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Sending Drouin down now is bad for the Lightning, Habs need PK on PK

September 30, 2013, 10:42 AM ET [1488 Comments]
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Stepping away from the Habs for a minute, have to comment on Steve Yzerman's decision to send Jonathan Drouin back to Halifax.

I can appreciate not wavering from organizational philosophy. Last year, the Lightning could've kept Brett Connolly up with them, but they sent him back to the AHL (where he started the year). They don't want to enact entry-level deals and kick-start the process to big paydays for young players. There's no question that getting top performance out of your lowest paid players is the model for success in today's NHL.

Why not pay a rookie entry-level dollars at 20, 21 when they're more ready to help you win than at 18 or 19, when they need the type of seasoning an extra year or two of Junior or AHL hockey would afford them?

It's worked well for Detroit. They spend big bucks on veterans to surround their 21, 22-year old rookies/sophomores. Can't argue with the model. They've haven't missed the playoffs in two decades, which is remarkable when you consider the changes to the system over two lockouts.

Here's the other side of it:

Look up and down Tampa's lineup, and outside of St. Louis and Stamkos, this might be the weakest forward crop in the East.

Nothing wrong with sending Drouin down to Junior. But can you really afford to not try him out, for free, for nine games before doing so?

They don't want to turn sending Drouin down into a devastating blow for the kid. Chances are, with St. Louis and Stamkos, he'd play well enough in those nine games to make it a very controversial and disappointing decision. Instead, they probably told the kid when he got to camp that he was 99% going back down, and to just use this as motivation, and to absorb what should be a very positive experience.

In the end, nine games he would've played with the Lightning could've netted them some really crucial points in the standings. We'll never know.

Brett Connolly scored 31 goals and 32 assists with Syracuse last year, and reportedly had a great training camp with the Lightning. They sent him back anyways.

Yzerman may be saving himself the money for when his team is good enough to be a contender, but he's going to have a bigger challenge getting Connolly or Drouin to accept bridge deals after their entry-level contracts expire. It's become more challenging to do this in general, nevermind doing it with 24, 25-year olds instead of 22, 23-year olds.

And while the team conserves future space on the cap, they're likely set to lose a lot of money this year-- with the chances of a playoff berth severely diminished by not having Drouin and Connolly up with the big club.
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Back in Montreal, the Canadiens are taking a final day of practice to get set for the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow.

Lines over the weekend were:

Pacioretty-Desharnais-Briere
Bourque-Plekanec-Gionta
Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
Moen-Prust-Parros

Markov-Diaz
Gorges-Subban
Tinordi-Bouillon

On the penalty kill, they've got Markov and Diaz working together, and they have Tinordi and Gorges working together.

How it's possible that they'd rather see Markov or Diaz, rather than Subban there is beyond logic or reason.

They were ranked 23rd in the league on the penalty kill last season. Yes, Carey Price had a significant role in that, but they refused to use Subban in that department last year as well, and it hurt them. It hurt them to overuse Markov.

If their performance on the penalty kill isn't up to snuff, I'm sure Therrien won't be happy about it, he may even chew someone out over it, but he's going to face some questions about this composition.

Yes, J.J. Daigneault is in charge of the defense, but all decisions are Therrien's responsibility.

It makes perfect sense to get Jarred Tinordi out there and establish the PK as a big part of his role. But it makes no sense at all to not only burn Markov out in this aspect of the game, but to not use your best defenseman in this capacity.
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Gone through my predictions for the season, and now it's time to categorize a few things.

Most improved player will be: Alex Galchenyuk/Carey Price.

I just believe that Galchenyuk's experience last year couldn't have been better for his development. Between Sarnia, the World Juniors, the Habs, the playoffs and the World Championships of Hockey, this kid is a level or two above the one that started playing in Montreal last January.

All those one-on-one, two-on-one situations he created, and all those shots he sent sailing over the net; he's going to bury some of those this year.

As for Price, he doesn't have a choice. He can't just be the guy for 85% of the season. He needs to be consistent throughout. And because he needs to get to the next level for this team to remain in the playoff picture, I believe that he will. Stephane Waite will help, but ultimately, Price has what it takes to get there on his own. He'll be lucky to have the support, but I don't believe Waite's presence alleviates any pressure. When Price is doing well, Waite will get plenty of the credit, but if he falters, it'll still fall on him.

Biggest surprise will be: David Desharnais.

Potential to disappoint: Brendan Gallagher/Lars Eller.

Don't get me wrong, I expect big things from both players, who have both established that they can get to the next level. But, they will get a lot more attention this season, and I expect this to potentially hinder Gallagher more than it will Eller. As for Eller, so long as he keeps it simple, he'll be fine, but people are expecting huge things from him, and he's never had more than 18 goals at any level of competitive hockey. His highest scoring season was 57 points in a 70-game AHL season. His NHL best (30 points in 46 games) doesn't even translate to 60-points. The expectation is high because the presumption is that he'll be even better than he was last year, and that he's playing with two players that will be better than last year too. Eller knows how good he can be, and he knows what the expectations are.

Will Eller get trapped by trying to do too much out there? It's a concern, albeit a minor one...
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