Commandant

I'm pretty sure a groin injury from May will be healed by October. It's like there is no one in the NHL who has ever successfully returned from a groin pull.

With 8.4 million in cap space. Its more safe to say that MB isn't done than to say he is.

Holy overreaction.

He had 28 points last year, he might be able to help on the third pair/powerplay. On a one-year, $700,000 deal, he can be buried in the AHL with no cap hit if he's not performing.

Per Ren Lavoie

The team is never going to accept a discount for the 10,000 or more people who end up taking the tickets electronically. Even if they did the discount method, what they would do is charge $150 more for the original tickets, and then give a discount. Its going to be revenue neutral either way. They aren't going to lose $150 x 10,000 people.

Where does Jonathan Drouin fit in the Habs Lineup? http://lastwordonhockey.com/2017/07/24/jonathan-drouin-fit-montreal-canadiens-lineup/

No thank you to Scott Gomez 2.0. Claude Giroux is in the process of falling off the cliff. No way i touch that contract, never mind give up Pacioretty to get it. 86 points 73 points 67 points 58 points His even strength production is falling even more severely here. He's got some very bad signs.

Yzerman is a good GM who wasn't willing to sell a high valued asset at a discount. It worked out well for him.

A savings for electronic tickets would just be absorbed by increasing the season ticket price another 150 bucks, and then offering a 150 discount. It really would make no difference.

Doesn't have to be the main reason.... as long as thats a side effect. As I said, its already led to a lot less wasted paper with respect to bank statements, utility bills, etc... other teams are also doing it.

A good GM has a Plan A, a Plan B, a Plan C, and a Plan D. Why is it a bad thing if he is doing something different than the original plan?

I still think Markov comes back on a 1 year deal and there is plenty of money for your deadline rental being a C... Bryan Little, Paul Stastny, Mikko Koivu, Henrik Sedin, Bozak, Backlund, Turris, Marchessault. Lots of potential Rental Cs, depending on how their team's season goes.

Thats why Markov has always been a 1 year offer. Plekanecs money is eaten by Price's extension and Danault's raise... which says nothing about re-signing Jerabek or replacing him depending on how good he is.

As I said above, I don't expect to go into the season with 9 million in cap space. I don't think Bergevin is done.

if it encourages more environmentally friendly practices... great

The strange thing is that nearly every defenceman drafted in the last two drafts is of the mould of carrying the puck through the neutral zone.... Sergachev, Mete, Brook, Fleury, Walford, Tyszka.... they can all skate and carry the puck.

We traded a guy who would be Markov's replacement in 2-3 years, for a guy who replaces Radulov immediately. Short term, yeah we could have kept Sergachev and re-signed Radulov by giving him another 1 million a season, but would that have us further ahead? How long til Radulov would need replacing considering he's a 30 year old forward?

Getting a LHD has been far easier than getting a C over recent years.

The Habs are one of many teams who are doing this. I have no problem with it. Hell the utilities, phone companies, and banks charge to send paper statements instead of electronic ones now too.

1) I was comparing the defence from the end of last year to the start of this year. I ignored Davidson and Benn, cause nothing needed to be said. Its status quo with both guys. I don't expect either to be better or worse than they were last year. They aren't at ages where you expect to see big jumps from them, they are who they are. 2) What do you do when Markov is done with the extra cap space.... you either hope someone like Mete or one of this years draftees is ready, or you make a trade, or you spend the cap space on a free agent. Same place you are in today if you don't resign markov. 3) I disagree that the 2015-16 defence was not good enough. The Big issue is at C imo. We lost a bunch of one goal games, and our offence went stone cold.

I'd give up Gallagher and a 2nd. We have too many wingers as it is.

Looking at their cap, he has to go next summer, at the absolute latest. For the right price he has to be available now, but they aren't giving him away I'm sure.

Alzner is much better at breaking out the puck than Emelin was. He is a way better passer. He also doesn't get himself out of position going for big hits like Emelin either. He's a superior player compared to Emelin. If you are comparing him to Markov, he's not. Schlemko is better defensively than Beaulieu, but can still move the puck. The upside might not be as high, but his floor is also higher. Judging by Beaulieu's year, its more like Beaulieu is at his floor than his ceiling most nights anyway. I'm fine with this change too. Jerabek is the wild card. Who knows how good he is. Who is he replacing though? Nesterov. He honestly can't be worse than Nesterov. So Alzner > Emelin Schlemko vs Beaulieu is at minimum a wash, and may be an upgrade. Jerabek > Nesterov. In the end, the Habs have held the cap space to re-sign Markov, or to replace him.

The issue is the stagnation of the team. If you look at the chart its a very, very small improvement. This team needs a little more than that. And we all know what position is needed.