With Visnovsky ****ing over the Isles, Bergy needs to be talking with Snow non-stop because we could get them to overpay for a Weber or a Kaberle. Their defence is paper thin:
MacDonald-Hamonic
Streit-Carkner (LOL)
...and no one else aside from a bunch of kids.
Hamonic is coming back from a concussion. He just skated 2 days ago..not sure if he's healthy enough to start the season.
Travis Hamonic has been out of action since Dec. 2 because of a concussion, but he is on the mend.
Impacts: He began feeling better last week and could resume skating Monday or Tuesday. Hamonic has posted nine points and 29 penalty minutes in 19 games with Bridgeport in the AHL this season. When he's cleared to resume playing he will return to the lineup of the New York Islanders.
Hamonic (concussion) is expected to resume skating Monday, New York Newsday reports.
Spin: Hamonic has been out since December 2 with the concussion. If Hamonic's session checks out without any incidents Monday, he should be available if training camps open up at some point next week.
For a minor trade with Dallas, how about getting Alex Chiasson? Some big right wing that doesn't seem to be doing anything worthwhile in the AHL atm. We don't really have big right wing prospects now do we?
Benn-Subban only works, from a Habs POV, if one is convinced that Subban isn't really a very good all-around/minute eating dman who can support the offense dynamically.
as good as Benn is/will be, Subban is arguably better right now, and there is NO DOUBT that a premier top-pairing shut down dman with puck skills is of more value than a large bodied-scoring winger with only decent offensive production.
NHL 80 23 15 38
NHL 61 22 16 38
NHL 82 27 25 52
NHL 82 22 19 41
NHL 69 22 34 56
NHL 71 26 37 63
guess which one is Benn's statline, and which one is Higgins! Benn has a LONG way to go before establishing himself as a superior asset to a minute eating, point producing, charasmatic leader like subban.
interesting stat that may only interest me:
Of the 17 Dmen who had more TOI/game than Subban, only 4 others did not make the playoffs, and all 4 had negative plus/minus... none less than -10. Subban was a +9!!!
yeah yeah, i know, +/- is a very misleading stat...but go further and you see that of the 90 dmen who averaged more than 20min/game, only 7-8 are positive in the +/-
If Sub ban was the player a lot of people think he is, I.e. a top pairing off D with upside, trade him for Benn, no problem. Benn has been carrying his team since Richards left and is really more a C than LW (they used OTT at C cause he's a faceoff ace).
However, I think, and can provide supporting documentation to back up said belief, that Subban is one of the top 15-20 defenders in the game right now and likely to rise thus irreplaceable. So no dice.
The really interesting RFA is O'Reilly in Col. Fantastic young 2 way centre.
Really. Those rumours from September? Okay then. Have you heard the rumours that Guy Lafleur might sign with the Quebec Nordiques? 
