REV-G

This likely has been discussed earlier in this thread somewhere but since we're a few days from the draft and then free-agency, and because evidently Pierre-Luc Dubois has told Winnipeg he is going to try free agency in two years (sounds like he wants out), do you think there is any way we could swing a trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois without including one of Suzuki or Caufield?

I did a little digging around and discovered a few names that could fit. Some of you may have a better knowledge of these guys than I do. Rick Bowness mentioned to someone that he would be open to working with MSL and he has evidently always been very strong on the defensive side. Andrew Brunette, former interim coach of the Florida Panthers has been mentioned as being a good fit if he's interested in building something with another young coach. Do you think they would consider Francis Bouillon, already in the organization? Could Dan Boyle be an option? Former teammate but I'm not sure if he has any coaching experience, which I'm assuming would be a requirement with MSL lack of. None of these were my own thoughts, they all have been mentioned by other people as possibilities.

We didn't see the Marty St.Louis hire coming at any point so I wonder if the person who replaces LR will be a well known, experienced person or someone like MSL, highly skilled as a player but not a proven coach yet? I think we all understand how important this new coach will be with all of our young developing d-men on board and ready to begin their pro careers. Any thoughts on who might be considered? Some may be well known but I wonder if there are some under the radar MSL types out there? Thoughts?

Forget my above post. I just read other posts talking about Anderson, our 26th and maybe Petry or another already dated defensemen. Question answered!

I just read something that triggered a thought. Do you think Anderson and our 26th pick plus another pick would be enough to get NJ's 2nd pick this year?

I'm surprised that you would put him late 1st round or early second. I've never seen him live but I would have thought by his numbers in the regular season and playoffs that he would have come in top 10. I guess there's a whole lot more to it than just numbers. Have other players with similar numbers been drafted that low? Just curious.

I was looking for any news on Jesperi Kotkaniemi and haven't found much. I noticed he was not listed on the roster for Tuesday night's game against the Rangers. Has anyone followed Carolina through the first round? Did he play at all. I like him as a young man but do not like how he left so I have mixed emotions about him. But I do wish him well.

This is what I have read recently about Pierre-Luc Dubois. Winnipeg seems not to be very urgent in resigning him right now. He is not happy with the defence first system the Jets use. There is a possibility Winnipeg would be willing to move him. He would thrive in Marty St. Louis's offensive, creative system he has put in place. I wonder if those statements have much truth or accuracy to them? If they do, and If Montreal does draft Shane Wright, adding PLD to our mix means we'd have in whatever order....Suzuki, PLD and Shane Wright down the middle would probably give us the strongest centers we've had for many years. If there is any possibility Winnipeg would consider trading PLD would Calgary's first we have this year, a second and a defensive propect be enough to get him? What do you think it would take?

We've all heard the ongoing discussion/debate over the past month regarding what the future holds for Carey Price. He recently said that his knee is still swelling and that he does not see himself being able to play as often as what a regular starting goalie would play in the NHL next season. He also made the comment that his preparation for the last game of the season he played in was as if it was his final game in his career or as a Montreal Canadien. All of that sounds ominous. So with his situation and future still very unsettled I have been thinking about what our options are going forward. How could that position unfold for us over the next 4 months. Here are our options as I see them. 1. Carey Price recovers over the summer and the rest and therapy on his knee is successful and he returns for the 2022-23 season as our staring goalie and Jake returns as our backup and Cayden Primeau is back in Laval as their starter. We either trade Montembault or send him to Laval if he clears wavers. 2. Carey Price is unable to continue playing and goes on LTIR or retires. Most likely LTIR so he doesn't forfeit all that money. Jake Allen becomes our starter for his final year and either Montembault or Primeau is his backup. 3. I'm not sure if this option is doable but I want to mention it because this would be my choice. If Carey Price is unable to play we go out and trade (pay the price) for a young, very promising goalie from a team that has an established starter and begin to use Jake Allen for the 2022-23 year to mentor this young goalie with him being the intended starter for the 2023-24 season with him and Jake Allen possibly switching places as the starter and backup for that season. The thinking here is trying to put in place our next Carey Price for years to come. My question is does this type of young goalie exist with a team who would be willing to trade him. I'm thinking back to the Jaroslav Halak situation when we had both him and Carey Price and had to trade one of them. 4. We trade for an established goalie for the next few years if Jake Allen for any reason isn't able to carry the full load next year and as we've been doing continue to draft goalies hoping to catch lightening in a bottle. Those are my thoughts. What do you think?

