GDT Game #31 Habs vs Sabres 7pm Dec 17 2025

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

3 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I had high hopes for Newhook and Dach this game. But a win is a win.

fun game 

 

I thought Dach was tremendous in the first, until he took that illegal hit and crashed. Didn’t notice him much thereafter. 

[Lanes World]

That hit is a prime example of why he gets hurt a lot. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

22 minutes ago, Lanes World said:

That hit is a prime example of why he gets hurt a lot. 

 

Elaborate. It was clearly a late hit (hence the penalty) - I’m not sure why he’s at fault for getting blown up? 

[GHT120]

45 minutes ago, Butterface said:

If we want to sign both we have roughly 7M in cap without dipping into LTIR.

 

But once we start giving term.. 3 years is max for money to not be an issue. Two years is max before needing to trade one of Beck, Kapanen, Evans or Armia… or Newhook… or ?

I still dream that after July 1st, when his $5.5M signing bonus is paid, Hughes will trade Price's $10.5M AAV ... his "real dollar" salary will then be $2M for 25/26 making it a minimal actual cost to a team with tons of cap space. 

[DON]

12 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Elaborate. It was clearly a late hit (hence the penalty) - I’m not sure why he’s at fault for getting blown up? 

Well, Suzuki has avoided those type hits for 403 NHL games, assume his situational awareness must be much better than most. And Dach/Barron/Guhle's just isnt. 

Maybe Dach was always bigger than others and why he didnt learn to keep head up (a la Lindros's Kaparitis wake-up call)?

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

It’s a good question whether he is showing a ‘lack of situational awareness’ here

 

I have to admit that you’re right, Slick Nick, who is a quietly incredible player, would somehow have known the guy was barrelling in and moved differently. On the other hand, I can’t fault Dach for battling for the puck. Maybe the real problem was that he happened to be too far from the boards - there was nothing to fall into or break his fall. Is this bad situational awareness, or just a fluke combination of awkward positioning and late hit? 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

1 hour ago, Butterface said:

If we want to sign both we have roughly 7M in cap without dipping into LTIR.

 

But once we start giving term.. 3 years is max for money to not be an issue. Two years is max before needing to trade one of Beck, Kapanen, Evans or Armia… or Newhook… or ?

I think it’s becoming more and more likely that Laine is going to earn himself a contract and I think it’s reasonable to think that Laine will get Suzuki type of contract - if Laine keeps producing if course. 
 

I just don’t see how we afford them for any length of term 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Cool clip of Laine’s three goals and a couple of words from the locker room at the 35 second mark - seems like a great atmosphere 

[alfredoh2009]

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I thought Dach was tremendous in the first, until he took that illegal hit and crashed. Didn’t notice him much thereafter. 

Yes, that really rattle him off his game

[Butterface]

1 hour ago, GHT120 said:

I still dream that after July 1st, when his $5.5M signing bonus is paid, Hughes will trade Price's $10.5M AAV ... his "real dollar" salary will then be $2M for 25/26 making it a minimal actual cost to a team with tons of cap space. 

 

Absolutely possible.

Who would want it ? Arizona is no longer around.

 

And then you are still stuck 3-4-5 years out with salary cap issues anyway.

 

The team isn’t ready to compete for a cup yet.

Why spend that 10.5M to get better if it hurts us in the long run ? Thinking draft 2026 and maybe 2027… picking too low.

 

The only thing I see is if there is a stud RHD UFA to sign this summer and we still want Evans (for a year or two). Then Mailloux would stay in Laval with Reinbacher another year.

 

In the next few years we might have to re-jig the Top 8 and Goalie core to move out a Forward and add a stud Dman. Depends how Mailloux and Reinbacher progress. This is just to balance the high end talent so we don’t look like Toronto the previous 8 years. Too much $$ talent on forward and too little $$ talent on back end. (this year they are balanced better).

 

 

 

[Butterface]

59 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I think it’s becoming more and more likely that Laine is going to earn himself a contract and I think it’s reasonable to think that Laine will get Suzuki type of contract - if Laine keeps producing if course. 
 

I just don’t see how we afford them for any length of term 

Soon we won’t be able to live without Laine. He just makes the PP look so much better. We are goal starved. He fills that need.

