Permanent Rumour Thread

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

Not surprised this talk has started. 

 

Rumblings of coaching change in Montreal with Martin St. Louis possibly stepping down

[GHT120]

15 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Not surprised this talk has started. 

 

Rumblings of coaching change in Montreal with Martin St. Louis possibly stepping down

Not surprised that a website(s) has/have started speculating ... I'd believe there was "substantive talk" if the source was a reputable journalist.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I think if the team keeps playing like this - without much structure - for the rest of the season, then a change will be in order.

 

MSL seems like a fantastic coach at an individual level for young people - mentoring them, developing them - and he has overseen a positive team culture. But there is very little sign that he can teach a team to play a disciplined system. 

 

Waaaay too soon, however, to toss overboard a key figure in the rebuild.

[Commandant]

I liked kovacevic on bottom pair but to suggest he was ever capable of being the top.4 d that hughes is seeking is false.

 

Guhle's injuries and Savard playing below last season's level is hurting more on that side than Kovacevic trade.

[Commandant]

49 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Not surprised this talk has started. 

 

Rumblings of coaching change in Montreal with Martin St. Louis possibly stepping down

 

Comes from HockeyFeed which has the same reliabilty as clickbait30 and danslescoulises

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

11 minutes ago, Commandant said:

I liked kovacevic on bottom pair but to suggest he was ever capable of being the top.4 d that hughes is seeking is false.

 

Guhle's injuries and Savard playing below last season's level is hurting more on that side than Kovacevic trade.

 

Early returns suggest that Savard has hit his best-by date. 

 

That’s another reason, beyond the loss of Kovacevic, for looking around for a competent veteran option.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

27 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

MSL seems like a fantastic coach at an individual level for young people - mentoring them, developing them - and he has overseen a positive team culture. But there is very little sign that he can team a team to play a disciplined system. 

 

 

Agree 100%, too early to make any changes. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

14 minutes ago, Commandant said:

I liked kovacevic on bottom pair but to suggest he was ever capable of being the top.4 d that hughes is seeking is false.

 

Guhle's injuries and Savard playing below last season's level is hurting more on that side than Kovacevic trade.

 

Yup, Guhle is a significant loss. 

[tomh009]

1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Kovacevic was never going to be anything more than a 3rd pairing defensemen, it's amazing how much better everything thinks he is now that he is gone. No time to panic. 

Third pair on a contending team, sure. But right now, with our youth and injuries, he would surely be 2RD at least.

 

A solid, quiet RD, I was disappointed that we traded him for peanuts, but I could understand the rationale for that at the time.

[hab29RETIRED]

4 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Hughes is not operating from a position of strength so hopefully he doesn't panic. 

 

Kovacevic was never going to be anything more than a 3rd pairing defensemen, it's amazing how much better everything thinks he is now that he is gone. No time to panic. 

I think most of the regret is because of  a combination of our weakness at RHD, and Kovacevic's production in NJ to start the year.
 

with us I don't think he was going to more than a 6th/7th D, and it didn't make sense to keep him, unless we traded Savard - which wouldn't have been a smart move at the start of the year without bringing in another veteran D.  We needed to make room for Mailloux without having to waive Baron.
 

as far as Kovacevic's production, I think that's more of a function of being on a much better team than him suddenly blossoming like Matheson.

 

[hab29RETIRED]

3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Early returns suggest that Savard has hit his best-by date. 

 

That’s another reason, beyond the loss of Kovacevic, for looking around for a competent veteran option.

Yep. I thought we should have moved him at the last deadline. Could have brought in an another veteran in the summer. Not sure we would have got much for him in the summer, but given how he is playing now, without an improvement he isn't going to bring much of a return right now either. Looks to be more of a Edmondson/Kovacevic return than a Chiarot type return. 

[hab29RETIRED]

3 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Third pair on a contending team, sure. But right now, with our youth and injuries, he would surely be 2RD at least.

 

A solid, quiet RD, I was disappointed that we traded him for peanuts, but I could understand the rationale for that at the time.

If it was either him or Baron. I couldn't see them moving Savard to start the season with Hutson coming in.

[alfredoh2009]

25 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

If it was either him or Baron. I couldn't see them moving Savard to start the season with Hutson coming in.

why not? moving Savard out with a high pick and some cap relief could have netted the Habs a more suitable RD option

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

37 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I think most of the regret is because of  a combination of our weakness at RHD, and Kovacevic's production in NJ to start the year.
 

with us I don't think he was going to more than a 6th/7th D, and it didn't make sense to keep him, unless we traded Savard - which wouldn't have been a smart move at the start of the year without bringing in another veteran D.  We needed to make room for Mailloux without having to waive Baron.
 

as far as Kovacevic's production, I think that's more of a function of being on a much better team than him suddenly blossoming like Matheson.

