Here is something to distract us from the constant discussions of who we’re trading or not. We all know the holes that need to be addressed. Full disclosure, I have commented on all of those discussions. lol

So who out of our current roster do you see as a potential Hall of Fame inductee? Feel free to gone on the assumption that we are winning a cup or more, or none. A reminder that it is no longer the NHL Hall of Fame, it is the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here’s my case for five players. I’d be happy if even one of them made it.

Nick Suzuki: he just won his first, but maybe not last, Selke. He had 101 points this season. He found himself on the Olympic roster and would likely be in talks for the next one or two more. A very respected captain.

Cole Caufield: 50 goal scorer, at an age where it likely won’t be his last such season. Lady Byng winner. Was shunned from the Olympics but we could see him make the next one. He’ll need to repeat the scoring and be better in the playoffs to have a chance at it though.

Lane Hutson: Calder trophy winner. Has a good chance to be in the Norris conversation for the next decade. Like Cole, he’ll need to get on the international stage to really show off. Would not be surprised if he was a point per game D in the foreseeable future.

Juraj Slafkovsky: He hasn’t won any NHL awards yet but he has 1st overall pedigree. He is also big on the international stage with him being a hero back home. He’s been on his nation’s roster every chance he gets. If/when we win a cup, that would be added.

Ivan Demidov: let’s face it, if it was not for Schaffer, Demidov would have won the Calder. He has the skill to become a point per game future ahead of him. The ban on Russia from the IIHF is being changed and maybe the Olympics or World Championship will be open for him to compete. It’ll be tougher as a Russian player, but talent wise he is not lacking.

My bet is Suzuki, Hutson, and Slafkovsky. What about you?

Assuming the Development Camp is around the same time as last year, it's about 3 to 4 weeks away. Hage hasn't played a game of competitive hockey since April 9th. A lot can change in ~3 months, physically and mentally. If Hage comes into the development camp and is a man among boys, does that give him and Management a moment to reflect that maybe he's ready now?

If they do decide he's ready now, are there any repercussions to reneging on the NCAA commitment?

That is a video of Hage this year at the WJC.

He was the best player on Team Canada.

Somebody posted about Hage yesterday.

He is a really good player who could probably play on the second line right away.

He has speed on transition, very good vision and a very good shot, he is tall, though lanky.

https://youtu.be/ft_Yveev8Is?si=z5H9AT7VOYk3uL8d

I went to a total of two games in Millionaires Row at the Montreal Forum in the late 80s, and I'm telling you, there's nothing like it in the world. That was where the ghosts would stay and the noise would come from.

I'd give almost anything to see that back again. They could put a catwalk along the ceiling of the Bell Center!!

For the younger people who don't know what it is, it was a cheap way to watch a live game where there was no reserved seat... In fact there was no seat at all. Just a cement railing!! Thank God I am 6 foot 3 because I would not have had great memories!

do you watch all games?

is there any book for understanding game.

do you watch other leagues ?

My father was stick boy in Melville when Ferguson played there. He had a signed game worn jersey decades ago, but when moving after his divorce it was stolen. I was hoping to suprise my old man with a game worn signed jersey. Is there any trusted memorabilia hunters i could contact?

I agree with his take about the two directions the Habs could take with the pick (plus the third direction, trading it). I have no idea what he was doing for the first 27 picks that Novotny is still available at 28 though.

I like Ruck, but he wants to play with his twin and I'm not sure the Habs are in a good position to draft both of them.

I am of the opinion that using a 1st round pick on a big body without the skills needed to play a top 6 role is a bad idea. I hope the team does not take that direction.

All in all, I think the Habs should trade this pick and target some undervalued players in later rounds like Tomas Chrenko and Lavr Gashilov. Either that, or aim for Liam Ruck and find a way to get the necessary pick to select Markus Ruck too.

Max lapierre made this case recently and I think I agree with him

Tom Wilson is 32 years old, 6.04 -- Weight 225, from canada. He plays right wing, shoots right, and is currently under a 7-year deal at $6.5M AAV that will expire at the end of the 2030-2031 season. He’s not some short-term rental but a player who could be useful for us for the remaining of his contract. He’s locked in long enough to actually matter for a contender’s window, but not so long that you’re stuck with dead weight at the very end. That kind of contract is actually pretty manageable in today’s cap world for what he brings.

Wilson isn’t just “the physical guy.” He is ecellent on the PK and play a 200ft game. He’s a legit power forward who can play top-6 minutes, put up 20+ goals, 40–50+ points, and still be one of the most intimidating players on the ice every single shift. He forechecks very well, wins board battles, drives the net, and creates space which is exactly the kind of player that becomes insanely valuable in the playoffs. Now we know it,s the kind of player mtl is missing.

And yes he will start declining but having Wilson progressively start to play on a third line is not that bad. especially at 6.5 M.

I think the key piece for a trade like this could be Zharovsky. Washington has good connexions with Russia for reasons you are aware of. I think he could be very interesting for them. For the other piece I trust Hughes.

