Commandant

I think thats realistic for Holland but I still dont know what to fully expect. I want some Tri-City games damnit

The Habs def Agreed we need another 20 minute D; but we dont need an 18 year old D Gill wasnt adequate as a 20 minute guy this year though, he's a 5/6 now who is great on the PK and steps up in the playoffs but hes not gonna give you 20 minutes for 82 games.

Names i like bolded even if unrealistic (ie Parise, Doan) Guys who absolutely totally suck deleted (ie Rolston, Blake) Semin, Alexander » F WAS 27 $6,700,000 2012 (UFA) Smyth, Ryan » F EDM 36 $6,250,000 2012 (UFA) Parise, Zach » F NJD 27 $6,000,000 2012 (UFA) Huselius, Kristian » F CLB 33 $4,750,000 2012 (UFA) Doan, Shane » F PHO 35 $4,550,000 2012 (UFA) Langkow, Daymond » F PHO 35 $4,500,000 2012 (UFA) Penner, Dustin » F LAK 29 $4,250,000 2012 (UFA) Selanne, Teemu » F ANA 41 $4,000,000 2012 (UFA) Boyes, Brad » F BUF 29 $4,000,000 2012 (UFA) Stoll, Jarret » F LAK 29 $3,600,000 2012 (UFA) Hecht, Jochen » F BUF 34 $3,525,000 2012 (UFA) Jagr, Jaromir » F PHI 40 $3,300,000 2012 (UFA) Kostitsyn, Andrei » F NAS 27 $3,250,000 2012 (UFA) Kotalik, Ales » F BUF 33 $3,000,000 2012 (UFA) Jokinen, Olli » F CGY 33 $3,000,000 2012 (UFA) Hagman, Niklas » F ANA 32 $3,000,000 2012 (UFA) Whitney, Ray » F PHO 39 $3,000,000 2012 (UFA) Hejduk, Milan » F COL 36 $3,000,000 2012 (UFA) Grabovski, Mikhail » F TOR 28 $2,900,000 2012 (UFA) Arnott, Jason » F STL 37 $2,875,000 2012 (UFA) Hudler, Jiri » F DET 28 $2,875,000 2012 (UFA) Langenbrunner, Jamie » F STL 36 $2,750,000 2012 (UFA) Samuelsson, Mikael » F FLA 35 $2,500,000 2012 (UFA) Koivu, Saku » F ANA 37 $2,500,000 2012 (UFA) Jones, David » F COL 27 $2,500,000 2012 (UFA) Kelly, Chris » F BOS 31 $2,125,000 2012 (UFA) Brunette, Andrew » F CHI 38 $2,000,000 2012 (UFA) Knuble, Mike » F WAS 39 $2,000,000 2012 (UFA) Stempniak, Lee » F CGY 29 $1,900,000 2012 (UFA) Holmstrom, Tomas » F DET 39 $1,875,000 2012 (UFA) Ponikarovsky, Alexei » F NJD 31 $1,500,000 2012 (UFA) Dvorak, Radek » F DAL 34 $1,500,000 2012 (UFA) Sullivan, Steve » F PIT 37 $1,500,000 2012 (UFA) Parenteau, Pierre-Alexandre » F NYI 28 $1,250,000 2012 (UFA) Morrison, Brendan » F CHI 36 $1,250,000 2012 (UFA) Moore, Dominic » F SAN 31 $1,100,000 2012 (UFA) Pyatt, Taylor » F PHO 30 $1,000,000 2012 (UFA) Sykora, Petr » F NJD 35 $650,000 2012 (UFA)

The problem I'm seeing with DD is that he needs to be put with our two best and biggest wingers to survive and even then, his line was beaten for 3 goals against last night. I like the guy as a secondary scoring option of the wing, or even as a third centre, but I don't think he's good enough to be your #2. You have to give him both Cole and Pacioretty just so he isn't a liability in those kind of minutes, and it leaves no wingers for plek. I like Ufa/bourque - Plek - cole Patch - G or G - gionta DD - Eller - bourque or leblanc For next year, gives every line balance. Puts our captain with the 18 year old along with Patch we'd hope Patch and G would develop chemistry from day 1 together. Gives Eller and Plek better wingers than they've had this year. Let's Desharnais continue to produce while minimizing his defensive issues. Heres the list of UFAs http://capgeek.com/free_agents.php

7pm - London vs Oshawa on sportsnet. Gonna check out Tinordi.

Nattinen has been really good for about 3 weeks but sucked before that. It was said by Jodoin that he really had a tough adjustment from European ice and style of play to North America and he's only now showing his value. I like the way he's playing but I'd leave him down as he's still getting comfortable and I don't want to mess with his groove. Schultz is a bigger possibility IMO cause its two months instead of three weeks of good play, but the last two weeks or so he's regressed a bit and I don't really want to mess with him either (though less a concern than Nattinen). I'd call leblanc and engqvist but that's just me, I think they'll go leblanc and schultz.

