titanfan

Without a doubt - we are a worse team RIGHT now than we were this morning (with or without Weber) Gone (right now): Danault (to LA, so no going back) Perry Not to mention: Tatar Gustaffsson Merrill Staal Frolik Added: Savard Paquette Wideman Cap Room - $5.4 million Unsigned: KK - $3.5 (estimate) Lehkonen - $2.8 (estimate) Cap room = $-900,000 (That is a negative) Most likely - Weber is gone, which gives us $6.9 million to play with. Guaranteed: Savard does not replace Weber (even an injured Weber) (He is at least as good as Gustaffson or Merrill though, maybe a little better.) Paquette doesn't replace Danault. Wideman replaces Ouellet???? So - who/what can we get for $6.9 million - knowing we won't have Weber? A forward to replace Danault? A number one D?

That was the money. Just to Los Angeles instead.... What bargain basement forward to you propose we replace him with?

Next June - and the winner of the 2022 Selke Award - from the Los Angeles Kings - Philip Danault. 6 X 5.5 it was....

According to CapGeek, with the Armia signing the Habs has roughly $10.6 million in Cap Space. Both KK and Lehkonen are RFAs. That is probably $6 million right there. All that is left - is roughly $4.6 million -and we would only have 11 forwards and 6 d signed. one of those D is Weber, so we should gain an extra $7.8 million - but most of that should go to a Weber replacement? The math says we DON'T have much room to add players - even if we let Danault go (because then we have to replace him).

Danault - 6 yr - $33 million to stay a Hab. Rumour so far. Thoughts?

This is just a bad pick. Period. Bad on an organization that prides itself on being the 'class' of the league. Not only did they pick him, but they made him a First Round draft pick! Think about it. If they wanted to take a chance on him, they could have gotten him in the third or fourth round. Honestly Marc Bergevin should be ashamed of himself. Did Geoff Molson know? If not - I expect the entire Molson family/company is scrambling right now. Given all the other factors involved, Bergevin may just have fallen on his sword. Definitely the kind of thing a GM could get fired for - and there will be pressure for the tam to do just that.

Or Seattle picks Price. He goes on LTIR for the season and returns for the playoffs, a la Kucherov, and leads THEM to the Stanley Cup. And once they are done picking a lineup that includes the likes of Giordano and Tarasenko, Johanson and Gourde - the will use the cap space to sign UFA's Danualt and Ovechkin!

I'm glad this group didn't coach after game 1 in the Vegas series. Last night sucked. We lost. ONE GAME! Oh wait, we did that against Vegas too. Here is what happened - simple... Tampa scored first! We had to play catch up. Not our strength. We were doing ok - then Chiarot made a mistake. It happens, but he did. He waved at a puck with his glove IN FRONT of the net. If he doesn't it goes harmlessly into the corner. Instead it is up for grabs...then he swings at it with his stick...and he knocks it into the net. 3-1 now! Momentum gone. From that point on the Habs not only PLAYED CATCHUP -they panicked! Stopped playing THEIR game and Tampa took advantage of their chances. A great shot by Kucherov (who, by the way, earned every penny of his salary this season OVER the cap due to a loophole that will be closed.... But I digress.) Then Tampa gets a late PP goal. So, we can say a lot of things - none of them good. WE LOST. PRICE GAVE UP 5 GOALS! OUR PK STREAK ENDED But: We've lost Game 1 before - to Vegas and to LA back in '93 3 of those 5 goals came in the third period when we were trying to play 'desperate' catch up. We'll never be successful that way - but we HAD to TRY last night because that is where we were. You sure don't give up! Our PK streak doesn't matter. What matters is that we KILL THE NEXT PK and the one after that. It was the 5th goal in a 5-1 loss, with just over a minute to go. A meaningless goal. So - don't panic! Don't change the lineup! Get back to basics. Watch the tape. Adjust. Be ready. And win game 2! Gustafsson is fine. He provides extra push on the PP (and we have needed that FOR YEARS). Whoever plays that 5 or 6 D spot will get minimal minutes. The Top 4 horses are what got us here! Why change now? Unless there is an injury or a Covid issue. Change out Staal? Seriously - that 4th line, led by the two vets, is crucial to our success! Maybe you swap Armia back in for Evans. Perry is a beast and he has chemistry with Staal and Armia. Let's get some of that back! So, get the beer on ice! Have the wings ready to go! Put on your lucky Habs shirt. And enjoy Game 2. We may not be in the Stanley Cup finals again for a VERY long time! Go Habs Go!!!

