Jennifer B Cutler: 10 Takeaways From The 1st Week Of Training Camp With 2 preseason games under the Canadiens belt, here are 10 takeaways from training camp.

Great blog Jenny.

Torrey Mitchell centering Philip Danault and Torrey Mitchell.

He is that good now?

Torrey Mitchell centering Philip Danault and Torrey Mitchell.

He is that good now?
- Symba007

Or Byron is so fast that you don't even see him
Fixed, thanks!

Great blog Jenny.
- Mike Komisarek

Cheers, thanks!

9) Coming into camp I expected Charles Hudon to compete for a position on the Canadiens. So far he has not displayed enough to warrant a roster spot. He was invincible for much of the game against the Capitals and only woke up in the third period. If he wants to be a part of the Canadiens future, he needs to start grabbing the horn and making the most of any and all opportunities.

invincible or invisible?

9) Coming into camp I expected Charles Hudon to compete for a position on the Canadiens. So far he has not displayed enough to warrant a roster spot. He was invincible for much of the game against the Capitals and only woke up in the third period. If he wants to be a part of the Canadiens future, he needs to start grabbing the horn and making the most of any and all opportunities.

invincible or invisible?
- B3nnY

oof, should have had that second cup of coffee today... Fixed, thanks!

Anyone else think this team will struggle over the next few years? It just seems like some key players are rapidly approaching "washed up" status (Markov, Plekanec). On top of that, there's a serious lack of elite talent, both on the roster and in the prospect pool

On the positive side - Price is the best goalie in the world. No doubt about it. That dude alone could drag you into the 7th or 8th spot in the East. I'd label Patches and Weber as elite-ish guys, albeit on the lower end of that spectrum. And Weber is a colossal downgrade from Subban. Gallagher and Galchenyuk are a notch below, but are both undoubtedly useful players

But the pipeline is weak - Sergachev is really the only blue-chip kid. I mean, you've obviously got guys that you feel could contribute at the pro level. But, relative to the other teams in the NHL, the prospect pool is very thin

The bulk of the roster is going to be made up of pluggers: Flynn, Mitchell, Pateryn, Petry, Emelin, Desharnais, Shaw, Andrighetto....these guys have 3rd / 4th line and bottom pairing ceilings

Not trying to stir $hit up here - just pointing out what I'm seeing. Would love to hear if you agree or not

Anyone else think this team will struggle over the next few years? It just seems like some key players are rapidly approaching "washed up" status (Markov, Plekanec). On top of that, there's a serious lack of elite talent, both on the roster and in the prospect pool

On the positive side - Price is the best goalie in the world. No doubt about it. That dude alone could drag you into the 7th or 8th spot in the East. I'd label Patches and Weber as elite-ish guys, albeit on the lower end of that spectrum. And Weber is a colossal downgrade from Subban. Gallagher and Galchenyuk are a notch below, but are both undoubtedly useful players

But the pipeline is weak - Sergachev is really the only blue-chip kid. I mean, you've obviously got guys that you feel could contribute at the pro level. But, relative to the other teams in the NHL, the prospect pool is very thin

The bulk of the roster is going to be made up of pluggers: Flynn, Mitchell, Pateryn, Petry, Emelin, Desharnais, Shaw, Andrighetto....these guys have 3rd / 4th line and bottom pairing ceilings

Not trying to stir $hit up here - just pointing out what I'm seeing. Would love to hear if you agree or not
- AxlRose91

I think they'll be fine in the next few years (they're in "win now" mode), so not sure what your seeing tbh. It's the years afterwards I'm more worried about, particularly with respect to the lack of elite talent on the prospect pool. I think we have enough elite talent in the roster to make a run at the cup, but certainly not enough to be favourites.

Not sure how you figure Plekanec is "washed up" as he's still producing 50+ point seasons. Sure, he's on the wrong side of 30, but he's still a very good (and underrated) defensively minded #2C. He's not elite like a Kopitar or Bergeron or Toews, but he's up there I'd say.

Markov's getting old and slow... hoping he doesn't end up on the top line with Weber, but, again, he notched 44 points last season. Not bad for a 37 year old Dman. Sergachev will be his replacement on the left side.

