DON

Seems bit of an enigma from just this one article on him. Not the quickest of skaters nor defensively responsible 'they' say. https://thehockeywriters.com/ivan-ryabkin-2025-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/ “Simply put, Ryabkin is one of the most polarizing prospects in this class. He has the skill and creativity to justify a high pick, but some flaws may cause Ryabkin to slip into the draft’s second day.

Just another ranking. Sportsnet's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: May Edition - Sportsnet.ca

Am sure most trade proposals would be underwhelming to other GMs looking to move said optimal piece for a significant return. Who would Hughes be willing to dangle or let go as part of package? Mailloux, Engstrom, Matheson, Beck, Kapanen, Xhekaj ... Caufield, Guhle?

FWIW: 2022 draft mid 1st rd.

Who knows, draft is always a crap shoot. 16/17 options seem to be middle pair d-men or forwards with a weakness or two. Could be a Guhle-type solid defensively but not real offensive, but not likely a Caufield to be found.

Cant hurt Protz & Thorp getting experience practicing with the Rocket, couple weeks of it at least. Rocket Weekly: A Strong Start to the Playoffs – HabsWorld.net The Series Ahead After a long layoff at the end of the regular season, Laval has, well, another long layoff here. Due to some arena conflicts in Rochester and their decision to decline to play a 2-2-1 over the 2-3 structure, Laval will go more than a week between games (and even longer for the Amerks). Nonetheless, the schedule has been set, one that features plenty of time between games. Game 1: May 14 in Rochester Game 2: May 16 in Rochester Game 3: May 21 in Laval Game 4: May 23 in Laval* Game 5: May 25 in Laval*

Habs lack top-4 RH-d also. Mailloux gets caught flat-footed defending AHLers... they say, not sure he would be what Sabres looking for and Reinbacher has very little real pro-experience yet and just cant see Hughes trading him. #11 from Penguins would seem more likely partner, but dlbalr noted they already have lots of picks.

Wheeler suggests Sabres might be willing to deal the 9th pick for more immediate help. Kinda doubt that Habs have what Sabres might be looking for? 2025 NHL Mock Draft 1.0: Scott Wheeler predicts the entire first round - The Athletic

Heard Dvorak hinting like hes already gone, but Armia and Habs are in discussions, i saw noted somewhere.

Is rare a team sneaks into playoffs one year then actually contends the following one... i think i read.

NHL coach hiring trends, by the numbers: How many retreads? Longest tenures? - The Athletic "The past two seasons have been remarkable in terms of coach turnover — even by NHL standards. Eight coaches were hired last summer, and another five were fired (and hired) in-season." "That trend is holding true after the conclusion of the 2024-25 regular season. Since the regular season ended, another eight positions have become available."

Valuewise 'on paper' this works.

Rohrer & Marco Casper seem to be the 1st PK duo vs Sweden.

Giroux is a UFA so will only cost salary. Zegras $5.75 + what Ducks want and had all of 12goals in 54games last year.

Newhook dont have 1263games played and 1118points though, so bit different and experience is one thing that is needed with such a young group. Maybe is like Savard and he has lost a step and 1/2, i dont know.

Rohrer 0pts 17:29 Heineman 1a 12:24 Heineman helps Sweden to lopsided win over Slovakia | Montréal Canadiens Mike Matheson and Team Canada open their tournament against Slovenia at 6:20 a.m. ET, followed by a showdown between Sweden and Austria at 10:20 a.m., featuring Heineman and Rohrer.

He would be an upgrade.

Last year #26, 57 & 198 traded to move up to 17th. 16th, 46th = 11th from Penguins perhaps? They need to restock pool i imagine.

I imagine Hughes will trade one of #16 or #17. If lump one of those with a 2nd & a 3rd, how many spots can they jump. To maybe 11th or 12th?

If Habs arnt playing, i just have little interest in playoffs. But just hope Jets or Oilers win the cup.

lots of fun stuff. Rocket prospect report: Mailloux and Fowler led the way in Game 4 "His game has a couple of holes that show themselves fairly often, but Mailloux is dominating right now. He looks bigger, faster, and more poised than everyone else on the ice." "He created offence all night and the link between him and Florian Xhekaj is clearly something that Vincent has picked up on. Beck consistently finds Xhekaj in the offensive zone and creates good looks, often in tight." "Fowler was solid. His positioning, rebound control, and confidence were undeniable. I believe a team (especially the defence core) feeds off its goaltender’s emotion, and Fowler’s calming presence was palpable to everyone in the building." "Florian finished every hit, engaged every player he saw in front of the net, and was generally a pest all night. This is unsurprising. What might surprise you is how solid he is defensively. Vincent relies on him in the defensive zone, and deploys him consistently on the penalty kill."

Habs Prospects 2025 IIHF World Championship (May 9-25) All games are at Eastern time May 9 games Trois-Rivières Lions at Norfolk Admirals 7:05 pm - ECHL Quarter Final (best-of-7) (Trois-Rivières leads series 2-1) Austria vs Finland 10:20 am - World Championship Preliminary round - Watch on TSN1 Vinzenz Rohrer - Slovakia at Sweden 2:20 pm - World Championship Preliminary round - Watch on TSN1 Emil Heineman -

But, again his brother 2 years later didnt go till 48th simply because of his size. And Caps likely pretty pleased to have got picked him in 2nd round.

Like Hughes and most GMs, Pronman tend to favour larger 'size' Hutson was not taken till Habs 4th pick of draft, just shit-house luck. Same for his brother not going till 48th pick last summer, due mostly to being a small d-man. 48pts as a freshman not bad, safe to say he will be much better NHLer than a bunch of larger kids taken before him.

16 stats: Mikko Rantanen and the importance of star power, Lane Hutson’s playoff debut, more - The Athletic 9. Lane Hutson shines in first postseason As it became clear in the season’s final months that Hutson’s game was reaching escape velocity, one concerning thought entered my mind: how is a 5-foot-9 and 162 lbs defender going to fare in the playoffs? The answer: pretty darn good. Hutson led all Canadiens skaters in ice time (24.8 minutes), points (five), xG (62 percent and Net Rating (plus-1.3). He didn’t look out of place at all. One other note: I recently finished a similarity score calculator which measures how close a current player is to a past player based on size, age, production, play-driving, total value and trajectory. Hutson’s top three matches from defenders aged 21 to 23? Quinn Hughes (at age 21), Quinn Hughes (at age 23) and Cale Makar (at age 22). Good company.