DON

Be quite something if McCarron does well and stands out, Commandant hopefully is too pessimistic about him (but I guess I am a bit as well)

Who the heck is David Makowski? Is he signed? So of; Grassi, Chouinard, McIver, Schiestel who will be with Hamilton, your guess none, or couple will be ECHL and depth in Hamilton?

Not sure about that, I think Markov is his biggest ? this off-season, with UFA winger being a close 2nd and Subban, Eller, Gionta, Weaver are likely already slotted into salary structure. Hope he sticks to his guns and gets a 2 year deal with Markov\and if Markov still doing fine when he is 38, give him another year so he can retire a Hab.

Still need quality stuff for Sharp and many teams would offer a bunch for him and teams like Buffalo/Fla/Oil maybe Aves etc have a lot to offer if Sharp allows a deal like that to go down. I would for sure, be painful for Habs (in picks/prospects/players) to get Sharp, whereas a UFA will be salary only. But aint no UFAs like Sharp around and he may be worth mortgaging the Habs future to add him, but will cost more than DD, more like an Eller+stuff. I think a bit lower quality (45-60 point guy) UFA winger is way to go.

Not a Gagner fan.

He is UFA isnt he and would just fill Vanek's spot on LW? (but if anyone will take Bourque...please anyone take him)

'Was' is key. In playoffs his defense and offense was hit an miss from game to game. And most try and picture what he will be in 2016-17 and fear he will be a liability. As i have said almost all would be more than happy with a 2 year deal, but extra year seems a bit much with so many key d prospects coming on-line. But, he has been a warrior and good Hab and many HabFans maybe take him for granted at the moment?

Would be pleased to see a Glover/Dougherty (got feeling McKeown will be gone) taken but; also lots of good lookin skilled forwards like (if fans can overlook size) Schmaltz, HoSang, Milano, Vrana. Kempe, Scherbak, Barbashev would seem better options (if ignore Russian factor), but likely all gone by 26 (so trade down for high a 2nd & 3rd)?

yup, expected him to be kept on. good deal.

Servicable, but not All-Star calibre anymore and 3 years is simply too big a risk, but one Habs may need to take. $12m/2year deal would seem to make most of us happy, not sure bout Markov, who would surely get better offers on the market. Oilers wouldn't care if he faded in 3rd year, Florida, Washington and many others I bet would make room for the old Russian also. So dosent seem like Markov will give a home discount, but would create a hole in lineup (not that it would be 1st time Habs have had to adapt with him missing). And would free up some good caproom to find a younger top 4 d-man (if one available).

A lot, but Bergevin did nab Vanek, so who knows what kind of deal he may try and pull?

I would like to see Ott signed by Bergevin.

As Galchenyuk gets stronger and better defensively, no doubt he will get top line minutes, he was only 19/20 years old last year and will only get better and more of coaches confidence. ANd if Subban pulls a selfish move again nest year, I would be OK with a minor 'benching' as I would for any player. And I mentioned playoffs, because that is when game really matters, toss all the clichés, when chips are down Subban is obviously on the ice kind of thing

Ya, I think was a lot between the ears and motivation or something along those lines and ankle was just sort of coincidence. I think poor relationship to new mgmt. for sure.

Ya, think Bergevin trying to emulate couple top teams with little coach turnover, like Quennville for 6th year and Boston doing quite well with Julian in his 7th now. But, odds are MT unlikely will last past 2 more years; but Molson must of said OK to couple extra years he would eat, when goes off the rails and need someone to fall on sword to calm a mob.

Yes, I thought he looked good at the World Juniors and then seemed to hold his own as a NHL rookie, but seemed an ankle injury derailed him in Hamilton.

Bob McKenzie had him 17th and Habs took him 18th, so I think French was just an added bonus, but for sure with draft being in Montreal, the PR dept was pulling for LL to be picked.

Fair enough.

100% agree and why I would be shocked to hear Tomas is being moved (and I am a fan, so hope he stays). But, if return is good enough, Bergevin would have to consider it? (agree Dave)

Why not stay off-topic; You notice, even in your description HR you automatically favour and simply assume bigger is better (should be common sense right) and include that in valuation, which is not objective. Which is exactly what I was saying, Size blinds many and influences judgement to make poor choices. This guy is 2inches taller and 20lbs heavier, but might be a Bourque and be soft as a marshmellow. Also bigger typically is slower and less agile (cept for very elite kids in top 1/2 of first round). You just don't see 7' point guards or 6'6" guys stealing bases, 235lb soccer players, or 280lb wide receivers, for a good reason. Skills, athletic ability, size, hard working and dedicated teamplayer, are rare combo and holy grail of all scouts. Easy to have a couple of these traits but darn impossible to find a well rounded 17year old (without a high pick and even then is a bit of crapshoot). Sure, the Tim Conboy/Ian Shultz/OByrne/McCarron types look good on paper, but where are they now. Do you need mix of players yes, but if have 2,3 or 4 smurf forwards is irrelevent, dosent mean you have any worse a team than one with all 6' 2" forwards. Can you name a big forward with more determination/drive/desire/gumption than a Gallagher? Give me a line with 3 Gallaghers and would be some fun to watch and I think would be hard for any team to defend against. (Why was he a 147th pick? One reason only, simply because he wasn't tall)

Joe, in playoffs most on team 27.20 minutes/game for Subban and Galchenyuk 15 minutes/game coming off knee injury, what are you worried about? Subban seemed tired in last series, so do you really want him playing more? And you know Alex's icetime will only increase as his defensive game improves, so if that is your only worry, is pretty minor issue.

yup I read details after, and still am happy to get even a 5th for him, had expected just a crap for crap AHL swap.

Well is just Molson $$ and can be fired in December if a 20game losing streak with no impact on cap/roster; but a nice vote of confidence and sign of stability. Will cause many MT haters to overreact and 1 year longer than expected, but fine by me.

Well Commandant you were correct and I was wrong and thought he wouldn't even be worth a 5th to other teams (and that Bergevin wouldn't deal him for a 6th/7th which I suppose could be true?). Good for LL and good for Timmins et al; now if can somehow add a 2nd/3rd I would be very happy. Habs have three 5th rounders (123rd & 125th & 146th) (now I see is a 2015 5th rounder)

I know is much more condensed than CHL, but still seems a few more quality kids to pick from every year. And if a Collins/Jacobs or MacLeod are still on board @86th, would seem to be a nice choice; but also are many WHL d-men as per normal that would look good in a Hab jersey and several from Sweden again that also seem intriguing. Just on a defense-first kick this year (but I also would of been OK with Dumba over Galchenyuk, so bit of a sucker for d-men), but as always BPA is fine by me, just see a need for a big defensive d-man or two (to replace Gorges-Weaver roles in several years) in the system. Draft is different this year isn't it; with all rounds going on same day correct? So will increase pressure to make swaps/deals in short order.