An outlook of a possible 2025-26 Montreal Canadiens roster | The Basu & Godin Notebook
No. No. No. [Music] Happy Independence Day, Arpen. Yes, back toback Canada Day and July 4th episodes. So, we’re covering all our bases for all our American listeners. Happy July 4th. Fourth of July, I should say. It’s never said July 4th. Yeah. Did we do something for Sanj Batis also? We must have. I mean, I feel like we’re always recording podcast. I don’t know. I don’t know if we did, but uh but anyhow, happy happy 4th of July to all our American listeners. Hope you’re having copious amounts of barbecue and and enjoy the fireworks this evening. But here we are um on what is our final regular episode of the season. Um we are we’re going to keep recording episodes sporadically through the off season. You’re never really going to know when they’re coming. They’re just going to show up, but they’ll be there. They’ll be they’ll be for our paid subscribers. This is obviously our free episode, but all of our all of our summer episodes will only be for our paid subscribers. And it’ll kind of go like I’ll be like walking around the house and I’ll have a Thad strike me and then I’ll text Mark Antoan and I’ll be like, “Hey, you feel like doing a pod?” And he’ll be like, “Yeah, sure. Let’s do a pod.” And then we’ll do one and it’ll show up in your feed and you won’t know it’s coming and you’ll be happy. You’ll be like, “Oh, yay. Nice. Look at this. I got a pod.” So that’ll be the case, you know, a few times over the course of the next six to seven weeks till the beginning of September, more or less, barring, of course, the Canadians doing something, in which case we will likely do an episode on that, assuming that both of us are available. Um, we’re going to take some vacation time for sure with our families. So that might not might not fit timing wise. But this is our last regularly scheduled Friday episode. Uh there won’t be an episode on Monday. We will have an episode next week. Y um should come out in sometime in the middle of the week, but um I would I would be sure to tune in to that, but that’ll be a a paid subscriber episode. Um but yeah, so here we are. So in this final episode, this final regular episode considering everything that’s happened, considering that there’s going to be a slowdown, you know, the Fourth of July weekend, traditionally teams have a handshake agreement not to do anything. It’s usually a time where everyone steps back, reassesses, and next week perhaps start engaging in trade talks a little bit, but things start to wind down. So, the Canadians are what they are um for the meantime. So, we thought we’d do a little just a little look at the roster, look at the lineup, and see what options are available to Martis San Louie with the team as is, which is the words that Ken Hughes used saying he is comfortable entering next season with the team as is. So, let’s look at the team as is. Um, what’s funny is that it’s it’s a more talented it’s clear that it’s a more talented team than the one that they they started the season with last year. Let’s not forget that the Canadians had a second line uh at the beginning of season comprised of New Hook, Doc, and Army on the second line, right? Yeah. Cuz L was hurt, of course. That’s it. And uh cuz we had hopes for, you know, Ara really uh showing everything that he can do and and and being the best version of himself. It was a bit too much to handle, but it showed also the limits of the options that the Canadians had for that second line. Has it been addressed thoroughly? Maybe not, but I think that the acquisition of Zakib brings something very interesting. Let’s let’s assume for the time being that the first line will stay intact. I think that there’s no reason to split those three guys, you know, unless there’s a significant need somewhere else on the roster that would force Mui to split up those three guys, but I think that his intention is to keep them uh together as long as possible. And they’ve been well, they shouldn’t be, you know. I mean, that’s that’s it. They they’ve proven that they’re an effective line, the three of them. you sometimes, you know, individually, Slavovski, it came and went by bits, but uh overall the line has been super effective. So, it’s it’s become a certainty for them. But beyond that, uh it’s ironic that Ivan Deidov with a total of seven games in the NHL, two in the regular season and five in the in the playoffs, Mhm. is the only lock for the second line, right? So, uh, you could argue that Kirby Duck is and where whether it’s at center or on the wing, but if it was to if if the roster is to remain that like that, he’ll be in center. And then Zachary Bodzuk to me, even though he might not be ready for that just yet in his career, he might have that upside, but we don’t know if it’s if it’s going to be too much to ask right away to put him on the second line. I think that he he provides Marti with an opportunity a to add a scoring touch, b a a puck retriever forchecking presence on that line. Mhm. Uh a cadence of play that would be very helpful for Kirby Dock and it would make sure also that Ly and Doc don’t play together, which for me is one of the big takeaways of last season. So we can discuss where we would see Li afterwards but to me but the arrival of Budzik really provides an interesting option so that Li and Dak won’t play together. Yeah. Um yes that’s that’s certainly everything that you just said about Bodzuk would also apply to Alex Muer in the sense that he can be the puck retriever. He can be the element of speed. So, if they’re hesitant to give Budzik too much too soon, um that’s another option, you know, that’s another option uh to play. But then again, you have Alex Newok and Kirby Do together, which um before Lion came back wasn’t all that impressive, you know? I mean, we did see we had a good sample of Alex New Hook and Kirby Do playing together and and it wasn’t great. So, I get that. Uh to me what what changes everything here um year overyear is the I mean that’s really what makes this of course and and I like your I like the notion of of having sort of paired with dev in that sense cuz uh it would take care of some of the forcheing duties. um would presumably and in all likelihood uh create more puck touches for Dito having a guy who’s so good on the forche and so good at creating turnovers. Um but it’s crazy to say because he only has a handful of NHL games played. Um the Canadians I think really need to put Kirby Doc in a position to succeed. you know, it’s it’s really been uh well, last season at least, it just seemed like he was swimming upstream. He was swimming against the current and never really had the proper linemates to help him get over the hump, you know, to help him get back to the confident, talented, very toolsy guy that he is. um he never got there mentally, you know, he just he was never able to to feel fully confident in himself and he has to wear some of that as well for sure. Um and we’ll see, you know, we both saw him on the ice at development camp, which we’ll get to in a bit. Um development camp, I mean, not Kirby Doc skating on the ice, but it’s it’s it is the construction of this line. You have two guys that you need to take care of, right? Assuming that they play together. You have Kirby Do who needs the proper support to get the best version of himself and you have Ditov who is the crown jewel of your of your rebuild. Um, and you want to make sure that gets off smoothly. So, is that best served by a secondyear guy who’s coming to a new team who’s kea, speaks French, he’s going to be loaded with tons of pressure to perform, or is it best served by the guy who also has something to prove, but is also been shown to be an imperfect fit with Doc. Um, but which could change with the added element of Ditov on that line? I’m I’m I debate between the two. Um, can I submit Can I submit another name? Sure. Josh Anderson to me Josh Anderson is I mean it worked well last year with Gallagher. You could argue well don’t if it ain’t broken you know if don’t fix it. Uh I understand that and we know that he’s he should never see the ice with Caulfield and Suzuki. We know that this this doesn’t work. But I’m not talking about Suzuki and Cfield here. I’m talking about Duck and Deid off, different set of players. It’s probably something I think that his package could, who knows? I think it could be interesting to try and see if it could mesh well. uh especially with Doc with probably some sort of emulation that could that could work here where you know you could have both the speed and the power that he can provide that could that could help lift um Doc. I think that Anderson has really really improved uh his defensive responsibilities since he’s come to Montreal. uh you know his back pressure is miles you know improved compared to the first couple of seasons in Montreal, he’s become a very defensively responsible guy. Um and I think that even though he doesn’t have the best scoring touch, I think that he would he would help making sure that the the puck would would be in the other end. And if the puck is in the other end, then Deidov can create and make sure that it stays there. And Doc has got puck protection skills, he can help the puck staying in the zone, too. It’s all about the transition and getting there. And to me, even though, you know, we’ve come to see Anderson in a different light, expect less of him, saying, “Okay, well, as a bottom six dude with Gallagher, maybe with Evans this upcoming season.” That’s that’s the logical conclusion. But somewhere I wouldn’t rule out just the just the idea of trying him there if if all else fails because who knows what could be the results. Well, the one thing about that is Marty Marty sold so successfully this new role to Anderson where it took scoring off his not off his plate. I don’t want to say that Anderson didn’t want to score, but he wasn’t worried about scoring. Um, if you put him in a top six role, you’re adding that element back into his mind. And maybe now he’s better prepared for it now that he’s had a good season, gotten great reviews, the coach loved him, his teammates loved him, he was he was it was a successful year that maybe now he’d be better equipped to handle that pressure. But that was a big factor in his season two years ago. is when he created all those chances in the first 20 games and couldn’t score and hit countless posts and all these breakaways didn’t go in and that started playing in his head and his play suffered as a result. So that would be my only hesitation there is that the shift in role suited him so well that if he go you put him back into a scoring role maybe you’re starting that whole cycle all over again. But he’s it’s also possible that he’s passed that and that he wouldn’t heap all this pressure onto himself and he would understand that his role on that line is largely as a puck retriever and a forch checker and a physical presence and a speed presence and he would just take it as is. So I don’t hate it. Um, it leaves a lot of talent presumably for the bottom six. If you’re talking about basically New Hook, Line A, Bold, Zuk, and Gallagher filling out the bottom two lines on the wings. Uh, we’ll get to the center position in a second, but it’s um that’s very interesting bottom six mix. Um, the other thing that’s kind of that kind of goes counter to what you started saying is I wonder if the Canadians would consider putting Slavosski back with Doc, you know, when I started talking about let’s put Doc in the best position to succeed. I mean, those are two guys who at a certain time um had amazing chemistry and frankly at the end of last season, like not the one that just ended, but the one before, you know, Slavoski was looking forward to when Doc was back and that he would might have a chance to play with him. Like he they they enjoyed playing with each other uh two seasons ago. Um, no, not two seasons now, three seasons ago now, I guess, if you’re talking if you’re going back. But, um, and if they did that, another guy who had success with Cfield and Suzuki was New Hook Once Upon a Time. And so, if you were to do that, then you have a top line of Cfield, Suzuki, New Hook, which which frankly trends a bit small. Um but then you have Slavosski Doc Deidovv and you have the possibility of keeping Anderson with Gallagher uh let’s say with Evans on a fourth line and you could potentially roll out Patrick Line Oliver Kaepern and and Bzuk on a third line. The only issue I would have with that is you know both line and Book are shooters. Um maybe not the best fit but Kaan is definitely a distributor at the center position. So, um, that could work, but I’m just I don’t think they’ll do it, but I think it’s something that they should at least consider because the Slavoski doc pairing was something that had some promise and it seems like ancient history now, but and maybe it is, but it it existed. It happened. uh that that training camp that Doc Ha had with Slavoski on his wing um many moons ago uh looked dominant like it was Kirby Doc was the best forward on the team at that camp in my opinion and I still remember it how good that looked. So, um, and frankly, New Hook playing with Suzuki and Caulfield for the period that they did all those all that time ago also went very well. And so, um, I don’t know. I mean, it’s I think it’s I think it’s something worth considering. I I doubt they do it. I do agree with you that I think they see the the Copfield Suzuki Slavkski line as a a known commodity that they need to uh nurture and maintain uh up until the point it it stops working. But um I think in terms of distributing talent in the top six, this