 

We might be looking at trading out players like Dach to keep him. It might then get complicated with cap issues in 2030-31. See where Hutson contract is. If Reinbacher has a good year next year. What our first pick is in 2025. And how Demidov and Hage look. So many variables, but we can sign Laine.

 

Not sure about Suzuki money if he keeps this up. When healthy he’s a 10M plus player. They pay for goals in this league. If his 5x5 gets better he will command some big dough.

 

 

[Butterface]

2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Elaborate. It was clearly a late hit (hence the penalty) - I’m not sure why he’s at fault for getting blown up? 

I agree. Also Dach is tall. Not a lot of guys in the league are 6’4”. Samuelson is also 6’4” so he was able to hit Dach up high and completely set him off balance. Just unlucky from an unexpected hit.

 

I didn’t see his knee injury as anything but unlucky either. Wasn’t it just a fairly innocuous squeeze out against the boards ? Maybe I remember it wrong.

 

 

[xXx..CK..xXx]

“We aren’t ready to contend for a cup yet” comes from what is known as a fixed mindset. There have been people saying the same thing on these boards for the past 20 years. 

 

“We aren’t top tier contenders”

”We are in a rebuild that will take 3 years”

”We are a bubble team at best”

”Tank for Frank”

”Trade our veteran for a 3rd rounder”

 

The list goes on and on. For the most part, people tend to be right simply because 31 teams don’t win the cup every year.

 

Where they have been wrong though, is that many 3 year windows have passed in the past 30 years since our last cup.

 

With that being said, those same statements were being made every year the Habs made the conference finals as well as the year they “fluked” their way to the cup final with veterans such as Staal, Perry, Price, Weber, Chiarot, Edmundson (had won a cup), Danault, Lehkonen (look what he has become) on the team.

 

From what I have seen, it is an unexpected move in the opposite direction that actually breeds success. Not by hoping these imaginary prospects will breed better success than every other team that has the same opportunity. Look at the jolt Laine has given the team. Add another #1/2 goalie, a top pairing defenseman, or a top 6 forward with veteran experience and we get one step closer to the actual goal rather than “hoping” our prospects will pan out via a solid draft because everyone just knows(!) that we have no chance for awhile.

 

Do people forget that every other team is drafting as well? What if our future saviour gets injured? (à la Reinbacher) I guess it will be okay to wait just one more year then.

 

There is no one, myself included, who can predict the exact timing of it all. What the actual general manager can control, however, is whether or not they continue to try and improve our team or simply wait and continuously trade veterans for future hopefuls.

 

There comes a point where we need to add players who can help us and that other teams fear in the now.

 

 

 

[tomh009]

2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Slick Nick, who is a quietly incredible player, would somehow have known the guy was barrelling in and moved differently.

Hutson also seems to have similar awareness and ability to avoid getting hammered by a big hit. For all the concern about his size before this season, have we seen him get smashed into the boards with a big hit yet?

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

14 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Hutson also seems to have similar awareness and ability to avoid getting hammered by a big hit. For all the concern about his size before this season, have we seen him get smashed into the boards with a big hit yet?

 

Good point, Hutson like Suzuki is very aware of everything going on around him including impending danger.  Another area where hockey IQ is important. 

[GHT120]

33 minutes ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:

<see below>

 

“We aren’t top tier contenders” - That has simply been a true statement almost every year since 1993 ... even in our one Finals run we couldn't have been described as "top tier contenders" ... that was a classic "make the playoffs and anything can happen (occasionally) scenario

 

”We are in a rebuild that will take 3 years” - this is really the first time the habs have been in a rebuild since 1993 ... most they ever did previously was bandage, at most re-tool ... but 3 years is an estimate from the quasi-realistic fans who know what is needed but lack the patience for it to come to fruition ... I-M-O that fits the major on-the-fly re-tool category.

 

”We are a bubble team at best” - see "top tier contenders"

”Tank for Frank” - those are people asking for a rebuild, we finally got one ... no guarantee of success, but the last 30 years have pretty much been the "make the playoffs and anything can happen" approach ... how is that any better

 

”Trade our veteran for a 3rd rounder” - nobody ever asked for a GOOD veteran that could realistically make the team even a legitimate contender to be traded, let alone for a 3rd rounder

 

While “We aren’t ready to contend for a cup yet” can become a fixed mindset (may the case in Buffalo tanks to their poor hirings and constant turnover at GM/HC) in the context of the current rebuild I-M-O it is simply an honest assessment of the team.

