Commandant

I mean the Habs have had a great week and thats fun to watch. Dont let two games make you forget that the team is inconsistent. Last week they stole a game they didnt deserve against Philly, and laid an absolute stinker against the worst team in the league in San Jose. Dont fool yourself into thinking the rebuild is done and the team as currently constructed can make the playoffs. Need some big talent added at forward before that can happen.

The team played great the last two games, montembault is a true #1, and Slaf is really maturing. But lets not get crazy with the playoff talk yet. This team's record is inflated by OT/SO pts, both wins and losses. Even after tonight their amongst the NHL's worst in regulation wins. They also have bad analytics as a team The rebuild isnt done. Forward talent is needed even with Dach and Newhook back.

Yeah they need to fix it. Its messed up to display like that.

The standings js weird. A game that goes to OT is counted as both a win and OT win... or a loss and OT loss. So (wins - Ot wins)= the number of 3 point regulation wins

So we give Harris, a 1st round pick (the one we got from taking Monahan in the first place) and Monahan for Holloway HELL TO THE NO.... This is awful.

The person to target in Tampa is Gauthier

Not bad but Beaudin has no value if he cant beat out Norlinder in Montreal and already failed in Chicago. Hes 24 years old and often a healthy scratch in the AHL. I know defencemen take time but they are usually able to be top 4 in the AHL if rhey are ever gonna make it. I hoped hed find his game after chicago but he hasnt. Norlinder is a year younger, actually playing in the AHL and on his first organization. He had more value imo.

He's 30, it is just a hot-streak... he was an inconsistent player before Covid and the injuries and those may have contributed to making his scoring drought be longer than it normally is but teams around the NHL know that he is a streaky player, and was a streaky player even before COVID, and will likely not shake that in his 30s now. I don't see teams interested unless we eat half that salary.

Agree on the defence. This is why Barron has played so much. Its tough for defenders to play their off-side.

Exactly. This is the reason, not that teammates dont want to pass to him. I laugh at that comment, its the NHL, not some junior high popularity contest.

Yes, modern surgery and modern rehab is much better than it was. However it is not instantaneous. I have heard from multiple orthopaedic surgeons and physiotherapists (via podcasts and articles) that there is a difference between healthy enough to return to the lineup, and the shoulder being at 100% of what it is pre injury. It can take 18-24 months post surgery for his shot to be back to the quickness of release, and power as he had prior to the injury. As for other players, yes they eventually got back to normal but often had a down season after the injury before coming back to 100%. That said things are rarely, if ever, just one thing. I do think you are right in Dach's absence and the other injuries like Newhook, Pearson, RHP (until now) and others, plus the struggles of Anderson and Armia have meant there has been a lack of a second/third line scoring threat and more attention on the Suzuki/Caufield line. This is a factor too. Meanwhile his defensive game and playmaking have both improved this season. So I'm not really worried about Caufield. I think he'll be fine as the team improves.

I see Monahan struggling to keep up with the play at 5v5 right now though, at least Evans does that. Neither is the ideal 2nd line player though.

He's not a second liner. But we don't have a healthy second line centre, so it is what it is.

Since November... Evans has been just as good as Monahan at 5v5. Monahan has been better on the PP and thats where most his points have come from but his ES play has really fallen off.

Batherson has been succeeding in the NHL for several years... the fact he is a late rounder is no longer relevant. Hes proven to be a top6 worthy forward. This isnt a small sample size and hes gonna crash down to earth.

They have been bad for so long, the pipeline is the furthest thing from empty.

Thanks

On to the main point. Yes, its good for players to marinate in the minors but every player is different and the amount of time in the minors is different for each. You bring up Zary, but Look at Brendan Gallagher who was also a fifth rounder and had less time in the minors than Roy. You have also made quite the assumption that this is a full time thing and not short term. That seems a flawed idea to say the least. No one has said he will be a full time Hab til the end of the season. Getting the kids some game time so they can see NHL speed and know what it is they have to work on is done by nearly every organization and can be helpful But keep it real man, you realist know so much more than everyone else and anyone who disagrees is biased and an idiot.

I think this post is shit and you should do better.

Make the second 2024 (we dont have one and the player will be ready sooner, which as you noted Hughes likes) and Im good with it. While i would do the trade the problem for both edmonton and montreal means you cant trade your 2026 first rounder as its tied up in these conditions and then you end up with something like the Monahan trade conditions if you want to make a move.

Time for a rookie debut.

Every team in the league has to play B2Bs. I dont see anything in the habs schedule that is unusual

Yes, but this is why I said its silly to keep doing this in 2024 when there is so much video available, and meeting via zoom is so easy.

Yup and even if they were willing to trade young forwards, they wouldnt do it inside the division

Dont read too much into NHL Central Scouting. Its often quite poor for predicting. Its also a stupid setup to separate Europe and NA, just silliness in 2024. Eiserman as the 8th best NA skater is also a joke