is probably the best way to do it. Um, assuming again, and I think it’s uh the right presumption to make that the Canadians should and likely will avoid having Doc play with Lion A uh anymore. Yeah. The the only the two issues I’ve got with your suggestion there is that we all know this that Slavski, despite all of his potential and the glimpses of greatness that he’s shown in the past, still has issues with consistency. So, he’ll have to he’ll have to be more consistent and playing with two guys that are the best two forwards on the team that work very well as a duo and who are who have become consistent over time is probably the best way for him to gain that consistency because it’s a known environment compared to bringing bringing him next to Doc who has a whole set of personal challenges hockey wise to overcome himself. It’s not It might put Duck in a in a winning situation or a favorable situation to have Slaf on his left or on his right, but it’s probably not the best service to for Slavsky himself who if if he’s looking for consistency, I’m not sure that that putting him on the flank of Kirby Dock, it’s going to be the issue today. Well, I think it would allow him to to to own it a little more, too, and not defer to his linemates as much, you know? I mean, I think that he when you say that he plays with the two best forwards on the team and they’re very consistent, I think sometimes Slap feels he can well, he probably doesn’t consciously feel it, but I think it allows him to get away with some inconsistency because it gets masked on that line. Whereas, if you go to him and you’re like, “Listen, we really need Kirby to figure it out. He’s an important part of our club. We need you to help him get there. um you’re you’re giving him ownership of something that’s valuable to the team and important to the team and saying telling him like, “Okay, we believe you’re ready to take this step. You don’t need you don’t need to piggy back on Suzuki and Coughfield all the time. you know, we we’re ready to give you a bigger responsibility on a different line because this is what we need based on what we have and and what we need primarily because we weren’t able to address it in the offseason is we need Kirby Doc to be the best version of himself and we need you to help him get there because we remember back when you guys were playing together and you guys were dynamite. You’ve changed a lot since then, he’s changed a lot since then, but we need you to help us get him there and I think Slavoski would take well to that. you know, he would he would he knows he’s third fiddle on that line. He knows it. He knows he’s the third best player on that line. He knows he’s the third most important guy on that line. Even though he really is vital to the success of that line, even if he doesn’t put up the same number of points and whatever, but that role is important. Um, I think he would be, you know, I think he would he would take to that, you know, I think he would take that responsibility seriously and I think it would it would help him in that process of finding consistency like knowing that he can’t get away with being inconsistent. He can’t get away with having a bad game or a bad period or a bad shift because the his line needs him to be more of a driver. You know, he’s not a driver on the Suzuki Cfield line. if he went to him and said, “We need you to help drive this line.” I think he would I think he would like that, frankly. Like I could see him liking that. And the other thing apart, that’s a good point. Um the other thing is you mentioned maybe New Hook completing Suzuki and Cfield. Uh well, Kent Hughes was on a record saying that it was very likely that New Hook would play center this upcoming season. Right. Yes. So, one thing, correct me if I’m wrong, but when you said that the experiment between Doc and New Hook on the same line was not super conclusive, uh, it was always Doc that was at center, right? What if they tried New Hook at center and Doc on the wing on the on the same line? I mean, they took turns they took face off. They took strong face offs. Yeah. Yeah. You like you like to say that they was they were taking turns at losing faceoffs. They were taking turns at losing faceoffs. Yeah. They, you know, they they had faceoffs, they lost face offs on their strong side, each of them. So, so yeah. Yeah. But Doc was the center on that line. And maybe, yeah, maybe New Hook could be that center. I mean, I think when when when Kent said that, what he meant was that Doc and New Hook would most likely be centers. But the guy that the guy that changes that and it makes for an imperfect lineup again, uh, is Capan, right? and Capan if you went Suzuki Doc Capan and Evans down the middle you’d have three you have four right shot centermen um not ideal obviously but whatever and this is where so this is where I think your point is valid is that if you put New Hook on the Suzuki Cfield line you’re basically taking him away as a faceoff guy from Doc or Capan whoever you play him with right but they’re both going to struggle in the faceoff circle so to have a guy who can take the weak side draw. Um, not only take some of that pressure off them, but actually add some uh some some versatility to the second or third line for Martine St. Louis about who’s going to go out and take a draw on the left side. You know, I mean, that’s, you know, we have a question in the mailback of a face off, so we’re not going to get too far into it, but Martine St. we and most NHL coaches um look at getting guys on their strong side on the draw to be a very very important part of how they deploy their lines and so so that’s fair in the sense that even if New Hook doesn’t play center but let’s say he does because Kenti in all likelihood he will um you are taking some of that versatility away from Martine San Louie or some of that flexibility in his lineup by putting new hook with Suzuki and Cfield because you are eliminating being uh quite literally the only left shot on the team who can who can take who could take a face off. So um that makes for a very imperfect lineup. It’s not a it’s it’s it is a very imperfect lineup and I think everyone in Canadians management knows it. Um I’m sure Martine San Lou knows it because he’s probably gone through this exercise many many many times and is coming up with the same obstacles as we are right now. And so it’s not there’s not an obvious fit. Um, but the one I like the most so far is probably your idea of trying Anderson with Doc and Deidov. Um, I like that. I think that’s an interesting thing. And I don’t think the the point I raised, I guess the the devil’s advocate point that I raised about Anderson and his role and will he get too caught up in scoring again. I he’s a mature player now. He’s gone through a lot. I don’t think that would be as big of a factor now it was as it was two years ago when he really viewed himself as an offensive power forward. I don’t think he views himself in that way anymore. Uh not to say that he thinks he’s less valuable. On the contrary, I think he thinks he’s just as valuable as he did before. It’s just in a different way. So um I think that would be so I think for now why don’t we just do that and let’s say we have a top six of Cfield Suzuki Savosski Anderson Doc Tomov. Yeah as the top six. So that leaves uh Alex New Hook, Patrick L, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Zack Bodzuk, Fammy BL perhaps in the mix. Um, and then you have Capan and I guess to some extent you have Owen Beck. Um, and maybe a youngster from, you know, maybe a Joshua Gwab makes the team, maybe a Jared Davidson makes the team, although I doubt it. No, no point to add names. That’s it. Uh, so and Owen Well, Owen Beck and maybe Owen Beck makes the deal. I think they want to send Owen Beck back to the AHL. Yeah. I cannot see I do not see a world in which Jared Davidson wins a job out of camp with Montreal. Uh Florian Jackkey is probably going to be a name and a lot of people mention I that’s another guy I think that Montreal would much much much prefer to spend next season in Laval. Um and I don’t know if Luke well Luke Tuck maybe they might think that he’s you know he’s 20 he’s 23 now or will be 23. He was dude he was scratched during the AHL playoffs. So I don’t I don’t see him a job. So So then you’re just looking at Joshua as as a potential guy to to mix up this thing. So So let’s not even let’s So let’s say so we’ll add Joshua to the mix. you have okay whatever line new hookannan Evans Bzik Gallagher Ble maybe let’s say um I think having even though I just mentioned that they’re both shooters so it’s kind of imperfect um lap and bunzik or l new hook bulzik I think it would be l new hook bodzik right with a with a strong chance of getting killed at five on five. Uh I just think they want they’d want to put a guy who can actually I think they’d want to have New Hook with a guy who can win a draw. Okay. Yeah, that’s fair. But they don’t have to. I mean, I think honestly on the face of it, take face offs out of it. Like I like that. I don’t I think that line could work. It’s possible because you have two speedy puck retriever forch check guys in New Hook and Bodzuk and I think they could start they could learn to play really well off of each other in terms of F1 F2 and like just have this second wave of forchecking that would be really hard to deal with and then L would be somewhere else but he he would be around kind of waiting to pounce on turnovers and waiting to get fed the puck by these two guys who are who are so good at getting it back. Um, it could work. It could work. And it’s and it’s it could work. It could work because New Hook is is very good at zone entries. And one of Li’s biggest warts is that when he carries the puck in transition, that’s he commits turnovers at the offensive blue line. Well, he has to be forbidden from carrying the puck. There has to be a line. There has to be a fine instituted if you try to carry the puck over the blue line cuz it’s just like it’s it’s just it never turns out well. So, but sorry, continue. Yeah. No. Well, it’s so I think that’s that’s where you know on paper at least in terms of just the their their offensive traits could could complement each other. Uh it’s it’s not perfect. I think that defensive side of the puck that would be a a vulnerable line, but you have to have a line that’s that Marty’s comfortable standing out there and be more of your shutdown line. So I would not see line A playing with Evans and Gallagher. And that’s where if you put Kapanan on the wing on that line, then it makes sense, you know, it it keeps that that line uh bubbly, lively, able to create and spend some time in the offensive zone. It’s not just stuck in their own end. You know, it can it it it could move and it I I think that it would be a very uh healthy fourth line. So there’s a question mark there on the third line. But I I I think that they it add BL into that mix too. I mean if Kan if Kenan is not going very well, you could have BL on that on the wing there and he would fit you fit that identity. Yeah, absolutely. There’s a it’s easy to complement Gallagher and Evans with with a third guy, you know, and everybody at your disposal. You start with Kapan, you have BL as your 13th forward and and after that, you know, round it goes depending on on availabilities and injuries and whatnot. So, just as an aside, I don’t see how Joshua makes this team. No, I don’t see I don’t see any way that he can make this team. I mean, they won’t want him as an extra forward. I don’t see how it I don’t see how it happens. I don’t know if uh I mean he’s going to go back most likely he’s going to go back to Lavan and he’ll be asked to dominate there and say okay you know it’s time to time to put up or shut up but it’s show that you can show us that you’re too good for this level and show us show it to us night after night. So uh so the onus that the pressure will be on him to prove that. Yes. So the the one thing about this now if we take BL out of the picture um because let’s assume he’s an extra four but maybe he won’t be and Ble if I’m assume if I’m correct is a left shot am I wrong who ble BL’s left shot yes yes okay so I’ll punch in Sammy Ble on hockey reference which is what he’s known as um and so to me this group of 13 forwards that we’ve been discussing four of them shoot five of them shoot from the left and we’re putting two of them on one line which I suppose is fine but if they is out of the lineup you have a you have a fourth line of all righties which is not the end of the world it’s not a catastrophe but generally this is something Marty doesn’t like to He’s done it. I pointed it out to him once. I forget who. I guess it was I I think maybe it was uh I forget who was playing. It might have been when with Anderson Gallagher played with Evans for a few games if that’s possible. Uh so it was all righties. Um but it’s it’s and he admitted at the time he’s like it’s not ideal. I don’t like it but you know it is what it is. Mhm. Um, so I don’t see an easy way to avoid that, especially if we’re saying that New Hook will play center because we didn’t say that. Ken Hughes said that, but it is ultimately Marty’s decision. But, you know, in Keny Hughes’s mind, that’s what’s going on. Um, and so, and I think putting B like Bzuk would actually fit on that line with Evans and Gallagher. It just would seem like a bit of a waste having him on the fourth line. um and getting all these Dzone starts and and really not optimizing his offensive potential, which we might already be doing by putting him on a third line. Um because, you know, the spot we gave Anderson on the second line could