illWill

I remember thinking when Edmonton won McDavid that they would be an instant dynasty. It is mind boggling how inept Chirelli was in his role during his time there. In terms of what is coming, I can see Kevin Lowe taking over for the rest of the season until they find a replacement. Hockey moves to be made, there's so many holes that they can just start anywhere. I would trade one of Nuge, Draisaitl or McDavid. Their 3 best players by a mile are centers, so whichever return makes the most sense in dealing one of those is where I'd start. Luckily for them rebuilds don't take very long these days and they can be competitive again as early as next year.

Surely you can comprehend the counter point we made that a team doesn't necessarily need top end scoring to be successful. Our top forward is 41st in scoring which isn't good enough in your opinion, but I provided an example where a Cup winner had the 39th overall scorer. You also insinuated that our back end is old, but yet that same cup winner had even older key players. And your reply is sarcasm and an emoji? Okay

This is Trotz's trophy to lose at this point in the season. I also agree that the last place power play in the league won't do Claude any help in the votes. This thread should be Marc Bergevin - GM of the year candidate

Lucic and Krejci both had 62 points, good for a tie for 39th in the league the year the Bruins won the cup. On the back end the " key cogs on their back 9" included: Chara - 33 years old and Tim Thomas - 36 years old and winner of the Conn Smythe. I can't recall who the coach was of that team but I'm sure he was pretty good and relevant to my point.

I definitely believe that he is not going to trade a 1st or our best prospects for a rental player, and that's the best plan in my opinion. However, I do believe that if there were a deal on the table for a player who is under team control for a few years, he would be willing to trade those pieces. I'd really like for him to address the LD situation as soon as possible, and I am quite okay with trading futures for the now solution. Drafting a LD is going to take years to develop and overpaying for one through UFA is not something I am interested in. Call me crazy, but I'd even consider acquiring a veteran like a Keith or a Yandle depending on the cost. Montreal is sitting in a great position right now, they are sitting in a playoff position, they have lots of decent prospects, lots of picks and a lot of cap space. If Bergevin can make the right moves, this team will be set up to be very very good for a long time.

I take back anything bad I said about Niemi. Packeryammy with the beauty goal!

My favorite part of Tatar being a Hab aside from how well he is playing, is that literally every time the broadcaster says his name I yell "TOMAS TAAAATAAAAR" and it drives my family crazy.

And he certainly meets the Finnish requirement. It would be interesting to see what the cost would be, as he was a high pick it hasn't performed close to expectation. I wouldnt want to give up too much for him. Edmonton has so many holes that perhaps this could be the "Ryder, Halak and a 2nd" trade that we dreamt of.

I am happy that they responded with a win after the last two losses, it was important to get. That being said, Detroit is terrible on paper and are quite beatable. I loved seeing Weber fly to Michigan with a swollen face and dealing with it. He tried a full cage but didnt feel comfortable, so he took off his last line of protection. These are the things that his teammates, bosses and peers all admire

I think that Price knew he had no chance at it so he caused contact with the Minny player to hopefully get the goal called back. He did the same thing the other night but it didn't work then either.

Well that didn't take long, Scherbak placed on waivers by LA. I suppose he didn't get a chance there as well?

And here I was thinking that Suzuki and Brook would have the best performances out of the Habs prospects in this tournament

A little segment on HNIC about "the impact of Shea Weber" to the Habs this season.

I have a good feeling about 2019 Carey Price. He was locked in and making it look easy out there.

Yes sir, I never understood the logic to tank for a better spot in this era. The worst team in the league has a way better chance of not getting the first pick than getting it. And even if your team selects higher than they should have, it doesn't guarantee any sort of success from a player or team standpoint. Play your best every game, scout to the best of your abilities, develop your prospects the best you can, and hopefully the timing of everything leads to a Stanley Cup. Only losers hope that losing will lead to winning.

Even if Mete scores on his very next shot, his shooting percentage will still be 1.4%. That is not even counting the shots that went just wide or hit the post. It is absurd at this point

I think you guys are undervaluing the importance of this group to make the playoffs this season. They've worked their ass off pretty much every game and deserve to be there, and then you add the experience of playing in those intense games on top of that. Thats what is important. Trading away a late round draft pick to make the playoffs is worth way more than whatever that pick may or may not turn out to be. If the Habs have to rely on some random late pick from 2019 or 20 to develop years from now to put them over the top, they are in more trouble than you think. Regardless, the back up goalie needs to be addressed this season

If I had a choice to give up a 2nd round pick in order to make the playoffs, I do that in a heartbeat. It's obviously not as simple as that, but that's the basis for my proposal. Whoever backs up Price for the rest of the season is likely going to play close to 10 games, and I don't feel confident whatsoever in Niemi. I would certainly be on board with acquiring a lesser goalie than Howard at a reduced cost, or even bringing in Lindgren or McNevin into the backup role.

While watching this tournament I got to thinking about the breakdown of the nationalities of the Habs, and it seemed like they have a lot of players from Canada. So I looked it up and they actually have the most Canadians on their roster in the league, tied with St. Louis. What does this mean? Nothing really, just wanted to point it out.

To Montreal: Cam Ward To Chicago: 4th round pick or To Montreal: Jimmy Howard To Detroit: 2nd round pick Niemi has been a feel good story last year and he even had a couple decent showings this season, but my god, he looks brutal out there. I've never seen anything like it at the NHL level. He currently has a sparkling 4.22 GAA and a .870 SV% after 10 games and there isn't any sugar coating those numbers, he's earned them. An upgrade on the back up goalie might provide an extra win or two, which will likely be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.

I haven't smoked in over a decade but I can sure go for a dart on Niemi nights

Missed the first period but 18 shots for the Habs and a 3-2 lead looks impressive

I suppose I'll get the ball rolling here: I hope our favorite hockey team wins, that would be swell. They are on a 3 game win streak, sitting in a wild card spot and have the 11th best point total in the league. And what a fun team to watch eh? Not many seen this happening this season, so much to discuss and be happy about! So much excitement around here for a game day thread! Could you imagine if this team lost all the time as one of the worst teams in the league and people actually posted more on this site? That would be crazy