REV-G

If we traded for a 34 year old, like Kadri or someone else in that age bracket, do we have anyone on the Rocket who could grow into the role in the next two years. I believe Hage plays centre but I assume he's 3-4 years away. If we don't have the potential player developing, then I think we need to solve the 2nd line centre position now and acquire a younger, 25 year old age player and not a 34 year old.

For those who follow college hockey, how would you compare Jacob Fowler at this stage in his college career with how Cayden Prime did when he was in college hockey? We all know it takes goalies longer to develop in many cases. Obviously Carey Price didn't take that long but Jordan Binnington spent 7 years in the minors before St. Louis brought him up and he's obviously done really well. Charlie Lindgren did very well in college hockey, did ok for a few years in the AHL and NHL with Montreal, but now 8 years after making his NHL debut in 2016, he seems to have developed enough to have carved out an NHL career. Success in college or junior for a goalie doesn't always translate into success at the NHL level and I remember Primeau did very well in US college hockey but since turning pro has probably underachieved for the most part, even though he has had some good stretches. So the question is, are we being fair comparing their college careers and extrapolating that to the NHL? It probably varies from player to p[layer so it may not be a worthwhile comparison. What do you think, is it fair to compare and draw any conclusions with Fowler now compared to Primeau when he was in college?

It's still early in the season, and while perhaps we probably should wait another few weeks before we go too deep in evaluating how we're doing, I'm concerned and I'm interested to see how the rest of you are feeling. Here are some of my thoughts. 1. Our team overall: For me, overall, I expected more so I'm disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high going into this season. 2. Our top line: I'm talking about Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky. I thought our top line, other than CC's scoring, would be more dominant. I guess I was hoping they would pick up where they left off last season but so far that hasn't happened. I expected Slafkovsky to score more and that line to control play more and not get hemmed in as often as they've been. They seem outmatched most nights. 2. Coach Marty St. Louis: I probably want him to succeed so much that I find myself overlooking things that I probably would be more critical of another person. My biggest concern is more of a question and I'm not knowledgable enough to give a qualified answer. Is his hybrid new system the right approach? I keep hearing reporters saying that the players are having big problems adjusting and figuring out the system. When Logan Mailloux was recently sent down he said the Rocket's system was not the same as the Canadiens but his coach seemingly corrected him and said it is the same system. So what's up with that? The player doesn't see the two teams playing the same system. Something's wrong. I read that this hybrid system is the same one that Dominique Ducharme was using and we all know how badly that went and it seems we're seeing the same results now. Is this a major problem that needs to be changed. I don't know. Do you? 3. Lane Hutson: The only concern I have with him is the minutes that Marty is playing him. I read he played 29 minutes in a recent game? If that's accurate how can a first year NHL player who played like 35 games (?) last year in the NCAA now be expected to play 22-25 minutes a night in an 82 game schedule. I don't understand this strategy in a season where we're not trying to win anything but some games and develop players. 4. Kirby Dach and Newhook: Two of our trade results have been disappointing for me. I think we have to give Dach more time since he missed all of last year with an injury but these two trades are not looking great this year in my opinion and may be one of the reasons we're struggling so much this year. 5. Veteran defenceman: You can tell me if I'm being too critical here. Mike Matheson is a great skater and he eats up a lot of minutes but I'm noticing more and more lately how many mistakes he makes and how many really good scoring chances or goals the other team gets as a result. David Savard blocks shots and is evidently really good for the younger defencemen but he seems very slow and I'm wondering if keeping him was a good idea and perhaps bringing in another veteran but younger defencemen would have been a better plan. Yet reporters seem to say that he's the right guy for now. 6. Goalies: I know we're giving up a lot of shots and a lot of high quality shots most night. I think, hope, that Montembault will find his groove again but I'm wondering, in hindsight, if we should have kept Jake Allan? It's easy to look back to when they traded Allan and maybe most of us agreed at that time with what we did. Today I'm wondering? Do we need to bring in a veteran goalie and let Cayden Primeau go? He has good nights but the consistency doesn't seem to be there. 7. Coaching staff: Because of what I see as a defensive mess, maybe it's Marty's system, I wonder if Stephane Robidas is doing a good job? I don't know but it seems like, at this point, many of our defensemen, and forwards, seem to have regressed from last year. So I guess that leads us to question the coaches that are there. Secondly do we need a guy like Pascal Vincent, not him because Laval is doing so great right now, to assist Marty. Does he need some help like that. There are other concerns but for me these are serious questions and concerns I have for our underperforming team right now. Maybe things are going to turn around over the next month as Marty has said he is generally happy with their play, just not the final scores. What do you think? Is this year a write-off and we wait for more help next year. We have Demodov coming and the draft in June where it looks like we could have another high pick. Maybe that's a good thing.

