Commandant

I'd put him at the left point... but I could see a coach wanting him at the top of an umbrella, in the middle of three men high (basically where i would put drouin)... but yeah, he should always be on the 1st PP unit.

If you are putting a forward on the point of the PP, its not Weber who is leaving. Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher Weber - Drouin Gallagher: go to the net. Galchenyuk... Right circle one-timers from Drouin Weber... Left circle one-timers from Drouin Pacioretty: slot Drouin: Quarterback

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No chance I'm giving that much for Giroux. 3 first rounders, and Gallagher??

I think its unlikely that a GM who hasn't been able to make a deal for his centre in 6 off-seasons now will suddenly be able to make a huge trade for a centre, and another for a top pair LHD. I hope you are right though. I'd be happy with just one trade to bring in a piece we need.

Wild have cap space issues. 4.7 million left, 4 guys to put on their roster, need to sign Marcus Foligno. They are going to be tight to the ceiling.

You do realize that if both Gallagher and Galchenyuk go the other way, that's over 8 million in cap space. What do you think is coming the other way that would take up a good chunk of the $16 million we would have at that point.

It could be. I feel like one of the three should go on the second line. I don't know what I think of a second line of (Lehkonen or Byron) - Danault - Gallagher. Needs a bit more kick on that line, IMO. I think if you put all three studs on one line, we are in danger of being a one line team. Also if Galchenyuk is the guy on the second line, it would allow Julien to shelter his matchups, and that could be helpful since Julien doesn't trust him defensively. All three go on the first PP unit.

I think one of Drouin of Chuck has to go in the middle. Just too many wingers on this team.

Pacioretty - Danault - Drouin Byron - Galchenyuk - Gallagher Lehkonen - Plekanec - Shaw Hudon - Mitchell - Hemsky De la Rose Schlemko - Weber Alzner - Petry Streit/Jerabek - Benn Davidson At least until the other shoe drops cap space wise.

He's also pissed at the organization. There is bad blood there. It stems from him asking for a contract after his junior season and Patrick Roy telling him that the Avalanche didn't think he was worthy of an offer. So he went out in his senior season, won the Hobey Baker, and now he doesn't want to sign with them, even if Roy is gone. This is a home town kid, who choose to go to the University of Denver.. and he doesnt want to join the weakest team in the league, where he would get immediate minutes. Its telling.

He's a free asset who has a good chance to play in the NHL. He's limited to a cheap deal by the ELC system. Given that, many teams are interested. I just think we have to be careful about the upside we give him...

He's a third pairing guy IMO. Not a solution to our dilemna. I'd take him cause hey, free asset... but I wouldn't be guaranteeing him anything. I'm not sure he's any better than Streit, Jerabek or Morrow.

I misunderstood your question of "what is your solution", i thought you were asking what external player i would acquire to solve things. I apologize. As for the pairs I'd make, at this point they'd be: Schlemko - Weber Alzner - Petry Streit vs Jerabek - Benn Looks like the best solution to me (short of another acquisition). Its not ideal, but i do think Schlemko is the 4th best D on this team, so I put him with my #1 and as Weber to carry the pair. Streit and Jerabek fight for the last spot beside Benn. They get the advantage of not playing against top lines. If they are even close to equal, I'd give Jerabek the spot, hoping that he can develop into something more, he's the wild card that we don't know what he is. Thats not an ideal plan, but if he was close to Streit in camp, I'd start him and see if there can be any growth through experience in the NHL.

Saying Alzner was a 7th D is disingenious. Its like saying Ovechkin was a 3rd liner. Both ignore the fact that neither player would have been in that position if they were 100% healthy

You are blaming me for pointing out that Streit is not a good option? You should be blaming Bergevin for not acquiring a good option for the top 4, not me.

Why? Because we want Shea Weber to play against the other team's best forwards. I don't want Mark Streit on the ice against Sidney Crosby, Austin Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, etc.... 28 points last season or not. As good as Weber is, he can't do everything. We saw that last season when Emelin's game fell apart and the pairings had to be changed. Streit isn't even particularly fast, not at this stage of his career; so he doesn't even have that going for him. Its not like he can be retrieving the loose pucks while Weber protects the net. He doesn't have the speed to be a yin and yang pairing like Weber/Josi was in Nashville. He got those points because he wasn't playing against those types of players. His minutes were heavily managed with 3rd and 4th line competition and heavy offensive zone starts. There is a reason for that.

You want streit, a guy who played 3 playoff games and was a healthy scratch for 22 playoff games... a guy who averaged 18:45 last season in the regular season, to play on the top pair?? Really?

Especially with the NHL going for puck movers around the league.

While Price can't help the forwards score, what can help forwards score goals is effective transition from the defence to the forwards, and I'm not seeing that with this group.

My point is that you can find the same comments the last three years. 2014 interview http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/12/04/five-minutes-michael-mccarron-springboard-team-usa/ “My endurance is a lot better than it was. I can play a full 60 minutes now, and I’m playing with two very good linemates who are making things easy for me.” 2015 interview, again he talks about working out in the summer, slimming down, getting more endurance. http://lastwordonsports.com/2015/09/14/habs-rookie-tourney-review-miceli-johnston-shine/ 2016 http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/a-qa-with-the-canadiens-mike-mccarron After being selected by the Canadiens in the first round (25th overall) at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, McCarron is attending his fourth rookie camp. While he is listed at 6-foot-6 and 237 pounds on the Canadiens’ official rookie camp roster, McCarron weighed in at a lean 226 pounds when the camp opened Thursday morning. It’s the result of a change in his diet and a summer working with a skating coach, strength-and-conditioning coach and a dietician. Did you change your diet to lose the weight? “It’s all about the diet, especially for a big man. If you’re not eating good you’re not going to put on muscle and you’re not going to lose that body fat. It’s a really fine line and it took me until I’m 21 years old to figure it out, which is a bit of a bummer. I wish I knew at 18. “I just needed to be ready for this season and that’s what I am. I weighed in at 226 this morning and I feel like at 225 to 230 I feel good with my body and I feel good on the ice at that weight.”

Who is the number four defenceman then. the 30 year old $2 million guy the 26 year old with 0 NHL games? the 39 year old $700,000 guy the 25 year old who was a regular healthy scratch in Edmonton, and then in Montreal. the 24 year old who was a healthy scratch for 16 straight games under Julien in boston, was not given a qualifying offer by the Bruins, and is now on an NHL minimum deal as a UFA Which of these guys is your top 4 defenceman. That's what we are complaining about. There is no one on this roster, on July 29th, to take a top four spot. And there is nothing in UFA that we can sign either. The NHL traditionally sees very few trades in August, and even fewer significant trades in August. so what is the plan?

Every training camp. McCarron.... my conditioning wasn't good enough last year. I got tired at the end of shifts/games. I worked out like crazy to correct that. I should be better this year. Rinse and repeat.

Exactly. It would be good if Schlemko is the #5 and Benn the #6. Move everyone up a slot Alzner #2 instead of 3, Petry 3 instead of 4, Schlemko 4 instead of 5, and the Habs look weaker. Missing the guy at the #2 spot means everyone plays one slot out of position.

yes and Carolina's depth blows us out of the water. Again... we have a better number 1 dman.... I'd take their 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, all over our 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc....