ChiLla

I'm wondering about Kovalchuk... he's been great and seems to fit in extremely well (small sample, I know). It also kinda shows what can happen when you add a scorer to an already strong possession team but I digress... Anyhow, should we maybe consider keeping him around if he really wants to stay? He seems to legitimately enjoy playing here. Trading him does make more sense looking at the bigger picture and I probably would trade him if someone offered a 1st rounder (unlikely), but come to think of it I don't see that much value in a low-ish 2nd rounder from a contending team. Sure, teams get lucky and do pick great players outside the first round, but the chances are still rather low. Signing Kovalchuk to, say, a 2-year extension with a reasonable cap hit (4-5M?) would also give Caufield more time to develop, which is preferrable I think given his size. Kovalchuk could be the perfect stop-gap and would also send a message to the fans as well as guys like Price or Weber. Ideally, we trade him at the deadline and then re-sign him in the summer, but that's just too god to be true given our track record on July 1st. I don't expect him to keep that PPG pace over a full season but he gives us a lot of options when everybody is healthy.

None of the above, I'm gonna keep them all Seriously though, if I absolutely had to pick one of your trades I'm probably looking at Tatar. Even though the return isn't amazing (depending on the other team) and he's been really good for us, I wouldn't want to sign him to a 5-year extension worth that kind of money. Domi is expensive in your scenario as well but at least he's young enough for the contract to be worth it and not become an albatross. I'm hoping he'll come a little cheaper if we offer him term though.

Also hard pass on trading Domi, I get that he's more valuable than other assets but he's also one of our most talented players right in his prime and IMO we need to add talent to the roster, not subtract it. I'd only consider moving him if salary becomes an issue during contract negotiations but I haven't heard anything in that regard. As for filling the hole at LHD, maybe we should see Weber as an offensive Dman who needs a mobile and reliable partner at this stage of his career. In that case, Romanov-Weber could actually be great together.

22 Pts (13G/9A) in 20 games as a freshman. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/316168/cole-caufield

That Marchand shootout attempt just made my day

That Marchand shootout attempt just made my day

Yeah but we probably need a top 5 pick to get him and that would mean we'd have to drop really low in the standings (or get super lucky in the draft lottery), which isn't very likely to happen. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked as the #1 European skater in their midseason ranking.

Just finished watching the recap, feels good Is there still hope?

That seems to be the consensus right now, I remember reading some reports at the beginning of the season where people claimed Byfield could be better than Lafreniere but that doesn't seem to be the case any longer. As for Stützle, I get to see him a lot since he's already playing in the DEL and more than holding his own as a 17-year old against men. Great hands, really quick decision making, tons of speed and creativity, great skater. He comes from the same program as Moritz Seider and is really fun to watch. What's special is that prospects usually don't get much of a chance to play in the DEL, it's essentially a veteran league with tons of players from all over the place who didn't make it elsewhere for whatever reason. He's getting regular shifts though, just like Seider last season. I'd love to see him in Montreal but I don't think there's a realistic chance we'll be able to draft him.

Realistically, I don't see us dropping that low and actually getting a top 5 pick. Chances are we're not going on a third 8-game losing streak and once guys come back from injury, we'll certainly see better results. So I'm expecting us to pick somewhere in the #6-12 range, similar to the year we got Sergachev. It's still very early but there seem to be a bunch of centers available in this year's draft and not that many Dmen, especially LHDs. If we go BPA, should we really draft another center? What if Askarov is BPA when we're up?

Nice shot by Kovalchuk on the GWG. I almost forgot how winning a hockey game feels. Just for fun: Let's say he plays well and keeps scoring at a PPG clip right up until the deadline, do you guys think we could get a first-rounder for him?

Yeah, hard pass on trading Danault just because he's not getting any better at age 27. He's in his prime and pretty valuable for us, there are numerous guys on this roster who are way older, won't get any better, and will fetch a similar or even better return in a trade. I also don't think we're particularly strong down the middle just yet. I see the potential that it could become our strongest position soon but trading away the only guy who's capable of playing against the other team's top lines just doesn't make sense to me. If all our center prospescts pan out and Danault becomes replaceable, that's a great problem to have. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

We're playing a totally different system than the Bruins or Blues, Julien has adapted and deliberately emphasized quickness, transition, forecheck, and neutral zone pressure when changing his approach back at the beginning of last season. That's not a defensive-first system like he's used in the past and it's one of the main reasons we actually were somewhat competitive, got close to making the playoffs, and played entertaining, uptempo, high-event hockey with an almost identical roster last season.

I agree, we haven't really played bad hockey and most games we've lost could easily have gone the other way. Maybe that's just the oft-cited parity around the league but when I watch the guys play, I certainly don't see a bottom 5 team. I also don't see a contender though and that pretty much leaves us in no-man's land with a bunch of other teams. When fully healthy, we can give the top teams a run for their money but it also doesn't take much for us to collapse and start bleeding odd-man rushes and high-danger scoring chances. We still have the same glaring holes MB has failed to adress for years so we're still going in circles. I really like how some of the kids are coming along but we absolutely need more skill/talent to be able to compete consistenly without the wheels falling off once adversity hits.

I wouldn't be opposed to signing him to some sort of 'show-me' deal in the offseason but I believe that ship has sailed, I don't really see CJ/MB having much interest.