Building a team in a way I dont agree with but trying to do a decent job of it

@F50marco Here's my take

Hmm interesting!

Got to say, not what I'd want to do personally but by no means bad in any way. Here are my concerns:

- I like Cernak but my gut tells me TB makes it priority to get this signed and I think he is willing to sign for cheap. He's the best RHD IMO but shouldn't command a huge contract just yet. Has the perfect setup in TB right now and If I were him, I'd sacrifice a couple extra millions now in exchange for that setup in TB. Ultimately I have no idea which way he goes but I can only speculate from my perspective. I just can't see any TB RFAs even signing an OF with MTL due to various reasons. BUT if he is willing and this is the price, I'm so down for it though!

- I think that Petry trade is underwhelming. If Cernak is brought in, I say keep Petry this one year then. Unless the team is out by the TDL which then you can move him. I personally wouldn't sign Petry unless its a very team friendly deal which I doubt he's willing to do so then Cernak will automatically take his spot in the lineup going forward. As for the trade, Roslovic IMO isn't the right target. We have centers already and we have plenty of wingers already. If Roslovic is playing 4th line its a complete waste and even going forward, the team has plenty of depth with Caulfield, Gallagher or any one of the other wingers who can fill the void that I think Roslovic would just end up settling into a 3rd line role at best which is not worthy of the return we could get for Petry based on previous top 4 dman trades in the NHL. Moving any big name UFA's IMO means either adding ready now prospects to specific areas of need (Defense only really) or straight up futures that will only be viable down the line.

-Gagner/Kulak/Johnsson/Murray trades: Yeah, sure. Those are modest prices that I'd be fine paying frankly. I personally don't like Murray, he's simply too injury prone that you cannot rely on him enough and Johnsson is a decent depth pickup but I feel is unnecessary. The Habs one strong depth position is LW's. Is he an upgrade over some other guys? Sure but is it a necessary upgrade? Not really, its only a slight upgrade at best. I don't think he is 40 point winger not playing with the likes of Matthews, Marner, Tavares etc. On Montreals 3rd line he'd produce no better than Lehkonen has and frankly Lehkonen's defensive game is way better IMO. Kulak value is fair and I think if any LHD is acquired he'd be the one to go. Gagner isn't the right 4th line C for this team but that's not a big sticking point at all. Habs need more of a defensive veteran centerman who can play heavy PK mins. Gagner doesn't fit that role IMO.

- Lastly is Brodin. I personally think he is exaggerated by the analytics community. He brings almost nothing offensively despite getting tons of quality minutes (outside the PP I know) and while I do think he is a very decent defender, I feel he is uni-dimensional. (As main player traits go). He's an atypical top 4 defensive dman. I'm ok with not being very offensive but I would prefer a little more snarl from a guy who plays those harder minutes. Hence why I preferred Lindell. I think Lindell will cost less than Brodin will in his next contract, will be in his prime for more of his contract, has more offensive ability, has more snarl, is bigger and stronger and while I'll concede he might be not be quite as good defensively as Brodin, the cost to acquire him will be less costly which makes him a better option. IMO if the cost to acquire Brodin is Domi, I rather keep Domi and use Lehkonen and a protected 1st for Lindell. (The trade value Dallas fans agreed on). Domi is still very much that 70 point player. His inconsistency this year has been grossly wildly exaggerated. Fans here have sick idea that if a player scores 70 one year and doesn't immediately repeat it, he's a failure and love to harp on it. He lost his only talented running mate Drouin for almost the whole year. Got saddled next to youngish prospects and true 3rd line players for the whole year and people are blaming him for the lack of production despite being only a few points behind the team leads outside Tatar. Its so silly. With that said, Im all for trading him fi the right trade comes along. He is the best trading chip we have and would garner a solid return to help in other areas of need. NOT TO BE CONFUSED I would much rather trade Drouin! But his value is just not high enough to get the player I'd want to get so Domi is the smarter choice simply based on value and current depth but in a perfect world, I'd keep Domi in a heartbeat and give him better players to play with. With a healthy year he'd be back to 70 or very close to it.


I don't think this team would be bad by any means. It addresses pretty much all the needs albeit IMHO kind of from an outsiders POV which lacks the intricate knowledge only a Habs fan would know of the players already on it and their needs. (No diss intended, I wouldn't know the same for the Leafs team for example)