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Edmonton wants to shed the center salary to add it into the defense, they have made that obvious and every insider of worth like Dreger, LeBrun and company all agree RNH or Eberle only leave for a D-man of consequence with term and ability. With that said we are off the table because we don't have what they are looking for. I still believe we are where we are because we lost one of the best hockey players in the world for the majority of the season, who happens to play in the most important position in the game. Does Washington lead the league, and have the kind of offense they have if Ovechkin missed all but 3 weeks this year? Where is Chicago if Kane plays 15 games only this year? How About Dallas, if Benn or Seguin go down 90% of this season, are they in the position they are in? And the bottom line to this point is also none of those players are as important to their teams as Price is to ours, and none play a position as important to Hockey as Price does. So we can all yell at Bergevin, or make a scapegoat of whoever we feel like, but at the end of the day this team was gangbusters when it was healthy, not just for a week but 2 freakin months. That happened while Bergevin was still upstairs and while half of these guys were still on the team. Panic and Blame all you want guys, but if you take a very good team's very good player's away, they just simply aren't very good anymore.

how quickly everyone forgets we were the best team in Hockey for 2 months out of 5 played so far. you really think the sky is falling approach is warranted? Does anyone think the real Bottom feeding teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Columbus, and Buffalo could be the best team in hockey for 2 straight months? Didn't think so. Do we have some dead weight? yes, guys like Desharnais and Emelin need to be moved to create cap space to upgrade our forward position. But i would be willing to bet that with a similar line up, with Price in net and one solid addition into the top 6 of some kind, we would be far from the position we are in now, and a lot closer to the place we were in late November. Accept this season as a strange anomaly we may end up picking up a real good young kid in June for, and expect a huge bounce back next season without the complete destruction of the current roster.

we lack scoring, we should have Andrighetto in the line up, if it is indeed an exhibition season now we should still have our promising young players in the line up, like Andrighetto.

that was the first fight we have seen involving this team in how long? How long has it been since this team was a viable offensive threat for any stretch? Does Brown or Andrighetto in the line up achieve a greater chance of that happening, because that is ultimately the swap in personnel that took place. Andrighetto certainly wasn't playing poorly enough to get scratched anyway

oh boy, did Mike Brown seriously just get in the line up at the expense of an offensive player like Andrighetto? I guess we have been scoring so many goals of late that we could use more grinders in the line up, its not like Mike Brown can't go down in shootout and roof it under the bar the way Andrighetto did in his last 2 shootouts right? Maybe Andrighetto couldn't be used on the second line right now while Eller plays on the 3rd because we rather have wide open nets missed during the game right?....guys?....anyone?.. didn't think so either

top 4 should still have been #1 Drew Doughty #2 PK Subban #3 Duncan Kieth #4 Shea Weber there is just no question in my mind, I don't think anyone with a solid hockey pedigree would see it differently, and then this happens...

Always appreciate your statistical approach to things, but in this case, even from a strictly observational perspective, it is already obvious to me this is stupid, and that in my eyes, only Doughty should probably rank slightly higher as a choice, with Subban the clear and obvious second choice. Honestly I don't even know what to make of it

as if Subban couldn't keep things simple on a defensive squad where he doesn't have to be the Catalyst night in and night out. That feeling of wanting to do too much would never be present when you look around on the bench and see Doughty, Keith, Weber, Seabrook and company. the guy is in the top 5 for Assists while on a team that can't score much, does anyone really think he wouldn't compliment the talent up front on this squad better than Vlasic and Weber? There would be no complex here, if Babcock sits him down and says he expects stable, efficient, and simple hockey in the defensive zone, Subban will not feel like he has to step outside the box to make something happen, everyone on this squad can make something happen. it just cracks me up really, every GM in this league would give a body part to have Subban on their team, but team Canada seems to think it is perfectly acceptable not to pick him on the roster immediately after Doughty? insane...

Ah yes, based on his 2 game evaluation of course

Patches - Galchenyuk - Gallagher Eller - Plekanec - Andrighetto Byron - Danault - McCarron Matteau - De La Rose - Mitchell I Don't see why at this point these could not be the lines employed for a solid 2 - 3 week evaluation

there is no good reason why an Elite player like Subban get left off this roster, none. He is already ahead of an aging Weber and Vlasic in my books, I have no idea what Canada's problem is with Subban, but the fact he isn't among their top 4 yet is considered a top 5 d-man in the league by most is mind boggling.

i agree if it turns out to be anything over 5th pick, ship it off with some salary for a top 6 winger we can count on for a few years,

Doesn't happen until summer guys, if it happens at all, I truly believe that. I find it as close to impossible as it can be, considering i'm not psychic, that Bergevin fires his good friend after a season in which the only player that makes this team special was out for 90% of the season. For me personally i've reached a point where I'm not willing to defend his job, or demand his firing, I see no considerable upgrade as a candidate at this time, and unless I see one, that is where I will remain.

