2025-26 NHL discussion thread

[JoeLassister]

Difficult not to believe the NHL and its new salary cap has gone batshit crazy after a guy with 56 NHL games under his belt signs a 7 x 6.59M$ contract.

 

Congrats Frank Nazar !

[GHT120]

2 hours ago, JoeLassister said:

Difficult not to believe the NHL and its new salary cap has not gone batshit crazy after a guy with 56 NHL games under his belt signs a 7 x 6.59M$ contract.

 

Congrats Frank Nazar !

HUGE roll of the dice ... time will tell if Chicago made a good deal ... with the cap ceiling expected to keep climbing, somewhat surprising to me Nazar locked in for 7 years.

 

But the cap climbing does mean that 2024 and earlier AAV's have been rendered irrelevant as points of comparison.

[hab29RETIRED]

6 hours ago, GHT120 said:

HUGE roll of the dice ... time will tell if Chicago made a good deal ... with the cap ceiling expected to keep climbing, somewhat surprising to me Nazar locked in for 7 years.

 

But the cap climbing does mean that 2024 and earlier AAV's have been rendered irrelevant as points of comparison.

He will probably earn his $6.59M and bring more value than more than Dach did with his $3.6M contract.

[Commandant]

The legend of Frank Nazar exceeds the player Frank Nazar.

 

 

 

[sbhatt]

8 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

He will probably earn his $6.59M and bring more value than more than Dach did with his $3.6M contract.

 

That's a pretty low bar, as bad as Dach has been.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I understand the wisdom of locking up core young guys to long-term deals, but I’m not sure I get Chicago’s big rush to do that in his case. 🤷‍♂️ I’m sure he’ll become a fine player but he hasn’t even played a full season and his numbers were not eye-popping. At least wait until he’s put in a full year.

 

I also worry, in general, about giving kids “too much, too soon” without their really having earned it. It’s not a great developmental strategy IMHO. 

[illWill]

20 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

He will probably earn his $6.59M and bring more value than more than Dach did with his $3.6M contract.

 

Upon seeing the post about this absurd contract, I absolutely 100% knew, without a shadow of doubt, that I would scroll down and see hab29 trying to justify it somehow. I wasn't exactly sure how, but I hoped it would be by talking about the contract itself, rather than comparing it to Dach and his situation.

 

Tell me, would you honestly want Frank "only 56 games of NHL experience, half a point per game, and shitty analytic numbers" Nazar locked up for 7 x 6.6m on the Habs at this point? 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

That's a heck of a contract for 26 points in 53 games. What does that make Hutson worth? 

 

It's a gamble by Chicago that might turn out well for them. Been through this before with hab29retired as I don't get the Nazar/Dach comparison as we have no way of knowing who the Habs would have taken with that pick. It might turn out to be one of those trades by Hughes that didn't turn out well but pretty hard to predict someone's injury situation. I certainly get the logic behind that trade. 

 

[hab29RETIRED]

4 hours ago, illWill said:

 

Upon seeing the post about this absurd contract, I absolutely 100% knew, without a shadow of doubt, that I would scroll down and see hab29 trying to justify it somehow. I wasn't exactly sure how, but I hoped it would be by talking about the contract itself, rather than comparing it to Dach and his situation.

 

Tell me, would you honestly want Frank "only 56 games of NHL experience, half a point per game, and shitty analytic numbers" Nazar locked up for 7 x 6.6m on the Habs at this point? 

I usually dont bother to read or respond to your posts anymore - thought I had you on mute or blocked. Considering Dach was traded for the pick that turned out to be Nazar, I think it’s a fair comment. We’d probably have our #2 centre, if we had just used the pick from the Romonav trade to draft Nazar.  I also tho you can’t put a lot of stick on analytic numbers on a team as shitty as the Hawks. Bedard’s numbers aren’t very flattering either, but, I have no doubt he will be a stud.

[hab29RETIRED]

2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

That's a heck of a contract for 26 points in 53 games. What does that make Hutson worth? 

 

It's a gamble by Chicago that might turn out well for them. Been through this before with hab29retired as I don't get the Nazar/Dach comparison as we have no way of knowing who the Habs would have taken with that pick. It might turn out to be one of those trades by Hughes that didn't turn out well but pretty hard to predict someone's injury situation. I certainly get the logic behind that trade. 

 

I actually hated the trade when it was made - we were one of the most injured teams in the league, and I didn’t like trading for a young player who was injured a lot that another rebuilding team had given up on. I warmed up to Dach after seeing him come back from on his first injury - and than he got hurt again in his first game back two years ago and then again last year.

