tomh009

I have not seen any real evidence of this.

Slafkovsky is very visible but they have drafted smaller players, too. I think they're looking for skill and potential first and foremost, it's not size above all.

No. Habs have lots of mid-level prospects already, we need some top-line/top-pairing players, and trading down does not help that.

It's not a question of not liking Russia or Russians. But he has a KHL contract now, he has to do his military service, and given the Russian political situation (and their ongoing invasion of Ukraine), it's impossible to predict when he would be able to move to the NHL. That's a real risk, and not just a personal preference.

Best player available, please, drafting for immediate need rarely works out ...

Right. it would have been nice to win but 5th is much better than 7th!

The question is whether Gallant will still be paid (by the Rangers) if he takes up an assistant post elsewhere. If he does not, he may just choose to take a year off.

It will be interesting to see what changes the Leafs will be making, as their top players were clearly not producing. Nylander was the best of the top four, but Marner and Tavares were nowhere. Matthews was somewhere in the middle. Change the GM (for choosing the wrong players), fire the coach (for not getting the most out of those players) or trade some of those players for futures?

He is now, but he's not the most consistent of goaltenders. Will he keep it up?

I’m able to tune out the Leafs noise so the Habs’ success is much more important to me.

Me, I care much more about the Habs of the future than the Leafs of today.

Ullmark or Swayman? Will Krejci be back? And Pastrnak needs to get to his usual form.

You can move up by winning twice in a five-year period, no more. But since the Habs didn’t move up last year, that doesn’t count against this rule.

Drafted players are usually the very top players on the junior teams, so they end up taking faceoffs not only against other drafted players but against many who will never play professional hockey, so their faceoff win percentages end up being inflated. And even of the drafted players, fewer than half make it to the NHL, so the faceoff opposition is really far beyond what they see in junior. If you don't want to believe me, that's OK, too.

Indeed. The reality is that Hutson > Mailloux > Beck.

Yes ... but junior faceoff wins don't translate to NHL faceoff wins quite so easily. (That's not to say that I'm not looking forward to seeing Beck in a Habs sweater...)

Don’t look now …👀

I would argue that what Armia does is actually good fit for the roster: we don’t have a surplus of effective two-way forwards with Danault and Lehkonen gone. The contract is the problem, not the fit.

At the moment I'm pinning my hopes on Beck to grow into that role, but he's still got a long way to go. In the meantime, I think that Armia is the closest we have to that, and he's definitely not a Danault or a Lehkonen.

I really don’t foresee Hughes signing a UFA this year, unless it’s on a bargain contract. Trade for an RFA, maybe within the realm of possibility. Why? First, Habs are not ready to contend. Second, we have too many veterans blocking the young players’ way already. And third, the UFA market is fairly weak this summer anyway.

Just like it did this year.

2-0 Bruins after two--with only 12 shots for the Panthers.

The 2022 bonus overage was $1.132M so not a big difference for the Habs.

So, the Leafs spanked the Lightning by a nearly identical score to the Leafs-Habs game just about a week earlier. Just saying ...

I suspect that Mesar may well play another OHL season.