tomh009

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.

Duh, I thought it was Kinkaid but it turns out that I was actually looking at Lindgren’s contract. Sorry. 😥

it seems that they gave the goal to Evans (who also assisted on the Fleury goal) with assists to Hudon and Kotkaniemi.

He is still under contract for another year.

The fourth line still gets a lot of minutes in Laval, does it not?

Alec Martinez going from LA to Vegas in exchange for 2020 and 2021 second-round picks. 32yo LD, 1g+7a this year, one year left on a $4M contract. https://www.tsn.ca/vegas-golden-knights-acquire-alec-martinez-from-los-angeles-kings-1.1445304 LA now has 11 picks in 2020 and either eight or nine in 2021.

That (speculative) line-up would actually give the Rocket a serious #1 line.

Julien is a good coach. But given the team's lackadaisical play in the third periods, as an example, I do wonder whether his relationship with the players has broken down. If we were to switch coaches, Gallant would be a very good choice. I don't think Bouchard is quite ready yet for a step up.

Agree that Kovalchuk would be a short-term solution. From an age point of view, Domi is a keeper. The question is whether he is a good fit for the team. I’m personally undecided on that.

Most prospects take more than one year (after being drafted) to mature. Goalies and defencemen even more so. That's why they are called "prospects". That said, it looks like this year's draft has nine very strong players to choose from, so at the pace the Habs are playing now we should get a very good prospect in the first round.

Yeah. It makes no sense to me to not have that discussion. Having that enables you to make a better decision.

If Bergevin succeeds in signing Kovalchuk to a short contract this week, I think all three should be expendable, as long as the price is right.

Pollock was a giant among men. But I do believe much of the opposition (other teams' GMs) are now better, too, than during his era.

I think Julien is a good coach ... but surely this is a coaching issue?

They got one. Tied with the Habs now, with three games in hand.

Yeah. But goaltending nothing to write home about, either.

And on today's episode of Ripley's Believe It or Not: https://twitter.com/The_Creasy/status/1229406070210211840?s=20

Absolutely the right move.

Detroit is 3-0 vs the Habs this season. Also 2-1 vs the Bruins. Not many other wins, though.

That's three second-round picks in this year's draft, and 12 picks total. Too bad, I liked Scandella, but you can't turn this deal down.

A nice article from 2013 here, starts off with the McCarron pick and a thrown laptop ... https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/7/7/4486444/canadiens-habs-draft-nhl-debriefing-evaluation-philosophy-timmins-bergevin-mccarron A bad pick -- but was it a bad pick made because everyone was complaining about the smurfs?