TurdBurglar

Trading an expiring UFA that was basically untradeable, for a younger, expiring RFA that will be cheaper to resign that could be, at worse, a reclamation project. I don't know much about Gurianov, but just his age, contract status and his offensive capabilities makes this a win, no? Talk about making honey out of horse shit.

Dach’s emergence as of late as a center pushes the need for Dubois down low. It only been a short stint, but it’s very positive that Hughes could of got the guy he wanted for the 2C position. Did they really get better? Toronto’s issue has been their shaky defence core. Arguably, their strength is at center. So the reinforced their strength, didn’t address their weakness, and further cap strapped themselves. The only way they got better is if they lose Matthews or Tavares before or during the playoffs, so they have a quality center to step in, but losing one of those guys is more of a negative.

As of right now I think the highest chance trades will be; Monahan to Colorado. Monahan and Colorado have been cropping up since beginning of December. Lately there have been more reports saying Colorado may be concerned with him health. Edmundson to Edmonton. Been reading these reports since about the end of November. With Edmonton being out on Chychrun and rumors of Garikov not wanting to sign in Canada, it's probably the most likely destination for Edmundson, Edmonton's cap space seems to be the biggest issue. There's also the rumor of Karlsson to Edmonton, but if Edmundson's cap is an issue, Edmonton would have to get really creative. I don't see Drouin or Dadanov being traded. If they do, it'll be cap-related. I would think Anderson will be in the off-season IF he gets traded.

I’ve been seeing a number of b-rated sports news sites linking Anderson to Winnipeg lately. One even suggested PLD would be apart of that trade. Out of all of them, the best point to support Anderson to Winnipeg is he has term and Winnipeg has a hard time attracting free agents, so a player with term would be better for them. Take all of this with a grain of salt, I think it’s just all smoke, no fire, but worse bringing up for a discussion.

Edmonton and Toronto have confirmed they are not in on Chychrun. LA seems most likely at this point, but things could change.

Habs resign Jordan Harris to a 2-year $2.8m, $1.4m AAV, deal as per TSN. https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/montreal-canadiens-sign-jordan-harris-to-two-year-2-8-million-contract-extension-1.1917482

The first was with double retention. Chicago can't double retain themselves.

Elliot Friedman reporting the cost for Toews is a 2nd or 3rd round pick. Would it be worth trading Drouin and a 2nd, maybe Colorado’s next year, for Toews with as much retention as Chicago would do for that price. Then flip Toews to a contender with 50% retained salary for a 1st or equivalent? This is with the assumption there isn’t a trade before that gives Montreal another 2nd for this year which could possibly be used. I guess it would make more sense if Chicago tried to get the 1st or equivalent and pay Montreal their 2nd, which would drop to a 3rd or lower because if Drouin, to retain in that deal though.

I wouldn’t be concerned with Suzuki extending his shifts this season either, as long as it doesn’t result in injury. It would be nice to have a high-scoring workhorse. Also once his shifts are reigned in, he will conserve less energy and it should make him a more explosive player.

Dach playing center, driving his own line and winning faceoffs. I'm not saying I'm sold on him yet that he will be a top-6 center, but he's doing everything to convince me.

According to Philippe Boucher, GM of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Cole Caufield has already signed an extension and they are waiting to announce it. There’s a reason this is in the rumours section.

That was the proposal, nothing else included. I want to say it looks even, but Dubois is still an RFA, and Dach fetched more last year. Although the rumours of him wanting out of Winnipeg would come into play as well.

Read an interesting proposal on a B-rated sports news site that was sort of interesting. If Montreal’s pick is outside the top-5 this year after the draft lottery is completed, trade that to Winnipeg for Dubois. What do you guys think?

5 of the 11 forwards started the season in Laval. There are 4 legit NHL forwards in the lineup tonight.

The only good news is this should almost guarantee a top-3 pick. I hope there won't be any long-term effects from this. Haven't Montréal lead the league in man games lost the last 2 seasons?

