2nd C will probably come from the draft in the form of Savioe, Wright or Cooley. For the RD I'd get Subban on a 2 year deal.

Have to give up assets or retain salary for all of them, except maybe Hoffman and Drouin. In their case you need to take back salary

Petry, Drouin and Hoffman can all go. Keep Lehky on the LW and keep Anderson on the RW. Fill in Pezzetta on LW and bring up Belpedo, Brook or Niku instead of Subban.
Let the young guys play!

So you're trading Savard and then need a 2RD? Great right defenders are going for a kings ransom so even doe he's not great I'd keep Savard over spending top dollars -or assets- to get a replacement. You could go get Jiricek or Nemec in the first round this year but Savard would still be needed at the least another full year.
Center I'd look at Dallas to go get one, most spots are taken for a little while and they have Johnston, Dellandrea, Stankoven and Bourque as upcoming rookies, pretty sure we'd get a rebate on Dellandrea considering he's burried behind so much depth at the position, he's not the newest toy and for Montreal he's also pretty much NHL ready. He may not be a top 6 center yet but there's no reason not to use Dvorak on the second line and slot in Dellandrea on your third. Don't know what it would cost but it'd be interesting to call Dallas to check.

At least one response that make sense

I don't disagree that RD are tough to find...but I think a more mobile/pucking moving RD is needed. I think Romanov, Edmunson and Petry (if he wants to stay) are the Top 4. But I don't think a Romanov-Savard pairing is gonna be able to support the Forwards well enough. And putting Savard on the 3rd pair is an option, but Cap Space is gonna be difficult to find for a proper Top 4 RD.

DEFINITELY like your suggestion of Nemec or Jiricek (if the Habs pick 3rd...). Thank God that there are Centremen AND RD available at the top end of the draft when we're pretty much guaranteed a top 4 pick (Wright, Cooley, Nemec, Jiricek, ... or maybe even Slafkovsky...as the wishlist for the Habs)

and your Dvorak point....gotta agree with you again. I even think he COULD be a 2C, but prolly just not high end enough. --- I know nothing about the Dallas centremen you mentioned, but I'm curious about them now

Cheers

yup...probably. I'd be fine with giving up some 2nd or 3rd round picks if needed. The prospect pool is backed up. But I'd like to avoid keeping any salary past next year though....

I hope Petry gets back to loving MTL cause he was great for us, and I'd be surprised if this year is just an off-year.

Pezzetta is a great energy for the 4th line, but nothing more. And unfortunately I don't expect Belpedo or Niku to really contribute beyond an emergency call up. Probably the same with Brook unfortunately, high hopes a few years back...but just hasn't been able to make the jump yet.

As for Subban.....I'm assuming that 2 year contract comment was a joke. I wouldn't even be surprised if he retired after this year. Did anyone see him on that LOL show with Jay Buruchel? He literally showed his ass and pretended to piss in a bottle in the corner (at least I think he pretended). I guess some people will find that funny, but it seemed more cringeworthy than funny....He definitely seems more concerned about TV appearances and promotion then trying to be an ELITE NHL Defenseman.