You have to think that if you're him and you look at the # of young defenceman Montreal has, and they just traded Jordan Harris to make room, where will his future career and his life be better suited, Laval or closer to his home. I can't say I blame him. Maybe he thinks he'll have a better shot at the NHL with another year or two in Sweden's pro league.

I understand what you're saying. I did preface it by saying this was a thread for the dog days of summer, for a Habs fan, and it was also a glass half full approach, so it was more of an optimistic, interesting read, things are looking good approach that probably would generate some comments and observations. Nothing too serious. But the comparison to a Leafs fan....I crossed the line if that's true!!

BTW, the horse always goes before the cart!!

In these dog days of summer I thought I'd list some observations and expectations as we wait for training camps to start. I'm not totally set in believing that every statement I make is definitely accurate sir going to happen but this is a glass half full thread, and I do have positive expectations that some/much of what I mention will happen and is true. I'll put them in bullet form. Let mer know what you think. This could be the greatest..... rebuild in NHL history! I'm not talking about expansion teams, more from the original six. In my lifetime the greatest rebuild has to be Detroit. They've won the most of US based teams with eleven. Chicago and Boston have won six each. They've all gone from last place to winning the cup. We'll see what happens with the Rangers (they've won four cups) in the next few years. This statement about this being the greatest rebuild ever will take years to evaluate to see if we are able to win additional multiple cups! Canadiens front office ever! I'm talking about our core three, Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes and Marty St. Louis. The best GM's IMHO were Sam Pollock and Serge Savard. In hindsight the rest were either ok or bad. So far I love what Gorton and Hughes have done. The best coaches, in my lifetime were, Scotty Bowman! Maybe I'm missing someone but the rest for me were good to not so good. I think MSL has the potential to be one of the best but it's way too early to tell. summer of adding to the team's roster ever? This summer's drafting of Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage, then trading for Laine could be the greatest summer of additions we've had for a long time. If you factor in getting back Kirby Dach and the possibility of Lane Hutson making it, this could be the biggest uptick in on-ice talent we've had for a very long time, maybe ever?? number of elite prospects we've had for a long time. I'm using the prospect to mean not a regular player yet. For so many years we've had prospects but I think we have two elite prospects right now in lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov. I can't remember having two of that quality for a long long time. combination of young defencemen ever. The best defencemen group for me was Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe. But this may be the best young group that I've seen. Again, only time will tell. young first line we've ever had. The key word here is young. We'll see. Agree or disagree with my observations? Do you have any other possible greatest ever...? Also I've been following the Canadiens for just over 60 years. It would be fun/interesting to see how many older guys we have still following Les Canadiens! Let me know if you've been a follower longer than me or close!

I didn't know that. I thought it was going to be like the covid style draft. I still think the present format is better and more of a spectacular event, as last nights was.

I think the NHL has made a big mistake. Where and how? By changing their draft day format starting next year. Many of you may not agree with me on this next statement, but I haven't watched an all star game for many many years. I think they're a waste of fan's time. But that's just my opinion. However I have watched every draft for many years and I thought last night's draft at The Sphere rivalled any draft from any sport that I've watched. I'm biased but I think Montreal hit a home run with what they did and how they did it. I'm sure the draft had many many of their fans watching to see if there would be trades, any teams moving up or down and who would get what players, and there were many surprises, starting with who Montreal introduced to announce their first pick. Brilliant! Everyone loved it. I remember watching Juri Slafkovsky's shocked face last year, and his family's, when he was drafted first by us and the uncomfortable situation with Shane Wright. But it's why we watch. It's real, human emotion with both excitement and disappointment. I had to laugh last night when they showed the shocked looks on the faces of Beckett Sennecke and his family when he was selected #3. And what a touching story with our 2nd pick Michale Hage. All of that was shown and filmed because everyone was together and celebrating in one place, once a year. To lose all that, and to show what I think will be a sterile war room with a bunch of people sitting around a table, that's what they think is going to be better?? I think last night's draft coverage was one of the highlights of the year for many fans and last night was a home run. The publicity for the NHL has to be over the top. They did it very well. And they think shutting all of that down will be better?? What a big mistake, in my mind anyway. What do you think? Agree or disagree?

Pierre Luc Dubois traded to Washington for Darcy Kuemperr. Wow. I guess LA was telling the truth when they said they wouldn't buy out PLD, but I don't think anyone could have predicted trading him for a goalie who didn't have a great year. Charlie Lindgren was starting over Kuemper this past year at times. It had to have been a bite the bullet and get that salty cap hit back. LA obviously did not like what they saw in PLD and that he could turn things around next season. They gave up a lot to get him. I presume LA must have checked with Montreal to see if they would pony up and give more. After his year in LA did Montreal say no, a year after trying to get him? A very strange situation with who was once a very coveted player.

I just read that Pierre Luc Dubois may be a serious buyout candidate. If they buy him out now they would only have to pay 1/3 of his remaining salary (something like a million or so a year for about 14 years) versus waiting until his next birthday when they will have to pay 2/3 of his salary for a buyout, if I have it right. Even though at end of season interviews LA said they would not be buying him out, you have to wonder if paying a million or so a year for an extended time, when the cap will be going up, would be the better way to get out of something that could be a huge drag on their salary structure for quite a few years. If they buy him out Montreal would seem like a place he would want to go based on what he said before he went to LA. Do you think we'd be interested in him again, based on what happened in LA? If so at what price? Because of what happened this year would he bet on himself and sign a one year "show me" deal and then cash in?? What are your thoughts?

I don't follow the junior or NCAA leagues except reading updates about our own draft picks. I read that Stephane Gonzales from BPM Sports, reported that the Canadiens are quite interested in 2024 top prospect Tij Iginla. If he falls to us is he a player we would want....would he be a good pick?

David Reinbacher's first game: A month or so again my wife and I and another couple decided we'd drive the hour to Belleville and watch Laval play the Bellville Senators. Last night was the night we bought tickets for and it also happened to be the first game for David Reinbachers so we were all interested to see him play. I expected to see him struggle with the speed and the smaller rink but other than a few isolated moments he looked totally at ease and I thought he played very well and fit in seamlessly. The only time I saw him confused, to me at least, was when they put him out towards the end of overtime, three on three, and I assume they were playing man on man and he probably had never played three on three before. His man took the puck and retreated out towards centre ice and DR looked to the bench, seemingly unsure if he should follow him or stay put. But other than that I thought he did very well. He is a very good and fast skater and was physical, not overly, but definitely used his size at time to his benefit. His teammates huddled with him before every face-off and they seemed to be discussing responsibilities and who should be where. On top of it all he used his skating and hockey smarts to pick off a pass, picked up a loose puck and skated in with another Laval player as a decoy and sniped a nice goal to the far side. His teammates mobbed him and it was definitely a great moment for him and the team. He also was named third star of the game by whoever picks the stars in Belleville. So if this was his first real game in North America on a smaller rink and a faster pace, I thought he did extremely well and I think he's going to as advertised, a very good skating, solid defence man who can carry the puck out of his end and make plays. A very good first game, IMHO!

Even though they are at different levels and age, do you think it is fair to compare Lane Hutson with Quinn Hughes, when Hughes was Hutson's age? Are they in the same conversation?

I just read an article stating that New Jersey will likely trade 22 year old Alex Holtz. They said he's a 22-year-old sniper who hasn’t gotten quite enough opportunity with the Devils. The former seventh-overall pick has 13 goals and 24 points playing mostly in a bottom six role. Are any of you familiar with him and do you think we're interested in him? It sounds like he's the type of player Kent Hughes would be interested in. Thoughts??