TurdBurglar

Speaking of that line.

Didn't take long for Xhekaj to show Reaves isn't so big or bad as he thinks he is.

Should be calling that 3rd line the bubble wrap line.

I’ll stand by what I’ve been saying for years and it’s been touched on by a few people here. It’s the lack of threat anywhere except one player on the left side, by design. It was Weber before Caufield. All plays target that one-timer on the left side. The PP doesn’t try to create anything else. The defence keeps a player close to Caufield and/or in his shooting lane. They need to establish at least one other threat. Ideally it’s something down low and/or on the other side of the ice to open the defence.

Slaf should be given 10 games or so, like the junior players, to see if he's ready to step up to the NHL level and sent to Laval if he isn't this year. At this point his development is far more important than his reputation of a 1st overall pick.

Some team would of picked Mailloux after if Montreal didn't. It's the NHL, they've proven time and time again they don't care about players behavior until the press becomes too bad. It's the reason players form the 2 WJC sexual assault allegations haven't been named and some are/were playing in the NHL even after the allegations were made public. It's how coaches like Babcock get hired again, and the whole Blackhawks sexual assault debacle was hidden for so long. The only thing they care about is winning, until the press is bad enough that they need to act.

Having that 2 pronged attack with speed wouldn't take away from Slaf being on the line as long as Slaf knew his job was to come in behind and park near the crease. Also at Slaf's age, making him the slower piece of that line would give him motivation to work more on his skating. I really believe Dach(most likely) or Slaf would be with Suzuki and Caufield, either way they wouldn't be on the same line.

If Slaf starts to use his size effectively, that could be a great second line.

Looks as if Montreal gained a 3rd, not traded a 3rd.

In this case it's a team representative crossing the line as to what's acceptable to expect from players. That is something that would cause NHLPA would step in, as the NHLPA's responsibility is to represent the players vs the league. You are also correct that normally these things are kept under pretty tight wraps, but the story broke to media before anyone could really dig into it.

There is a lot more to the story. It went from a big deal, to the Blue Jackets and their players trying to put it out and everything seemed fine. Then out of nowhere the NHLPA had an emergency meeting about some new things they found out. The next day it was reported the Blue Jackets were told there wasn't a path forward with Babcock. From the Blue Jackets statement it sounded like they told Babcock he had to resign, so it wasn't Babcock's choice. The only question is are we going to get the full story. The answer is probably not.

Mike Babcock lasted long in the NHL... https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/mike-babcock-resigns-as-head-coach-of-columbus-blue-jackets-1.2008770

Both Twitch and Youtube links for the 3:30pm EST game vs Boston. https://www.twitch.tv/canadiensmtl

I haven't seen much of Mailloux, just from things on this forum about him. I expected from here, that he was some great prospect that fell because of his conviction. He's either really uninspired or rusty if these comment are accurate about him. From the game tonight, I would expect him to stand out in all the right ways. He stood out in all the wrong ways, at least the first 2 periods, I missed the 3rd, I wandered off during the extended glass change.

Trudeau is looking real good so far this game. If I remember correctly, he looked good last year in the preseason and was one of the last cuts.

Montreal @ Buffalo 7pm EST tonight. I'm not sure if there will be a live stream. Will try to add it if I come across one. https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/mtl-buf-prospects-challenge-what-you-need-to-know

I think calling Hutson a future all-star is a stretch. I doubt very much he will be an all-star. If he can carry his offense to the NHL, he may top out on the 2nd pair. I really believe he's too small to be an effective top-pairing defenseman unless his stick-work defensively is something we've not seen from a defenseman yet in the NHL. His size will get exploited vs most forwards at that level.

I think you have Barron playing too high in the lineup. I think it's setting him up for failure to put him on the top-4 pairing in his first full year in the NHL. Also, Harris is LHD that plays RD and LD, so it's not Harris or Kovacevic on the 3rd pairing, it'll be closer to which 2 of those 3 are better. As for the top 4, it'll depend on the coaching staff, but I see a real chance Matheson and Savard are the top pairing and Guhle and Harris/Kovacevic are the 2nd pairing. As much as I harped on Harris last season, I do think overall, he's better than Kovacevic.

I would imagine another question that would need to be answered prior to a Petry trade is if they believe Barron is ready for the NHL full time. I don’t mean it would keep Petry in Montreal, but might change what could be targeted in a return. Maybe a veteran RD that Petry is an upgrade over.

It’s possible it was a “grass isn’t always greener,” situation which is what I believe you are pointing out. He and his family may of regretted the decision to move away from Montreal.

When I saw the headline for the trade, my assumption was the Price contract was involved to make the cap space work. Really surprised on Hoffman being apart of it and Petry coming back to Montreal. Petry’s best years were in Montreal so I can 100% see this as a rental at the deadline in hopes he bounces back in some capacity. It also adds a veteran RD for the young kids. Isn’t DeSmith basically a younger Allen? Career solid backup?

I guess this is one benefit of having an ex-agent as a GM.

If he doesn’t sign an ELC within 2 years, Philadelphia loses his rights. At that point he would be put back in the draft as he would only be 20. If by chance he isn’t put back in the draft he becomes a UFA. I’m not sure if there’s some specific rule that may negate this if he’s signed in the KHL though.

He was also given a lot more playing time near the end of the season from injuries. Most of his games missed was the first half. He also doesn’t score like he used to because Suzuki replaced his spot on the PP. Hoffman always was more of a PP specialist.

Hoffman was 14G-20A-34P, a 0.5 PPG player last season. At $2.25m he's more than tradable. If it weren't for the cap situation of most teams, he would be tradable at his full cap hit.