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Calgary traded him to Montreal as salary dump. Montreal got a 1st rounder for the trouble. I was confused about EL statement as well and had to look into it to figure it out. EL is just too coy.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Thanks Fogg, as I too know of EL coyness, and usually is never wrong about these things.

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Coy? https://youtu.be/rnNnhlz9bAs?si=TEKE0y1BirdG_9jk

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I figured Erik was the Newman of our group.

The Habs have two 1st round picks in 2024 and two in 2025.

They had two in 2022: drafted Slafkovsky and Mesar.
They had two in 2023: draft Reinbacher and traded for Newhook.

I think if Hughes can package two first rounders, preferably the Calgary/Winnipeg picks, for a young player, he would do it. Everyone seems to be down on Zegras, but guys like him don't hit the market often and I think he's on the market. Lafreniere seems to have stabilized in New York and you don't need two firsts for Kakko if you want him.

Slafkovsky-Suzuki-Caufield
Zegras-Dach-Newhook

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A lot of irony-deprived Canadiens fans who still complain about Bergevin's arbitrary judgments of character and PK getting traded claim to know a lot about Trevor Zegras and what type of man he is. Funny how that works.

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Yeah I get a LOT of pushback from Avs fans the moment I mention his name anywhere.

And then people use Pat Verbeek not liking him as a red flag. A career pest who even his colleagues and former teammates somewhat lovingly call a complete and utter prick. Rubbing Verbeek the wrong way isn't a conclusive sign of anything.

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Maybe it's because we suffered through 9 years of Bergevin, but anytime the word "character" gets thrown around I check out.

In the NHL, you're considered a fucking loser until you win. Last year the Nucks supposedly couldn't give away Brock Boeser and the JT Miller extension was a complete brain fart.

Bergevin hated Eller because he was a fucking loser who couldn't become the 2C we all hoped he could be. He ended up playing 1000 games and winning a Cup in Washington. Meanwhile he swapped those picks ostensibly for Andrew Shaw, a Cup winner you could set your watch to like Johnny Unitas. Unfortunately he had his head bashed in too many times and now he's a MAGA asshat who spent most of his Montreal tenure on the injured list.

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Habs pushed the Stars till the 60th minute. Can't complain about that loss.

Top line keeps going. Cole-Nick-Slaf is producing a goal a game, so maybe these guys have 80 point upside after all?

Newhook finally returned and he was flying. Not being able to see him and Dach more has been a drag on the overall development of the team, because Hughes tried to buy a second line and we haven't seen them healthy yet.

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Holy crap, Juraj Slafkovsky has taken his game to the next level: 19 points in his last 24 games, 12 in his last 11.

Suzuki is now flirting with PPG: 51 pts in 53 games. Caufield just capped an 11 game point scoring streak, has 42 pts in 53 games.

Definition of a one-line team right now, but it's a fun line. The stat guys still say Slafkovsky is all smoke and mirrors, and I honestly think he's a machine breaking unicorn. His size, his hands, his mean streak, he's already becoming dominant and he's only 19. And Byron Bader still doesn't see him as a competent NHL regular. It's bizarre.

The Habs have their own stats and skills operations going, and they're calculating Slafkovsky's performance and potential in a completely different way than the public metrics. Time will tell if they're on to something.

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The Habs are 26th in league standings, and I think at worst can hit 28th. Another good pick coming.

Speaking of which, there's a lot of chatter that the Habs won't wait long to bring Reinbacher over, maybe even getting him some games before the end of the season. Swiss season ends early March and I don't know when Kloten plays their relegation round.

Teams seem less concerned about burning the first year of a player's ELC. I've even read that it's beneficial, because you can lock in that second contract two years in as opposed to three when they're at another level.

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My Habs trade deadline predictions:

Savard traded for 2nd round pick (or equivalent)
Allen traded for a 3rd round pick (or equivalent), Habs eat 50 per cent of contract
Habs maybe take a contract back from one of those two deals, a warm body to offset cap space.
Pearson traded for future considerations
Ylonen traded for future considerations
Habs use picks to trade for a nontender candidate/blocked guy. Guys in rumour mill: Berggren, Kaliyev, Texier, Wahlstrom

I think Armia stays, but you never know. I definitely don't think a bigger body (Anderson, Matheson) will be moved, and I definitely don't think Zegras is being traded till the offseason.

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Habs have lost four straight. En route to another 27th place or something like that.

Had a weird discussion with the hoi polloi tonight about what this team is missing. To me, it's pretty clear the team is young and although promising, lacking in talent and depth. A lot of people seem to think this team needs more sandpaper and strength. I don't know, I think you need to score some goals before the rest.

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Sand paper and strength can be fairly readily traded for or bought through free agency. Worry about the talent first and that part can be added later. There is a balance there for sure, and its especially important for playoff hockey when the whistles tend to get put away but playoff hockey is not something the Habs need to worry about for a couple years.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Berkshire said on Twixter that the Habs have really good underlying numbers at even strength. They've largely been undone by bad goaltending.

The core as it stands appears to be Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Guhle, and Matheson. IMO Dach isn't part of that because dude simply can't stay healthy, and Montembeault is a stand-in for Primeau.

We'll see on Reinbacher and Barron, and...ugh...Mailloux.

That's a decent, but not great foundation. Needs more. Obviously things could improve quite a bit depending on the 2024 draft haul.

Whatever the case I hope they keep MSL for at least a year or two more, if not longer. He seems like one of the more unconventional coaches out there, and while he may not ultimately be the guy who takes them back into contention, the talent is developing well under his watch.

Especially on the PK. Montembeault is a good 5v5 goalie, the team totally crumbles with their passive PK style. I'm also convinced Allen would be much better elsewhere, since he kicks his rebounds out far by trade, and the passive Habs defence leaves guys open in front to collect the rebounds.

I hear grumbling about MSL and don't buy it for a second. This is what everyone signed up for: a teaching coach. Maybe he's tired and wants to go back to Connecticut.

The defence is a tricky thing because most of them still have ~ or < 100 games experience. Not enough to truly assess. But as a unit, it's too much inexperience, and the two experienced guys you have are Matheson, who can be feast or famine, and Savard who's hanging on by a thread but eats hard minutes. They're bringing in more rookies before the season is out in Hutson and Reinbacher, so it'll only get more crowded and more mistake-prone. Next year, Guhle and Harris (if he stays) will be relied upon to hold things down while the younger guys go through more growing pains.

There's a lot of vitriol being thrown Caufield's way for a relatively down season of 58-19-27-46. The heat grew even more when Slafkovsky started scoring more, but Caufield is a PPG player since the break without scoring too much, so how worried should we be? Guy clearly has some post-shoulder surgery yips, because he's not hitting those one-timers as cleanly. Again, should even out over time.

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Exactly how I see it. Your top lines are homegrown, and the depth guys are usually added later.

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Two shootout losses in Flo Rida. Armia and Savard played like guys motivated to be traded to playoff teams.

Primeau has a weak glove but I like him. Big body.

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Caufield has 21 points in his last 21 games and shared a goal with Anderson last night, haters are still hating on him. He's not finishing enough, true, but he's not playing badly.

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