could, as you mentioned off the top, could very easily go to him and I think eventually will go to him at some point. Um but yeah, so that’s my only quibble other than the fact that you know your your your middle six centers aren’t aren’t going to win draws. And so those are the two quibbles that you have is that you don’t you know you’re probably going to start you’re probably going to have your middle six lines starting on the fly more often than not. Uh which is fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it just makes it a little bit more complicated for Marty to manage on the bench. But I think you have um the key decision here is Anderson on the second line with Doc and Deidov. And I think the the runoff effect of that is that I think you have a pretty good third line. Like lining new hook bulz is a third line. I you could do worse than that. Like that’s not bad for many reasons. Yeah. No, but but New Hook is the best defensive guy on that line. Ah, Blitzik’s getting there, you know. I mean, he didn’t he’s improving, but it’s not it’s never it’s not hasn’t been his forte. No, but Montgomery started trusting him more and more as the season went along. He saw improvement in that area. They were and and it’s not as if Bosik was in garbage time of the season. You know, as as his usage increased, the the importance of their games increased as well. And and it wasn’t as if he was getting thrown out there when when there was no consequence to defensive mistakes. So, you know, he’s shown some improvement. He’s not perfect, obviously. He needs work to he has work to do there. Um, and the reality of having L on your team is you always have to strike a balance between jumping through hoops to make sure that L is well surrounded to make up for his faults. Uh and uh also just uh avoiding doing that too much, you know, like you don’t want the rest of the team to be like, why are we bending over backwards for this guy? Um but if you want to get the best out of him, you want to make him useful, you kind of have to do that. So, um but you know, this is this is a group that seems relatively deep and I think I think could work. Now, this is what we’ve come up with. Do you think Marty would actually do this? Because as much as I think that he would be willing to keep Caulfield, he would be unwilling to split Cfield, Suzuki, and Slavoski, I also think he would be unwilling to split Anderson and Gallagher. Yeah. I don’t see him doing that. Yeah. Yeah. That’s just me spitballing an idea. I’m not I’m not predicting what Marty’s going to do, right? Because again, when you a coach likes to go with as many certainties as he can and he’s when he identifies something that works, uh he’s he’s unlikely to touch it. And I think that even though the um Anderson and Gallagher spend the bulk of the season with Evans, with D’vorak, they’re they’re going to work just as well with Evans. It’s not it’s not too it’s not too dissimilar. Again, being three righties. Yeah, three righties. That’s it. But but you know, stylistically speaking, in terms of responsibilities, how can they the chemistry that they can have the three of them together? I’m not worried at all. I’m not I’m sure that Marty is not either, but you have to look at, you know, just making experiences and see, okay, what would what can we have? Because to me, filling that spot on the second line is potentially a bigger issue than finding a compliment to Evans and Gallagher together. So, especially if you want to have new rook at center, especially if you don’t want Liy to play with Doc. So, you know, there are all sorts of components. When we say imperfect lineup, that’s what it is. And that’s why because if you look at it, like I kind of have it in front of me. So if you put Anderson with Evans and Gallagher, it that that means you’re putting Ken and Capan with Doc and Deidov in that spot or you’re putting Buzzik with Doc and Deidov in that spot. Um so L New Hook and Kapan on the third line. That would become that that’s what that would become. That’s and that’s putting Bunzuk in a top six role. Yeah. Right off the bat. um with all the you know with all the I guess conditions attached to that that I mentioned earlier. Um so yeah that’s what that would look like and honestly I prefer I prefer both of our versions like I prefer Anderson on that second line spot and I would prefer to this and I would prefer Slavoski in that second line spot to this um than what I’m seeing right here. Like I have like the the I’m on the Pedia kind of roster thing and I’m looking at it and it’s it’s not as good but it is the most likely combination to go coughfield Suzuki Slaf X for now but Capan on my screen Doc Dev Li New Hook Bodzik Anderson Evans Gallagher and then B is the extra forward. The other thing that happens if you do that, the other thing that happens, you would have Capan with Duck and and Deid unless you put Bunzik there. So, okay, let’s put Bunzik there and then it’s it’s a it’s a it’s a in terms of NHL experience, it’s crazy inexperienced for a second line. It is. Well, either way, it is with Bzik or Kin, but with Bodzik, there’s more experience. Sure. Um, so you go Cfield, Suzuki, Slavski, Bzuk, Doc, Didov, Lin, New Hook, Captain, Anderson, Evans, Gallagher. Now, the one factor that really changes things if you have a fourth line of Anderson Aans and Gallagher, it becomes really hard for Sammy Blade to get in the lineup. Yeah, it becomes really tough unless you know unless he like cuz Yeah, it just I don’t see him replacing one of those guys on the fourth line. So, no, but injuries will of course injuries will happen, you know. So you you need to have at least you need to start with 12 guys that you’re comfortable using in a certain spot and say I can start with this you know and whoever is is left out well circumstances will bring him in and if if if and if the group stays healthy the whole year hey good you’ll have one unhappy player Michael Pazetta was unhappy at times last year but the group was healthy and the Canadians reaped the benefits of that. So, but do you think that there’s any chance that Marty chooses to put Ly back with Doc? I mean, Marty kept putting Anderson with Suzuki when no one understood why he kept doing that. So, sure, I guess there’s a chance. I I I think Yeah, I think there’s a chance. I think maybe he could convince himself that having Ditov and the dynamic skills that he has and the way he can attract attention would benefit Doc and L um and would just be a total X factor on that line and so everything we saw last year from the Doc L combination doesn’t apply because they didn’t have Dinov on there like I could see him I could see him convincing himself that that’s the way to do it. Um because I just I just well for Doc’s sake I hope he doesn’t you know it just it doesn’t it doesn’t I think that they you want to avoid Kirby Doc remains so important to what the Canadians are trying to do. If Kirby Doc could figure it out, it changes everything about what this team is trying to become. And Kirby Doc himself, I don’t think entered last season or this past season uh fully comprehending his importance and approaching it in that way. you know, hearing Jeff Gordon talk about his recovery and how pleasantly surprised they are. He called him ahead of schedule, even though he wouldn’t commit to him being ready for the start of training camp. But if he’s ahead of schedule and based on the timeline when he had the surgery, then he should be ready for training camp. We saw him on the ice in Brasard uh with Jeff Gorton’s son and with Deidov working out. Did not seem to be overly limited. Wasn’t going extremely hard on the ice. should be pointed out, but was was moving around quite well. Seemed good, and we’re only in July, so he’s got, you know, another two months before training camp to get to get there. Um, but the conditioning has got to be the conditioning and the skating are the two things that Gordon and Hughes mentioned, um, that have to be really on top uh, when he hits training camp. He’s got to have a good camp. And so I think they need to put him in a position to succeed. I think it really has to be a priority of the coaching staff to come up with combinations that put him in the best position to succeed. And putting him back with line A is not that in my opinion. They might see it differently and maybe they’d go for it again just because based on sheer talent, LA line a belongs higher up the lineup. Um, but I think Kirby Doc needs workers next to him and L works, but it’s it’s it’s sporadic and it it comes and goes and he works in a very unique way that’s that’s unique to him and doesn’t really give off that that uh that, you know, bring him with us into the fight kind of vibe, you know. So Doc could use someone like that. So whether that’s Slaugh, whether that’s Bunzik, whether that’s New Hook, because I think New Hook has that element to him, uh whether that’s Anderson, that’s the profile you need in my opinion. I think we share this opinion next to Doc to get the best out of them. So, I’d be mildly surprised if they try it again, but I wouldn’t put it past them because I would have been I would have said the same thing two years ago about them trying Anderson with Suzuki again. And they tried it at least three different times since I thought that. So, you never know. But I think we should move on to the blue line now because we um because it really is the more interesting not more interesting, but it is interesting in s in terms of decisions to be made and who to play with who. Yeah. Um and so the you know the forward group there’s some tweaks to be made sure but um there are real decisions to be made on defense because the one thing they know is you have no adoption playing on the top pair on the right side. You have Alex Kag playing on the right side somewhere and then that’s it. Kane Goully, who does he play with? Does Lane Hudson play on the right? Does David Rybacker make the team? Do you put Mike Matson with no adoption even though they probably have this somewhat similar mistakerone tendencies? Um, you know, what do you There’s There’s a lot to sort out there that I’m not sure where to start other than to say that no adoption is going to be the right the right defenseman on the top pair. And in an ideal world, Alex Kag would be the right defenseman on the third pair. And then what do you do from that point? Okay. If the assumption is that it’s status quo and we nobody gets moved and those are your guys, I don’t see Mat and Dubson playing together. No, I think that there’s a I think Mat would see favorably of being paired with Lane Hudson. I think that he would have plenty of minutes, potentially more points. I think those would be gratifying five on five minutes and then you can have Ghoully with Dobson. I I really like Ghoulie Hudson together. Yes. That’s not That’s the ideal thing. Yes. Yeah. Ghoulie Hudson. If you could have it like that, that’d be great. But it’s just you, in my view, you it’s it’s it’s a risky proposition to have Mat and and Dubson together. So that’s why that’s how I would reorganize it. Having Kier as a third right-handed defenseman is a luxury. It’s it’s excellent. It will enable, you know, it’s funny because you have a top four now with four guys who can play tons of minutes and at the same time the third pair would inherit with Kier of a guy who can bring more minutes to the third pairing than the other options from before. So that’s great. Mhm. And then would it be Jackie or Strobon on the left side? I don’t know. I I see. But considering the I would it would be probably the biggest battle in camp that and it it would would with Kapan and make the team I guess. Uh but apart from that I mean I see runbacker going back to Laval since the Dubson acquisition barring a Mat trade but if it’s if it’s status quo on defense from as of today yeah I think that he would go back to Lava. Okay. And I I don’t disagree with that out of camp. And what you said it would be the biggest battle in camp, I don’t disagree. But whatever happens coming out of camp is is not going to be set in stone, right? So that’s going to be a biggest that’s going to be a battle throughout the season. Stru for that for that third left shot D spot. And so let’s say they send Ryan backer back to Laval. He dominates for a month, month to six weeks of just dominant dominant play in Laval and they’re like, “This is ridiculous. He’s wasting his time. He needs to come up.” So 6 weeks into the season, you’ve taken in information. So basically what what what what we’re proposing and I would agree is you would have a de a defense of Ghoulie Dobson, Mat Hudson, Strubel/Jakai Carry. So if Rhybacker comes back, that moves Hudson to the left side. And now it gets really complicated. This is what I meant is that now you’re ostensibly perhaps pushing Matis to a third pair, perhaps putting Hudson on a third pair. Like it just it gets tricky. What Stubel and Jackie are not playing in this scenario. Like you look at the D and you look at this scenario which I think is a very realistic scenario where you send Rybacker back after training camp. He’s amazing and you bring him back up and that’s it. His AHL time is done. He’s on the team. You go forward and you look at all the moves that they didn’t make this season. they would be highly motivated to get Rybacker into the role that he will eventually play on this team to get him acclimated to the NHL sooner. So, but again, if you do that, it it’s complicated. It’s it’s it’s and so which makes me feel like you know a Matson trade might still be in the offing this summer at some point this off season that because this scenario where