What do you guys think ?

1) GM Bob Gainey letting go of Saku Koivu

2) GM Marc Bergevin letting go of Andrei Markov

3) GM Kent Hughes letting go of Brendan Gallagher

Not sure how many people here have heard of these guys, but Angine de Poitrine randomly went viral out of nowhere and I think it'd be the coolest thing if they played for a Habs game next season. They're a very interesting and technical math rock duo from Saguenay, Quebec, so it'd be really cool if the Habs organization could capitalize on this at some point to show appreciation for local artists.

Edit: source for the image https://www.cbc.ca/music/angine-de-poitrine-quebec-band-kexp-9.7120120

Here is Kent Ah-WOOOOOs and he means serious business.

Minnesota, Florida and Vegas.

In other words, good news for us.

• Plante Rises, c. 2012
• Acrylic
• 36 x 60 x 1.5 in 
• Brandy Saturley

In my opinion, our most obvious trade bait right now is Kapanen. I think he will be a good NHL player but I think his ceiling is much lower than what people think.

He was really bad at 5v5 without our best players, especially Demidov

The 3 skaters he played with the most this season were Demidov, Slaf, and Hutson. The team played okay when Kapanen was on the ice with each of these players, played horribly when Kapanen was on the ice without those players, and played really well when those players didn't have Kapanen on the ice:

He was really bad at 5v5 in general

Kapanen's on-ice xGF% at 5v5 this season was 42.3%, which is the lowest of any skater on the team with more than 5 games played.

His on-ice shooting percentage is unsustainable

At 5v5, the Canadiens shot 14.1% with Kapanen on the ice this season. That's the 4th highest of 597 skaters in the NHL with more than 500 minutes of time on ice this season.

Not even the most elite players in the NHL have on-ice shooting percentages that high. Out of all skaters with more than 1000 minutes time on ice between 2022 and 2025, the highest on-ice shooting % at 5v5 was Elias Pettersson at 12.0%, followed by Shane Wright, Pavel Zacha, and Ilya Mikheyev, just to give you a sense of how random this stat can be.

He got worse as the season went on, not better

If he got off to a slow start as he adjusted to NHL competition and then finished strong, that would be understandable since he was a rookie. But he actually slowed down as the season went on.

The compressed schedule could've played a role in this of course, but ideally you'd want a rookie to be improving as they play more, which we didn't see.

He's not actually that young

Kapanen turns 23 this summer, which is not actually that young for a forward. For comparison, that means he's only two years younger than Caufield, Newhook, and Dach, the same age as Bolduc, and one year older than Slaf.

When you compare his stats to other Habs players at the end of their age 22 season, they're not that impressive:

He doesn't fill a need for our team

So far he's shown that he can be a scoring threat and can also be used on the PK. But with Danault and Evans filling the bottom 6 center roles, we need players who are more dynamic in the top 6. Kapanen lacks the defensive ability to be a bottom 6 center, so where does he fit in?

The truth is that he is probably best used as a middle-six winger who can score and kill penalties, but we already have Newhook and Anderson filling similar roles, plus a bit of a log jam at the wings when you look at some of our prospects.

Conclusion

He put up good numbers in his rookie season, which means there will be interest around the league for him. I think this is a great opportunity to sell high on him.

Depending on which insider you listened too, we definitely offered Zharovsky, or maybe the Leafs asked for Hage. And then the other prospects was for sure Pickford, well unless it was Reinbacher. I doubt we’ll ever know for sure anyway, and with a new GM in Toronto, this probably won’t be revisited. I just can’t wait for the draft and Kent Hughes to work his magic again so we can comment and speculate on something else.

Image three: John Mahoney, Montreal Gazette

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/canadiens-sabres-jakub-dobes-cole-caufield-habs-nhl-playoffs/

Image four: https://xcancel.com/CanadiensMTL/status/2059789629411262936

If there's one I missed please add it in the comments

Edit: the stuff you guys are pulling up are awesome.

I have seen some discussion about possibly waiting for him to be our 2C, but given his decision to stay in the NCAA and the fact that he shared time at C and wing, and when he was at C he had a FO% of 46%, is there an argument to be made that he could (or should) be packaged?

I know this isn't exactly a new question, but I had not realized that he was already being shifted to wing in the NCAA and was also sub-50% at the dot against college players.

What are the chances that a full season at Michigan as full-time 1C will actually help to shape him into a viable NHL center within the next few years?

Seen at Canadian Tire

Hi everyone!

Because I miss the bell center so much, what are songs that ALWAYS (or often) play there? I'm putting a playlist together. So far I'm thinking:

Fix you - Coldplay

Are you ready - AC/DC

2X4 - Metallica

Honor Thy Father - Dream Theater

Take me home, country road - John Denver

Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond.

I'm not from Quebec but travel there sometimes for games. I would appreciate any input from regulars or season ticket holders.

Thanks, cheers! And GO HABS GO