tomh009

They had a 2-1 lead halfway through the third, and then things fell apart ...

More likely summer so that the other team can plan for managing the longer-term cap hit.

Yes. But I do think Gallagher, too, has value if he can regain the form of the past few seasons. Maybe not as much as his contract, but part of that can be retained if the deal makes sense.

Well ... not just stupid GMs. Just as we discount the value of a super high performance year (ahem, Pitlick) as an aberration, a poor year can also be an aberration. The trick is for the scouts and the analytics teams to figure out how much of the fabulous/crappy performance is due to other factors, and how much is expected to be sustainable. So, Petry still attracts interest. And not only from stupid GMs. 🙂

I hope he can find some (probably AHL) playing time in Calgary. He's worked hard for a ridiculous number of teams, I really do wish him the best out there.

Honestly I don't think that signing up some UFA D (and shipping out Toffoli, Lehkonen and Hoffman -- or similar) would turn us into a contender for next season and beyond. But that, too, is just my opinion.

I really see Lehkonen as being able to play a Gallagher role, rather than complementing him. For a short while (half a dozen games maybe?) we had a Toffoli-Suzuki-Lehkonen line, and that really reminded me of Tatar-Danault-Gallagher. Now, Toffoli is gone, and Suzuki is unlikely to play with Lehkonen, but something like Pitlick-Dvorak-Lehkonen could be something similar, checking and being able to score, too. Lehkonen can cause havoc in front of the net but will not get called for as many penalties. Lehkonen has more value, I think, than Gallagher due to the team control and much lower costs. But for similar reasons, if HuGo finds a team interested in Gallagher, Lehkonen could fill at least part of that role -- if he's not traded -- and save a bunch of cap space.

Based on what Gorton and Hughes have said to date, and the fact that they traded away Toffoli, I really don't think they are planning a one-year reset. But that's just my impression. None of us know this for sure.

I don't think the Habs should be so desperate to clear cap room -- especially as we will have more young players next year and after -- as to basically give away Lehkonen (who will be RFA not UFA this year) and Hoffman.

Each player, of course, has the ability to take a more modest (in terms of either length or AAV) contract to minimize the risk of criticism, but almost all of them will naturally choose to maximize their incomes instead. In that context, I only have limited sympathy for the players, Gallagher or otherwise: they chose dollars over love, and that's fine, but they do need to accept the consequences.

The Habs’ D left the door wide open at first — and then shaped up and gave the Jets nothing to shoot at at all. Bizarre.

Maybe more common in French? Could be. It's been a few years! 😂

Him and Anderson have marching orders to improve their trade values?

I have the admit that for a tankage game, it's pretty entertaining now.

Hoffman passes to a Jets player to create a two-on-one. Montembeault probably should have had that one, though. And now 4-0. I think it's getting close to Hamburglar time. But the defence corps is back to its old tricks.

Not the greatest start, two pucks tipped in past Montembeault. Let's see how the boys respond.

Both were used, at least definitely recall both being used 🙂 ... the meaning was the same.

What? No "Bird"? Ah well ...

Yeah, he's not an NHL prospect. But he's great for Laval.

I think that deserves some bananas!

It may be less of a matter of Poehling playing badly, and more of Dauphin playing well (which he certainly has done).

Poulin was a very nice pick-up in the off-season. 0.923 in 12 AHL games, in addition to playing in TR.

2-1 in the shootout with goals by Ylonen and Fortin (none for RHP, Roy and Dea). 34/35 saves for Poulin!

Looking at the Flyers, I think their gap is even bigger and a successful reset is just a pipe dream. But if they'll make a deal for Petry I'm not going to object!

Please do take it to DM, @Commandantand @alfredoh2009. This topic matters to you, but not so much to the rest of us.