huzer

Habs had their pick and were convinced he wouldn't be available later. That's all I can say about that.

Bedard draft over. NHL draft starts now!

I expect Habs roster players for later picks, more than I expect any movement around the #5 pick.

One thing I wish for the draft: In lieu of EVERY team thanking the host city and congratulating VGK, Bettman does a consolidated announcement on behalf of all teams.

I was merely providing an option for an available RHD. I do think it's possible. It seems there's a pretty consensus top 4. I guess you can include Michkov as top 5. Maybe the Habs are playing coy with their interest in Michkov, but it doesn't appear they are inclined to select him. My gut says if he's the available pick at 5, the Habs move down. Of course, if your deal is with Philly or Washington, you run the risk of Arizona taking your preferred player. Whereas if they view Leonard/Reinbacher as equals and are happy with either, well, there really isn't a risk if Michkov isn't their guy. These thoughts should probably be more in the draft thread than in this thread, but here we are.

Well, it does seem there's some potential to move down and draft Reinbacher.

He was tied to Evan Rodriques for the 1st half of the season. He started out with Rodrigues and Nichushkin (who missed a decent chunk of time). About halfway through the season, the Avs basically swapped Newhook and Compher. It was a failing on the Avs management to expect to replace the production of Kadri-Burakovksy-Landeskog with Chu-Newhook-Rodrigues. Expectations for Newhook were too high in his second year, especially given his linemates in any combination, really. Most pundits in last year's preseason (at least locally) had him sliding riding in and replacing Kadri's production, and being a "breakout" candidate, despite lower quality linemates. Heck, Kadri wouldn't have duplicated his previous year, either. Anyway, I hope for good things from him for next season.

He got the opportunity to fill Kadri's shoes at the start of the season, but the 2nd year Newhook wasn't up to the task. The Avs need to win now, more than wait a couple more years for Newhook to blossom. Still, with Compher unsigned (yet) as a UFA, it leaves them a little thin down the middle after McKinnon and Johansen. Yes, Rantanen plays C as well. Anyway, I think he was miscast as a 2nd line C and projects better as a winger. Of course, there's lots of talk like that with young Cs, so we shall see. Price seems a little high (when just considering the draft capital), but hopefully he's able to flourish here with some new direction. It's hard for a player (as we saw with Caufield/Ducharme) to get back into any good graces once the coach has lost confidence. That's how it appeared in CO with Newhook. Most fans here would probably (and unfairly) offer to drive Newhook to the airport.

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/canadiens-acquire-rights-to-alex-newhook/c-345041844?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=CHCcontent&utm_content=EN-0627-AlexNewhook Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced on Tuesday that the team has acquired the rights to forward Alex Newhook in exchange for Montreal's 31st (previously acquired from Florida) and 37th overall picks in 2023 and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother.

This morning, I get a text from a goalie coach and asked if my son could fill in this afternoon for an hour. I wasn't able to take him, but my wife did. It ended up basically being a 1-1 lesson with Peter Budaj. Pretty neat, and a fun little tie in to this former Habs thread. My son was thrilled, and called me on the drive home.

I guess I should clarify, I shouldn't have said I expect them to finish around 500, that's what I consider the team's ceiling next season. Do I think they'll get there? Well, right now there is insufficient data. The off season hasn't even really started yet.

Bubble means a ~23 point improvement over last season. That seems slightly optimistic. .500, +/- a few games is about where I expect the team to be.

I've said it before, I 100% do not understand why people suggest a Hoffman buy out. Can anyone explain the scorn heaped upon a player in the last year of their contract, and WHY they would want to extend his cap hit by virtue of a buyout? I don't see the Habs having a burning need for that $3.3M this coming season.

Man, the Flyers are going all in with former players. Briere, Jones, Sharp, Leclair for their office staff.

Vegas could have t-shirts made like TB, $10M over the cap! Ha. All joking aside, it was pretty significant for Vegas to get an impact player like Stone back for the playoffs.

That’s a couple of times in this series Hill was throwing haymakers with his blocker and trapper out there.

Um, so they take on $13M in salary, while moving out no salary? Maybe they’ll take Gallagher and Price’s LTIR as well.

For every small guy injury (Audette, Gionta, Cammalleri, Gallagher, Byron), I can find big guy injuries too (Eddie, Weber, Price, Hossa, Clarkson, Horton). It's confirmation bias. Really, I'm glad the Habs locked up Caufield for the age that they have him, as injuries for all players, big and small, pile up with age. Paying for potential is not something the Habs have historically done, so this is new territory for fans and the team. I can understand those with hesitancy around the deal for those reasons. That shot though...oh my. 🙂

While I'd agree with that normally, I've heard so much about character the last 10-12 years that it's nearly become a dirty word.

When does anything of significance happen pre-draft for any team? This is management/coach hire season, not roster move season. As far as Pezzetta, nice reward for a player. Good for him, nothing exciting from a team standpoint.

The concern around Hoffman baffles me. The Habs won't contend next season, don't need cap space to go deep sea fishing in the UFA pool, and his contract expires at the completion of next season. Basically, you eat Hoffman for another year. What is the burning need to jettison Hoffman that people are willing to spend assets to do it? I consider cap space in 24-25 to be an asset, when debating a buyout.

Meh, it's too quick to judge. There were some folks that thought MacKinnon was a bust in CO after 2017, when his numbers continued to decline after his rookie season in '13-14. Then boom, from a 53 pt season to 97 pts. There were media outlets redoing the 2012 draft a year later in 2013 that catapulted Galchenyuk as the clear #1 overall.

As a token American, I don't think ANYONE has any desire to watch Seattle/Dallas-Vegas, Carolina-Florida. That's like a Detroit Lions/Jacksonville Jaguars Super Bowl matchup.

One game suspension. Seems rather light to me. I mean he skates over to him with his stick already in position to deliver the whack.

Right, the "wheel of justice" is spun at the DoPS office and where ever it lands is what they pick. It's quite silly, honestly.