Commandant

just like the last young D we moved to the Hawks

1999, 2004, 2007, take your pick The Habs got 3 amazing draft picks in 2007 despite the weakness though, so players are still there. Stupid Gomez trade

MacKinnon and Jones are studs, after that though I'd take Galchenyuk over Monahan. When a scout or GM talks about the strength of a draft though, they are talking about guys drafted 15-30, not necessarily the top picks. Next year looks a little stronger right now, but its really early. The 2012 draft looked really deep at this time last year, and then injuries and disappointing performances changed people's outlook on it. I'm still of the mind that it was much stronger than given credit for.

Domi refused to report to Kingston and threatened to go the NCAA route if he didn't get traded, so they are even on that front.

For a defensive defenceman like Nurse I'm gonna need to see him perform against top lines before I put him in the top 10. He didn't do that last year (most 16 year olds don't in all fairness); but to put a D with limited offence that high, I've gotta see how he does against the best in the CHL first.

Ok, so after you dump Kaberle, who is giving you a legit top 4 defenceman and what are you trading to get him?

Domi was also getting 3rd line minutes on that stacked team, whereas Rychel was playing a lot of minutes in Windsor. Things can obviously change, as seen by Athansiou and Ebert, and the first test will be the Hlinka, but right now I've got him near the bottom of the top 10. He's got a ton of skill.

Domi put up nearly 50 points as a 16 year old. Those aren't because of his name.

Player development may be important but seriously.... Weber couldn't play defence in the AHL. I watched him for two years with the Bulldogs, constantly lose board battles and constantly fail to clear the front of the net. Yeah, he's got a big slapshot... big deal, the guy is far too weak to play D and not good enough positionally to make up for it. Here is a guy who had 8 goals in 16 games, on a first place Bulldogs club, and still managed to be a -5. Thats pretty hard to do. The guy has shown nothing to suggest he could have been a multi time all-star and a key component of multiple Stanley Cup Champions, yet you suggest that he could have been another Rafalski. Yeah, and if we developped Corey Locke properly he could have broken Gretzky's records. Weber will be 24 before the season starts. Lets stop this myth that he's so young with so much potential. For Habs29 - Clear cap space for true a top 4 Defenceman? WHO? Michael Roszival and Scott Hannan are about the best names left in free agency.

You are all assuming that Robinson really wanted to be on the staff, and really wanted the pressure of coaching in Montreal. Sometimes what people say in the media and what the do are two different things. We all know that Robinson stepped down as a head coach because of the media pressure of coaching in New Jersey of all places. While its not a head coach job, the pressure of being an assistant in Montreal is just as bad as the pressure of being a head coach in a place like Jersey. We are quick to criticize Jagr and other Free Agents for using Montreal as a bargaining chip to get more money in other cities, but there never is a question of that here. We all assume Robinson's intentions are pure, even though he couldn't come up for an interview when requested, because he was too busy screaming and yelling at a mover who screwed something up in his move to Florida.

Its always about screwed up development, its never that the Player maybe just wasn't good enought to begin with. Guys who are truly destined to be stars rise above and excel regardless. You've complained how Weber was misused at forward... Streit was screwed around far more than Weber has been, and he's excelled despite that because he's an actual talent.

I'll probably do a second list of 5 more at some point once the remainder of the big offseason moves go down. My 2nd list will include Schneider if we see Luongo traded. I think Backstrom is still the number 1 C. I don't see him getting better opportunities than he had.

I guarantee Weber never becomes a 3 time NHL allstar, two time Olympic medalist, and 3 time cup champ with 500 career points like Rafalski is I'll eat my hat if that happens.

5 guys who have fallen into great situations this offseason and could be undervalued next year. http://lastwordonsports.com/2012/07/08/fantasy-focus-five-nhl-players-whose-fantasy-value-skyrocketed-this-offseason/

If Gally is ready, he could even play wing for a year. It didn't hurt Seguin, Benn, Giroux, and others.

I'd say late first/early 2nd. If he has a growth spurt (he's 5'09 or 5'10 right now) he could move up.

Its early, but here is a preseason top 10 for next year's draft http://lastwordonsports.com/2012/07/07/early-look-top-10-nhl-draft-prospects-for-2013/

5'11" is not small. Especially when you play the style of game that Plekanec does.

Great value for him.

I haven't seen the financials on it yet.

We should have avoided Czerkawski

Slacker, but might be worth a cheap contract if you want to fill the 2nd line LW spot. He's got talent.

Nokelainen didn't leave.

Or he'll score 30 goals, get resigned, get cheapshotted in the playoffs, score 30 again, turn into a bag of crap, and then leave for a 4th round pick. Yeah, you are right, its probably the 1 and done.

Howson was asking for Skinner + prospects from Carolina and for Couture plus prospects from SJ surely he'd ask for MaxPac ++ from us Howson is nuts And we arent on Nash's list anyway