As good as that defence would be, your handcuffing yourself to the cap on those deals. Stastny prtsihns for more, hoping for less on a longer term is a maybe but not likely. Carlson will probably go for 7 years, signing him I’d also sealing Weber’s fate to be moved.

I think Botterill would give you a 2019 2nd for Byron.

Why spend 5 million on Stastny when you can pick up John Tavares?

Maybe so but all the top teams have to work around the cap... look at Toronto this year, they’re considered an up and coming young young team yet are bound to the cap hit. A lot better than not spending it. Also the idea in getting Carlson is to finally have a D partner for Weber who will not be traded on that contract. You can get rid of beagle and give Stastny more... I thought it better/easier to do Stastny and Carlson than go all in on Tavares

Montreal needs help up front but they also need help on D and I feel Carlson + Stastny is better for the depth and more realistic than throwing money at Tavares... if the opportunity is there for them to sign Tavares than I’m all for it

You're not managing the cap very well. Face it, I don't see much short of a miracle for MTL to make a cup run next year, so better to stock the shelves and get ready for winter. Take a look at next years UFAs. Karlsson, Seguin, Duchene, Panarin, Skinner, Couture, Pavelski, Doughty... The list goes on. If we lock ourselves like Toronto or Chicago, we'll miss that train.

I already had that fixed up.
LAK MTL
Pacioretty Kopitar
Galchenyuk Toffoli
2018 First RD Subban (Defensive Prospect)
2018 Second RD
Conditional 2018 Second RD
Condtional 2020 First RD


So LA has room to Sign John Tavares and Montreal still has space to sign John Carlson.

LA gains Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, 2018 First Round, 2018 Second Round, Conditonal 2018 Second Round, and Conditonal 2020 First Round for MTL Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, and Jordan Subban

Asking to much for a possible rental.....Tallon just signed him to a long term contract. Don't think he want to trade Matheson....he has a lot of upside.

I agree that there should be foresight from management for the potential UFA's in 2019 but IMO I feel that the cap is still managed well. Currently in this case the case the cap is still set at $75M. So with the cap expected to go both this year and in 2019 it would be safe to say the Habs could land one of those UFA's and keep this core together.

It’s not about a cup run next year it’s about making solid steps forward on defence and offence all while injecting youth into the line up... also Colorado had one of the worst seasons in NHL history last year and make the playoffs without duchene. Anything can happen.