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I thought he was known to be just as fake as Eklund?

Pleks does all the little things right. Even when you 'don't notice him', he's still hustling in the defensive zone and shutting down opposing team's top lines. He's no Giroux, but I have no problem calling him a good number one center.

I would honestly not consider moving Pleks. He's our number 1 center and there's aren't too many players that excels at everything the way he does. We don't have anyone who can step in and do everything that he does.

Bourque - Pleks - Gionta Pacioretty - Eller - Gallagher Briere - Desharnais - Galchenyuk Moen - White - Prust This is how I would have the lines if the season started today. Having DD and Briere on the same line might seem like a mistake at first glance, but I could see them making for an exploitative 3rd line. Obviously teams will match up their best shut down guys versus the top 2 lines, leaving the DD line to skate circles around their bottom pairing defensemen. Obviously one of the smallest forward groups in the league, but the amount of skill has gotta be somewhere around the top. It's very hard to roll 3 legit scoring lines in the NHL today, and I think the Habs definitely have that going for them. You have got to believe that the fact Briere is a proven playoff producer factored into the decision - 109 points in 108 games.

LeBrun: " Habs are still waiting to find out if they got Briere..." So obviously we at least know an offer was made.

Good move for Boston. They had to get rid of Seguin for the same reason Pittsburg had to get rid of Staal. I'm sure they would have preferred to deal Krejci and keep Bergeron and Seguin as their top 2 for the next 10 years, but Senguin net them way more that Krejci. Eriksson is legit.

Ehh, I've stated before I feel this is not a great fit. Maybe if DD or Gionta is on the way out, but even then, it seems more like a side step. I can see this making sense if DD is dealt, in the same way MB made a somewhat sideways move in dealing Cole for Ryder for alleviate cap pressure down the road. As it stands, we have 5 centers for our top 3.

Dreger thinks Clarkson may be able to sign for more than 6 million per year.

I think McCarron being a top 6er is beyond everyone's expectations. Also, it's likely Koivu will sign a 1 year extension with the ducks.

All of these Briere rumours are very trouble. I can't for the life of me figure out why MB would go after a small center. That's literally the last thing we need aside form maybe an offensive defenseman and a starting goalie.

I don't feel we need to tinker with our defense. When Emelin returns, and assuming Tinordi starts in MTL, we will have two, big physical guys, plus Subban, Markov Gorges and Diaz. That's pretty solid in my books.

Not a lot of media outlets are talking about Iginla at all, despite the fact that he's easily at the top of he UFA list. Is it just a forgone conclusion he will resign with Pittsburg? I can't imagine they have the cap...

Although our 2 highest picks in the draft were 6'5 and 6'2 respectively, so there's that. And, even if he never amounts to anything more than a 4th line grinder, 6'4 Connor Crisp is nothing to scoff at.

Stalberg? I always liked him. Big guy, soft hands. Kind of like a better Pouliot. Unfortunately, doesn't really use his size to play a power forward game. As for Diaz, with the way he was playing before he went down, I want him as a permanent fixture. He was playing a complete game and very strong defensively. If he can be Josh Gorges who can skate and pass, that would be great

The problem with that is that our main weakness is still size. While I love guys like DD and Gallagher, it's hard to imagine our current team grinding our way past teams like Boston, LA, etc. to a Stanley Cup. Not to mention Gallagher and Galchenyuk still have yet to see an 82 game schedule. If our team is gunna go in for the long haul, we need to be able to dish and take punishment rather than just trying to outskate it all the time. We need to be built for the long haul.

We aren't in a complete rebuild, so you can bet MB will do everything he can to compete each season. It's pretty much his job.

Other interest names at forward: Raymond Morrow MacArthur Cleary Jones Nystrom Stalberg Pretty much all bottom six depth/reclamation projects. A few interesting centers, but I don't see a big upgrade on what we have.

The Breie rumours are troubling... We would have to get rid of Desharnais, but I'm not even sure Briere is a big upgrade over DD, especially in the long term. At this point, we should only be looking at size, or we should roll with the team we have. I'd be all in on Horton and maybe Clarkson. Failing that, start looking at guys like Clowe and Penner.

Good on Vinny for getting a good deal. Wish him the best, but as always, hope Philly doesn't do well. It always cracks me up when people bring up things like guts, loyalty, pride, blah blah blah when it comes to free agency. In the end, hockey is their job. If you could leave your job at Best Buy to go to Google and make double the salary, would you stay at Best Buy for loyalty reasons? Even if you weren't hurting for money initially?

I don't see why a healthy, rejuvenated Louis Leblanc shouldn't be able to crack the Habs top 9, if not by the beginning of the season, by the end.

Still don't get all the DD hate. He may have had some slow points last season, but he has proved to be a significant point-getter at the NHL level. As I said before, I would prefer him as a 3rd line center in order to distribute the offense over 3 lines, but I don't see Gally or Eller to be huge upgrades of DD at this point int heir careers.

I'm warmer with the idea of signing Vinny now than I was when I first heard he was being bought out. Even as a 60-70 point guy, he's still the type of player that will make his wingers better. The most important thing would be that it would take a lot of pressure of Pleks. We want him playing and offensive role, and Vinny would give us a good 2nd line. I'm still a big Deharnais fan, but he would most certainly be pushed onto the 3rd line, which might actually benefit him as he wouldn't be matched up against the other teams best players. Pacioretty - Pleks - Gallagher Bourque - Vinny - Gionta Glachenyuk - Desharnais - Eller <-- (don't worry about anyone being waived out of the dot with this line) Moen - White - Prust That's 3 solid scoring lines right there. The interest in Vinny is definitely huge though... I think for him to come to the Habs, it will be because he really wants to play here (other teams will offer better money, be more of a cup contender and/or be a more agreeable city to live in). Of course, all signs up to this point indicate that he never really wanted to play for the Habs...

Wow, Fucale with our 3rd pic of the draft! Plus 2 huge forwards! Another huge draft for the Habs!

Wow, I like this pick. Not only is he tall, he already weighs 235 at 18 years old and plays with a mean streak. This is a huge need addressed late in the 1st round.

Wow, Vancouver got screwed in that trade. New Jersey hit a home run.