EK65 MD95

It's a nice roster for one year, but it's not clear how you'll re-sign Domi and Mete next year and, in 2021, Gallagher, Danault, KK, Poehling, Lehkonen and Puljujarvi. And if Duchene or Karlsson underperform, you're doomed for the better part of half a decade.

Gonna cost you more than a 4th rounder to get negotiating rights to one of the biggest UFAs. Plus, signing Duchene and Karlsson for that money gets you in quick cap jail.

Umm why trade Petry and Byron for a prospect. That would lead to Bergevin's head

I agree: The thought process was that Mete would, by 2021, become trade bait as Romanov and Smith become ready for regular time. The same can be said for Lehkonen and Gallagher, as the deep prospect pool (KK, Poehling, Puljujarvi, Suzuki, Ylönen, Ikonen, Teasdale, Primeau, etc.) become available, while keeping the older core (Price, Weber, Karlsson, Duchene, Domi) in tact.

Finally, it was a shot at the Cup. It's hard to attract big ticket UFA's to Montreal, and when UFA's like Duchene and Karlsson express interest in playing there, the Canadiens need to look into it, otherwise they risk falling behind. The prospect pool is great, but Price and Weber are not getting any younger and if the Canadiens are going to "shoot their shot," so to speak, this would be the time to do it. I tried to be a realist in creating the team, and that means overpaying and running the risk of it biting them in the future for the present glory. Ask any Penguins fan or Blackhawks fan if they are extremely upset now, they'll probably say no because their championships were built off of risk and rewards.

And I am not sure that's necessarily the case. Again, they're getting Karlsson and Duchene. They can trade money for money, but at some point they'll be over the Cap by a wide margin, and getting a heck of prospect for Petry and Byron is not necessarily terrible. In hindsight, adding a second round pick from the Devils would have been ideal. (I sincerely hope you'll forgive me for that oversight).



Maybe? There is no way of knowing for sure. I know! We should apply to be NHL GMs for real! That way, we can know for sure!