KK+ for Laine

maybe to seattle with picks to take price.

interesting

i would consider that...

Look at Joel Eriksson Ek as a reason not to give up on Kotkanemi yet, not all prospects reach their potential instantly.

Especially a prospect that was a project, they take longer to hit that ceiling

MTL wouldnt even be in the playoffs if it wasnt for the Covid-realignment, Giving up on a future potential 1C because he hasnt played perfectly against the top teams in the league would be very short sighted.

GMMB is one of the smartest GMs in the league, the Habs have had a hell of a run, they need to put the best team on the ice today, not the best team 3 years from now, he's still only 20, most 20 year olds dont even sniff the NHL let alone have 29 playoff games played before they turn 21

as good as a time to sell in price as the habs will likely get. a lack of good centers in the expansion draft may be enough to tip the scale for seattle.

I'm surprised you want to give up on him so soon. Patrick, Kakko, Hughes, LaFreniere, even Hischier haven't set the world on fire yet -- it takes about three NHL seasons for a youngster to find his feet. Makar, Stutzle and Caufield are the exception, not the norm.

I can see us giving you the 33rd overall selection this year for him. I think he's better than Sam Steel.

I guarantee that there are takers for a young center man. Here I will name a few. Columbus, Minnesota, New York Rangers. For Columbus they have no-one that is a good center prospect. For Minnesota, they have Eriksson-Ek, but I believe Rossi, and Boldy will be wingers in the NHL, so they will need a center man. New York Rangers have Zibanejad, and Chytil, but but Chytil is looking like a winger to me with having back to back bad FO%. You can ask Ranger fans if they come, but that’s just what I think.

i definitely don't want to, the mishandling is frustrating as a fan...i do think he needs to be better obviously, i believe an offseason with the shorter stick will help, and he needs to get stronger (he is a big body already but obviously hasn't developed that "man strength" yet)

technically we don't know who would be in the playoffs in a normal year but I understand your point, we are just stuck in the middle of the pack in large part due to unmovable contracts/limited cap space so we can't go 1 way or another...hoping we get him a top 6 LW and he hits his stride next year after a summer using his shorter stick/getting stronger

only 15 players in the league this past season were younger than JK, they played a combined 380 games, averages out to 25.3 per player, Jesperi has almost played more playoff games this season than that.

Getting him players that compliment his game is very important and im sure that will be very high on Bergevins to-do list

Yeah 100% he needs to add some muscle to his body, and against a team like Tampa you need big bodied guys on the ice, as you said in a previous post on this thread he needs to add size to be effective.

I dont think him potentially being scratched for game 4 has any indication on how they view him for the future, It has everything to do with trying to win the cup while you're there

Just because he was scratched for one game when they're desperate for a win, I don't think they're giving up on him.

Looking at the lines, it looks to me like they want to free Danault's line up to play more a more offensive and have Evans' line takeover some of the shutdown role; something he's better at than KK.

Jack Han did an interesting review on KK that's worth a read.

Personally, I think the Habs probably slowed his development by bringing him up too early, but he's still got lots of time to keep improving. If the Habs want to be real contenders for the next several years, they'll need 2C a lot more than some wingers.