can always bump Kapanen into the #2 slot if that happens and be no worse off than we are right now.

The ideal solution at C, IMHO, would be a short-term patch-up job along the lines of Robert Lang. (Remember him?). Find some 35 year old with a couple of years left and something still in the tank. Then when Hage emerges, you move on from him. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be readily available either...the shortage of quality C around the league rules it out, I guess.