I thought the article was surprising and wrong. It so easy to talk how you would do better but I thought the returns were overall very good and personally I don't see how we could have received much better. Also all of the major insiders that I listened to unanimously agreed that Montreal received outstanding returns on their trades.

After seeing the first games played by Justin Barron and Jordan Harris last week and expecting that Jeff Petry will not be back I'm wondering if any of these young defensemen make our team next year or if that would be rushing their development and a year, or should they at least start the year in Laval and bring them up later, is what would be best for them? I'm assuming that Joel Edmundston, David Savard and Alex Romanov will be the veterans next year. And I would expect that Cory Schueneman will also be one of our D men. But out of the following, I'm wondering who takes the final 3 spots. Caden Guyle, Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, Chris Wideman, Kale Clague, William Lagesson. Or do they sign a free agent this summer to get them through the next year?

"Zero pressure to win". Thats the part I don't agree with. This team is so high profile and important to the city and province that I think if he had not changed the culture and made it fun again for the players and fun for us to watch, he would be facing pressure about not being the right man for the job, simply a pee wee coach. He perhaps isn't under a pressure to win so much as pressure to change things which he has done. If he hadn't and things had remained as they were, he would be feeling the pressure by now. That's what I think.

I think it's a mistake to say that Marty StL had no pressure when he started coaching the Montreal Canadiens. Is that ever possible?? All eyes were on him to see what he would do. For example, if he did not handle the players correctly and give them the freedom to make reads while still being accountable and if he did not help the defensemen "clean things up a bit", so that even Petry commented that now they understand what they should be doing, we would still be in the same mess. It was his choice to play the young guys and give them a chance. What he changed worked and the players, to a man it seems, are playing better and they say they now enjoy coming to the rink and practicing again. There's lots more but if he had not done those things and made those changes and we were still losing and being dominated, I don't think there's any question he would slowly be getting roasted by the fans and media. He's done extremely well and that's why the pressure has lifted off the coach. He had pressure. He just coached and handled his players so well that they responded and now they are winning, some, and are fun to watch again. It's been a short period of time, granted, but in that small window he is my favourite coach by far, of anyone we've had since.......???? Scotty??

If I were to make a list of a few absolute essentials for a long term run of being a really good team I think you hit it. Besides other things, one has to be that we go and get a top notch young goalie that will be with us for many years. I know it's much easier said than done but to get a Price, Rask, Fleury etc. is an absolute must. Top 3 for sure.

So whatever you want to call it, we're in the rebuild mode. Personally I'm glad. I think we needed it and it's exciting to see the young guys we've drafted, traded for and the picks we have this year and next in the draft. Three years from now we all want to see a really good young team, with a lot of skill at every position. What gives me the most confidence is the management team we have. I like them a lot. But when we look at other teams we can see they have all tried hard to build a winner but they have had very different degrees of success or failures. One of the teams I never cheer for is the Boston Bruins. No matter what. And it's all about our decades long rivalry and so many great hard fought battles with them. Even going back to that great goal often replayed that Guy Lafleur scored off the wing in a playoff series. But lately what has bugged me is that they seem to be have been very good for a very long time! I know now it seems they're fading a bit with their core getting older, but they've had a fabulous run. Pittsburg is similar but in my mind they haven't been as good as the Bruins for as long a time. Then you have Buffalo, who has been bad it seems forever and many other teams who seem to be stuck forever in no mans land, not really doing much year after year. Then you have Toronto and Edmonton. We don't know what will happen this year but they both have some of the best offensive players in the league but every year they seem to fail miserably in the playoffs. Toronto has spent most of their money on a highly skilled group of forwards but they've lost every year in the first round for what, at least the past five years and haven't won a playoff round for a very long time. Edmonton is kind of in that same category until they prove otherwise. So what has Boston done so well that Toronto and Edmonton haven't been able to do? What lessons should we learn as we enter this rebuild so we become like the Canadiens of the 70's and 80's and like the modern day Boston Bruins but do not end up on the same path as the Leafs and Oilers? What do you think are some of the keys?