[Butterface]

30 minutes ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:

“We aren’t ready to contend for a cup yet” comes from what is known as a fixed mindset. There have been people saying the same thing on these boards for the past 20 years. 

We are 6th last in the league.

7 points out of a playoff spot 1/3 the way through the season.

Saying “we aren’t ready to compete for a cup yet” is not a fixed mind set. It’s what’s known as being a Realist.

[GHT120]

37 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Hutson also seems to have similar awareness and ability to avoid getting hammered by a big hit. For all the concern about his size before this season, have we seen him get smashed into the boards with a big hit yet?

 

20 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Good point, Hutson like Suzuki is very aware of everything going on around him including impending danger.  Another area where hockey IQ is important. 

 

That "awareness" is part of what makes them exceptional players, not just <knock on wood> avoid major injury

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

3 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

 

That "awareness" is part of what makes them exceptional players, not just <knock on wood> avoid major injury

 

Absolutely, being able to "see" the ice certainly helps from a playmaking point of view, helps in a lot of ways. 

[Commandant]

9 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Dach, Newhook with poor stats. Seems anyone that plays with Dach gets poor stats - unless you score a hat trick on the PP of course 

 

I edited this post to add the Buffalo stat card for comparison 

 

 

 

Any time you play an entire period (plus) with a five goal lead, the stat cards have to be taken with a grain of salt. 

[Commandant]

5 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I don't think the player they draft in 2025 will be NHL ready, Habs have made that mistake before. Let them develop.  I forgot about Kapanen, I believe that he and Beck will be NHL ready next year. Habs have options (cheaper options) if they don't resign Evans. 

 

NHL ready, and ready to play against opponents top lines and kill penalties are not the same thing though. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

3 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

NHL ready, and ready to play against opponents top lines and kill penalties are not the same thing though. 

 

Perhaps, but the only way you get the experience of playing against the top lines in the NHL is by doing it and I think Beck is plenty smart enough to adjust quickly. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

10 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

NHL ready, and ready to play against opponents top lines and kill penalties are not the same thing though. 

 

I guess ultimately it comes down to a choice, do you pay Evans the going free agent market rate whatever that is (likely somewhere 3-4m over at least 3 years)  or do you give Beck/Kapanen the opportunity to grow into the role?

[Commandant]

5 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I guess ultimately it comes down to a choice, do you pay Evans the going free agent market rate whatever that is (likely somewhere 3-4m over at least 3 years)  or do you give Beck/Kapanen the opportunity to grow into the role?

 

You can do both.  Its very, very rare that a rookie would be ready for that role.  You can let a guy like Dvorak walk and give rookies some sheltered minutes in the NHL while not throwing them into the deep end of the pool as the #1 PKer and top defensive centre, cause evans is still here in the role. 

 

This isn't an either/or.   There are 4 lines. And there is nothing wrong with Kapanen or Beck starting as a winger and moving to centre later either. 

 

The issue is that if you let Evans walk, and dont get some other veteran to do his role, and rely on rookies... that's another rebuilding year.  You can't be a playoff team with them in that role right away, they need to play NHL hockey first and eventually be thrown into that important role. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

7 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

You can do both.  Its very, very rare that a rookie would be ready for that role.  You can let a guy like Dvorak walk and give rookies some sheltered minutes in the NHL while not throwing them into the deep end of the pool as the #1 PKer and top defensive centre, cause evans is still here in the role. 

 

This isn't an either/or.   There are 4 lines. And there is nothing wrong with Kapanen or Beck starting as a winger and moving to centre later either. 

 

The issue is that if you let Evans walk, and dont get some other veteran to do his role, and rely on rookies... that's another rebuilding year.  You can't be a playoff team with them in that role right away, they need to play NHL hockey first and eventually be thrown into that important role. 

 

I agree Evans is valuable and everyone here likes him. He wouldn't be easily replaced. Just worry about paying him too much. He is on pace for his best year ever which is good timing for him. If the Habs sign him I hope this year is not an outlier should it continue.