Habs aren’t giving up a top 10 pick in the most loaded class since 2015 to be petty. The only petty one here is the canes owner. Enjoy 8 more years of your fourth line center KK

"Is literally going to be the 2C next year on one of the best teams in hockey"
"4C KK"

Chychrun doesn't make sense. We need goalscoring, not blueline help. Slavin, Skjei, Pesce, DeAngelo is a fine top four. Go and get DeBrincat, not Chychrun

MB is gone, HuGo won't go the OS route and waste a 2023 1st on DeAngelo especially after saying that they want character players and will no longer draft players like Mailloux (in fact I don't think Hughes has any intentions of signing Mailloux, there have not even been talks of a ELC yet). I don't see them going after someone who has had a history of racial incidents either.

Habs fans are a special breed of triggered by KK. No wonder he didn’t want to be there.

a competitive team may offer sheet TDA (unlikely still) but that isnt Montreal.

What did he even do this year to warrant 1) a promotion and 2) a massive contract extension?

Not all of us! I love the kid and still think he has a higher ceiling than what he's been showing, he's super young and playing C which is the hardest position to play,isn't even in his prime as a forward not even close. He will be a solid 2 or 3C in the NHL for a long time. That being said MTL doesn't give a 2023 1st for anyone, not with this deep draft.

Other than setting a new career-high in goals and setting a new career points pace for a season as well as being a great defensive option, trusted on the powerplay, and becoming a hard-hitting two-way center?
He was arguably the Canes' most consistent forward this season. He's going to be fine. Even if he flames out at 2C (which is very possible) he's good enough as a two way player to take Staal's spot at 3C at a 1.2 million dollar discount.

If you don't watch Canes games and don't understand that, that's on you.

Believe me I used to be his biggest fan (my pfp on this website was Kk ever since he got drafted up until last year when he left), but I can acknowledge he’s overpaid and hasn’t done anything to warrant the money and spot in the lineup that he’s about to occupy. This man had the same point total as Jake Evans and everybody knows he’s a 4C, even on the worst team in the league.

LOL new career points pace ya big improvement from .43 to .44 a whole 1 point (if we round up lol) over 82 games.

Its hilarious that canes fans who have watched 80 games of KK this they know SO much more than habs fans who have watched 200 games of him

i guess its easier to see what he did this year and think its a step in the right direction if you didnt watch him the 3 seasons before that. KK has always shown flashes that gets fans excited about what he will be able to do in the future. But theres been very little movement after that. His point per game increase is barely an increase and he had by far his worst playoffs of his career so far but i guess thats ok since it wasnt mentioned. His cap hit isnt that bad since he is a center and can play pretty well in his own end, but i would hope for carolina's sake that if he is starting at 2c next season that they have a suitable back up plan to turn too.

I watched the canes playoffs where the offense dried up (we both have the same amount of playoff goals as Kk) and he still skates like Bambi. His ppg barely increased and he still had less goals that Jake Evans who’s going to be making $3 mil less than him. He played sheltered fourth line minutes and played on the second unit of a powerplay that finished just above the median in the regular season and disappeared in the playoffs. Sure we can sit here and debate what his potential’s gonna be - and that’d be really cool if he turns out to be a good 2C cause I really wanted him to become something in Montreal - but realistically he’ll probably take over for Staal on the third line, and was that worth 2 good draft picks and all that money. Do the Canes maybe get past the Rangers in the second if they have that money and those assets to invest at the deadline instead of wasting them on a developmental project on the fourth line from a move that screamed petty to everything that saw the headline? The canes window could close in a couple years when your 1C can hit the market after that bargain deal comes to an end (Bergy did you guys a huge favour). Does this not seem like a missed opportunity?

Yeah, we do! He took a step forward this year and that PPG pace was playing with fourth line minutes with fringe NHLers... he set a new career high in goals, and that was in just 66 games.

Chychrun is a improvement over deangleo at a lower value, I think bringing in someone like strome and keeping nino has more value. And the price to get DeBrincat is something I am not sure the canes are actually willing to pay, should they be? Yes. But we have seen how the Canes value people.

