De Haan isn't a big upgrade over Beaulieu so don't know why we make this trade. Unloading DD is nice but at that cost, probably not worth it IMO.

The Hanzal trade works for me. Big price but could pay dividends come playoff time.

Burmistrov is not even worth a 2nd rounder IMO but if somehow he could find chemistry with the top line and be as good as he was drafted to be, then yes. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing that and he's done nothing in Atlanta or Winnipeg to make me think otherwise. For a 3rd or 4th then I'd be willing to gamble but otherwise, keep the picks. Byron has been doing great, if no other options present themselves, keep him there.

Yeah Burmistrov would be a gamble for sure, I initially had him coming for a 3rd-rounder, changed it. I figure maybe the other Alex's would rub off on him, probably not though.

Ideally instead of trading for a better LD we can make a move to bring in another top 6 LW. Byron has been doing fine, but if we build a team that pushes Byron, Mitchell, and Danault to he 4th line, that's a lot of depth come playoff time.

True. This is where MTL needs to make a choice. We have 3 holes that need upgrading.

LH top 4 D to play with Weber. Emelin come playoff time will be Emelin again. Unless he's playing against Lucic, he should be a bottom pairing dman. Markov needs limited top 4 minutes next Petry. So we need a LHD that can play big minutes alongside Weber

Top 6 center. Plekanec's offense has dried up worse than a baked prune. He still can give us solid defensive awareness but we need someone to replace DD as a top center to play with Gally and Pacioretty. Getting those guys going again should be priority number one. Without those two firing on all cylinders we don't stand a chance in the playoffs. Galchenyuk and Radulov will be heavily guarded against in the playoffs so expecting them to produce like they have so far will be really hard.

Finally as you've said, top 6 LW. Personally this is a luxury upgrade area. Would it be nice to get a true top 6 winger but is it that important? Personnally I don't think so. Nice to have if we get one cheap but if we have to give up a lot, I'd rather we focus on the other 2 areas.


I've narrowed it down to a few players that we could target. On defense: Brodie, J Johnson, Fowler Brodin and Del Zotto. They vary in how much they would cost and how worthy they would be to get. The one out of this that makes the most sense taking into account many factors is Del Zotto. Although the best bang for your buck would be Brodie.

As for center, Hanzal is the one true choice. He's big, he's good on face offs, he can score and pass, he's cheap, he's UFA at years end and fits the role perfectly given Therrien's coaching style. AThe only other guy who might be of interest is Berglund but frankly I'm not too high on him.

As for wingers, take your pick. There are a bunch available for the right price. Once again I think top 6 center and LH top 4 D should be our priorities at the deadline or earlier.

Yeah these are good points. Do you think there is a chance Sergachev returns from Windsor after their season is over? That is, if we haven't filled that hole already. Although he's definitely not a lock top 4 dman at this point. Out of your selection Brodie is the gem, but he will cost multiple picks, plus he's not a pending UFA? I'd think they're more likely to sell Wideman. I should do my research on Del Zotto, I remember thinking he was overrated the times I have seen him, but I will look again. I also don't know much about Brodin. My only argument for needing a LW over a LD is that we seem to really be needing scoring at the moment, where as, I think Emelin, Beaulieu, Markov, Barberio (although he has looked nervous as of late) will be able to fill a steady enough role.

If Habs can't lock down Hanzal, what do you think about pending RFA Mikhail Grigorenko? Not bonafide enough?

You guys talk about a top 6 LW. Am I the only one who would like to see what happens if you put Shaw with Galchenyuk and Radulov?

Yeah that could certainly be a thing. Shaw has been very consistent with puck retrieval, he's the best player on his line most nights.

Maybe Thomas Hickey (NYI) will be available. Islanders have a lot of D and he is an upgrade to the Calvin De Haan trade.

But untill Therrien won´t let play the third D pairing between 15 and 16 minutes, the first D pairng will still be overplayed.