Hoping nothing bust the best for his recovery. Hockey (sports) is a cruel mistress. Kids, like Drouin, dream of playing in the NHL. And for a Quebec born kid, dream of playing for the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately that dream has turned into a nightmare for Drouin. It isn't his fault the Habs traded Sergachev for him, or signed him to the contract he got immediately after the trade. We all expect more, but sometimes this is all a player has. Yes, there are flashes of brilliances, but he's never been the 'Great French Hope' that Habs Fans thought he would be. Of course, there is a long list of French Canadian players who haven't been able to live up to the legacy left by Lafleur, Belliveau, Richard, etc. (Or Roy) The media has been particularly harsh on him since he arrived in Montreal. Virtually non stop. And that is where his family lives. He'd like to be proud to be a Hab but I am guessing that isn't the case. Hopefully I'm wrong...but I am guessing we have seen him play his last game in a Habs jersey...and the return will be pennies on the dollar!

https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-canadiens-jonathan-drouin-to-take-indefinite-leave-of-absence-1.1631042

Here is my question? Does he make Romanov better? That is where we are putting the future of our D-squad, on the third pairing. We can't have it both ways - so and so is a 3rd pairing guy, or does he help make Romanov better? Otherwise we are completely wasting Romanov...

When Carey Price decides he wants him gone.

Carey Price IS a Problem! Sit him until he doesn't just waive his NO TRADE CLUSE - he demands a trade. He is embarrassing himself and an anchor to the team. And I am/was a huge Carey Price fan. This is just sad.

Carey Price is no longer an NHL calibre goaltender. Throw numbers out all you want, but just look at the soft goals he has let in. The JOB of an NHL goaltender is To Give Your Team A Chance To Win - Carey Price is no longer capable of doing that.

Strike 1 - Carey Price sucks! No, I am not commenting on Carey Price the person (I don't know him), and I am not commenting on Carey Price's career. But, right now - in 2021 - Carey Price the goaltender sucks! Big Time! Not only is he not playing like a $10.5 million goalie. He isn't playing like an NHL goalie, period. Plenty of goaltenders have been benched, sent down to the minors, or cut for the way he is playing. Forget the contract...he needs to be better to have a job in the NHL at minimum salary... Strike 2 - the NHL sucks! Hockey is a game that should be decided on the ice! Not in a boardroom in Toronto. It is a fast paced game, played by men, who should be competing for every inch of ice and battling to win. The NHL not only discourages that, but randomly decides when to allow or disallow a goal when it strikes their fancy. (Just ask Gallagher). This NHL doesn't just suck, it is a joke. No other sport has screwed up video review as bad as the NHL (and that is saying a lot). I can give you plenty of reasons, but since this is a 3 strikes post - I'll mention 3. 1. Brett Hull's skate in the crease. Dallas won the cup BECAUSE the NHL decided to ignore their own rule (as stupid a rule as it was - they followed it all season, and then when it was convenient (or maybe inconvenient) they chose to ignore it. 2. The idiotic offside rule (that they thankfully have changed this year). Is it a goal? Or did his skate come off the ice as he crossed the blueline 53 seconds before the goal was scored... Need I say more? 3. Last night's winning goal (or no goal). I mean, come on. The goaltender never even lost his footing. He spun around and had plenty of time to be set..... I am preaching to the choir here... Strike 3 - Claude Julien's inability to adjust sucks! Yes, up until this year he has had a poor hockey team that needed to play perfect systems to have a chance to win. That team needed a coach that put a plan in place and cracked the whip. This year is a different. Claude couldn't adjust. Just look back to the start of the season. Basically, there was no time for training camps. Get everybody quarantined and let's drop the puck and play. So many new faces in the lineup, all Julien could do was make lines and say 'boys you all know how to play hockey, let's go and have some fun.' And guess, what they won! And they scored! And the powerplay worked! Fast forward to now - the team had a few days off (then a whole week), Julien had time to put his 'system' in place. Suddenly, NOTHING WORKED. The team can't win, they can't score and the PP sucks! The team clearly hated playing for him. I could go on. Claude Julien wouldn't (couldn't) adjust his coaching style to a team that had talent, and he lost the room! And he deservedly lost his job. I believe that Strike No. 2 had little bearing on what transpired this morning, but it still sucks how arbitrary the NHL is. It really leaves the door open for 'fixing games'. (Sure looked like it last night...) (Maybe, if Gallagher's goal counted, Julien might have lasted another week, but the writing was on the wall.) Julien was his own worst enemy, as number 3 showed. But, even with Strike 3 and Strike 2, he most likely would have lasted longer except for Strike No. 1........ Oh, and did I mention Carey Price sucks! (God, I hope he get his shit together).

