dlbalr

The season will start earlier moving forward thanks to the shortened training camp (and extra two regular season games). It should start in late September now with the target end staying around the 15th to 20th of June.

There's probably an in-between option between Kapanen and Hage if it came to that. But Anaheim and Montreal haven't been viewed as good trading partners for a while given that Montreal's surpluses are at spots the Ducks are pretty well set in.

Nate Clurman won't be back next season. He has signed a one-year deal with SHL Rogle.

I think Kapanen's ceiling is that of a 40-point player most years, more of a 3C than a 2C. (His shooting percentage this season is unsustainable over the long haul). McTavish has hit that in four straight years (and he's only been a full-time NHL player for four years). With ice time at the level of a second liner in Montreal (which is more than the 15 minutes he gets in Anaheim) and playing with Demidov, I could see him getting past the 50-point mark again and doing so regularly. It's not a massive upgrade in terms of points but it's an incremental upgrade that 20 other teams would be looking to get, turning more of a 3C to a 2C. If the Ducks move him, they're going to get a pretty penny for that incremental upgrade.

If you're not wanting to spend major assets, why would Anaheim move him? He's a former third overall pick who has demonstrated a 40-point floor. Relatively unproven secondary youngsters aren't going to move the needle when they're a team with as deep of a prospect pool as Montreal's and they're not in a spot where they have to move money out (they're more than $38M under the cap). If all they can get is secondary-level assets, they may as well just keep him and see if he rebounds. If he doesn't, those same secondary-level assets will be there next summer.

23-year-old centre signed long-term at a reasonable rate. Yeah, he's going to cost a ton or Anaheim will have no reason to move him.

If Alex Burrows wants to jump back into coaching, he'd probably be a strong contender as well. He's still with the Habs, just in an advisory capacity at the moment.

Suzuki was fifth in Hart Trophy voting, Caufield eighth. (And Hutson had a pair of down-ballot votes.)

Maybe, but he feels like the type that's more likely to start in player development. Work a bit with the Habs, a bit with Laval rather than full-time on a coaching staff.

If one of Robidas or Letowski want the job, it could be an option. Had that been the case though, it could have been a swap with Vincent joining the NHL staff in their place. Favreau was a legit contender two years ago. He'd probably be the prospective early favourite. And a hard pass on Benoit Groulx, he's someone I'd want nowhere near this organization.

He does want out. It wouldn't surprise me if he's moved this summer.

I believe that will extend his signing timeline by two years which is notable since he was tracking towards not being signed with how this season went.

40 or more points in five straight years. In a 32-team NHL (with 192 top-six forwards by technical definition), I think DeBrusk qualifies, though near the lower end of that tier. He wasn't only reliant on power play points with Boston so it's not as if this is his usual pattern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not overly enthused about DeBrusk but $5.5 million per year for a 40-point player is going to look somewhat reasonable in the near future.

There's no rule that says the best player has to be the captain. While lots of teams do that, it doesn't make it right. If he decides to move on, McDavid might actually prefer going somewhere where he's not the captain.

This seems rather light, actually. I'm not sure Gallagher has much in the way of positive trade value (just because Gallagher's agent says Vancouver has interest doesn't mean that a bunch of teams are interested; he's also not going to say anything negative about his client). Meanwhile, Roy, now waiver-eligible, has minimal value. A package headlined by a second-round pick (the most valuable piece) can't land a top-six winger with term.