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  1. #21
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    I had brought up the point about scouting, but Richard, you make some good points. They have drafted some good players in the later round, but apart from Pacioretty there haven't been any "franchise" guys taken in the first round (or any round) in a long long long time. McDonaugh was a good one, but I won't go there. Subban was another, but I won't go there either. Perhaps it's not scouting that's the issue, maybe it's development. Either way, something is not quite right.

    Development has been a key shortcoming. Fucale was the first goalie chosen in the 2013 draft. That doesn't happen without reason. But the fact he has yet to play an NHL game and is now fourth in the organization should be a big concern. I dumped my mini-PC of him months ago because I don't think he's ever going to get a real shot with the Habs. Lindgren is ahead of him and McNiven isn't far behind.

    I also think that both McCarron and Scherbak should have been given better opportunity to succeed at camp. But the lack of spaces made possible by the Hemsky signing and retention of Mitchell pretty much ruled that out. I'm going they get some game action after their call-up today.
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  2. #22
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    @RGM81:

    Here's an article about Montreal's start from reporter Eric Engels:
    http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/c...017-18-season/

    Thoughts?

    I like Engels. Good writer. And his assessment is frank here. I spoke to much of what he's said about key personnel and their struggles already. Price and Pacioretty are their best players. Neither is playing like it. 3.95GAA & .881SV% is all you need to know about this team right now. As ever, Habs go as far as Price carries them, and he's not shouldering the load at this stage.

  3. #23




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    I like Engels. Good writer. And his assessment is frank here. I spoke to much of what he's said about key personnel and their struggles already. Price and Pacioretty are their best players. Neither is playing like it. 3.95GAA & .881SV% is all you need to know about this team right now. As ever, Habs go as far as Price carries them, and he's not shouldering the load at this stage.

    This was the reason for me to ask the question in my original post: Could Price want out? Two key players don't make a team. When you look at how much they have relied on him over the years, I wonder if he's worn down.

    There's only so much one man can do. With no decent talent on the way from the system and other NHL roster players are gone because Bergevin has either traded it or let it walk for nothing (Sergachev, Subban, Andrighetto, Markov, Radulov, Weise...), I have to wonder what Price thinks.

    Look at their roster...it's not much different than an expansion team from the 1990s. It's a patchwork team put together by a general manager that doesn't seem to have a clear plan of what the team should be.

    I saw another article from The Score today as well. Thoughts on this?
    https://www.thescore.com/news/1401753

  4. #24
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    Well he signed a max-length extension on literally the second day he possibly could. I think that says everything you need to know about how he feels about his place, the organization, and the makeup of the team.


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  5. #25




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    How about rask for price, B's throw in a draft choice and player.

    No eh? Oh well.

  6. #26
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    I'll bite :)

    Bergevin is fired before Price gets traded.

    I'm just playing the odds on that though. I would be SHOCKED if either happened in 2017-18. I'd be surprised if either happened in 2018-19. The 2019-20 season? I supposed if the Habs have been sitting the basement for 2+ seasons Bergevin might have to start dusting off his resume.....

    Price isn't the only one that signed a big extension in the offseason. Bergevin is signed through the end of the 2021-22 season. Does that mean he can't be fired? Of course not... but it means up until the end of last season, ownership felt good enough about the job he's done to want him around for 5 more years. The chances that he doesn't serve out at least half of that contract are pretty slim, IMO.

    I think the Habs are a flawed team. They have not been able to consistently score in a while (maybe my perception of their troubles is bigger than it really is? They were tied for 16th in total goals last year - so middle of the pack).

    I picked Montreal as a playoff team this year, and I think it's still too early to change that. They've got the best goalie, which gives them a chance to win most nights. Has he played great so far? No. Why would I expect him not to as the season progresses though? Middle of the pack offence, with elite goaltending, should result in a decent amount of wins.

    I'll also add: I do think Bergevin made a big mistake with the Subban / Weber trade. I thought it was a bad deal at the time, and I still think so today. I'm sure you can dig up a post where I said something to the effect of "he traded a top-5 defenceman for a guy that used to be a top-5 defenceman". I suspect that Subban's act was wearing thin on a few other key guys in the locker room, and I also got the impression that the coach (Therrian) didn't like him much. To me: Unless Carey Price had a problem with Subban (or his game) I would have fixed any locker room issues the other way.... keep Subban and move out players that didn't like him. The coach? If he couldn't find a way to use Subban effectly... replace him with someone that can.

  7. #27




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    This was the reason for me to ask the question in my original post: Could Price want out? Two key players don't make a team. When you look at how much they have relied on him over the years, I wonder if he's worn down.

    There's only so much one man can do. With no decent talent on the way from the system and other NHL roster players are gone because Bergevin has either traded it or let it walk for nothing (Sergachev, Subban, Andrighetto, Markov, Radulov, Weise...), I have to wonder what Price thinks.

    Look at their roster...it's not much different than an expansion team from the 1990s. It's a patchwork team put together by a general manager that doesn't seem to have a clear plan of what the team should be.

    I saw another article from The Score today as well. Thoughts on this?
    https://www.thescore.com/news/1401753

    I don't think Price is the type of guy to want out because of a couple of bad weeks. Again, he's as much to blame right now as any other name you can throw out there. He already knows he has to be one of the top goalies in the league for this team to succeed. But he isn't right now and that's on him, and he knows it.

  8. #28




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    Development has been a key shortcoming. Fucale was the first goalie chosen in the 2013 draft. That doesn't happen without reason. But the fact he has yet to play an NHL game and is now fourth in the organization should be a big concern. I dumped my mini-PC of him months ago because I don't think he's ever going to get a real shot with the Habs. Lindgren is ahead of him and McNiven isn't far behind.

    I also think that both McCarron and Scherbak should have been given better opportunity to succeed at camp. But the lack of spaces made possible by the Hemsky signing and retention of Mitchell pretty much ruled that out. I'm going they get some game action after their call-up today.

    I wouldn't blame poor development for Fucale's problems. He went into the toilet shortly after being drafted. Seemed like he hit his ceiling early, and that was that. But Leblanc, Tinordi, Beaulieu, McCarron and even Galchenyuk to a slightly lesser extent are good recent examples. Hopefully we don't run into the same problems with Juulsen or Scherbak. On a bright note, Scherbak seems to be doing really well in the A, and has earned the call up.

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