you’re looking at and I don’t even know how you would look at it like it’s you have Ghouie Dobson Hudson Rybacker you can go back like it’s it’s and then Mat Kerier under the scenario where Rybacker comes up and and that’s that seems imperfect too. You don’t want I mean I think Hudson and Rybacker obviously we we’ve we’ve long looked at those two guys as as future partners. You know their first development camp they they played together almost exclusively or their first Yeah. their first rookie camp or development camp, whichever it was, they spent the whole camp together. Uh but that’s not that’s not ideal. Um I don’t know. How do you But then that means having Mat in a contract year playing on a third pair with Alex Kerier. That would not be a very happy camper. So do you do you trade him in anticipation of that moment? Do you wait for that moment to come and then you trade him or do you not trade him at all and you this is this is the deal. If you could have you have Mike Madson on third like a third pairing of Mike Matson and Alice Kerry would be fantastic. It would be a great third pair. Sure. this just wouldn’t make him all that happy about it. But I don’t know. What do you do? And then you don’t have Jack or Strug in the lineup, which is another issue. Yeah, I think that the first off, I mean, if if Ryan Berer is stellar in the American League, as good as he could be in the American League, I’m not sure that his play in the American League should force the Canadians to tweak their their their duos at the NHL level if they’re currently working. You cannot don’t don’t let a guy in the minors forcing your hand to to put everything in shambles. Now, you mentioned any guy in the minors. It’s a core piece of your team that you plan to have on your core that you took number five overall a handful of years ago. It’s not just some guy. No, no, no. But how many how many full season has he played in North America so far? None. But he’s also, you know, he’s so he’s he’s going to look, he’s going to be great. That’s fine. But I’m just I’m just saying there’s no I don’t see any rush. And if if he becomes so good, then I I go back to your theory from a few episodes ago when you said that there might be another uh trade window opening for not only for the Canadians for but for a lot of teams based on the beginning of season and the realization from some teams in November or maybe early December that this they thought it would be a good year and it’s not and certain teams will probably re-evaluate their assets and say, “Okay, we’ll probably go in a different direction.” There might be options then that are not necessarily available now. And if that’s the case and the Canadians are in a favorable position, then they could choose to move one of their left defenseman whether it’s Ma whether it’s Matai or if there’s a home run center to be available, would they consider Ghoulie? I don’t know. But there’s a left-handed defenseman that would become available around that time. And if you have Ryan Becker that’s too good for the AHL, then you can bring him up. Yeah. But do you bring him up to play top four right away? Or you say, “We’re going to ease him up. We’re going to ease him into our lineup. He’s going to play third pairing.” Because if he plays third pairing and you say, “For the time being, we’ll have Kier back on our second pairing.” You could argue that it’s not necessarily as strong a top six on defense than it was earlier in the year. So, it really depends on who you could fetch on the trade market. But to me, I associate Rybacker graduating to the Canadians and earning a full-time spot to the the trade of a left-handed defenseman or or next year Mat or Mat’s contract expiring. Yeah. Yeah, maybe it’s going to depend on it. The thing is that the Canadians haven’t let guys like this develop in the AHL. They’ve let other guys develop in the they let their their future role players develop in the AHL. They didn’t send Slaf to the AHL. They didn’t send Hudson to the AHL. They haven’t sent any of their key dev obviously is not going to go to the AHL. They haven’t sent any key elements that they feel are going to make up their young core. Even Goui didn’t play in the AHL. league and that’s that you know that’s that’s true that he didn’t he never he didn’t spend a minute in the AHL so it’s um Ryan backer already has obviously but I think in the grand scheme of things when they were mapping this out you know by this point they probably saw Ryan backer on the NHL club and so that’s why I think they’d be more willing if he gets off to a great start you know I think there’s an important message to be sent to the kid as well be like hey you’re you’re a big part of what we’re doing here cuz I think he’s probably feels like a bit of a forgotten man at this point. Um, we we need you with us. We need you to be learning how to play with us on in our and so I think that’s also a consideration not to rush them but to start that process, you know, and we see it often with high-end players where there’s a reluctance to to let them spend too long away from the core that’s playing in the NHL. you know, like there’s players like that have to be nurtured to some extent. They have to be made to feel important. It’s just the reality of managing players. Um, so that’s another element here. But I agree with you that it it it’s far more difficult to put together pairings with Rybacker on the team than it is without him. It’s a lot more complicated. And so, but the beauty of Rybacker being on the team is that Lane Hudson also gets to move to his natural left side, which I think is something that they would also like to happen. And even though Hudson’s extremely comfortable playing the right, by the end of the season said he felt more comfortable on the right than he did on the left. Um, for the long term, having a top four of Gulio, Hudson, Dobson, Rybacker is what this team will probably look like when they’re good. And they probably that’s that’s going to be a good top four. It will be. It already is right now. It already is as it stands, right? But it’s it’s going to have a different look if if Mat is one day replaced by Rybacker. There no doubt about it. So, and it’s going to be well balanced. Um I I just don’t think that we’re there just yet. So, no, probably not. But it’s but I just feel like they need to have a contingency in place if they get there sooner than expected. That’s my that’s my only point is that you can’t have Ryan backer dominating for months on end in the AHL and have him wondering like what the hell’s like why am I not why am I not getting called up like this is this has been 30 straight straight AHL games because of Noah Dobson that’s why I mean I would have been more concerned well it sounds to you but again you’re not you’re not managing a young player who’s been through a lot of stuff that you need to nurture to some extent it’s just the reality of managing human beings and being like, it’s great to say you’re not up here because of no adoption, so keep collecting your AHL salary and keep providing buses and keep playing these crappy schedules. Deal with it. It’s not the reality. When you have a future core member of your team, you need to you need to show them a path to your to your club and and reward play that merits being in the NHL. Yeah. there and and I’m sure they’re going to find the right words and his his at some point his play will earn him a spot, but it’s just that I would have been more concerned with the Canadians not acquiring Dobson and asking for Rybacker to fill one of those spots when he’s not completely ready than have him dominate for more games in the AHL than he wished he did. So, it’s a good problem to have all all things considered. Sure. Yeah, sure. For everyone but David Rybacker who’s stuck in the HL playing dominating for Come on. It’s not it’s it’s it’s it’s not it’s not a huge deal. He has not had just for don’t forget you have a general manager who is a player agent and he views almost every decision they make he views through that lens. Yeah, that’s all I’m saying is that I’m sure that Ken Hughes considers this to be bigger issue under this scenario than you’re describing it right now because he’s had kids who have been stuck in the AHL who felt they deserve to be in the NHL and he saw what it did to them, you know. So, I think that he’s going to have a higher sensitivity what I’m talking about than you or I would cuz we can easily say, “Oh, you can never over, you know, you never heard of a player who spent too long in the old saying, right?” Well, yeah. I don’t think the players who actually spent too long in the AHL got a say in that. like it’s like they didn’t they didn’t necessarily they weren’t necessarily asked like did you feel that you you spent too long in the HI you know I’m just saying it’s it’s it’s it’s a consideration that goes beyond lineups and whatever you know and and when you look at their willingness seemingly to go into this season with the imperfect lineup that we just tried to work through I think that’s going to be a consideration because clearly the priority is the formation and cultivation and the jelling of this future young core, that’s that’s really priority number one right now. And so if he if he makes it so that it’s it makes sense from a hockey standpoint for him to no longer play in the AHL and play in the NHL, I feel they will bend over backwards to make that happen. But listen, uh over the last two seasons, he’s he played a grand total of 34 games in the American League. We’re not at the point yet where he’s he says, “Oh my god, I’m I’m spending too much time in this league. I should be in the NHL.” And again, I think that at at some point he’ll graduate. He’ll get a spot and there will be decisions that will be made on the left side. And the day that this happens, it’s going to be a very, very exciting time for Canadians fans because it means that there might be more movement and help found in other areas of the team to make it a less imperfect lineup. Yeah, but okay, fine. I mean, you’re ignoring the scenario that we were discussing, though. We’re you’re you’re ignoring the fact that we’re saying that if he goes six weeks dominating in the AHL that it’s okay to leave him there. And I don’t I don’t agree with that. I disagree. I think you have to be proactive and get him out of there and get him into NHL games if that happens. If it doesn’t happen, then fine, leave him there. If he doesn’t show that he deserves to play, but I’ll humor you. What would you do, Arpent? I’d bring him up and you’d have you’d have to play Matson. Mike Matson’s expense. Mike Matson would be on a third pair. Okay, that’s what would h that’s what would that’s what would likely have to happen. And if and he would play Mat would play like with either Rinbacker or Kier and uh Sure. Okay. And well Hudson would not play with Kier. That’s a very small defensive pairing. So I think it would be Hudson, Ryback, Matson Kier probably. Okay. But which is not perfect either. I get it. But if your if your focus remains two years down the line, then playing Hudson with Rybacker right away would would fit that. And you just live with whatever problems come up with having such a young defensive pairing. But it’s, you know, and plus if you did that, they wouldn’t have to play ridiculous amounts of minutes. I mean, Matson Carrie would not be a typical third pairing, right? They would play a lot. They’d play in a lot of situations and they would play a lot of minutes. Like it’d be a pretty even distribution of minutes if that happens. But the only reason I’m harping on this is because I think the Canadians need to go into the season with a plan in case this happens. If Ryback So if Ryback forces them into a decision essentially with his play, what do you do? And I think this is this is one of For now it’s not an issue. I agree. For now it’s really not an issue. Frankly, with Ryan Becker not there, it’s a lot easier to do. But if he makes it so that you’re you’re he’s basically forcing you to call him up, then what do you do then? And so because even that doesn’t solve the issue because now you have two young defenseman not in the lineup in Jackie and Strug. Well, that’s it. Not only are you devaluating Mat, you know, but you’re also not playing Jackey. So it’s not you’re not maximizing your roster or or drool. Yeah. Uh yeah. So that’s to me that it’s one more reason why I I think that they’ll look favorably to the fact that he can be they can be very good in the AHL and they’ll make space for him in due time. But it if you if you relegate Mat to the third pairing and you’re thinking, okay, well, we might, you know, either we’re going to lose him for nothing at the end of the year, or we’re trying to move him, but we’re going to move him by using him on the on our third pair. Uh I think it’s not great. It’s not great for Jackie either. So, I don’t know. I I think that there’s the Canadians have plenty of time with David Ryan backer and they should use it. All right, let’s uh let’s go to uh we wanted to uh talk about development camp a little bit. We’re not going to spend a ton of time because our subscribers, actually our listeners on the Friday episodes, they don’t get to uh catch our our mailbags every Monday. Uh we’re going to get to a few mailbag questions. But before that, uh let’s uh let’s discuss a little bit the uh the development camp and let’s take out the an old jingle future Friday for that. Yes, future Friday. [Music] Friday. [Music] So, we’re back. Love the jingle. Missed it. Missed it during the playoffs. So, um yeah, a lot of future at development camp this week. Uh but really a different vibe