they idea here behind center is if Chuck struggles thanks to CJ"s 4 line system we can rotate him to Ellers line with Scherbak on wing
bumping up Danault and Bonino to top 6 minutes at about 15-17 minutes each(within Bonninos normal ice time )

this gives us depth at center , Eller who is like a 2nd coach thanks to his dad being a coach he makes those around him better.
when he left you literally see Chuckys advanced metrics go into the negative as all but 30 games of Chuckys career up until the trade Eller was there coaching him where MT failed.

I would try and trade down a spot or 2 for a 2nd or late 1st plus pick 2 or 3. Also would prefer Bonino at 4C, Eller 3C with Shaw and Scherbak on their strong sides 3rd line, at least until Scherbak has a bit more experience at the NHL level to be absolutely sue he can compensate. Centres can spot up and down as needed, i.e. Eller and Galchenyuk swap for a few shifts to relieve some pressure.I don't like Shaw as a main centre.

its 4th line he can win 55-57% on up to 700 faceoffs which 4th line here doesnt usually see here .
it gives us a checking line to play a shot down role who is a scoring threat

Chucky respects Eller which is why third line is build to be Chuckys safety blanket but instead of Eller-Weise on his wing its Eller-Scherbak
this whole build really is about making Chucky the center we know he can be and saw glimpses of with Eller chewing him out and lighting a fire under his ass

if i move Bonino to fourth i also lose the checking plus this hole build mimics CJs line in BOS if you look closely as he rotated centers not wingers there

that being said i edited my lines to try to keep my vision but get shaw off bottom center while having him mentor Hudon isnt great at center he is great at checking and draws a lot of penalties while still giving Scherbak his time with Chucky
i had to move Drouin to LW which i dont like but i can play him RW with chucky on PP and both will still continue to lead us in pts there as top 2 (their PP chemistry is something i wanted to build on )

Are you suggesting that Montreal does not select Dahlin with the 1st overall pick, but also does not trade down so someone else can? W-T-F ?

1) The #1 overall pick with Dahlin available would be worth the 3rd overall + 6th overall + 20th overall if another team were to own all 3 (as an example).
- That might be the largest lapse in judgement I've seen on CapFriendly.

2) Karlsson didn't have great stats before he was drafted - which is why he was a 15th overall pick. He just got a LOT better over the next few years.
- Assuming Boqvist is Karlsson based on his current stats is a massive lapse in judgement. By that logic there would be 30+ Karlsson's in the NHL right now.

3) The whole premise of your argument MASSIVELY contradicts itself.
- You're quoting a scouting report to help make the argument that Boqvist is a better 1st overall pick than Dahlin....
- We'll where does Joe Curtis have Boqvist ranked? I've haven't seen a scout rank anyone higher than Dahlen since last year. And nearly all of them have Boqvist at 4-7.
- What does that mean? The source of your argument directly disagrees with you & would probably laugh at this idea.
- Unless your smarter than every single scout / analyst in North America & willing to make a decision that would get 9/10 GM's fired on the spot, then it's a non starter.

4) Nashville & Detroit are going to say no.
- Detroit has no intention of getting older while they rebuild & Alzner is an anchor.
- Nashville won't think 26 year old Carr's a prospect. They got that advice from the rest of the world. They also know Byron won't be so speedy after his 30th bday next season.

HAB'S FANS REALLY GOTTA GIVE THEIR HEAD A SHAKE.

- McDonagh for Gomez
- Subban for Weber
- Sergachev for Drouin
- Beaulieu for a 3rd
- Kassian for Scrivens
- $10.5 million for Price
- Radulov & Markov walk over 500k

Expect more of this kind of decision making until some major changes are made.

1. Big risk for sure, but an interesting idea. Trading down to draft a few decent prospects in a deep draft, could work out really well.

2. I think the point was more that you don't necessarily have to draft the consensus number 1 in order to hit a home run. Ekblad and Johnson were the last 2 defensemen to go 1st overall, and it's debatable whether they would still go 1st in hindsight.

3. Like I said. It's a risk, but any scout out there would at least consider the option, rather than dismiss it out of hand. They are well aware that it is more difficult to properly evaluate D or G at a young age when compared to forwards.

4. Alzner is on the same level as Dekeyser. Change of scenery type trades aren't a foreign concept. Maybe it wouldn't happen, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Last point. Why do so many people think you magically hit some kind of speed bump on your 30th birthday? Yes, players slow down over time, but it's different for every player and doesn't happen over the course of a single season.

Have you not seen Dahlin play? Kids 17 making men in Sweden look like amateurs. We need LHD why draft a RHD? We have Weber and Petry already. Bonino is an overpaid 3rd line Center and there's no way anyone takes Alzner from us unless we give them a pick or two

At least McCarron and Fucale weren't included in NHL trades, which by Hab fans standards makes it unusual. But overall pretty fair roster. Just wondering if Boqvist and any draftees not named Dahlin are NHL ready next year.

Why would Detroit want to do that? Getting older and slower, for what? To save $375k? It's a hard no from DET.

If MTL gets the top pick, here's a thought...

Trade down to somewhere in the #3-5 range: 1st overall for #3-5 overall + that team's top under-28 center. Maybe you add in a guy like Patches/Drouin/Chucky and they add some picks to even it up. Imagine that this may be somebody like Strome, MacKinnon, Draisaitl.

Ex:
1st overall = 3rd overall (Boqvist) + Strome (+ ???)

not suggesting , just posting it public so when it does happen i can say called it

ARZ - 2 young LD prospects ,.zero young RD prospects to skate with
they got the best odds at first there is zero interest in them log jamming their LD and stunt OEL or Chyckrn development

for MTL the upside is just to high we NEED offense not a defensive D who is compared to lidstrom . as great as that would be .
what we need is another scoring ,puck moving ,stick handling D with speed so this subban **** stop if nothing else but in reality
if Patches is moving our there is really not even a choice to pass up Boqvist

yeah if that was an option like for example MTL goes 1st , Buf 2nd
well they need a LD as do we but if they underestimate how much we need Boqvist offensive upside
then a deal like that could be great for like Alex Nylander and a 2nd

you honestly dont know DET if you think they want Dekeyser
he is their Alzner , they signed him at a high cap for 5 years and he's been all thumbs since
look into that i'll wait

you are looking at it from an EA games perspect not a business perspective base on Cap what is in their system and who needs paid coming up playing with 9m dollar subban who is 2nd pair
while both top Pair D from NSH are due to cash in big and show up to do more then sit in the penalty box in the finals like subban so they'll need the cap room and Carr could work , maybe they let him go but Byron will work out and they dump cap and contract