jennifer_rocket

Romanov?

Good to hear he took time off to deal with the anxiety and insomnia issues. Hopefully he comes into camp feeling healthy, having dealt with the issues, and has a great season. Wishing him the best!

I'm not really gonna make any judgements based on rumors circulating on the internet. Unless Drouin or the team makes a statement on the matter, there's not much point speculating. All we know if he took a personal leave of absence last season and the team seemed to support him through the situation.

Regarding our D, I'm just crossing my fingers someone will surprise us in camp. Brook, Wideman, Norlinder, Romanov... If the someone can step up, and the coaching staff will make decisions based on merit instead of "experience", maybe there's a chance someone can excel in a top-four role.

What are we at globally? 4.5 million deaths now? And some people still can't be bothered to get vaccinated. Sigh.

Yeah, there are a few ways Montreal could maybe end up with another puck-mover on D... But we probably just end up playing the season with the roster as it is. Maybe we bring Gustafsson back. Maybe Romanov takes a step forward in development and ends up playing in the top-4. Maybe Norlinder makes the team (I know, I know... unlikely).

Love it. I hope so!

Yeah, I feel like we really have had only one massive game-changing talent over the last 15-20 years. That was Price. And he was really only peak Price around 2013-2017. Now he's a just your average NHL goaltender. He sure did heat up for a large part of the playoffs, but I doubt he'll be able to put together an entire season like that anymore.

Yeah, no doubt the actual data probably suggests we do okay in drafting. I'm pretty sure Ted has posted some more in-depth stuff on drafting previously. I just really really wish we could end up with some game-breaking talent. I mean, I hope Suzuki and Caulfield turn into that, but I suppose it's possible they may just end up being 50-60-point guys instead of 80+. And I can agree that perhaps Bergevin has done well at turning some of our higher draft picks in other contributing members of the team, but we still haven't been able to acquire game-breaking talent for as long as I can remember. And I feel like when you have the third overall pick and end up with Galchenyuk and now losing Kotkaniemi. That always just feels disappointing.

Would anyone be in favor of starting the Drouin, Suzuki, Anderson line again this season?

I suppose it could happen, but... yup... it does seem wishful. I am disappointed with our inability to draft and develop top-line talent, but I guess I'm not too sad that we've let Kotkaniemi walk and we've traded for Dvorak. Hopefully Dvorak has an excellent year for us and Kotkaniemi stumbles in his development.

I wonder if Kotkaniemi will even play center in Carolina? Are Aho, Trochek, Staal, and Stepan all centers? I don't watch many non-Montreal games, so I have no idea if those guys line up at center for Carolina or not. As the third highest paid forward on Carolina, I assume they want to use him in the top-six. I don't think he supplants Aho and Trochek, assuming those two are playing center.

I would rather have traded for Jakob Chychrun instead of Dvorak. Would have happily tossed in our 2023 first rounder to go with the 2022 pick we're trading them for Dvorak.

The more and more I think about it, I'm not displeased with the outcome. I guess I've just accepted it. My hope is that Dvorak comes here and really performs well. He's only 25 and maybe there's still some improvement to come. We're better than Arizona, so maybe just being here will help boost those offensive numbers a little! As for Kotkaniemi... I really appreciate his time with the organization, but I do hope he does miserably in Carolina.

Cool cool cool. Thank you for explaining!