As it stands, our top 6 looks like this:

Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Gallagher
???, Plekanec, Radulov

Top 4 D:
Markov, Weber
Beaulieu, Petry

Other than the question marks on the left side (both #1LHD and #2LW), I think we're in pretty good shape for the next few years. You're right about the cupboards though.

Anyone else think this team will struggle over the next few years? It just seems like some key players are rapidly approaching "washed up" status (Markov, Plekanec). On top of that, there's a serious lack of elite talent, both on the roster and in the prospect pool

On the positive side - Price is the best goalie in the world. No doubt about it. That dude alone could drag you into the 7th or 8th spot in the East. I'd label Patches and Weber as elite-ish guys, albeit on the lower end of that spectrum. And Weber is a colossal downgrade from Subban. Gallagher and Galchenyuk are a notch below, but are both undoubtedly useful players

But the pipeline is weak - Sergachev is really the only blue-chip kid. I mean, you've obviously got guys that you feel could contribute at the pro level. But, relative to the other teams in the NHL, the prospect pool is very thin

The bulk of the roster is going to be made up of pluggers: Flynn, Mitchell, Pateryn, Petry, Emelin, Desharnais, Shaw, Andrighetto....these guys have 3rd / 4th line and bottom pairing ceilings

Not trying to stir $hit up here - just pointing out what I'm seeing. Would love to hear if you agree or not
- AxlRose91

Also, I'm not a fan of the Subban/Weber deal, but I don't think it's as bad as you think. It's gunna hurt worst down the road, but in the here and now it should be ok, I think. Again, depends on who plays with him (hopefully Beaulieu steps up)

Anyone else think this team will struggle over the next few years? It just seems like some key players are rapidly approaching "washed up" status (Markov, Plekanec). On top of that, there's a serious lack of elite talent, both on the roster and in the prospect pool

On the positive side - Price is the best goalie in the world. No doubt about it. That dude alone could drag you into the 7th or 8th spot in the East. I'd label Patches and Weber as elite-ish guys, albeit on the lower end of that spectrum. And Weber is a colossal downgrade from Subban. Gallagher and Galchenyuk are a notch below, but are both undoubtedly useful players

But the pipeline is weak - Sergachev is really the only blue-chip kid. I mean, you've obviously got guys that you feel could contribute at the pro level. But, relative to the other teams in the NHL, the prospect pool is very thin

The bulk of the roster is going to be made up of pluggers: Flynn, Mitchell, Pateryn, Petry, Emelin, Desharnais, Shaw, Andrighetto....these guys have 3rd / 4th line and bottom pairing ceilings

Not trying to stir $hit up here - just pointing out what I'm seeing. Would love to hear if you agree or not
- AxlRose91

Price is wasting his time playing for this poop team, I hope he asks for a trade.

I think they'll be fine in the next few years (they're in "win now" mode), so not sure what your seeing tbh. It's the years afterwards I'm more worried about, particularly with respect to the lack of elite talent on the prospect pool. I think we have enough elite talent in the roster to make a run at the cup, but certainly not enough to be favourites.

Not sure how you figure Plekanec is "washed up" as he's still producing 50+ point seasons. Sure, he's on the wrong side of 30, but he's still a very good (and underrated) defensively minded #2C. He's not elite like a Kopitar or Bergeron or Toews, but he's up there I'd say.

Markov's getting old and slow... hoping he doesn't end up on the top line with Weber, but, again, he notched 44 points last season. Not bad for a 37 year old Dman. Sergachev will be his replacement on the left side.