 

 

Agreed, we look much weaker at RD with Guhle out. A healthy Guhle and I don't think we are having this conversation. It's hard to anticipate injuries. It's still early. 

[hab29RETIRED]

14 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

why not? moving Savard out with a high pick and some cap relief could have netted the Habs a more suitable RD option

I don't think there would have been much of a market or anyone that would have paid a high ouch for Savard at the start of the year. He's the type if guy (age/where he plays in the lineup), that teams will overpay for at the deadline, when the cap cost is lower and that think they have a shot of going for all the marbles, but want defensive depth and experience.

 

My preference would have been seeing if we could have gotten another top ten pick for Matheson, and using it to draft one of the remaining D prospects like Buium, Parekh, Dickinson, or potentially even Iginla.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Savard will be in demand at the deadline I'm sure. 
 

-Expiring contract 

-Good shot blocking 

-Steady - it’s rare that Savard has a bad game (outside of his normal). 
-Can play heavy minutes 

-Lots of PK experience 

 

Savard is what he is but he is constantly mediocre. 

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

The reliable Thomas Drance on Vancouver radio reported hearing that the Habs are in the market for a veteran defender. He expressed disbelief at this because 'they're rebuilding' - obviously he hasn't watched the team floundering in its zone, nor understood that the Habs are looking to not totally suck this year. And he commented that asking prices are high right now because teams are not motivated to tinker with rosters much at this juncture.

 

I like hearing that we are at least kicking tires. Like I keep saying, with Kovacevic gone and Savard seemingly washed up, we need help.  

[tomh009]

1 minute ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

I like hearing that we are at least kicking tires. Like I keep saying, with Kovacevic gone and Savard seemingly washed up, we need help.  

It is still only seven games, though. But I don't expect Hughes to be making any panic moves, only if he finds the right deal.

[alfredoh2009]

7 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

The reliable Thomas Drance on Vancouver radio reported hearing that the Habs are in the market for a veteran defender. He expressed disbelief at this because 'they're rebuilding' - obviously he hasn't watched the team floundering in its zone, nor understood that the Habs are looking to not totally suck this year. And he commented that asking prices are high right now because teams are not motivated to tinker with rosters much at this juncture.

 

I like hearing that we are at least kicking tires. Like I keep saying, with Kovacevic gone and Savard seemingly washed up, we need help.  

 

this made me laugh

[Commandant]

Just remember 20 teams in the NHL would like a legit top4 RHD.  They are the rarest of the rare. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

So let's say you trade for a RD. What do you do with Barron when Guhle comes back? Or do you move Guhle back to LD? Or maybe one of the young D is part of a trade. They are not giving away half decent RD. I don't like the fact that Hughes might be trading from a position of desperation. Maybe he is just kicking tires.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

6 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

So let's say you trade for a RD. What do you do with Barron when Guhle comes back? Or do you move Guhle back to LD? Or maybe one of the young D is part of a trade. They are not giving away half decent RD. I don't like the fact that Hughes might be trading from a position of desperation. Maybe he is just kicking tires.

 

I’m sure he is indeed just kicking tires. Not for a top-4 RD IMHO, probably more for a 5-6 guy, someone who can eat reasonable minutes without puking them all over the ice.

[Butterface]

I think it’s dumb to pay up for a RHD.

 

There are two in top 15 of 2025 draft.

 

We aren’t winning the cup until 2028-29 or later…. We have time to suck still.

 

Don't do a Bergevin. Quit pandering to the masses.

 

Keep drafting… then trade your way up on assets.

 

Management has only screwed up by not picking Michkov … they’ve done everything else close to spot on. I trust they will not make knee-jerk decisions like Bergevin.

 

Keep drafting good talent. The rest will take care of itself.

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Why can’t we get a top 4 LD instead?

 

Put Xhekaj in Laval and keep Guhle on the right for now. 
 

Matheson - Barron

Hutson - Guhle 

New guy - Savard

[DON]

3 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Matheson - Barron

Hutson - Guhle 

Xhekaj/Struble/Engstrom - Savard/Mailloux

Basically was what we started with, or knew they would start and also that there would be alot of youth & mistakes.