 

so far there are really only four decisions I dont like from the new mgmt team. Dach trade, Newhook trade and not drafting Michkov or Cole Hutson. Nazar was taken in the range he was ranked. Speedy centre, that I think can be a shrewd signing and I think he puts up 50-65 points within the next two years.

 

unless we make a another move, I really think Hage will fill that 2C spot, but even though I think he’ll join the Habs at the end of this year, he won’t be ready for that role until sometime mid next year at the earliest.

[dlbalr]

7 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

so far there are really only four decisions I dont like from the new mgmt team. Dach trade, Newhook trade and not drafting Michkov or Cole Hutson. Nazar was taken in the range he was ranked. Speedy centre, that I think can be a shrewd signing and I think he puts up 50-65 points within the next two years.

 

unless we make a another move, I really think Hage will fill that 2C spot, but even though I think he’ll join the Habs at the end of this year, he won’t be ready for that role until sometime mid next year at the earliest.

 

To be fair, the Habs traded their second-round pick that year to move up to secure Hage so it's hard to be critical about them not taking Hutson in the second round and then praising the guy they took with the higher first-round pick acquired thanks to trading that second.  Would you have preferred they take Hutson instead of Hage?  Otherwise, I don't think you can be critical of that one as their next pick was 70 and trading up 30 spots from 70 is really hard to do; I can't remember the last time a team went from the early 3rd round to the early 2nd in a trade-up.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

8 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I actually hated the trade when it was made - we were one of the most injured teams in the league, and I didn’t like trading for a young player who was injured a lot that another rebuilding team had given up on. I warmed up to Dach after seeing him come back from on his first injury - and than he got hurt again in his first game back two years ago and then again last year.

 

 

Fair enough, I remember you not liking the trade at that time. Dach's injuries with Montreal (knee) were totally unrelated to his injuries with Chicago (wrist) so is it just crap luck or does he continually put himself in situations where he can get hurt. Hard to say. Hopefully he can stay healthy so we can see what kind of player he can be. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

One factor is, if we had Suzuki-Nazar at C, we'd be hearing a LOT about how our lack of size at C is incompatible with being a 'true' contender. That would then become the dominant narrative around the Habs for the next decade. 'Too small.'

 

Now I'll be the first to concede that with Dach, what we hear instead is about how we do not have a #2 C at all, which is a much worse outcome. The trade obviously hasn't work out. There was a very clear logic to it, though. They identified Dach as a young C with size and potential puck-possession beast - the perfect complement, in terms of player profile, to Suzuki. Based on pre-injury Dach, they weren't wrong, but that knee injury has probably dashed our hopes.

 

All I'm saying is, let's not romanticize what might have been. It wouldn't take too long before Nazar became the focus of a discourse around the Habs' faulty team structure in terms of size and physicality.

[Commandant]

44 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

One factor is, if we had Suzuki-Nazar at C, we'd be hearing a LOT about how our lack of size at C is incompatible with being a 'true' contender. That would then become the dominant narrative around the Habs for the next decade. 'Too small.'

 

Now I'll be the first to concede that with Dach, what we hear instead is about how we do not have a #2 C at all, which is a much worse outcome. The trade obviously hasn't work out. There was a very clear logic to it, though. They identified Dach as a young C with size and potential puck-possession beast - the perfect complement, in terms of player profile, to Suzuki. Based on pre-injury Dach, they weren't wrong, but that knee injury has probably dashed our hopes.

 

All I'm saying is, let's not romanticize what might have been. It wouldn't take too long before Nazar became the focus of a discourse around the Habs' faulty team structure in terms of size and physicality.

 

This is all true.

 

Its also impossible to know at the time that Dach would blow out his knee and reinjure it when he had no history of knee injuries.  If we expect management to have a crystal ball and predict future injuries, there is no management team in the league that can pass such a test.

 

There is also an assumption that Nazar would not be hurt playing for the Habs, something also impossible to know.

 

[hab29RETIRED]

On 8/22/2025 at 5:21 AM, Commandant said:

The legend of Frank Nazar exceeds the player Frank Nazar.

 

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNqqYPkI_t2/?igsh=MW5naGN1Y3FlbDFqeg==

 

how many games has he played yet?  How good of a team is he on? What are Seth Jones stats in FLA vs CHI?

[Commandant]

Did you just respond with how many points he scored at the world championships, a tournament with many teams playing without a single NHLer on the roster.  Congrats on lighting up Hungary, Italy, and France or whoever the hell they played in prelims.

 

And hes played 56 NHL games.  The contract may work out if he develops but its far from a guarantee with stats that are less than impressive so far.

