tomh009

A fair point on Lindgren. But if he's out of the question, then what? Can we really get a decent 1B goalie for much less than $2.8M? Doing another Kinkaid-type signing is madness, so then the other option is McNiven -- or Demchenko (since we need development time for Primeau). I think we should try to keep Allen, and accept the resulting cap constraints on the rest of the team.

At least it's only half of Mete's penalty left now, and with a faceoff at centre ice.

Interesting ... Julien inserted Armia into the first PP unit. A good scoring chance for Armia on that, too, the best one on an overall respectable PP effort.

I think I'm mostly agreeing with you. We do actually have a very solid pipeline of D prospects. The challenge will be in developing them properly.

I am kindling hope that Primeau has potential to be a top goalie. If we want that to happen, he should be getting lots of games in the AHL, not an occasional one behind Price. So, if it comes down to it, I would rather than Lindgren as the #2 rather than Primeau. But, really, I would rather keep Allen.

I would take a chance on Lindgren over yet another Kinkaid-level UFA. But maybe we don’t lose Allen. I think it’s very difficult to project the Seattle picks with any reasonable accuracy.

All right, things get serious now.

Thanks! So much that you really can’t tell between the stats and the radio broadcast.

Best player available on the Habs ... but the draft is a big jigsaw puzzle for Seattle and they need to figure out the best combination of 30 players. That won’t necessarily be the best player from each team.

Dlbalr, how is Leskinen’s shot? I see that he’s leading the team with 13 shots — does he have some power to those? Or is he just flipping the puck at the net?

You could probably have a verbal gentlemen's agreement without breaking the rules -- but it also wouldn't be legally binding. (That aside, absolutely no way for us to keep all three anyway.)

Yes ... but I think Fanpuck's point is that if Lehkonen (RFA at the end of the season) doesn't need to be protected, then neither does Kotkaniemi (also RFA). My understanding (which could be wrong!) is that each team needs to expose two forwards who are under contract -- but Seattle is not limited to choosing from those two, they can choose to draft a UFA (and get negotiating rights with him) or draft an RFA (and get his rights). Based on that, the Habs would ned to protect both Lehkonen and Kotkaniemi if they want to be sure of retaining them. I suspect dlbalr's point is that Lehkonen will not help meet that two-forwards-under-contract rule.

For what it's worth, THN mock draft has Seattle picking up Lehkonen (not sure how they figured that the Habs would expose him). In goal, they chose Holtby, Khudobin and Husso. The Athletic has them choosing Khudobin, Allen and Daccord for goal. Georgetown Voice guesses that they will pick up Mete. Murray, Demko and Campbell in goal. I think we can conclude that the mock drafts are all over the place.

I think it's unlikely that Seattle will pick one of our unprotected forwards, so the question is whether they think one of our D (Chiarot? Edmundson?) fits their plan, or whether Allen does. It's not just a matter of picking the best goalie available, as they will need to choose one player from each of the 30 teams. If a team has no desirable D or F options, they might take a G instead. They also have the option of signing a UFA as the #1 goalie -- there are many coming up this year, and Seattle will be able to negotiate before the other teams -- and choosing a goalie prospect instead of drafting two experienced ones.

Maybe. He's still very young for a goalie.

Seven forwards, three defencemen and one goalie (I didn't post about goalies since Price has an NMC and I very much doubt Bergevin would want to give him up anyway). So, the goalie doesn't impact the F or D choices. I, too, expect a UFA signing before the expansion draft. Whether it's Danault or one of the other two really depends on how they play for the rest of the season.

Suzuki and Romanov are exempt, Kotkaniemi and Evans are not. Forwards are fairly easy in my opinion: Gallagher, Anderson, Drouin, Toffoli, Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen and either Byron or (more likely) Evans. If one of the UFAs is signed before the draft, both Byron and Evans will be exposed. On defence, I expect Petry and Weber (although maybe they could take a risk on Weber), and probably Mete, assuming his trajectory continues in the right direction. Chiarot and Kulak have only one year left on their contracts so I don't think they will be high on Seattle's list. So, Edmundson would be the highest risk to lose, assuming Seattle is looking for this type of D-man.

Quite the flashback. Seven of the 11 protected players are still with us, plus Lindgren and Lehkonen from the exempt list. But not a single unprotected player is on the team today.

That was three goals on eight shots in the final period. I didn't see any of it, but maybe it wasn't Primeau's finest hour, either?

Ugh. That went downhill quickly.

Yeah, I don't think Seattle would take Chiarot (or Kulak), they would want players that they can secure for more than one year. Maybe Edmundson, but I don't expect Fleury to be high on their list. So, if Mete plays well for the rest of the season, he likely should be protected.

They didn't give up anything to sign him, and he's costing them only $70K for the season at this rate. But would you consider him to be a disappointment, if he can't crack the top two in Laval, even if it's his first year in North America?

I can't see Lehkonen being left unprotected. They can protect seven forwards, so assume Anderson, Drouin, Gallagher, Kotkaniemi and Toffoli, that's only five. Maybe one of Armia, Danault and Tatar will be extended by then, but surely not two. So, that means a seventh forward can be protected. Would you choose Byron, Evans, Lehkonen or Weal? On D, they will surely protect Weber and Petry, so that means only one of Chiarot, Edmundson, Fleury, Kulak and Mete can be protected. Suzuki and Romanov are exempt.

What's the news on Demchenko? Will he be getting some starts as well?

That assumes that Seattle has someone else as a 1A. Or they may select an experienced #1 and a younger #2.