John B

He's missed 14 games in the OHL. Glad to see him back in junior where he can work on his development.

Wasn't sure what thread to post this under. Spitfires just acquired defenseman Sean Day today. Do they know something about the Habs intentions regarding Sergachev, or are they just preparing themselves for the worst case scenario?

Maybe Bergevin doesn't want to get any closer to the 50 contract limit?

I wouldn't mind seeing Sergachev on the team if a) he earns his spot in camp as one of the best 6 defenseman and b) the Habs plan on keeping him all year and are willing to give him the proper ice time to further his development. Otherwise, back to junior before the start of the season. I have my doubts that he's ready for full time NHL duty though and IMO he would be served playing in Windsor for one more year. Also have to consider the waiver situation in Montreal. Weber, Markov, Petry, Beaulieu, and Emelin are likely locks to make the team barring one of them getting traded. Barberio (who showed he could play a 3rd pair role efficiently last year), Pateryn, and Redmond are going to be competing with Sergachev for the final two spots (assuming the Habs want to carry 7 defenseman) on the roster. Everyone except Sergachev needs to clear waivers to be sent to the minors. So if Sergachev gets one of the final two spots just so the Habs can look at him for 9 games and send him back, they risk losing two depth defenseman on waivers. It would leave them with 6 defenseman on the roster and the next call up likely being one of Samuelsson, Hanley, Johnston, or Lernout. Which is quite a drop off from Barberio, Redmond, or Pateryn. This is why I would want to see him either make the team for the entire season because he belongs in the NHL or sent back to junior.

Did a reporter ask Bergevin about Beaulieu and that was his response or did he just start talking about teams being interested in him? What's the context of Bergevin's statement?

Looks like Hudler is off the market. Signed a 1 year $2M deal with Dallas according to The Hockey News.

Every year we see highly touted players rise and slide in the draft. Who are your candidates to possibly slide, or even make a pretty big jump based on what you know about the players to this point? Do you think Patrick will be able to hang to the #1 status all season or is his competition going to catch up to him?

I'm going to say it's development that is the problem. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where it goes wrong. I always felt that the Habs never had a lot of patience when it comes to their prospects and tend to rush them into roles they are not ready for (sink or swim situations). I also wonder if they put a little too much pressure on these players to be more than what they are.

I'll start off by saying that I think Montreal's drafting and development is about average. Montreal's prospect pool doesn't look that great right now, but I think it's because they are feeling the effects of some of the deadline trades that have occurred over the past few years. The 2016 draft marked the 3rd straight year without a second rounder, and until this year's draft the Habs have been drafting towards the end of each round since 2012. The Hockey News has the Canadiens ranked 23rd and a C+ grade in their 2016 Future watch issue. Last year they were 14th and B grade. They also had 4 players ranked in the top 75 prospects in the league (McCarron 47, Juulsen 62, Scherbak 66, De la Rose 75). Every team has their share of busts (some more than others obviously) and there are a lot of different reasons for it. I think it's hard to choose who to blame when a player busts. Was it a poor choice by the scouting staff? Was it poor development in the organization? Who knows what went wrong when a highly touted kid doesn't pan out. That said, I'd like to see the Habs make improvements to both their scouting and development departments. Teams should always be looking for ways to improve and should never be satisfied with their results. Unless you're winning the cup every year and all your draft picks make the NHL. Of course that is not realistic, but never the less it should be the goal.

I'm not a big fan of Fucale. He reminds me of Mathieu Garon. He's still young though, maybe he improves enough to be a decent NHL goaltender.

Yeah I know. I almost wrote his name down and remembered that it's Weber now.

Atleast Radulov is a legit top 6 forward. Decent contract terms. I don't think they overpaid (in terms of what top 6 forwards get in free agency) and there's no term. He wasn't my first choice...or second ect., but he wasn't my last either.

I think this is an upgrade over Condon. Montoya has played well as a backup during his career. Of course last year's experience may have helped Condon in his development as well. It will be interesting to see who wins the backup job next season. My guess is Montoya.

Solid depth signing. With all the injuries to the defense last year, the Habs needed some experienced depth. After the team's top 7 defensemen (Weber, Markov, Beaulieu, Petry, Pateryn, Emelin, and Barbario) the Habs are left with very little experience in the minors to help out in case of injury. Hanley was OK at times last year, but Redmond is an upgrade.