 

Youve talked about the guy like hes some guaranteed superstar and there is nothing to suggest hes more than a good prospect right now and all prospects can bust.  Hell his stats to date look like Louis Leblanc's rookie season, so it may or may not work out and this is an albatross contract if it doesnt.

[DON]

20 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

as I don't get the Nazar/Dach comparison as we have no way of knowing who the Habs would have taken with that pick.

I still see Nazar as plan B skipped on.

He was picked in that spot, so comparison makes some sense.

Would they of drafted Nazar, maybe not but seems a good guess.

 

[hab29RETIRED]

8 hours ago, Commandant said:

Did you just respond with how many points he scored at the world championships, a tournament with many teams playing without a single NHLer on the roster.  Congrats on lighting up Hungary, Italy, and France or whoever the hell they played in prelims.

 

And hes played 56 NHL games.  The contract may work out if he develops but its far from a guarantee with stats that are less than impressive so far.

 

Youve talked about the guy like hes some guaranteed superstar and there is nothing to suggest hes more than a good prospect right now and all prospects can bust.  Hell his stats to date look like Louis Leblanc's rookie season, so it may or may not work out and this is an albatross contract if it doesnt.

That’s what 30-40 games less than Slafkovsky? He signed his contract when the cap was lower.

 

I don’t remember a single game as a hab where Leblanc  stood out. I only saw three NHL games with Nazar this year - including the 2nd last game against us, and he was the second best player in the ice in that game - after Demidov. He’s also being invited to the USA Olympic team orientation - which considering Hutson was not invited is a flawed process? But they obviously see him as legit future star.

[BCHabnut]

Its a copycat league and it really feels like the disparity between regular season and playoffs has grown over the last few years with reffing. Very very late hits seem perfectly fine. Right now it looks like Nazar was a miss, for sure. But would team balance be good with a smallish 2c? Caufield, Hutson, Nazar all getting major minutes would mean a 3rd of your big minutes players are undersized in the playoffs, when every single puck battle is a physical foul in the rule book, but is ignored.

[GHT120]

An unknown factor in the "Nazar" discussion is whether HuGo even makes the Romanov trade then if the parameters of the Dach deal were not already "in place" (i.e., ie we can get you a pick in the mid-teens).

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, BCHabnut said:

Its a copycat league and it really feels like the disparity between regular season and playoffs has grown over the last few years with reffing. Very very late hits seem perfectly fine. Right now it looks like Nazar was a miss, for sure. But would team balance be good with a smallish 2c? Caufield, Hutson, Nazar all getting major minutes would mean a 3rd of your big minutes players are undersized in the playoffs, when every single puck battle is a physical foul in the rule book, but is ignored.

 

Yeah. Would you rather have Nazar than Dach? Yes. But is Nazar the long-term fix at C? Probably not, given the premium on size (especially down the middle) in today's NHL...

 

As I note above, it wouldn't take long before we pivot from excitement over Nazar's potential to concern about 'being too small down the middle' to win a Cup.

[BCHabnut]

59 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

An unknown factor in the "Nazar" discussion is whether HuGo even makes the Romanov trade then if the parameters of the Dach deal were not already "in place" (i.e., ie we can get you a pick in the mid-teens).

Absolutely. Its all supposition. It is why Nazar vs Dach should really be a non starter.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, BCHabnut said:

Absolutely. Its all supposition. It is why Nazar vs Dach should really be a non starter.

 

I don’t think it’s immaterial at all.

 

They knew they could move Romanov for the 13th overall pick, which was right around where Nazar was expected to go.

 

Unless they were confident Nazar would go before #13, they made a conscious decision to pick Dach over Nazar.

 

If they did think Nazar would be picked higher, then they miscalculated. Oops.

 

If they would have preferred to pick someone else at #13, then that would have been a mistake as well.

 

So: either they miscalculated, OR they consciously chose Dach over Nazar.

 

[DON]

1 hour ago, BCHabnut said:

Absolutely. Its all supposition. It is why Nazar vs Dach should really be a non starter.

But hindsight is often debated for almost everything.

Like picking Kotkaniemi over a Brady T or those who still bring up Kotstisyn over... X, Y, Z long ago.

So why not Nazar vs Dach?

[hab29RETIRED]

54 minutes ago, DON said:

But hindsight is often debated for almost everything.

Like picking Kotkaniemi over a Brady T or those who still bring up Kotstisyn over... X, Y, Z long ago.

So why not Nazar vs Dach?

KK was not a hindsight evaluation. It was a dumb pick when it was made. Had to pick Tkachuk or Hughes. Yea other passed on Hughes as well, but both were clearly top 4 picks.