ChiLla

I agree that we don't need to tear down the house and start from scratch, but I believe we're going to be basement dwellers for a while and the only way to get out of this hole is to properly develop prospects who may eventually be able to become legit 1st/2nd line centers. The Tavares situation this summer was an outlier, scoring centers you can build around generally aren't available. The last guy we had at that position was Saku and even then people were arguing that he wasn't a true 1st liner. With Gallagher, Drouin, Domi, Hudon, Danault, Lehkonen, Armia, Mete, and Juulsen we do have a solid supporting cast but this roster has massive holes at the most important positions. That's why I'd still try moving Pacioretty, Price, Weber, Petry, Byron, Shaw, Benn, Alzner, and Plekanec for young roster players, prospects, and picks. The team is going to suck this year, we might as well add players with room for growth and make it worthwile.

Yeah, I don't think so. We can play the Tavares game all season long but money aside, I don't see a reason for Seguin to join a non-contending team like ours. And money probably won't even be an issue, there should be plenty of teams willing to give him what he wants – if he even hits free agency.

My guess is we'd have to add substantially to acquire RNH in a trade for Pacioretty due to Max's expiring contract. I also think it's unlikely that Pacioretty would be willing to sign a long-term contract with the Oilers and I'm not sure they have the Cap space to give him what he wants.

The dude is funny, he basically blows up the entire core he inherited and somehow manages to sell low on every single asset. Looks like it's amateur hour again.

Seriously? We're hiring a guy who bit his opponent and also got a 10-game suspension (!) for kneeing and name him assistant coach of the farm team? Let's take that 'Attitude is Everything' slogan to a whole new level.

No doubt, I don't care if Bergevin doesn't want to use the 'R' word for whatever reason. Literally everyone with half a brain understands that this roster is going nowhere in this league, yet we're being taken for fools. We aren't competitive and we won't be for at least 2-3 years, no trade or UFA signing is going to change that. MB has made sure of that a while ago.

No thanks to Markov or any other D upgrade, even though I'll be eternally grateful for Markie's contributions. Amazing player, good times. Still though, times have changed. Let's tank this right from the start.

Really tough break for Shea if that report is accurate, let's hope he recovers well. There's also no need to rush anything given the current state of affairs.

What a surprise, who would've thought that players become more susceptible to injury once they're a little older? Great news for the tank though! We may be well out of playoff contention once Weber is back with the team in December/January.

Didn't like the Galchenyuk trade. Loved the Armia trade, I believe there's a lot of upside to his game and he's still young enough. The picks are a free bonus. Very good draft, aside from Romanov (too early) I'm happy with every pick. Glad we didn't complicate things by signing yet another over-the-hill UFA like Alzner to a terrible contract. Not going to pass judgment on the whole Pacioretty situation for now because it's unclear what exactly went down behind the scenes. He didn't make the team better on July 1st but after Tavares and Stastny clearly had zero interest in coming here, I think all things considered MB has done fairly well since October 2017. That doesn't make him a good GM though, that ship has long sailed.

Strategic foresight 💪🏻

Yep, too much term but apparently there aren’t any no-trades involved, making it easy to dump the contract if need be.

I‘d be extremely happy with that kind of return in a Pacioretty trade, not going to happen though 😉

5 years for James Neal? Ugly.

I like O'Reilly (quite a lot actually) but I agree that he's not a clear-cut #1C you should build your team around. He's perfect in a situation where you already have a strong #1 guy and need to complement that player to spread out offense, but he's not going to turn the Habs into a contender. He's a better Tomas Plekanec in his prime years IMO and I'm glad we didn't give up any assets to acquire him, it simply doesn't make sense in our situation.