There is a little Finn attending Don. Petrus Palmu. (5'7", 174lbs.) lol. I know not the one you were talking about. Future considerations has a pretty nice little write up on him. I've been checking out the invitees on eliteprospects.com. The Habs invited some big boys on defense. Seems to me I've heard of Maxime Fortier somewhere before. I know he was eligible for the draft this year, but I could've sworn that I heard his name for some other reason s well. The announcers during the Memorial Cup seemed impressed with Reid Duke during the season as well. I also noticed that the Habs invited a legacy to camp in Nicolas Poulin (Patrick Poulin's son). Who out of the invitees are the dark horses that might earn a main camp invite or even an NHL contract?

I agree that Perron is a likely target. There were rumors a couple (or maybe 3) years ago at the trade deadline that Bergevin was interested in Perron from the Oilers. Wouldn't be surprised if Bergevin takes a run at Ladd, Brouwer, and Versteeg either. He seems to like the Chicago connection.

I've been preparing myself for this since the rumors first began so I'm not in complete shock. I wish they had been able to get a bit more given the term on Weber's deal and his age, but it is what it is. Even with Subban, I didn't see the Habs as a contender and with the moves they have made in last few years leading up to today I didn't see a contender being built. Just a whole lot more mediocrity. This organization has had several opportunities to add impact players, but has failed. Instead they rely on reclamation projects and declining veterans to fill major holes on the roster while paying average players above average money. I don't see this team winning a Stanley Cup anytime soon or even in their "window". I'm hoping that after yet another few failed attempts (which will likely see Pacioretty and/or Price move on as UFAs) this team will begin a rebuild. A true rebuild not a retooling before guys like Galchenyuk get too old and were stuck with another 2 or 3 year window to win before they move on.

I'd rather see the Habs retain some salary on Desharnais in a trade than buy him out. Why pay for a guy that's not with your team for two straight years?

Perhaps Bergevin is clearing some space on defense in the AHL to add a veteran or two that are more NHL ready for depth or spot duty. I thought Deitz would've been a guy that they brought back for depth (he wasn't all that bad in the NHL last year), but maybe he has someone else in mind. Another Barberio type perhaps?

You are correct sir. I've never seen these guys play, and even if I had I wouldn't even know how to evaluate them. I'm not a scout, I just go by scouting reports. Considering that the players I had mentioned were not only ranked higher (by professional scouts and people who know more than me about prospects), but also had better scouting reports I assume they would be better picks. I made my picks using the information at hand. Anything is possible though. There are always surprises in every draft and scouting isn't an exact science so the scouts could be wrong as well.

Too bad we couldn't have picked 69th. Cliff Pu would have been a steal. I like Bitten though. Solid player with some upside. I really liked Allard as well. Bitten was the right choice though.

Saw Mete play in the Memorial Cup and I was pretty impressed. definitely a good offensive dman. I have my concerns about his size as do most people. Maltsev or Moverare might have been safer picks, but likely had less upside. I like Max Zimmer as well, but again he doesn't have a whole lot of upside.

I don't know wether or not the Habs are better with Shaw. The problem I have with this trade is that just because the Caps were dumb enough to pay two second rounders for a bottom six guy, it doesn't mean that Bergevin had to follow suit. The Hawks couldn't afford to sign Shaw. That immediately diminishes his trade value. When you look at one of the posts dblar put up on the NHL entry draft thread there was a picture of possible trade scenarios for the Bolts. The Lightning would have traded their 1st rounder for both of Montreal's second rounders. Habs basically gave a first rounder (a late one) for Shaw. I would have been fine with one second rounder for Shaw, but not two. Shaw will also likely be protected in the expansion draft. So hypothetically the Habs will protect their 6 top 6 forwards (if they can get two more with the money they have left) and Shaw.

I'm OK with the Habs first 3 picks, but after that they get a little suspect to me. This is what I would have done instead. 124. Tim Gettinger LW (Conner Bleakley C, Aapeli Rasanen C, and Eetu Tulola RW were also better picks IMO) 160. Matthew Phillips C - The scouting report on this guy reminded me of Gallagher. Small heart and soul guy with skill. (Nikolai Chebykin LW also intrigued me) 187. Dmitry Sokolov RW (Travis Barron LW was also still there)

Some team is going to be very happy selecting Chychrun this late. Too bad the Habs don't have any trade ammo left to try and get the next pick.