tomh009

On the upside ... Hughes has been a pretty astute GM so far, and maybe he will be able to make a reasonable trade or manage a decent UFA signing. He knows what the team needs, and he surely knows what the options are. We'll know more in about a month.

St-Louis also has Matheson playing a more defensive role now.

A local boy, and has never won a Cup. Given the Habs' current trajectory, I'm not surprised he's interested in staying. Let's see how much he's willing to sign for. Hopefully he will be reasonable.

Yes, but ... too many middle-six wingers, not enough top-six centres. Need to ignore the latest shiny toy and focus on what we really need.

They really had no answer for Charlotte. This game was close, but the first three were not. Still, 100+ points and first overall in the regular season, and made it to the semis. A huge improvement over last year's playoff miss.

Add Logan Stankoven to the list?

A successful mission to Toledo for the Lions https://www.lenouvelliste.ca/sports/sport-local/lions/2025/06/02/mission-reussie-a-toledo-pour-les-lions-JMNDJMS2U5EQNEPOCNB73SMDLY/ "When you get out of a very physical show against the Florida Everblades and you end up facing a very skillful club in the next round, it's a big change. We needed a match to adapt. The numerical disadvantage was excellent thanks to the adjustments of Luc-Olivier Blain. On the massive attack, we have taken advantage of it. The guys took a hold on this series by keeping it simple. We are going to play in our structure as we did all year round and we are waiting for the turnarounds. Luke Cavallin also made big stops (24 in total) when they had their chances," said (head coach and GM Ron) Choules.

After Saturday's 3-1 loss to Toledo in game 1 of the ECHL finals, the Lions roared back with 5-1 win to tie up the series 1-1 as it moves north to Trois-Rivieres. The Lions kept the game clean with only three minors and outshot the Walleyes 35-25. Next three games are in TR. Streaming is available through the AHL feed.

I just realized that I could do a gift link for the article (I think I get three of these a month) so here it is, no need for a subscription: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/67998031468245db630eb86dfd0b19bc0200093969ab34557023e7a4cb52d482/45L36FUZNRB4XJ6F3BHVGUS4HA/

From Cathal Kelly in the G&M: "The secret to NHL playoff success is that the regular season doesn’t matter" https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-the-secret-to-nhl-playoff-success-is-that-the-regular-season-doesnt/

Thanks. So it was about Primeau, I was a bit confused about that, my brain could not deal with the complexity. I did suggest Cavallin as an option last week as well.

I tried parsing this sentence several times but am still confused. Could you please rephrase?

I expect that the Habs have had a lot of eyes on the Rocket playoff games this spring, evaluating the play of all the prospects. In that sense, the playoffs, even if they end tomorrow, will have been invaluable in assessing the potential of the Rocket players.

Indeed. Even Hutson is blocking more shots. Clearly an area for improvement.

5-1, 5-2 and 5-1 again. And Primeau got pulled again after allowing four goals, this time on 16 shots (last time was 18). Would Fowler have done better? I suspect so, I think Charlotte has Primeau off his game. But Fowler likely wouldn't have scored any goals, and the Rocket are not going to win games scoring a single goal per game.

Retirement or no retirement, Savard is still working for the Habs:

Blocking shots--but especially blocking passes. Shot-blocking is a bit closer. For the regular season, shots blocked/60: Savard 8.68 Guhle 6.39 Carrier 6.23 Matheson 5.02 Hutson 3.96 Struble 3.87 Xhekaj 3.69 Struble and Xhekaj have some work to do in this area!

Only if Hughes finds a trade partner that is willing to provide something useful (for the Habs) for that pick.

I think Granlund would be a realistic (though far from guaranteed) option, and would be able to make an impact, in both regular season and the playoffs. And while he's 33, he's never played fewer than 60 games a season, apart from the COVID year, since cracking the Minnesota lineup in 2013. I think he still has some gas left in the tank.

In general, I agree with this. But Savard was really struggling, especially in the second half of the season, so it might not be too much of a dip to add Reinbacher. PK might be where the Habs will feel Savard's absence the most. Bringing on a prospect in place of Matheson would be much more challenging.

Not really sobering or shocking unless one has been wearing rose-coloured glasses, I think. The Habs have progressed steadily each year: 55, 68, 76 and 91 points--an average improvement of better than 10 points per year. Maintaining that progression would be outstanding, but it would still mean at least two years before being a contender. Brian correctly points out numerous gaps that need to be addressed before they can contend. However, I feel that this next season they can still continue to improve without massive moves: 2C added (however it's done) Demidov for a full season Reinbacher in the NHL, not at his peak yet but surely better than the 2024-25 version of Savard Dach playing a full season (one hopes) Dobes playing a full season of backup (2.7 GAA vs Primeau's 4.7) The team now knows how to play D the way St-Louis wants them to--something that cost them a lot of points in the first few months of the past season On D, Hutson, Guhle, Struble (and maybe Xhekaj) should show added growth and maturity. And we might see Kapanen or Beck in the lineup as well, though that will not likely move the needle much. And maybe Hughes will make other moves yet, but am not counting on those. Nothing earth-shaking in that list, bar a possible upside surprise with a 2C, but I think 95-100 points is not out of reach, and they should be able to clinch a playoff spot earlier than the final game of the regular season. And then they'll need to make some additional moves a year from now, to take the next step. But that's for later. # Yes ... other teams will improve. And yet others will regress. It's how things go. I prefer to focus on what the Habs can do: if they are good enough, they'll be in the playoffs, regardless of the other teams. And in the not-too-distant future, they should contend.

I'm not quite sure how to parse DON's post about Rossi: Is it two separate sentences, and "Rossi is too small for Hughes, (and is a) non starter" is his statement? Or one sentence, "or is that the rumour (is that) Rossi is too small for Hughes, (and a) non starter" which implies that the rumour is that Hughes won't trade for a small forward? The lack of punctuation makes it less than clear. 😊

I suspect Danault would be quite OK with pulling on the sainte flanelle again. And he would be better than Dvorak, to be sure. But if we can trade for/sign a legit 2C (Granlund seems like a somewhat realistic option) that may not be necessary.

There are options ... but all of them have the "big if" associated with them, we don't know if the Habs can really get them. So, arguably, Danault could be one of the fallback options.

I think not an ideal 2C for a contender, but maybe good enough for next season, and then an excellent 3C for 2026-27, when hopefully Kapanen or Beck would be able to step up to 3C. Still excellent defensively, and a solid positive contributor on the Kings. Would they trade him? What would LAK want in return?