in terms of the group of players there. Obviously, people are excited to see Michael H. Um otherwise there was no real future Canadian star in camp. You know, every year over the past little while there’s been a buzzy top five pick to get all excited about. Um, you know, although Demidov wasn’t at development camp last year, of course, uh, but, you know, there was Hudson at development camp last year, even though he played those two games, uh, Ryan Becker’s been a regular at development camp. Uh, you know, obviously Saussky, the first year of this administration was at development camp the first time. There was always someone that created a ton of buzz, fan interest. Um, this year I don’t know if you agree, but the vibe I got from development camp was here’s the future depth of the Canadians. This is the future here are the future role players of the Canadians. Like much of the core has more or less been assembled in Montreal and Ha could maybe join that core um eventually. Uh but he’s I don’t think that close to playing in the NHL. You know, he might sign at the end of his season at Michigan. um depending on the Canadian circumstances. If they’re kind of out of the race, then maybe he gets some games in. If they’re in the race, I see I don’t see a path to him playing games at the end of the season. But, um, you know, you look at the group that’s assembled and it looks like guys trying to fill out roles. you know, when Anderson and Gallagher and and all these guys are gone that are filling roles now, you have guys there, you know, and and the most interesting guy to me is Tyler Thorp, uh, who went go from being undrafted one year to being a fifth round pick the next to being signed to an NHL contract at the end of the very next season. That’s a pretty remarkable path that’s similar to frankly both Jackeye brothers and um but a guy that I could see filling a bottom a a fourth line checking role with a tiny bit of offensive upside if he can get his feet going. Uh but there’s tons of guys like that. You know, the one revelation of this development camp was was Rob Ramage and Frank Kibu both saying that they would have signed Luke Middlestat out of his out of after his junior year at Minnesota for a seventh round pick. Um, that caught me off guard, but again, that’s a guy that would be a defenseman who’s a role defenseman, you know, a guy who kind of fills out a bottom line. And so yeah, to me you development camp over the first three years of this administration was driven by the stars and this year was kind of driven by trying to figure out which of these guys what kind of role can which guy fill three, four, five years down the line for this group. Yeah, I think that we probably would have had a different feel if the Canadians had not traded their two first round picks for Noah Dubson because it would have been two significant prospects at that camp. And if Zaroski had made it this year, obviously he had visa issues. Um then all of a sudden if you count Zeroski, those two hypothetical prospects, but even he’s a long-term pro like he’s got two years left on his contract in Russia. like he is he’s a long-term project Zoski, you know, for sure. Oh, but that’s a that’s the case for a lot of those guys that development. That’s what I’m talking that’s what I’m saying. It’s a more long-term These are all more long-term guys than immediate guys. There’s no guy coming. There’s no Hudson, you know? There’s no guy who shows up at development camp, then goes to rookie camp, then goes to training camp, and then all of a sudden he’s on the team and he plays his rookie season. Like, that’s that’s a change to me from the last few years. But I feel I I wonder to which extent uh Hudson was not an exception because usually you don’t have many guys that are, you know, that have started their pro career that have got their contract in their back pocket and are there they’re they’re hoping to get one. Uh they’re heading back to juniors, heading back to college, but not necessarily. You don’t have Laval Rocket guys there, you know. No, but but you had in in one year you had Slavoski there. Uh the next year you had Rybacker there. Both of them signed and both of them on a path to the Can like they were they were the clear stars of the camp is what I mean. You know, like they were the top line. They would have been it would have been the same those two guys that they traded for. But that’s my point is that they’re at a different spot in their rebuild cuz they traded those picks. Yes. Of course, if they had the picks that they would be stars, but that’s the whole point I’m trying to make is that the Canadians are not the same because they traded those picks and the and and the talent pool at the development camp is largely guys who will be role guys in the NHL. Yeah, it reflect Yeah, it reflects a progression in where the age group is, you know, and and not to mention the fact that I mean the Canadians roster in itself is going to be even younger than it was it was last year and you have a pool of all already a good number of role players in Laval. So, it’s not I think that there’s a it comes and it goes, right? there’s a there seems to be a cycle and where the Canadians are in their rebuild at the very end the the youngest players uh it’s not it’s not it’s not as uh prolific prospect cupboards as you know what could have been assessed two years ago at that camp. So there’s it’s a clear clear change and I don’t know how many of those guys are going to play in the NHL to be honest. Um it but there’s going to be you know Luke Middlestad has flown under the radar for years. The fact that they love him, that they want to see him, that they think that he’s intelligent enough to make the best use of his assets and eventually reach the NHL. Well, I view development development camp also as a um a way to assess those players who are not the high-profile guys, but how can we focus on making those B-level prospects uh make the make the path to a an effective professional career a bit more clear and that they see what they need to do. And so in that list, I think that there’s, you know, God knows what what Bogdan Kinyoskov is going to decide if he’s going to ever going to sign with the Canadians. Is he going to stay in Russia? Uh but he’s a guy maybe who could who could play in the NHL. Um I think that Hayden Papanakis, who they they drafted in the third round, has got very interesting tools. Um they traded up to draft in the third round. Yeah. So I mean 6’5 over 200 lb once he bulks up a bit you know if he turns out if he turns into a Nick Paul type or had Lori type that’s that’s a very very interesting complimentary player to have in your lineup. So but apart from that you know there’s a lot of of late round picks that were there you know a lot of five six seven round picks. Yeah, I mean at Koovu is obviously there. He was a what? Third round, second round pick. And so third third round and so yeah, there’s I mean there’s it’s a lot of their first round picks are on their team or unable to be at the camp. Um and so yeah, so it just it just it it seems to signal to me their whole process has to change to some extent. And I did ask kind of Nick Bob about this after um after the draft was, you know, do you have to like I really feel like his staff, the the amateur staff, Marty Le Point staff and Rob Ramage’s staff, they need to get more specific in the types of guys they’re looking for based on what they project the bigger club to need further down the line. Like it’s not going to be enough to just draft talented guys willy-nilly, you know, like, “Oh, he’s he’s really good. Let’s get him.” You should do that as well, especially with your with your early round picks, but some of the later round things I think need to be more targeted like and and I think they’re doing that. Like I mean, you look at in consecutive years like Florian Jackie over big rangy physical forward. Tyler Thorp, fifth round, overage, big, rangy, physical forward. Hayden Papankis, third round, not overage, but big, rangy, potentially physical forward. I mean, that clearly seems to be a a role that they want to fill on the big club at some point and that they that they’re hoping that repeatedly going after that role, they’ll get one. you know, hopefully one of these guys turns into that guy and you just I think that you have to you have to do that for a variety of different roles, which um they probably are, you know, frankly, those are the ones that stand out cuz they’re huge and they’re easy to spot, but they’ve probably done that for other roles and we’re just not well at least I’m not smart enough or or know these players well enough to know what exactly they are. But I’m sure that they look at like, okay, can this guy turn into, you know, a second unit PK guy who can play on a fourth line and forch check well and and and support possession and and and give good minutes, give eight, nine good minutes a night, stuff like that. you know, Middlestat being like a do everything, you know, he screams to me like the you hear Ramage and Bu talk about him, you know, like Jordan Harris, the way we talked about Jordan Harris, he does everything well, but he doesn’t do anything exceptionally well. He doesn’t do anything exceptionally poorly, just does everything kind of good. And look where, you know, now he’s on his third team. and and it’s hard for those guys to to get a footing in the NHL, but you can become in the case of Middlestad, like if he if he has like a really strong AHL career, plays some NHL games or becomes like a reliable third pairing just smart guy, if he basically becomes Frankie Buo to some extent, you know, like if he becomes that um then that’s a win as a seventh round pick. You know, you play your four years in college and and and that’s that’s that’s amazing. That’s that’ be a great result for him. Um, but I found it intriguing that they were so interested in signing him because it’s just like what do they see him being on their club especially we just went through the exercise like that top four we mentioned will be the top four in in Montreal for a very for at least 8 to 10 to 12 years right so that bottom pair that’s going to be more of a revolving door and so maybe middle stack could fit into that where maybe in a transition year where that bottom pair is a little weakened because you lost guys to free agency or whatever, he’s a guy who could plug a hole for a bit while you find a better solution or whatever, you know, like and I don’t know if that’s what his limitation is. I don’t want to put like an artificial ceiling on him. I just feel like that’s where the rebuild is at with these with these kids is that they’re they’re kind of picked with specific roles in mind and now the development staff has to develop those specific skills to fill those specific roles down the line. Yeah. So Luke metadat was a seventh seventh round pick right as a double overager. So I think ultimately if he continues his progression and has an successful AHL career, even if he was just a guy you can call up at any time, it he already serves a purpose in your organization. Oh, for sure. You know, yeah. So, you know, he single NHL game, he would have beat he will have beat the odds. Absolutely. As a seventh round pick, you bet. So I think that the Canadians just signed William Trudeau to a new contract. Well, Trudeau should present himself from on the left side as if there’s a if they’re depleted uh in Montreal because of injuries. He needs to show that he’s a callup option on the left side. Well, eventually Luke Middlestat could be that guy in a year or two. So to me, it’s it’s it’s depth, you know. It’s not it’s not because you think, oh, he’s deserving of a contract, then you have to pencil him in the lineup right away, but at least the guy is showing that he can be an option that he can serve a role somewhere in your organization. So, you’re right in saying that a lot of those guys that we saw at development camp will be will be more like role players if they uh if they ever make it. Uh, and obviously there’s one guy who’s in a unique position and that’s LJ Mun because LJ Mooney being 5’7 Middle said if he was two two inches taller he would have been a top five pick. Uh, because of the the level of skill he said this is as high as I’ve ever seen. Um he’s an exciting player, but you know, we’ve we went through this with uh with Shawn Frell also being an undersized player drafted in the fourth round. How many of those small players can you fit into your lineup? If he ever shows that this level of skill, uh prevails over his lack of size, it’ll be a a good thing for the Canadians. and he’s, you know, who knows he they’ll make a place for him or they’ll move somebody, but there’s just a finite number of players that can do that. But one takeaway from uh Marta point at the end of the draft said we we were aiming for top six talent. That’s what we’re looking for cuz you can draft four line guys for you can trade for or sign fourthline players pretty easily. you’re looking for top six talent and LJ Muni because of his 5 foot7 was still available in a later round but he’s got that top six ability at least the skill level so he’s in a class of his own I guess yeah totally and that’s that’s you know that’s that’s trying to take advantage of a market inefficiency too you know I mean it’s you know smaller guy gets that deep um you mentioned Kushkov briefly I think it’s worth talking about him because we’ve been talking about him forever and this is the first time we actually got to see him uh live. Um you know when you mentioned like who knows what he’s going to do when his contract’s up. I think he’s