tomh009

Maybe keeping Dvorak on a short-term contract would make more sense than a big-money UFA on a seven-year deal?

He could possibly be "in the mix" this year ... 😊

Four points from four games on that swing, it could have been worse. Calgary was not to be the way Wolf played so I think I'll be satisfied with the total. What I see the biggest obstacle is the total of three (!) games against Florida in the next two weeks and a bit. With the Panthers fighting to win the division, will the Habs be able to match them?

For set plays--such as a PP faceoff in the offensive zone--it is an enabler, though.

Indeed.

More than 11 minutes (in three of the six games) is not bad ice time for a fresh rookie.

Dallas and Florida have their own Finns as well. It may be personal relationships with the other Finns on those teams--or the allure of the Cup.

Whether he returns this season or next, a less severe injury is good news either way.

Indeed, Sabres fans don't seem to unhappy with the trade.

4-3 final. Laval back on top with the best points percentage in the AHL.

I think so, too. Not nearly as severe a cut as was thought. I trust that the Habs are going to be conservative but there are still 20 games remaining, so I expect to see him playing again unless there is a sudden collapse in the next few weeks.

The (guess)estimates after the injury projected 4-6 months for recovery. He's skating again after less than six weeks, so it must have been a less serious injury than they thought.

A fair point, yes.

Wheeler projects him as a #3/4 goalie so I'm not even sure that I'd do it if Briere were being stupid. By comparison, Wheeler has Dobes projected as a #1B/2, and Fowler higher than that.

I don't see why we'd want Kolosov in the NHL. Or AHL. I would rather keep Primeau with Hughes in the AHL.

Oops, there goes that theory!

Habs 16-12-4 at home, Oilers 17-11-2 on the road. Let's see whether the boys can play well enough to deal with a stronger team.

To sum up with one more Evans quote, from the Athletic story: 🙂

Indeed C$4M for four years is not a pittance, added to what he has already earned, he will have decent financial independence once he gets older--even if he doesn't match the top players' salaries. Nice to see that he's grounded in reality--and happy to stay in Montreal!

Maybe Evans should rank as "secondary core" now? 😊 Fourth line, but still a key player.

They are not absolute in saying that: "They would set a price for him too which would make it easier to trade him down the road if they hold on to Montembeault which seems likely at this point in time but that could change. " As Commandant said, Montembeault has established himself as a solid starter, a GSAx/60 over three seasons (130 games) of roughly 0.25, which is firmly top-15 starter territory, and close to 0.4 this year. At this point he's the one we know can be a solid starter. Dobes, only 10 games so far, not enough to know. THN says as much, too, but adds that things could change. And maybe Dobes plays 30 games next year and has a GSAx/60 of 0.5 again. It's not super likely, I think, but it could happen, and that would be a great thing for the Habs to have two high-quality goalies in the next season or two. And, yes, if that happens, and if Fowler works out, and if he's ready for NHL before the 2028 season (he's only 20 at the moment), then Hughes will have to do something about it. But I suspect that problem is not something he's losing sleep over ...

At the moment Hughes is playing at least as well as Primeau so I don't think this should be a huge concern.

Primeau is good in the AHL ...

I guess I never looked at the later years of their contracts in detail! Pretty reasonable clauses, though, averaging a 10-team no-trade list.

Would we find takers for Anderson at 50% retained in the summer?