dlbalr

We have that too. Some of the specialty channels simply show the international feed but that's fine. Lots of times, they're better than the people CBC trots out as commentators that have no business calling anything on TV.

I'd say he has spent most of his career at LW; it is his natural position. He has moved around interchangeably at times but I'd hazard a guess he has way more games at LW than RW. The challenge with him on RW is that they already have Toffoli, Gallagher, Anderson, Caufield, and Armia as natural RW's. Moving Lehkonen there would shift two of them to their off-wing and even then, he'd still be on the fourth line.

I've yet to see a positive comment anywhere about NBC's coverage. You'd think after all these years, someone would outbid them for the rights or someone at NBC would see all the negativity and think about changing things up a little. I can't complain about the Canadian coverage. At times, there are five separate stations showing live events with plenty of recap shows during the day to catch up on anything important that was missed.

His sophomore year, he had 12 goals in 66 games while averaging 16:29 per game (2nd line minutes). A year later, he had 11 in 82 while playing 15:33 per game, low 2nd/high 3rd line minutes. Even in 2019-20 he logged over 15 minutes a game and had just 13 goals in 70 games. Lehkonen has been above fourth line minutes for the majority of his career and just can't score with enough consistency to justify the extra playing time.

I don't think Ottawa does that deal. There's already speculation that one of Mete or Brannstrom is going to be dealt due to their current LD depth (which isn't much) and what's coming up. I think they'd view Zub as the more valuable piece of the two.

Lehkonen has re-signed - one-year, $2.3M. It's slightly below last year's cap hit but still above his qualifying offer. http://www.habsworld.net/2021/07/habs-re-sign-artturi-lehkonen/

It doesn't save them any money but it allows them to go a little deeper into LTIR to start the season. They'll need to get back in compliance to activate him so whoever his replacement is would have to be off the roster by then. Just picking a random example, they could spend up to their max on Weber, then carry Poehling on the roster until Byron returns and send Poehling down at that time. Simple example but that's the gist of it.

If he was to make the team and then be sent down, he'd be sent back to Sweden. He's too old for the slide rule to apply; the first year of his deal burns in 21-22 no matter what.

Correct. He's still under contract out there and since he wasn't a first-round pick, they have to abide by the contract if he doesn't crack the NHL roster.

Cut off the sentence after 'Habs' and you'll also have an accurate statement. He views things through a very analytical lens and a stay-at-home defender rarely grades well on that scale. Having said that, a four-year deal certainly does carry some risk; while Chiarot and Edmundson are making the same amount, their deals were signed when they were younger.

It's definitely a fair point; for someone who has as many goals/points as he does, he really isn't particularly good at 5-on-5 in terms of generating offence. He's a power play specialist, just one that's a forward that needs to take a regular shift. They will probably need to manage his minutes accordingly; he's someone that's going to be sat late in a lot of third periods with a close lead with someone like Byron or Lehkonen moving up.

Just so everyone knows, that account is run by a Montreal fan who, while he has gotten a handful right over the years, has a very low track record of actually being right.

An interview in Russian with Dmitri Kostenko, Montreal's third-rounder: https://allhockey.ru/article/show/420073-Dmitrij_Kostenko_v_Monreale_mne_srazu_skazali_chtoby_uchil_francuzskij

On an $81.5M cap, if the Habs were at $70M and placed Weber on LTIR, they'd get no relief. You're correct in that the timing of the placement matters. If the Habs are at $80M at the time of the placement, Montreal's cap ceiling with LTIR would be $87.58M. If they place him at $81M, it'd be $88.58M. They want to get as close to the cap at the time they put him on there as a result. I find this is a good read for LTIR purposes if you want to see the different scenarios: https://couchguysports.com/the-nhl-ltir-explained/

They were in talks with him last fall. I don't think it'll happen but I wouldn't be shocked if it did.

Perreault hasn't been a centre for years though; that atrocious faceoff percentage came on a total of 13 draws taken in 56 games. This is a Perry replacement more than a Danault (or Staal) replacement. Bozak still makes a lot of sense for this roster. The deal is now official too, by the way.

http://www.habsworld.net/2021/07/habs-reportedly-sign-mathieu-perreault/

There's also the possibility that Perry preferred Tampa on a two-year deal, going to a team that should be a contender for both of those seasons. They've lost some players but most of the core is still there so they'll be in the mix. He could have left money on the table to do so like pretty much every other UFA that signed there yesterday for peanuts. I suspect this will be for a cap hit under a million and that's something I'm pretty sure the Habs offered as well.

Bozak I could see making some sense. I wondered about a Drouin-Henrique move a while back but the third year on Henrique's contract scared me off. Even moving Byron to offset the first two years still leaves that third expensive season on the books. That's almost a guaranteed buyout at that time.

I don't think they'll have someone wearing the C until there's an announcement that his "playing career has ended" (same terminology Chicago used with Shaw and Seabrook). Until it's officially official that he's done (and the NHL and NHLPA are having their battle about that), Weber will remain the captain.

No shocker that he moves on. With two young goalies in their system, that seems like a bad landing spot in terms of getting playing time.

Hip surgery, he's out for the first half of next season (if not a big longer). They'll go with Ullmark/Swayman to start and if they're faltering, they'll sign him midseason.

Guys, this is a thread about William Trudeau, not the Prime Minister or Logan Mailloux. Stay on topic.

That's a bigger contract than I thought he'd get and I like Suter. There aren't many bargains to be had this year, that's for sure.