No guarantee it has the same chemistry next year. Sometimes a line does over the summer, sometimes it doesn't. Look at Kostitsyn - Pleks - Kovalev in 08 and then in 09 or ryan - getzlaf - perry one of the best lines in the NHL last year and now Ryan can't play with them anymore this year.

The two guys I'm really looking at are Ellis and Dietz. Ellis was talked about as having josh gorges like potential when he was taken in the 4th round and his defence continues to improve. However since being drafted his offence has exploded. And since moving from a crappy team in Cape Breton to a good team in Shawinigan its gotten even better. He's turning into a very well rounded D. Dietz was our 5th rounder in 2011. He was the youngest player drafted in the entire draft and if he was born just a week or two later would be a 2012 drraft pick instead of 2011. Based on the year he's had, those couple weeks are the difference between a 2011 5th rounder and a 2012 2nd rounder. He's been great this year both offensively and defensively and plays 30 minutes a night against the other teams best players and top PK minutes. He's outplayed 2011 11th overall pick and teammate Duncan Siemans. He's being talked about as a darkhorse candidate for a WJC spot for Canada next year.

sure but compare Robinson to say Beliveau and the question is harder. The issue is Robinson is far superior a player to Denis Savard, I think we all agree on that much. That's even assuming you have a D who is the equal of the forward. I don't think we have that in this draft unless we are saying Murray vs Forsberg. I think the other three forwards are just superior players to Ryan Murray.

Probably Leblanc and go 7d knowing this staff.

Forwards typically have an impact faster than D. Typically 2-3 years as opposed to the 3-5 for a D. As for system need, PK is far far closer to an true number 1 D than anyone on our roster or in the system is to being a top notch centre. Heck we've been looking for the center for 20 years. PK is doing so much already at 22 that the sky is the limit for this kid. I could see him as a future top 5 NHL dman, I can't say the same any of our forwards. Just look at Markov, PK at 22 is far further along than Markov was at the same age and before getting hurt Markov was an elite NHL d.

I agree with CC on this, the firing of Martin and hiring of Cunneyworth was a huge mistake, but I don't believe it was a plan orchestrated to fall down the standings. It doesn't fit with trading for Kaberle just one week earlier to try and fix an ailing PP. That's the problem with Gauthier this season, none of the moves fit together to show any kind of coherent plan, not for tanking or otherwise.

At wing, if Gionta returns next year to the near thirty goal guy we've seen in the past, it will help a lot. I also think that once you add the center, and Desharnais moves to wing you've added a productive winger in that way. Sure I'd love to grab a Parise to add to the squad but I still think the needs to address are at C and on D. Centre via the draft, and D via a free agent who will help today ie one of Jackman, Grossman, Stuart, etc... plus a healthy Markov. We need a defenceman to help the team Now and play 20+ minutes now, not in 3-5 years. As for Robinson vs Savard that only works if you can get Larry Robinson, I don't think any Dman in this draft is a Robinson who is one of the best 10 defencemen in history. To me there is a clear separation where the top 2, and maybe 3 (if gally is healthy) forwards in this draft are better than the d. You've also compared Robinson to Savard who while great is not a top 10 centre of all time while Robinson is a top 10 d. A better way to look at this draft is would you rather have a centre like Pavel Datsyuk or a defenceman like Kimmo Timmonen? Both are number 1s on their team right now, but Datsyuk is just a better player overall.

We have a bonafide future number 1 d, his name is PK Subban and he's 22 years old, averages close to 25 minutes a game, and is getting better all the time. The kid is a stud #1. Beaulieu and Tinordi are very good 2/3s. Gorges and Emelin are 3s/4s going forward. As for Reinhart and Murray, I think you are massivelu overating both kids. Reinhart is falling like a rock in the eyes of most scouting services into the 10-15 range or even lower. Reinhart just doesn't have the hockey sense to be what you are comparing him to. Murray you've compared to Scott Niedermayer, hey I like Murray but he's no hall of famer. As for Murray being NHL ready there is a difference between being ready and having an impact. As an 18 year old he'll be on the third pair in limited minutes for at least 2 years, he's not coming in and making an impact for 3-5 years.

The thing that you keep missing is that a drafted D will take time to reach the NHL. Yes our D blows right now, I agree. But that's not what you judge our organizational needs by. You don't judge what we need to draft based on what the big club is doing because there is a 3-5 year gap between a D drafted today and when he'll actually have an impact on the ice. When you look at all our recent picks and prospects and we have 3 maybe 4 if you include Diaz dmen who will be on the Habs for a while and who are growing, you realize that even if the results aren't there today, the longterm future is in good hands on D with Gorges, Subban, Emelin, Tinordi, Beaulieu and Diaz. You keep coming back to that the D sucks this year. I agree with that. But the longterm help on defence is in place, we just need a veteran signing or two to bridge the gap until its ready. Another 18 year old won't help for at least 3-5 years. A forward on the other hand, there is no elite going forward and if you draft an elite guy, he could be only 2-3 years away from having an impact.