wondering who knows what’s going to happen after his contract’s up. You know, we had a chance to talk to, well, not to talk to him, but talk to him through um the goalender, our Seni Radclav, the the third round pick this year, who’s an interesting story unto himself. Um going to play for Blenville this year, uh in the queue and then heading to UMass next year. Um but has been learning English since he was 10 because and this was courtesy of Victor Finley who speaks fluent Russian somehow. um heard this the the playbyplay guy on TSN 690 who told me that he’s been learning English since 10 because he’s always dreamed of of having an education in North America and and and having hockey be the vehicle to get there. So he was kind of translating with Kushkov and Kushkov, you know, I asked him about meeting with the Canadians when they went to see Demidov and he’s like, “Yeah, it was nice to finally meet them, but I don’t think they came for me.” which is, you know, kind of indicative of how he felt maybe that, you know, they weren’t all that concerned about him or whatever. But he said when I said uh, you know, he does have one year left on his contract. When he was asked what the plans are after, he said he said, “I don’t know. I I just want to focus on this season, but then he said, if I play good, then maybe I can come here.” So, it’s not like a guy saying like, “Oh, I don’t want to go over there.” the Canadians don’t care about me and whatever I want to stay in Russia. No, no, he’s wondering what the Canadians think of him. He’s like, what do they think of me and do they think I’m good enough to play over here? And he’s hoping to prove that cuz he had a tough year. You know, he didn’t, you know, he was he was captain of his team like at a super young age playing for Igor Laranov. Um, this year was kind of up and down, but he said it was nice to finish it with a with a VHL championship, uh, which is sort of the Russian equivalent of the AHL. Um, so he was able to do that. Uh, but now wants to have a good year in the KHL all year. Um, and he’s hoping seemingly tarts know for sure, but he did mention that if I play good, then then maybe I can come here. So, it wasn’t like if I play good and and the Canadians convinced me that I should come here, that maybe I will. The way he worded it, or the way Radcomov at least worded it, made it sound like, you know, if I prove myself enough this season, then maybe they’ll believe in me enough to bring me over. and and Rob Ramage mentioned how um the Canadians would eagerly want that that he would come to North America once his contract is up in Russia because they honestly haven’t gotten to see him a whole lot since drafting him. So they’d be very interested in that. Yeah. Well, for a lot of those Russian kids, it was their first days with the Montreal Canadians organization cuz they were not at development camp last year. And you know since Nick Barbara has arrived in the organization he drafted a lot of Russian kids. So and and you you look you know whether it’s Yeah. Whether it’s Kyushkov or or Yavghani in that uh also a development by the way which is worth noting. Yes. Yeah. So or Marannon who really stood out during that script. Very good. and and even in the drills the day before honestly like he’s he stood out in both days to me. Yeah. Which and and I’m not going to I’m not going to lie, I had never thought of Mar Cannon. I’d never given it any thought. I’ve never given him any thought with all due respect to him. And he was they they had they had two seventh round picks last year. They took Mar Cannon or Canine I guess it would be. Um, and Rasmus Burkfist, the Swedish defenseman, who is also an interesting an interesting prospect for these guys, but it’s uh well, playing at the World Juniors for for Sweden next round pick is pretty it’s pretty interesting. So, so yeah, it’s but yeah, that’s you know, there was there’s a lot of players that that were like Sam Harris was good again for the second year in a row. Um, you know, Kushkov was was fine, you know. I don’t know. He was he was okay, but um well well they say they said he’s not playing a flashy type of hockey just like Luke Middlestead. So I think that it’s it’s hard also to draw big conclusions out of an inquad game such as this one like uh scrimmage. Yeah. Um but they we know how they value right-handed shot defenseman. uh he’s one he’s he’s shown very interesting potential in the past and if he if he brings a level of consistency to his game he’s got he’s got interesting tools he’s not the biggest kid uh you know only 6′ tall and what’s 170 something pounds quite slight yes yeah so there there’s something that could be addressed there in terms of weight but um but they like the tools so I’m I’m really curious to see what how he’s going to uh how he’s going to fare under uh now it’s Igor Ulanov who’s there. Former Canadians great. Yeah, I think it’s his new coach. Yeah, it might be. Yeah, I heard that kind of floating around at dev camp. I haven’t actually verified that myself, but yeah, it sounds like it could be that. Um last guy I wanted to talk to you about just quickly because we mentioned, you know, the Jackie pick overage, middle stat double overage, Thorp overage. So this year the overage the overage play the overage bet was Bryce Pigford in the third round. Um Bryce Pikford. So he played on a powerhouse medicine hat team. Obviously they went to the Mola Cup had Gavin McKenna on his team. Kaden Lindström, Tanner Mullandike, a lot of lots of lots of guys lots of guys on that team. Um, Pigford at one point in the playoffs went on a nine-game goal streak as a defenseman. Not the biggest guy, but has an has a hell of a shot. Offensive instincts out the wazoo. He was a second pair of guy on that team. Um, and just uh, you know, mentioned to me how not getting drafted last year, basically every time he gets on the ice, every time he goes to the gym, he thinks of that experience of watching the draft and not being drafted. And he used that in a total positive way to enter this his draft plus one season having been undrafted. Um, and it seems to me like now was like seeing a pattern with this group like you know the overage kid they they look for these market inefficiencies again and this is like the kid who slipped through the cracks and I think there’s a lot of teams who just won’t consider overage kids. They just they think that they’re if you didn’t get drafted for a reason and and all these things. And the Canadians seem to be very much inclined to dig in on these guys and and look for potential gems and that have had an extra year of development that are closer to the NHL in theory. Um and and take these bets every year on on one or two of these guys. every draft that this that this group has done, they’ve done that. And so, the latest one is this guy, Bryce Pigford, who’s going to go back to Medicine Hat. Uh, but, you know, two of the guys that they did this with were signed to NHL contracts at the end of their following season. They each went back to junior and at the end of their junior season, it was actually a day apart. I think uh Thorp signed his contract on April 8th. I think the year before Jackie signed his contract on April 9th. Um, we’ll see if that happens with Pigford. I’m not saying it will or it won’t, but um, when the playoffs got tight, this guy’s offensive abilities really began to pop and shine. Scored 12 goals over that nine goal nineame goal streak as a defense. Yeah. Yeah. And it was not he did not advertise as such the year before where you know he was he had some hints of defensive ability. Yeah. But it was it was more like a an allaround h an allaround but uh like JL once put it to me you know it’s he you he wanted to be a non-factor. So he was a bit of a non-factor except for maybe his physical presence. Um, and I I talked to Rob Ramage in LA and he and he mentioned how he saw him in action a few times and and he liked the the the sandpaper that that that um uh that Pigford brings and then this year the offense kicks in and all of a sudden you really have a different type of prospect. So, it’s interesting because he went from a guy who was ignored to a guy who might have been maybe drafted late in the second round, too. He he became he really grew a lot as a prospect. Um, so it’s no, it’s it’s an interesting bet. And that idea to go after over ages, I think it’s it it goes back to before I think with the Canadians under the previous administration, you I think it started around with um with Raphael Vipina and then from that point on, you know, it seems as though every year there’s Simino an over like that. Who was Simon an overager? Yes, I think he was. Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. Yes, he was the following year. But this group, like those were always seventh round picks, you know, like this group uses relatively valuable picks on these guys, you know, like this is a third round pick on Pigford, uh, was fifth on Thorp, which is, you know, verging on kind of garbage time of the draft. Um, and a fourth on Jai, and you know, and when they took Florian and Jackie, like a lot of the discourse among the prospect experts are like, why are you using a fourth round pick on Florian and Jackie? You could have had him in the sixth or seventh round. Well, you’re seeing why now. And like it’s it’s you know, so when these guys it’s all that to say is that when these guys taken over Rager, my my my Spidey sense kind of goes off and be like, “Okay, what’s up with this guy?” Because they seem to like now it’s it’s pretty rare that you see a team use a mid-round pick on an overage player backtoback years and both those players wind up with NHL contracts. Boom. Just like that. And it’s like it’s it’s it’s it’s verging on a pattern with this group. So yeah. So let’s see. Let’s see what it bodess well for Bryce Pikford. I’ll told him that. I was like, you’re in you’re in a good line of people here. Like you the people who preceded you. And he’s like, “Oh, yeah.” And he’s I don’t I think he just he hadn’t realized that that was sort of the pattern here. He’s like, “Oh, okay. Well, yeah, that’s interesting. All right. Let’s see what happens.” But uh but anyhow, yeah, you sort of prefer the odds at this point of the overage picks rather than the the the the draftier guys, you know, the 17 18 guys. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, it’s uh so yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. All right, time for a quick uh mailbag at this point. We do a mailbag every Monday, you know. Let’s go through the mailbag. Let’s go through the mailbag. Mailbag, you know, they they reach out and they they write to us. All right, so we’re back with our um with our mailbag. Thank you so much to our subscribers for sending us your uh questions through our Substack chat. Uh we’ve got Remy who’s it’s a bit more a comment and question, but it was it was a statement. Yes, it was a it was a manifesto I think on the on the subject chat more than anything else. But yeah, so he says, “I think too much anemphasis is put on the faceoff stat. The average number of faceoff per game was 55 for the Canadians last year. Suzuki averaged 16 faceoffs per game. Evans 14 faceoffs per game. So that leaves about 12 faceoffs per game each for Duck and Capan or New Hook or whoever. Duck was 40.3% on faceoff last year. Out of those 12 faceoffs a game, he wins 4.83 of them. A center X with a 50% faceoff win percentage would win six of those faceoffs. That’s a difference of 1.17 faceoffs per game. Seriously, that one faceoff difference per game might have a real impact in what? Two games during a season. That’s a lot of noise for one face off. So Remy, so the reason why we chose this is because I was firmly in your camp for the longest time and most of like and this was this came with sort of the rise of the analytics community in hockey and this is exactly the exercise you went through like what are we talking about? Why are we comparing why are we saying a guy who wins 47.2% of his face offs is terrible and a guy who wins 51.8 8 is amazing when out of a 100 faceoffs you’re talking about a difference of 3.5 faceoffs. It’s it’s it’s ridiculous. I agree when you look at it in that way. However, the reality is that situationally faceoffs are extremely important and you need to have a guy on your team that can go out and win you a face off in a very specific situation on a very specific place on the ice. and coaches value these players enormously. So yes, if you do the exercise that you did and and there’s many others that you can do that make it seem totally inconsequential and maybe to some extent they are because frankly everyone’s chasing for guys that could win literally half their face offs. So that means losing half their face offs too. I get it. But the reason why the emphasis is being put on faceoffs and not the faceoff stats so much is that coaches put an emphasis on it. And they have since the beginning of hockey. And it’s just it’s just a reality. And so when a GM provides a team where you don’t have a guy who can win you a draw on the left side at least half the time, a coach is going to be like, “What do you want me to do for left side faceoffs?” And that’s that I’m sure that’s a question that’s already been asked of Ky Hughes and Jeff Gordon by Martine St. Louis. like what do you expect me to do here? Go find a solution to this problem. And so that’s why we have emphasized it because it’s important. It’s definitely probably more trivial than it’s made out to be, but it’s also more important than just looking at the numbers and doing the calculation that you did. Uh would suggest it is uh because