TurdBurglar

I doubt the offersheet situation is even a concern. I would bet on the offersheet to be under $8.58 AAV as above it would be 2 firsts, a second and a third round pick, while under would be a first, second and third. As pointed out, if he accepts an offersheet, Winnipeg can match. They don't necessarily have to keep him either. As now he has a contract therefore a very stable value. With a contract, especially a multi-year contract, Winnipeg can get better value than a first, second and third. Not to mention the picks would likely be from a current bubble or playoff team making them mid-to-late round picks anyway. If the offersheet is 8x8.5, for example, Winnipeg could easily get a top prospect, a roster player and a pick/prospect/roster player for Dubois alone.

I would love to see Hart and Montembeault battle it out to be the starter. With Hart having a year left and being a RFA, it’s not really a high risk trade. The real question is what will cost.

If someone gave CC an offer sheet and the compensation was 4 1st round picks, it would be worth looking at to not match. It would depend on the team and the upcoming drafts. If it’s a team like Arizona, there potentially those 4 picks are mostly, if not all, top-10 picks and the upcoming draft classes are good it’s worth not matching. On the flip side if it’s a team like Carolina, I would match in a heartbeat, as the picks will be closer to seconds than firsts.

https://twitter.com/TonyMarinaro/status/1664639552835801093?s=20From Tony Marinaro: Cole Caufield contract update: Yesterday, I reported that I’m hearing @colecaufield’s new contract with @CanadiensMTL will NOT be more than Nick Suzuki’s cap hit of $7,875M Today: I was just informed talks progressing - all signs point towards a 7 or 8 year deal. I'll add the tweet link, but it doesn't seem to be embedding for me. https://twitter.com/TonyMarinaro/status/1664639552835801093?s=20tps://twitter.com/TonyMarinaro/status/1664639552835801093?s=20

I agree the suspension should have been longer. Showed clear intent as the puck was out of play way before he committed to the hit.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he attempt to military draft dodge and was sent to a military outpost as a result?

He should take a look at the 2 phantom calls on Marcus Foligno on Sunday then. Both of which lead to PP goals, in a game that ended 3-2 for Dallas, so those PPGs had a major impact on the game. The second one, with less than 5 minutes left in a 2-1 game was this "tripping" call.

As much as I want the Leafs to go out the first round, they are due to win a round after all of these round 1 exits. That being said, over the course of all of these exits, they've blown 2 3-1 series leads and haven't won an elimination game in nearly 2 decades.

Skinner is looking to lose Edmonton this series. Both goals he's allowed so far tonight were from not being tight to his posts.

I think you’re focusing too much on how the teams are going to be compliant and not on the real issue. The purposes of LTIR is to allow cap flexibility to replace roster players with non-minor injuries, when the team is against the cap. At no point is LTIR supposed to be used or keep healthy players out of the lineup. If the player is healthy enough to play, the only thing that should be keeping them out of the lineup is the coaching staff, not cap related issues. Also the quality of the replacement doesn’t have to be near the player being replaced. If a player returns earlier than expected, the team has the options of sending players to the minors to removed up to $1m cap hit or trading a player to become cap compliant. Assuming the returning player puts the team over the cap. Both situations are on a team to control. Even players coming back early have an advanced warning as to how well the injury is progressing. How the team will be compliant is solely on the team to figure out, as they put themselves in the situation. Leaving a healthy player on LTIR for cap purposes was never supposed to be why teams have LTIR.

The CBA already addresses those issues with fines, draft pick confiscation, restriction on player signings and voiding of contracts. Each for their own situations. Right now teams are being rewarded for circumventing the cap by creatively breaking other rules. The NHL has very little apathy for enforcing its own rules.

There are a few ways this could be addressed. One has already had sight traction in the BOG meetings, which is having a playoff salary cap. So the roster could be over the cap, but the players playing in the game must be under the agreed soon cap. Another other one is players on LTIR would have their injury updates sent to an independent physician to review the progress. To make sure teams aren’t keeping players on LTIR for cap related reasons and only for injury related purposes. As for players returning at the start of the playoffs that aren’t healthy enough to play, as @Commandant pointed out The league should implement an independent review for activating any player from LTIR, regardless of when it is during the year.

The only things I am really cheering for is a deep run by the Oilers and a first round Toronto exit. I do think this year the cup is Boston's to lose. They're just solid all around, which makes for a scary playoff team, as much as it pains me to give Boston props.

I would be shocked if Montreal trades for him when he'll be free next offseason. They won't be a contender, so there's no point in bolstering the center position a year early at the cost of picks/prospects. The real question is what is the team trying to accomplish next season? If the goal is to make the playoffs, they could use them, if it's another development year, I don't see a point of paying for him.