If Holland trades Broberg and Puljujarvi for Edmundson, he doesn't have a job next year. Puljujarvi has negative value and in no trade will he have positive value, but Broberg has a lot of value, much more than Edmundson. Would you trade Guhle and Dadanov for Barrie? That's close to an equivalent trade reversed as Broberg and Puljujarvi for Edmundson. Yes, Guhle has more value the Broberg, but Dadanov is more of a cap dump the Puljujarvi, and Barrie is top-4 RHD, which has more value than LHD normally. Better defense = less goals against = more wins = higher chance of winning a cup = better for fan experience.

It would be a great problem to have in a couple of years when it will be clearer how Guhle, Harris, Norlinder, Trudeau and in this hypothetical situation, Broberg, would slot into a lineup. A couple of years also changes a lot in respect to who will still be apart of the roster as well. I guess I'm the only one who believes in the long run, Broberg would make the defense better than Xhekaj would.

If you look at the LD situation Montréal has Edmundson, Matheson, Guhle, Harris and Xhekaj. None of which have convincingly shown they can play RD, except maybe Harris, so it creates a logjam when all are all healthy. Out of those 4, Xhekaj has the lowest ceiling, but he does add the grit that the others don't. The trading Xhekaj idea came from me to get Broberg, who should be better long term than any of the current LD not named Guhle. So trading Xhekaj was only to upgrade, not solely to just get rid of him. I wouldn't want to trade him as a throw in unless the return is really worth it and also replaces Xhekaj. Once Edmundson gets traded, the logjam goes at LD goes away.

Should be clear goalie interference, but these are 50/50 at the best of times. Not shocked that it wasn't called back. I guess since the puck was in the air, there was no way Montembeault could save it, because great saves never happen in the NHL.

I've missed quite a few of those games for RL stuff. Hasn't he been back playing center during that time?

That second PP was a special kind of bad.

Both of those teams could very well be looking at Edmundson or Anderson(less likely). I don't think Lafreniere is getting traded. His ELC hasn't went as well as anyone has hoped, but it will make his next contract cheap. With how cap strapped the Rangers are, I'm pretty sure they gamble on resigning him for what he's worth now, which is cheap, and hope he turns around.

Between those 2 untradable guys, Drouin has a slightly higher chance of being traded. He is younger and possesses better playmaking skills. Although I believe both will finish the season as a Canadien.

Florida is a win/win game. The only way Montreal loses is if it goes to OT.

I believe Montembeault is getting a bad rap for the team in front of him. I don't think he will ever be the #1 guy, but just looking at his numbers and play this season shows there is something there. He's sporting a 3.17 GAA with a 0.910 SV%. That's a fairly high GAA for his SV%. Similar goalies with a SV% close to him have nearly a 0.5 GAA less than he does, with some exceptions. I'm not basing this solely on his stats, as I've been clear in the past that stats don't tell the story. Most of his games he's been keeping Montreal into the mix until later in the game, even when they shouldn't be. He's had more exceptional games than real awful ones, we just tend to remember the awful ones more. As for the outline, the good news is Montreal has a lot of irons in the fire. There's a few centers with potential in the system, Mesar, Beck, and Kidney to name 3, that have the biggest chance to develop into a #2 center if Dach doesn't fill that role. Most of the top-10 prospects in this year's draft are centers, and it's looking as if Montreal will have 2 picks in there currently. There are potentially good wingers in Roy, Richard, and Ylonen in the system. The real weakness is defense and goalie prospects that aren't in the NHL, but most of the defense prospects are currently in the NHL, which isn't a bad thing. With any luck we get some great development and are able to use some of those prospects that aren't needed to trade for a goalie that works out. I really believe, for a rebuild, Montreal is in a good place right now. Ultimately it's a dice roll on every prospect, but there's a lot here to roll on.