tomh009

Tkachuk ... he may be a great player, but I really am happy we picked Kotkaniemi instead of this guy. I just wouldn't want to see him wearing a CH sweater. Sorry.

A puck-moving defenceman, of sorts!

A bad defensive play once again. Shockingly, it was the Sens, not the Habs -- and Domi tucks it in!

At this point no one is using the LD injuries as an excuse for where we are. It’s just the reason why the Habs had to recall Alzner — and the Rocket had to dip into the McGill roster.

Yes, it’s possible that he will be an 80-100 point guy. Too early to tell yet, though. At the time if the trade, I would not have expected that.

Tied at one halfway through the game. The two teams scored a minute apart early in the second, Alain scoring for the Habs.

Since Price, the only top-five picksare Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi. Sixth through tenth picks rarely have real elite prospects available.

Ones that turn into 80-point players aren’t any more common, either, so prying one loose from another team is difficult. Why have we not had top scorers on the Habs for a very long time? At least partly because some of the very few times we had top draft pick we focused on goaltending.

They don’t even have 12 total between Montreal and Laval.

That’s not the strongest defensive line-up. Hope Primeau can hold down the fort.

Everything I have read about him says he's a good guy. We just overpaid him, I can't blame him for taking our offer!

Yes, adding a80-100 point guy would sure be nice, But there were only 27 80+ point forwards in the NHL last year, and 15 of 31 teams did not have one (eight teams had two, and Tampa Bay had three). So picking one up is by no means easy, everyone is looking for them and no one wants to spare one. That's why Panarin was a hot commodity a year ago.

Some additional perspective from The Athletic's story on Alzner this morning:

Kovalchuk is 36, but 0.57 PPG isn't entirely washed up. A late second-round pick has less than a 25% chance of becoming an NHL regular -- and several years later at best. In the meantime, Kovalchuk can help bridge the gap until Caufield et al are ready.

All of this. Yes. And if the situation warrants, we can rent him out at next year's deadline for a pick.

I have to say that signing Chiarot turned out to be a shrewd move by Bergevin. I was not unhappy with it at the time but it has worked out better than I expected.

Apparently Barber and Varone were grumbling because they were losing ice time to guys like Kotkaniemi and Poehling. I think Bouchard doesn't want to put up with that, everyone needs to play for the team rather than themselves.

What I would really like to understand is why we could not beat Detroit. I'd understand underestimating them once or twice, but all four times?

Normally we should have at least a two-goal lead before a collapse. But maybe they'll be flexible and make an exception tonight.

Because there are so many elite players available each year in the second half of the first round ... clearly our drafting must be incompetent. We should surely be able to pick a 50-goal scorer every year in the first round, a 40-goal scorer in the second and a top-pair defenceman in the third. Can't do that? Throw out the bums!

So ... conflict with Bouchard?

Or the trade was already done (but not announced) so Bouchard didn't play them, maybe to avoid risk of injury?

Concussion history is a huge red flag for me. Especially with the very recent Juulsen struggles.

Indeed. $450K minors salary is 50% more than Varone got anywhere else before. And Barber's $300K is almost triple his previous best.

It's a point, at least, better than the recent road trip. And two points for each of Evans, Hudon and Kotkaniemi.