How does he do that exactly, play 5 guys behind the red line and finish the game with 12 shots on net? This team can't have so much as a single breakdown without it hitting the back of the net. if our forwards cheat even a little the Defense finds a way to pick that inopportune moment to screw up, and the goalies are never able to bail them out of any blunder. when I see a team controlling the play for 2 periods and suddenly fall apart, that is on them, you think Therrien told them to stop skating in the 3rd? that was a mental and automatic reaction by very unconfident group of players trying not to lose yet another game. These guys play the right way for 80% of every game, but unlike any other team, they find ways to allow 2 - 3 goals during the 20% portion of the game they go off the rails. I feel every night as though the Habs are playing the better hockey on the ice, they find ways to throw games with a series of breakdowns over a span of 15 seconds. Thus removing any positive in the 10 minutes of solid hockey they played prior, and turning the game on its head for themselves each and every night. the mindset of the players at this point is to blame, it is all wrong, it is not Therrien for a bad system, it is not Bergevin for a horrible team, it is the players and what is happening between their ears. They don't believe in eachother at this point. the forwards don't trust the Defense, the Defense doesn't trust the Goaltending, each position feels the pressure of that mindset and none are performing up to their capabilities because of it. No matter how good a stretch in a game everything seems to be working at each position, the moment a turnover or a weak goal takes place, the whole "Oh here we go again" mindset strikes and the train derails and we all end up here talking about how horrible this is.

Agreed Talent should be the #1 judgement when evaluating a player, I'll take the more talented small guy over the less talented big guy all day.

forgot all about McDonaugh, a painful memory, the thought of him AND Subban, together, in the same defense lineup still stings.

I see him very much in the same light as Seguin, Give him the Primary Scoring role he deserves, and he will Thrive, lets not make the same mistake Boston made and hold him back, only to have him explode elsewhere when he gets that role. Until I see him fail with my own eyes as a top line Center, I will believe he is the answer.

i'd say we are among the top 15, and I feel that way because every team, even the best of them draft their Fisher's and Leblanc's. Ultimately he drafted our 5 core players, and for that he deserves his due. He has been far from perfect, but at the end of the day his picks are major pieces of this club, and that is all you can ask of your scouting staff. Going forward I feel like it is less apparent what picks can punch through the NHL ranks in the coming years outside of Andrighetto, McCarron, and Hudon. But if guys like Reway get their acts together, and Scherbak gets back on his horse, or Bozon ever regains his pre-illness form their could be more on the horizon.

so the excuses for them missing the playoffs are ok and they are still a great team, but we are horrible despite last year's success and the first quarter of this year? There is no chance that we are capable of doing the exact same thing as they did by bouncing back next season? the old saying goes you are never as good as your best and never as bad as your worst, seems to be a whole lot of people seeing us as being as bad as our worst. and I'm not comparing them as teams, i'm well aware LA has a better club than we do, i'm comparing their situations. The Kings were in our shoes last season, for whatever reason, they played well below their abilities, and after a positive summer not filled with the dismantling of their core, they came back strong as ever this season, we could do the same next season. Take statements like you are saying, where minus Price, we are a terrible roster for instance, that is so filled with negative bias and frustration its not even funny. Does anyone really think GMs in the league would not salivate at the idea of having Subban, Pacioretty, Gallagher or Galchenyuk on their Roster? Come on now.

Kings? yes I too believe we will do just as they did, Miss the playoffs over some anomaly of a season, and get right back where we were next year, only now with a top 7 pick in our hands. When the Kings FAILED to make the playoffs last year, did they implode the team during summer? destroy their core? Stop believing in their players? No, they calmed their F'N horses and realized their players were capable of more and for a variety of reasons, failed to achieve it. They stuck with their core and added to it, and now not even 9 months later they are back to being a Team to look out for. Could we use some size in our top 6? of course, do we need to try and move DD and Eller to make room for that? of course. Does that mean we should be talking about moving our top goal scorer? our most talented young forward? Our best D-man? Absolutley freakin not, that has panic and senseless reaction written all over it. This team is built on a good foundation, a core of Price, Subban, Pacioretty, Gallagher, and Galchenyuk, surrounded by a better crop of player in a few different areas of the Roster has everything it needs to be a team to look out for. The team needs an Upgrade to its top 6, it doesn't need to be Nuked. In Theory, if you Subtract DD, Eller, DSP, and Fleishman, Replace it with an Okposo to the top 6 or any bonified scorer of the 6+ million salary type, while giving full time spots to some of our Productive youngsters like Carr and Andrighetto. Do we not spend our cap more wisely and upgrade our weak position all at the same time? Do the young kids provide any less production from the bottom 6 than Eller, DSP or Fleishman? The Kings kept their composure after an off year last year, and acquired Lucic during the summer to upgrade something they felt they were lacking, rather than blow it up in a fit of panic. We need to keep our composure and see this for what it is, an off year, and this summer, we need to get our Lucic, so that next season we can be an even better version of what we could have been this season. that's my opinion on this whole ordeal

I had the same line up thoughts exactly

come on with this, guy has 9 points in his last 11, has 3 points in his last 4, what does he have to do to get the jackals off his back, considering the slump we have been in during the games mentioned I'd say he is doing just fine. Probably the most productive forward during the stretch too, so we need to accept he can't be gang busters every time. And no one else is anyway so why is he getting ragged on at the slightest off shift, or less than stellar game? That C really came at a price from the fans didn't it, there are literally 11 other forwards to look towards and lash out on before him, lets start there shall we?

I don't care who he is listening to, have some pride for your career, and be a professional, this is not how to conduct yourself in a pro league. At the end of the day he is in charge of his life, what he is told to do is ultimately just advice, they have no hold over him. If he fired the people he thought were giving him bad advice and did his own thing in this matter because it is what his principles compel him to do, there would be 3 more managers sprouting up for the job. this whole thing is rubbing me the wrong way, and I would be much more comfortable with staying away at this point than taking the chance on acquiring the NHL's next Mariah Carey

exactly, I for one am not about to let his play on his last legs cloud my view of the pure brilliance he put on the ice for well over 10 years here. the guy needs to be treated with tremendous respect by this entire fanbase, he stuck with us through the dark years and beyond when not many others would.

not sure I want anything to do with this, especially not at any significant cost