If he hits his max potential (thats an if because some guys fall short,but if) - start with Plekanec (speed, two way play, fiesty, etc) - add 4-5 inches of height to bring him to 6-2/6-3 when fully grown - add Kovalev like stick handling - add a great wrist shot and release (see maybe like Patches) - add a little more vision and creativity - put in Subban's work ethic in the gym Here is what he did as a 16 year old #94 and 12 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M5tWK459ZXo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IcekDhyzUwY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O6vi8jQSH4E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Give Beaulieu time, the kid will be more than just a PPQB. One needs only to look at both Subban now, and Markov prior to his injury to see that just because you have a D that puts up points it doesn't necessarily lead to the assumption that he can't play in his own end as well. in Gorges you've already got a premjer shot blocker, defensive d, penalty killer who is signed for 6 more years. In Subban you've got a 22 year old who is already playing against top pairs. In Emelin you've got a rookie D who is developing but is definitely showing signs he'll eventually be a top 4 defenseman. Now I'm personally not putting him in that spot next year due to the sophomore jinx but he'll get there eventually. In Tinordi you've got a future defensive D. In Beaulieu you've got a two-way guy And yes the other 12 might never make the league, but chances are they are so young and there are so many that there also might be one or two there who will become top 4 D as they continue to grow ala Gorges who was just organizational depth when we got him. Dont look at the D today, project what we're developping A D drafted today will take 3-5 years to have an impact. In 3-5 years Tinordi - Subban Beaulieu - Emelin Rookie one of 12 - Gorges Press box: Rookie one of 12 - Diaz And this is totally ignoring our GM (whoever that is) grabbing a ufa D or two. Its overkill to draft another D when there is only one young sure fire top line forward in our system. After Paccioretty there are no other guys we can point to and say "He'll be part of a number 1 line in three to five years." The defense might suck now but the pieces to improve are here longterm. Do we need a UFA stop gap til they are ready? sure we do, but we don't need an 18 year old d prospect in the same way as we're absolutely desperate for a Premier forward, especially a center. If this was a house, the D needs is like a wall that needs a little patchwork to buy us time to develop the young kids. The forward group is like the main support beam of the roof that is rotting and sagging and needs a replacement, but the secondary supports are all in place. However without that main piece its always gonna sag and look like crrap and its been sagging for 20 years. We need our franchise piece at forward, the guy who will make everyone around him look better.

Exactly You want to change the D for next year? Ditch Weber and Campoli; sign one of Barrett Jackman, Brad Stuart, Nic Grossman, Bryan Allen, in July.

They can, but there arent youtubes of them clearing the net. Again we have one of the deepest sets of young D in the league (when you include Subban, Emelin, Diaz, and Weber as young D). We need stop gaps to help the d but the draft pick needs to be a fwd. Only way I draft a d is if Yakupov, Grigo, Galchenyuk, and Forsberg are all gone and Murray Dumba or Trouba are available. If somehow we're 8th and those 7 are all gone I come back to Gaunce, Faksa, Girgensens before Reinhart, Ceci, Reilly etc

Morgan Ellis <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NeWAPG0mIDs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BiFMCPmh6gM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Tinordi isnt the only D in our system with a mean streak.

May I also introduce Darren Dietz <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BXwUVYo5xD8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mjU3JcA5-4k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sbsm4f057TI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NpF1mpf39-g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O6vkC5GOTt8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 107 PIMs this season and has outplayed teammate Duncan Siemens (11th overall avs) this season too

Beaulieu has 89 PIMs in 47 games this year. Hes tough and skilled <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XTqwV8haUcs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HKFzNKVXmH4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xu4tGFYHdJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vzIsycDLUCY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Beaulieu has also become better defensively and a good hitter this season

An 18 year old reinhart will have zero impact on making next year's team tougher. None, zero zilch. He'll be back in the whl and is at least two years away from nhl play. by the time he gets here tinordi and beaulieu will have already solved this problem Taking Reinhart over a centre would be a huge error Look at our D Keepers: Subban Emelin Gorges (signed for 6 years) Blue Chip prospects: Tinordi, Beaulieu Probable NHLer 5-6 D: Diaz Thats 6 guys already Plus 12 Darkhorse prospects: Ellis, Dietz, Didier, Nygren, Bennett, Stejskal, Pateryn, Sullivan, Nash, St.Denis, Kishel, Mitera Now most of the darkhorses will bust but with so many chances are at least 2 or 3 will be NHLers There is good depth here. There is high end and bottom pair talent. Their is all around D, puck movers and defensive d. There's tough guys down there. The depth in our D pipeline is immense, and dwarfs any other position on the team. We need an ELITE FRANCHISE CHANGING forward badly.

Ellis wouldnt have counted against the limit just like Gallagher, tinordi and beaulieu dont

The less ability a person has to actually analyze the play, the more likely they are to blame most goals on the goalie.