I think DeAngelo put himself in a bad position letting his emotions get the better of him multiple times in the playoffs while being quite ineffective outside of home. Granted like most players on the team. But I think it was a one year experiment that had its pros, but we are not going to pay him what he wants. If we only offered dougie 6 I dont see us offering the market rate for a guy like him.

I actually like KK, was a steady presence on the fourth line and when elevated to the top lines showed some consistency and presence I like there.

You are taking that one way too seriously lol

Carolina win that series is Andersen is healthy, but that's not the point here.

I watched a lot of KK in Montreal and he did take a step forward this year. As you said, his PPG increased (even barely) but that was playing 4th line minutes and on a powerplay that finished just above the league average. That's huge signs of progress. His skating is fine, there's no issue. He ends up on his backside a lot, but I'd rather he do that trying to play hard than not give a crap. Kotkaniemi had 1 less goal than Evans in 6 less games, and Evans didn't play 4th line minutes.

As for the Aho question, by that time the 6 million contract of Staal will be off the books, so the space will be there to extend him. Don't worry about that.

Carolina's offense has had a tendancy to run dry for years. That long predates Kotkaniemi. They need Svechnikov to take that next step and they need Aho to not sleep walk through a season again. (Yes, this was not a good season for Aho in terms of how he played. I know what the numbers say, and that's why he's so underrated). If Jarvis can take that next step, or they go and get a goalscorer, they'll be fine. But the money and assets used on KK were more than good enough. Especially when we use the same measuring stick that was that same 1st rounder and a 2nd rounder (not a 3rd, a 2nd) to get Dvorak who barely our produced Kotkaniemi having played top PP time and top 6 minutes most of the year...

I think that is very fair! The offersheet was in part a joke solely because I don't know what team that trades for him, and what value he brings. (Sometimes it is fun to light a match and watch people react like this comment section has been lol) But I think another part of the reason I though they would at least have interest is solely because Jeff Gorton was fond of him, and unfortunately we see teams value his ability to be friends with those in the locker room over his problematic beliefs and behavior.

DeAngelo won't make more than 4, and you don't have to give up anything to keep him. Chychrun is an upgrade, but DeAngelo isn't a problem that needs to be upgraded. For example... is McDavid an upgrade on Aho? Yeah. Is it an upgrade that is required? Not really. That's kind of how it feels. DeAngelo is doing his job and doing it well. Yeah, he didn't play well in New York, but MSG has been a house of horrors for the Canes for years.

He beat his career high in goals by........1 lol on the back of a unsustainable 14.8 shooting percentage. and then went goalless in the playoffs.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20212022&thruseason=20212022&stype=2&sit=5v5&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=t&playerid=8480829

Weird how you think Necas is a fringe NHLer because that was his 2nd most common linemate.

He also got only 2 assist in 14 playoff games so

Fair points, but don’t use the Dvorak deal as a justification for KK. There’s a reason that GM got fired two months later…

Necas isn't a fringe NHLer, but Necas had a down year too. Look at his other wing, he was playing with Martinook and Lorentz, who are fringe NHLers.

Yes, he only beat his career high in goals by 1, but he also only played 66 games

2 more assist than any Hab. And we got those for free. Players don't get paid for the playoffs

Oh I know. Bergevin wasn't a good GM. He was very reckless and never seemed to fully understand how badly his moves could go,

However, KK took a step this year. He's not going to be a 60-point guy as a 21-year-old, but he's showing a lot of promise. There's something there with Kotkaniemi and now working under Brind'amour, we know he's going to be at least a good defensive center who can win faceoffs (Rod taught Eric Staal how to take faceoffs, I'm sure he'll have no issue with Kotka). He might ever reach that 60-70 point mark. But if he's a solid 3C for Carolina for 9 years through their cup window, that 1st and 3rd were well worth it. 4.82 for a 3C is about on point. If he can become that 2C though, hitting 60, 70, 80 points a year and dominating games? OH that's a steal of a contract. But for what it is, 3C sounds decent too. He'll be better than a 4C for his career as you originally insisted,