As it stands, our top 6 looks like this:

Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Gallagher
???, Plekanec, Radulov

Top 4 D:
Markov, Weber
Beaulieu, Petry

Other than the question marks on the left side (both #1LHD and #2LW), I think we're in pretty good shape for the next few years. You're right about the cupboards though.
- GstrangWondah

With all due respect, the only thing Plekanec is "up there" in is age. Turns 34 next month. He'll be considerably below average if he's your #2 centre

I suppose you are in "win now" mode, but that's what I find so scary about this team's future. There's no chance MTL competes for a cup this year. None. And, it sounds like we agree on the fact that the future is bleak

Subban should have been traded for a package of prospects and picks. Would have accelerated the inevitable rebuild

With all due respect, the only thing Plekanec is "up there" in is age. Turns 34 next month. He'll be considerably below average if he's your #2 centre

I suppose you are in "win now" mode, but that's what I find so scary about this team's future. There's no chance MTL competes for a cup this year. None. And, it sounds like we agree on the fact that the future is bleak

Subban should have been traded for a package of prospects and picks. Would have accelerated the inevitable rebuild
- AxlRose91

Disagree completely about Plekanec. I hate his turtleneck and soft play but right now he's a slightly above average 2nd line center. Also, this team as it is is certainly making the playoffs barring injury, and anything can happen from there. They're certainly not favorites, unless they trade a for a top 6 forward and top 4 d without giving up anything in return on the roster, but they still have a chance with the best goalie in the world and a good (but not great) team. Certainly more than absolutely "none". Anyway just about every team who's been making the playoffs has bare cupboards; a couple years of sucking can fix that quickly. Yeah, Subban trade should have never happened, agree with that.

Sergachev is a LD, no? So the Petry comment was confusing.

Should Petry get comfortable playing LD, I would imagine keeping Beaulieu-Pateryn as 2nd pair would make most sense with a nice complement of veteran D in the Russians who can handle those minutes if the young guys struggle. Also, there's still Barberio that could fill-in for Markov on occasion. Especially when playing the faster teams.

Sergachev is a LD, no? So the Petry comment was confusing.

Should Petry get comfortable playing LD, I would imagine keeping Beaulieu-Pateryn as 2nd pair would make most sense with a nice complement of veteran D in the Russians who can handle those minutes if the young guys struggle. Also, there's still Barberio that could fill-in for Markov on occasion. Especially when playing the faster teams.
- kev1586

You're right, I read back and it was confusing. I had various thoughts going on about Petry/Weber/Sergachev/Trouba and it got jumbled up. Fixed now...

Jennifer B Cutler: 10 Takeaways From The 1st Week Of Training Camp
With 2 preseason games under the Canadiens belt, here are 10 takeaways from training camp.
- Jennifer B Cutler

Good blog JBC

With all due respect, the only thing Plekanec is "up there" in is age. Turns 34 next month. He'll be considerably below average if he's your #2 centre

I suppose you are in "win now" mode, but that's what I find so scary about this team's future. There's no chance MTL competes for a cup this year. None. And, it sounds like we agree on the fact that the future is bleak

Subban should have been traded for a package of prospects and picks. Would have accelerated the inevitable rebuild
- AxlRose91

Is this just your opinion or do you have any sort of facts to back this up? The guy continues to produce over 50 points per year while often playing the most difficult competition in a shut-down role. I'd hardly say that's below average or useless or washed up or whatever.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love an upgrade there. I always thought Eller would eventually take that #2 spot but I think he'll always be a bottom 6 guy, despite all hopes that he'd find some consistency offensively.

Also not sure why you think the whole team is made up of aging dinosaurs... Galchenyuk is 22 years old and (hopefully) emerging as a true #1C. Gallagher is 24. Pacioretty 27. Besides Markov, Weber is the oldest D at 31. Beaulieu is 23 and emerging as a legit top-4 D, hopefully top 2. Sergachev is a stud at 18. Hopefully Juulsen at 19 will develop into top 4 as well.

Doesn't look like the sky is falling to me there bud.... with all respect .

Disagree completely about Plekanec. I hate his turtleneck and soft play but right now he's a slightly above average 2nd line center. Also, this team as it is is certainly making the playoffs barring injury, and anything can happen from there. They're certainly not favorites, unless they trade a for a top 6 forward and top 4 d without giving up anything in return on the roster, but they still have a chance with the best goalie in the world and a good (but not great) team. Certainly more than absolutely "none". Anyway just about every team who's been making the playoffs has bare cupboards; a couple years of sucking can fix that quickly. Yeah, Subban trade should have never happened, agree with that.
- apex123

couldn't agree more