your calculations are all fine and they’re great. And I’ve done the same thing. Trust me, for years I was all on board on this. Why is a 46% faceoff guy being discredited as this terrible faceoff guy? It’s because there’s a reason for it. And if you dig into the reason, then um you start to understand how coaches think and how GMs have to understand what coaches need in building their team. Yeah. Well, Christian D’vorak was sent systematically either to start overtime or he was sent in the defensive zone at the beginning of a of a shift where basically he was there. It was, we would call it, uh, FOGO, face off, get off, right? He did a lot of that. Yeah. Um, and it’s just a, it’s just a tool at the disposal of your team. And there’s something that’s a statistic that’s not being counted, but I think that somewhere it means something. It’s also that all those guys that are that are waved off and and replaced at the faceoff circle, their replacement needs to be competent, too. Mhm. And do you have a guy who’s who’s being what’s the term for that? How what’s the expression to be kicked out of the face off circle? Kicked out of the circle. Yeah. So, I think this is something to take into consideration and those percentages that Remy put out. Um, I think if we were to clean that statistic by getting rid of all the neutral zone statistics, I think we would get to numbers that are more significant because when you talk about situational, I think that PK, you know, PK face off in your own end, a power play face off in the offensive zone and everything that’s basically in in both zones are important and everything that’s neutral zone. Yeah, you might lose a face off there, but it’s not consequential urgently to what’s the next play. So, if you’ve got guys who are quite good in the neutral zone, but for some reason it inflates their statistics, but situationally they’re not as good, you have to be identifi able to identify that. And in reverse, if you’ve got a guy who’s very effective in his own end, but for some reason uh he’s not in a neutral zone, don’t let that bad number mask the fact that he could help you in the defensive zone. So, there’s a lot of of cleaning up to be done there. But after years of of uh statistics or or um you know, analytics people saying faceoffs are overrated. Uh they’re back in full force. Well, I think the other part of that, the other part of what you said, like if you take the neutral zone out of it, as soon as you take the neutral zone out of it, you have um an advantage for the offensive player, right? The player taking the face off in the offensive zone gets to put his stick down second uh or gets to gets to the player in the defensive zone, sorry, has to put his stick down first. Uh that’s a big big factor. And so if you have a player who can consistently win a draw despite having his stick down first, that’s extremely valuable because numbers skew the numbers skew towards the offensive player in the in this in the offensive zone. Um you see it look at any game and look over the course of the entire season offensive zone faceoffs are won by the offensive player probably close to 60% of the time. It’s somewhere around there. It’s it’s a very high number. And so if you can um if you can if you can find a player like Jake Evans is good at this even though his numbers in the defensive zone are not great. Um he’s and this is something D’vorak was good at is that if you can win a draw consistently despite having to put your stick down first um that’s a big that’s a big plus. So, the numbers, I agree, they need to be cleaned up and and they need to be applied to specific situations with which NHL teams do. They’re not as publicly available, but NHL teams do this. They do look at numbers and and situational faceoff stats far more than the overall number that we generally work with. Um, so let’s go to our our next question. We have uh we have Maxim Simar who asked uh I would love for you to dig into the players desiraability of signing with the halves as recently outlined by no Dobson putting Montreal on top of his wish list. What have you been hearing? Is Montreal now a prime destination or was an isolated event? Can you give us some perspective on how today’s buzz around the team compares to what you have seen previously in your career? I have a very simple answer to that question and then I’m going to let you answer it. But yeah, I suspect I have the same very simple answer is that it’s it’s going to be it’s it’s a one-off or it’s a it’s it’s not a trend until the Canadians start to win, right? So, if the Canadians Dobson saw Montreal as a team that could potentially win and that was on the rise and that that he felt gave him a window to win over the course of this contract, but until they start proving that to more players, um we’re not going to see that all that much more often. So, I think the impetus is on the Canadians to go out, win, show they can win on a consistent and sustainable way, and then you’re going to start seeing more and more players say, “Oh, I wouldn’t mind playing there.” Yeah. Plus, one of the uh the downsides of the Montreal market has always been like this supposed pressure or the fan base and the media and whatnot. When the team has success, the the level of enthusiasm and energy um is is incredible and is very contagious and the the players love it. So, it becomes a very adrenalinefilled environment to play in and that would attract players I think. And what’s good is that the Canadians have gone through a rebuild. They’ve been unsuccessful to relative uh to reliv relative extent, but even though the last season was a success in itself, but the can the young players like Suzuki and all that, they they’ve gone through tougher years, but they benefited from the understanding of the fan base and the fact that they were ready to go through this with them and that made these young players feel like they had some leeway to get some experience, get better without the constant daily pressure of the market that we used to know before. So now that this team is getting better, that group that’s currently in the locker room in Montreal, the their experience of the Montreal market is not as uh as as demanding or as it’s not tainted. It’s not tainted by expectations of success, I think, or as as ruthless as it was, you know, I I I I saw the name at Kco as the time of Saku Koyu, you know, for example. So, for these players, it’s like, okay, no, you know what? It’s fine. We’ve got our fans behind us. The uh the the media understands what we’re trying to do here, and we’re only getting better. So, if that’s the message that’s coming out of the room right now as it is a borderline playoff team trending in the good direction, you had a player like Dobson says, “I recognize what’s going on there. I want to be a part of this.” Well, yes, there’s a chance that the ball might keep rolling in the right direction and that the signal that the team would send to the rest of the league will continue to be positive because that whole mystical bad vibe of the Montreal market being too demanding on players, I think that it’s there’s a chance that it might be obsolete and that the reality of that market might have changed and it’s not sure. It’s a it’s a hypothesis, but there might that the fact that they went in a rebuild for the first time in their history, it might signal a change in the way that the fans appreciate the team, what they expect of the team and and the players, you know, respond accordingly. Yeah, I don’t I don’t know about that. I think uh I think as soon as this team is expected to win, if they don’t, it’s going to go right back to it’s going to go right back. unmet expectations are going to be just as harshly covered as before. It’s just that there’s been a a reprieve because of a rebuild, but I don’t I’m not sure that the the nature of the market has changed all that much personally. Um let’s go to Franco. We’re going to finish it up with Franco’s question. Um you know, like Arbin mentioned last podcast with the current lineup, Montreal will potentially have a really good uh PP2 that won’t utilize Suzuki. That being said, with the two open positions on the penalty kill, would it be a possible that we see Suzuki play regular minutes on the PK again, or would Montreal prefer to lower his usage? Last year, his average was 2004, which was actually his lowest TOI average in the last four years. Yeah. Uh, I think it’s an option, but I’m sure that, you know, we went through the exercise of the different different lines that they could try to build and some of them will be more exposed from a defensive aspect and the Suzuki line has become extremely reliable five on five. So it would it the Canadians would do well into making sure that they can use Suzuki to the maximum minutes possible five on five. And if that means finding someone else uh to be like the fourth guy up front on the on the PK that’d be good and keep him like as the fifth guy the way it was last year. Um but it’ll depends. I mean, you we talked on this show about Alex New Hook having the tools uh to potentially uh you know, step in and be and be a player in that sense. Uh I think that I don’t know if Capan maybe if he earns a spot could be thrown in the wolves and and be asked to play some sort of a role on the PK2. There’s not that many guys right now that could uh he’s never killed penalties in his life. No. No. So depending I mean and I think the Canadians view him because he was more in a offensive role. I think the Canadians view him as more of an offensive player frankly and so it’s yeah it would be something that’s brand new to him if he were to kill penalties. The one thing I would add to that is that the only counter to that notion is again to go back to Rey’s question um they have limited guys who can win a draw consistently right and and they have no guys who can do it on the left side. So, Suzuki being one of the two guys that they currently have right now, and you know, this might get addressed between now and the beginning of the season or shortly after the start of the season, but for now, you basically have two guys that can that you have a decent shot of winning a draw with. And so it it it puts somewhat of of an impetus on on Suzuki um or not an impetus, but it it it makes it more likely that Suzuki will be sent out to take draws at least on on the penalty kill unless they can go out and get someone that the coaching staff feels confident about um winning a faceoff. And so again, this I’m saying this just just to needle Remy, just to just to just to poke him a little bit, but um it is a reality that in on the penalty kill starting with the puck is is is more important than than a neutral zone draw as you mentioned earlier. Um so I think that lack of faceoff options might lead to Suzuki getting more penalty kill time than he did last year. Yeah. Even though it’s two right shot guys. Yeah, absolutely. And they and if you can and it’s important to have it like on your first unit, the one that starts the PK rather than the guys that are just jumping in on Well, I can tell you one thing. The Canadians are going to start on the PK in the left circle all the time if this situation is not addressed because remember the team that has the power play gets to choose what side of the ice the faceoff is on. The Canadians are never going to start a penalty kill in the right circle ever. If this is what even if they play Newok, even if they play Newok on the PK, you know, he’s not a he’s not a uh they would love it. They would love it for New Hook to take the first face off. They’d be like, “Go ahead. This is great.” No, no, it remains it remains a problem. There’s no doubt about that. Um yeah, so Suzuki Suzuki is a good option. It’s not an ideal option, but I don’t I go down the list and I don’t see a ton of players who could who could fill that void. This could still be addressed. I think we should leave this episode with that is that this is all we’re talking right now on July 4, 4th of July. Um, I think there’s still going to be movement this summer. I think there are still GMs that have similarly imperfect lineups that they’re trying to fix. And I do think even though Kent Hugh said I feel comfortable going into next season as is, this is an issue that he’s going to want to try and address. And I and I would not be shocked if he did so at some point this summer. All right, on that note, you’re all excused people and you’re all you’re excused, Arpin. Uh thank you so much for listening to this other episode of the Basu and Gang Notebook. Um so as we mentioned on top of the show uh we’re going to be back at some point next week and for the foreseial future probably in the next uh 6 weeks or so until the beginning of September uh our occasional uh podcast will be for our paid subscribers and uh in the meantime we wish everybody a great summer and uh we’ll talk to you soon. So take a rib
On this episode of the Basu & Godin Notebook ⬇️
➡️ Options at forward for Martin St.Louis (0:00)
➡️ The blue line and the Reinbacher conundrum (41:00)
➡️ Takeaways from development camp (1:01:20)
➡️ Mailbag (1:28:00)
#hockey #canadiensmtl #basuandgodin #thenotebook #habs #podcast –
Subscribe on our website for exclusive content
➡️ https://www.basuandgodin.com/
X ➡️ https://x.com/BasuAndGodin
Instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/basuandgodin/
Facebook ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566955796748
TikTok ➡️ https://www.tiktok.com/@basuandgodin
50 comments
bolduc would be perfect with demidov and dach since theyre playmakers and hes a shooter and a forechecker. anderson is just good on forecheck, doesnt work.