Dach, in his first year, has worked out better than expected. Depending on what happens with the lottery, Dach has a valuable position as a 2C or LW with Suzuki and Caufield with the chemistry he's shown with them. The only real knock on him playing with Suzuki and Caufield is they all shoot right, would like to see a lefty with Suzuki and Caufield to give them some different looks and angles. Overall, it's a great problem to have with a young player. I've been high on Montembeault all season. I think he's a good Allen-type goalie. He can be a starter, but shouldn't be THE starter. Barring regression, he will be adequate as a starter until the team is in a serious playoff state. He will make an above average backup, but I doubt he will progress to the point of not needing a true starter.

For the poll questions: 1) I think Dubois will be a Canadien from free agency next offseason, unless Winnipeg will give him away this offseason, which is unlikely to say the least. I also believe, from all the reports, he will be cheaper than we believe, somewhere in the $7m AAV range which I can live with. 2) I think if there's a trade for Matheson for a true #1 RD Hughes would be silly to not take it. There's a logjam at LD so bringing in a top end RD to make a strong top pair would be much better than keeping a logjam at LD or moving Edmundson for a low return. Guhle showed this season that he has the ability to play against the leagues best, with a high ceiling. 3) Drouin threw up 29pts in 58 games. Unless he's a cancer in the locker room, I would absolutely sign that production at league minimum. The very definition of low risk high reward. The worse case scenario is he gets sent to Laval and his cap space is buried or is claimed on waivers. The best case is he rebounds and put up 50+ points, and turns into a productive roster player again or trade chip. I would also like to see Monahan resigned to a short 1-2 year deal. I liked what I saw from him when he was playing and I think he could bring real value in a deadline deal with a chance to rebound. I think something needs to be really fixed with the medical system. From the reports here too many players are playing with injuries that they shouldn't. At the very least for next season, the medical staff should tighten up on what injuries they allow the players to play with. The last game of the season there were 14 roster players injured. That's 75% of a standard roster. It's unacceptable.

That was a pretty bad look, the shot of the injured players for Montreal in attendance.

Montreal (31-43-6) - 68 pts New York (41-31-9) - 91 pts Hoffman - Suzuki - Armia Farrell - Drouin - Gurianov Pitlick - Evans - Gallagher Pezzetta - Tierney - Teasdale Matheson - Barron Edmundson - Wideman Kovacevic - Allard Montembeault Lee - Horvat - Bailey Engvall - Nelson - Palmieri Parise - Pageau - Fasching Martin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck Pelech - Pulock Aho - Mayfield Bolduc - Dobson Sorokin Projected lineups.

I didn’t know Gorton didn’t speak French. I assumed he did. I don’t watch many of the management press conferences.

He’s under contract with Montreal. Any team looking at him for a potential GM position would have to get permission from Montreal to speak to him about it. It’s unlikely Montreal would deny him the opportunity, but if he’s unhappy as VP of hockey operations they could move him to a position he would be more happy with. All of that being said, it odd that he clearly could of had the opportunity to be the GM in Montreal but took the VP position instead. They hired him before Hughes, so he could of said he wasn’t interested in the VP role but was interested in the GM. When he was hired and all following stories spell out he was teaching Hughes how to be a successful GM. While it could be true, there are a bunch of red flags about this story.

Gotta look at this from Winnipeg’s perspective. They have PLD for one more year. The question for Winnipeg is how do they get a return out of that. Best return would be this off season. Whoever gets him will pay full value as they will have him for a full season and possibly be able to flip him at the deadline. Next season PLD is a pure rental for any team that’s not Montreal, and if Winnipeg don’t trade him, they will lose him for nothing. i would be surprised if Montreal trades for him this off-season. He’ll be cheaper next season or free during free agency, not including his contract of course. I wouldn’t be overly shocked if his value next year is a 2nd and/or a decent prospect.

I forgot the game was on, watched the highlights today. Poor Montembeault, lit up for 4 and maybe an argument could be made the first goal was his fault. The other 3 were just poor defensive play. Allowing Malkin to have the one-timer on the PP is bad, but Anderson was on the ice and doing nothing on the 3rd goal, wasn't taking away the pass, wasn't taking Malkin, was just in the middle of the ice for no reason. Montembeault will never be a star goalie, but if his progression continues, he could make a decent starter, or a solid backup. His numbers just don't reflect his play this season.

At least it was still a loss.

It's been a fun game, but Allen needs to hemorrhage a couple of unanswered goals now.

Should be goalie interference, as Stephan made no effort to avoid the contact. these are 50/50 the best of times. Edit: The goal was called back due to goalie interference.