LOL Nothing wrong with bringing discussion. Heck, I couldn't coach my way out of a wet paper bag.

Feeling grateful alfredoh2009 is NOT coaching the Habs! Lol Just checking, are you a closet Leaf fan? Can't see another reason you'd want to mess with our success!

...and I thought Lehkonen was our weak link last night.... Toffoli still not up to were I expected, but am confident he will get there. Armia not finishing, hopefully that corrects itself soon. Other than that, I thought or forwards were solid. Remember - we kept McDadvid and Draisatl in check all night.

Nice to be able to argue about 3rd pairing d-men isn't it? Now let's beat the Damn Leafs!!!

Hard to argue with that reasoning. it was a tough decision. Juulsen is gone. Time to move on. Wait until the expansion draft hits.....

I think Byron and Kulak are both highly underrated. The point is the team had to gamble on their 3rd pairing of defence. Could they get cap relief by sending Kulak to the Taxi squad? Yes. Would he have been picked? Not sure because of his cap hit. Is Kulak better than Juulsen today? Yes. We still lost Juulsen for nothing. So, we lost the gamble..... If Kulak got picked up, we would have lost too. But, at least we'd be cap compliant....

No need to be sorry for disagreeing. So, we lost Juulsen for nothing.... Are you saying a 3rd round pick isn't better? If the option was Juulsen or Kulak on waivers (it is one of those two or Mete), then isn't a 3rd round pick better than nothing? Juulsen could turn out to be a solid D-man. Kulak might just have had a one and done good season. Only way we'll know is to let it play out. I would have liked to see what Juulsen could do. Same for Mete, although he has had the ice time to show us a lot so far. The thing is I believe Mete is claimed, guaranteed. No guarantee Kulak would have been claimed, and his salary would have given us cap relief. You can argue the 3rd round pick all you want (is he worth a 2nd?) but either way under the current scenario we got NOTHING! And we still have a cap problem.

In an ideal world we would have traded Kulak for a 3rd round pick. The gamble is whether someone takes Kulak off waivers. We gambled on Juulsen instead, and lost. Kulak was HUGE in the playoffs (or play ins) last spring. I sure don't mind having him stay with the team either. Our top 6 is strong. I just think that, since we couldn't trade Kulak, if we wanted to keep Juulsen it would have been Kulak who would have been sent down.

For me, it came down to Kulak or Juulsen. I would have waived Kulak. Saved the cap room and kept the prospect... Would Kulak have been picked up? Guess we'll never know. With all the praise for Perry, it will be too bad to see him picked up by someone. Then again, it cost us nothing and we didn't have him two weeks ago.

This works perfectly with the Age theme. LOL. I switched Edmundson and Romanov to add some experience to each pairing. Romanov - Juulsen/Mete seems a little young...