tomh009

No, I'm the one that is mistaken! Kulak was indeed drafted by the Flames. I don't know how I forgot about that ...

Of the players drafted by the Habs after the second round, there is also Kulak, who has played 600+ games. And Mete and Pezzetta 😊 have played 200+.

I'm not surprised that he didn't want to match Dvorak's $5.4M but he must have been much closer to the $2.5M that Armia got. Blais must then have been Plan B since he couldn't get Armia at the price he wanted.

Primeau 😊

Want to stay they may, but right now it looks like they are moving backwards.

If you only do drafting, it's very difficult to reach the critical mass of talent to be a contender. You need to move players and picks so that you can align the age of the roster and create a contention window. This is the team-building step, where we are now. Once you have done that, the challenge will be in drafting and trading so as to maintain that team strength for a longer term and hopefully contend (fairly) consistently for a long time. It's not easy, but some teams have been quite successful at this.

Trading Dobson for (essentially) picks doesn't really fit that plan, though.

Drouin to NYI for 2x $4M. I don't quite understand what the Islanders' plan is.

I think Hughes managed this quite well: Dobson > Mailloux Bolduc > Heineman Yes, we gave up two mid-first picks but the team is substantially stronger now than it was a week ago.

I expect pretty close, maybe only one zero less!

New season, new thread!

New season, new thread!

Replying to my own message: Armia signed for 2x $2.5M. Bergevin now has Danault, Edmundson, Armia and Perry from that 2021 run to the SCF.

I'm pretty sure this is for 13F. He looks like a credible 3W/4W in a pinch, when injuries hit--better than Pezzetta.

Coincidence? I think not! 😂

Agreed. In some message closer to the front of this thread I said that Mailloux is still working toward becoming an NHL player, and thus carries more risk than bolduc, who has already established himself.

140 NHL games with no AHL stints in between, but then last year he was mired in the AHL, and was traded twice. He played pretty well against the Rocket in the AHL playoffs.

Mailloux still needs to work on his defence, but he was named one of the top prospects in the AHL this year, so he is not a throwaway, either. Not Sergachev, but a high-quality RHD prospect with strong offence and weaker defence. That said, I think the trade makes sense, and it should make the Habs a better team.

Pezzetta is marginal, but I have to give him kudos for his hard work, which got him another contract. By the end of that one, he'll have earned about US$4.5M--not a lot by NHL standards, but it should hopefully put him in a good position for his post-hockey life.

Pezzetta signs with the Leafs for two years! 🎉🎊🍾🎉

And Armia also to LAK. Meanwhile, on the east coast, Briere has been very busy: first Dvorak and Juulsen, now Dan Vladar for 2x $3.35M. 😮

Yes, but … while RHD has more inherent value, Bolduc is already an NHL player while Mailloux is still working towards that—and thus has additional risk. Think it’s a fair hockey trade, a win for each team.

Briere also signed Juulsen (1x $900K) in his drive for the Cup.

https://thehockeywriters.com/st-louis-blues-making-mistake-zack-bolduc-development/