Do we think patty finally plays 82 and the streak doesn’t go to 7 straight season
IMO Suzuki Canfield and Slaf are a top tier 2nd line. Demidov is already better.
I agree with godin on the rainbacher debate, if he dominates the ahl and the habs are fighting for playoffs you don’t bring him up you let him dominate the full season and you take care of it in the off-season
The way these guys talk about laine is annoying tbh, does he have his flaws? Absolutely but he can literally be a game changer. Give him a short leash on the 2nd line if it doesn’t work out then put Bolduc there simple.
when asked recently about the quantity of D, Hughes said that their defense prospects need more time in the AHL.
Play well, Arpun, not good.
Reino was already ready last camp. He played with Mateson when Guhle was injured. He was better than Savard at 5v5 last season after being injured. He will start in Mtl next season. Its meant to happen sooner than later.
Start season :
Guhle – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Xhekaj/Struble – Reino
In season
…
Hutson – Reino
Xhekaj/Struble – Carrier
18:38 "He knows he's 3rd fiddle on that line". I get where you're coming from Arpon, but he also just finished his 20 year old season. Caufield had played 10 NHL games and Suzuki was just finishing his rookie season at that age, putting up 41 pts. In comparison, Slafkovsky is ahead of both of those players at that age, so let's have a little patience with him in that top line role.
@Arpon, Kapanen did kill penalities all year long in the SHL and he is quite good at it. He was playing 5v5, PP1 and PK1.
Around 10:30, MAG says that if the puck is the other zone, Demidov can do things (referring to Anderson getting the puck in the end).
I disagree, as Demidov isn't Ovechkin. He is not the train that'll run you over to get the puck back.
Demidov can create can create things if we control the puck, which Josh Anderson isn't made for at all.
MONEY GRAB
These guys Basu & Godin are impolite because they never place their own comments…………………..
Too much,too early, too far away from reality. Wait for the Sept/Oct pods and compare this one.
BASUSU IS SAYING THAT PLAYERS NAME SO WRONG LMAO
I would absolutely try to put Demidov on a Suzuki line.
At least a couple of games pre-season.
I love Slaf but there is no way you don't at least try to put Demidov in the best situation possible.
Slaf needs to show he can play his game on any line.
Can’t believe we passed that long on newhook playing on the 1st line
laine will be an anchor if he doesn't get what he wants.
1 Cole Caufield (24) – Nick Suzuki (25) – Ivan Demidov (19)
2 Juraj Slafkovsky (21) – Kirby Dach (24) – Alex Newhook (24)
3 Zachary Bolduc (22) – Oliver Kapanen (21) – Patrik Laine (27)
4 Josh Anderson (31) – Jake Evans (29) – Brendan Gallagher (33)
I'm not specifically worrying about right vs left – I know some wingers play better on one side then an other, but most wingers can do both sides… The 3rd line would need to be sheltered from defensive zone responsibilities – but this would give you the best 3 lines you can and Zach's game and Laine's game should be complimentary…
I love when these guys get spicy with each other.
You guys always deliver great, great content. Thanks!
Kapanen may turn out to change these lines. His upside seems very underrated.
you have 3 pairings of D that can play 20 mins, so why not do that until you can't afford it?
One of the main objectives for next season should be to showcase Laine so that we can trade him at the deadline. He needs to be put in a place to succeed.
I would put Bolduc on the 1st. Slaf with Dach and Demidov
Doug Armstrong said it best. If they dont develop their players well, trades like these are not possible. It sucks trading good players but real hockey trades like this are crucial for an organization to succeed.
Ate you happy Arpon? Huh? Is rhe big baby Happy? Yesssss! Goo gooo gaga .. such a good boy! You won your tantrum… Contrats. What a fuckijg cry baby. You DO NOT FORCE REINBACHER IN THE LINEUP. Thats the whole reason they got Dobson. Big baby Arpon! So annoying. If Marc Antoine dorsnt agree with you. Youre right hes wrong. 🖕🏻😊
The disdain Arpon had for Godin'S question about Saint-Jean Baptistee is fucking disgusting. Do better, Arpon.
The ideal would be a Matheson vs Anderson trade with calgary
Wow Arpon is such a whiny baby haha
Power play units
PP1
Suzuki 🥅
Slaf
Caufield Demidov
Hutson
PP2
Dach 🥅
Newhook
Laine Bolduc
Dobson
5v5
13-14-20
76-77-93
92-71-15
17-Beck-11
Blais 13th
Ghule – Dobson
Hutson – Reinbacher *
Xhekaj – Carrier
Strubble 7th
Engstrom 8th
Trudeau 9th
Matheson out, thank you wish you the best but no place for 3 offensive D in top 4, not gritty enough for bottom pair Carrier can’t carry Matheson defensively all year
56:00 Reinbacher – lets relax… He was highly injured for almost a full year. He even said his knee was swollowen during The playoffs. Let him play in Laval at full throttle 'till january (if no injuries in MTL) to give him a chance to be confident in his knee and his abilities to play pro. We tend to forget his last team in Europe was a crap show
Caufield-Suzuki-Bolduc
Slafkovsky-Dach-Demidov
Gallagher-Newhook-Anderson
Laine-Evans-Kapanen
Defence idk yet
Personally my line up would be
Caufield-Suzuki-Slaf
Bolduc-Dach-Demidov
Laine-Newhook-Anderson
Blais-Evans-Gallagher
Condotta
Guhle-Dobson
Struble-Hutson
Matheson-Carrier
Xhekaj
Montembeault
Dobes
Reinbacher struggled during Rockets playoff run despite playing sheltered minutes. No power play, no penalty kill and no ice time late in games. He’s not ready
Arpon, it’s ok to have opposing positions without repetitively insisting that your position is the valid one. I appreciate both of your perspectives
If you move Slaf off the top line to the 2nd line, then Bolduc should take Slaf's spot. Why not see what he can do on the top line.
I don't like Newhook on that line as it makes them weak physically. Who is chasing the pucks and going into the corners? You need someone that is going to dig the pucks for Caufield and Suzuki
Caufield Suzuki Slaf
Bolduc Dach Demidov
Laine Newhook Anderson
Blaise Evans Gallagher
PP1 Caufield Suzuki Slaf Demidov Hutson
PP2 Laine Dach Anderson Bolduc Dobson
PK1 Gallagher Evans Guhle Matheson
PK2 Blaise Newhook Xhekaj Carrier
I don’t agree with Arpon: Reinbacher is simply not one of those talents that will be wasted spending time in the AHL. Defencemen typically take longer to fully develop and come into their own, especially more defensive defencemen. Given that he only played 34 games in the AHL so far, unless he totally dominates at this season’s training camp, I don’t think Reinbacher would mind spending another season there. Of course, Hughes will have to find the right words to keep him motivated and engaged, but it’s not like there is a big gaping hole in the Habs blue line being temporarily filled by someone not as good as Reinbacher would be. Reinbacher needs to understand that, in order for the Habs to move things around to give him a spot this season, he needs to be BETTER than the lefties taking up his right hand spot. That currently isn’t the case.
Kinda disrespectful to throw St. JEAN BAPTISTE to the side, not even give the 24th a passing glance and for what?
So you can get to the American holiday??
Why? It's not cool and it's the kind of thing a certain group of people will bring up in a later discussion.
Is Basoon drunk? He sounds like he smoked something and he's still monopolizing the whole convo!
16:00
Basu stopped talking!
Let's celebrate
I can't listen to guy on left anymore.
Great debate, brilliant stuff as always, we're fortunate to have you guys.
When you pick an over ager like Pickford, you're potentially picking a player that has decided to redouble their efforts on their own after not getting drafted. That shows character.
Great show , ideally you can move MM for that stop gap center
if reinbacher dominates or earns a spot at camp, you trade matheson. Simple as. We're not keeping him, anyway.
Why do you all keep talking about Dach? He made all his linemates worse,can’t win a faceoff,doesn’t score much,dumb penalties…and look at his hockey history including g junior. He’s a 3-4 th line winger MAYBE!
Has Arpon ever said Mikko Ran – Tanen? probably not , he sticks with say Ka – Panen
With a podcast this long you should suggest popcorn 😊
Both Dach and Laine are going to benefit from a full summer of training, which they didn’t benefit from last year. It’s fair to give them another shot on the same line this year. One last chance for both of them to show us their full potential at peak conditioning.