For those of you who follow Junior and NCAA players closer can you tell us where you think these drafted players, who I think are all forwards, may fit in with us? We've heard a lot about our up and coming defenceman this week, Guhle, Barron, Harris and Struble but I'm interested to see who we currently have that could complement Suzuki and Caufield. Sean Farrell Riley Kidney Emil Heineman Jan Mysak Ty Smilanic Joshua Roy.

Apparently according to Renaud Lavoie, Carey Price is doing very well right now. He was on the ice for 45 minutes in full gear and took some shots. Lavoie reported that Price and the team are planning on him playing in April. Both sides want him to play before this season finishes. Good news.

Ok, thanks. Any thoughts on what pairing he is projected for?

Not sure if this is the right place to bring this up or if it's been discussed lately, but does anyone have any info on Jordan Harris? What are the chances of him signing with us and when would he be eligible to sign?

If I was the GM I would keep him especially in light of what you say would be a likely return.

Jake Allen: This has probably been discussed in the past but since he's soon returning from injury, if Carey Price stays with us, not guaranteed due to knee issues, and with next year being a rebuilding year do you think we trade Jake Allen or keep him? There seems to be a number of teams needing a goalie and I think Jake still has a pretty good reputation. If we did trade him what do you think we could get for him? Would it be worth it or is he our potential #1 next year?

The draft/smaft comment was a reference to Cliff Fletcher when he was with the Leafs. We all know that draft picks are gold. Personally I think we have too many good players to be bad for two or three years. With what we have and what's coming, Guhle & Harris etc, and with trades I think we'll be better each year and with Marty St. Louis and the rest of the staff I think we'll improve and never be dead last again. Although being in no-man's land where you miss the playoffs but you're not low enough to get a decent pick isn't great either.

I'm sure we'll all have different thoughts on this but for me, the improvement that we have seen on our team over the past 7 games is more valuable going forward than continuing to be as bad as were for the rest of the season and getting a shot at the top pick. I know some wanted us to continue to lose so we'd have a better shot at the top pick. Personally I think that would have been more harmful. So I am very glad we brought in Marty St. Louis. Here's why. 1. Hugo can now better determine who to keep and who to trade. They're seeing a more realistic view of what we have. To just name three, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Jeff Petry, in a small sample size, have greatly improved. 2. The culture and spirit on the team was being destroyed. Maybe rot was settling in. Not sticking up for each other. Not caring. That is dangerous territory. That seems to have changed quickly. 3. We are now way more attractive to young drafted players and free agents and all the rest, than we were a month ago. Who would have wanted to come here. 4. It my be easier to attract and sign players we've drafted but not signed yet. eg. Jordan Harris. 5. We will be way ahead come training camp this fall doing what's happening now that having not made the coaching change and lived thru misery for the final 37 games or so and starting from scratch. 6. Shane Wright or whoever the first pick is, is not worth that amount of sacrifice and pain. No disrespect intended. 7. We will likely get more for the players that we do trade than if we had continued to lose at the pace we were. 8. According to the players, Josh Anderson said it outright, they were not enjoying coming to the rink. They were not having fun anymore. I'm sure tempers were frayed. They couldn't just keep going and not address what was happening. So I am glad we did not try to tank. I don't think the draft pick would have been worth it. They're playing like a team again and we all can see that maybe with all that's in place now from top to bottom, if we can get some good prospects back and make some good trades, we may be competitive in 2-3 years instead of 5. They're fun to watch again and from what we read, they're having fun again as well, and producing! Let the rebuild continue!! Draft Smaft!! lol

Good points.

Ha. I totally agree. Win some and lose more but with very close scores. Although I have to admit that the more I hear about Shane Wright being perhaps a middle six prospect, if that's true, I'm not sure it's worth too much effort to get the top pick. If we could somehow trade away some assets in 2022 for more in 2023 I think that would be prudent. If I've heard correctly 2023 is a very strong draft with an exceptional top pick in Bedard.