Starting with Habs stuff…
• Great move by Marc Bergevin to file for arbitration with Carey Price. All fears of the word “arbitration” should be dismissed as all the move does is ensure no team can move in and give Price an offer sheet. Both sides can, and likely will, still come to an agreement on a long-term deal before the hearing date.
• Congratulations go out to Max Pacioretty for winning the Bill Masterton trophy. Pacioretty has had a pretty remarkable career already and watching him flourish is one of the best aspects of being a Habs fan right now.
• If you missed it, Dustin Penner inspired a solid amount of outrage among some Habs fans with his opinion on who should have won the Masterton. Here is the tweet in question:
“Hey who won Bill M. Award? Was it the guy w/2 back surgeries,blood clot&infection,missed 1 yr,2 sets of iv for 3mo at a time,traded,allstar?”
I fail to see any reason for outrage here. Penner did nothing different than what we all do on Twitter and that is express an opinion. Furthermore, he didn’t even state that Pacioretty wasn’t deserving; only that he felt Joffrey Lupul was more deserving. Calm down, people.
• The obvious question after Erik Karlsson signed his seven-year/$45.5 million extension with Ottawa is what this means for P.K. Subban’s contract. Karlsson commands more if only because of his second-to-none point production from the blueline so a $5-5.5 million salary for Subban is probably what should be expected.
• The news of Ethan Moreau signing on as a Western Conference scout was met with bewilderment by many. Moreau had a pretty respectable playing career, playing all of his 928 games in this conference he will scout so I don’t mind him telling Marc Bergevin about his observations.
• The idea of trading for Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash just isn’t one the Habs should pursue. The team is rebuilding and if they are to accomplish their goal of being a perennial contender in a few years, it can only be done through a slow, proper development of their young prospects. Trading those away isn’t the way to go.
• If you’re at all curious, my hope is that the Habs select Alex Galchenyuk with their first-round pick at Friday night’s NHL Entry Draft. Runner up? Filip Forsberg.
…and on to other stuff.
• It was hard for me to imagine an NHL without Nicklas Lidstrom let alone without Teemu Selanne as well so I met the news of Selanne returning for another year with glee. At 41-years-old, Selanne just had his fourth straight 25+ goal season and continues to prove those who said he was done after his disastrous 2003-2004 season with Colorado wrong. Great story.
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