So the Canes look on a roll right now. I did not see them being as good as they are. Their defence is great. It appears their trade with Calgary helped them in that regard for sure. I am surprised how they have handled the Islanders. The Islanders are not a bad team its more a reflection of how god the Canes are right now.
That said if I am a betting man the two hottest teams I predict for the finals are the Blues and Canes. I saw neither in the playoffs doing much. I thought it would be Tampa and I never know who from the Wwest but just assume San Jose chokes so I thought it would be Vegas and Tampa in the finals to be honest.
I gotta go with dah Blooz an Caynz at dis point. As for my beloved Habs all this talk about signing Matt Duschene is nonsense. They won't. If the Habs were truly serious on a rebuild they would send Price back to his home town in Van or a tax free haven for him like Vegas or Florida where he would agree to go because he would get a raise from the tax free status. I would only keep Weber's K as he is the Captain now of a young team. Price is a good goalie but delaying a rebuild. They could get a power dman and draft choices from Vegas, Van, Flo.
As for the Leafs, they have no choice-they need to trade Nylander for a power dman and they need a back up goalie. They could easily sign Niemi who the Habs are not bringing back. They coud if they wanted trade Nylander to the Habs for Petry and Charlie Lundrigen if they were serious about clearing cap space and getting a power dman and a back up and not busting the bank. They must be regretting dumping McWhin to the Canes.
Nashville wants to trade Subban. He's not a fit in Toronto unless you clear Nylander off the books and get a draft pick or two back as equalizers. Subban apparently is not a healthy guy to have in the locker room. However I am sure Tavares and Marleau if they resign him could handle him. I also think Kadri has to go for a dman. He has value in getting another dman. I personally think Kadri played his last game for the Leafs. I think behind closed doors he was warned no more stupid penalties and he pulled yet another Claude Lemieux like display with Boston which you can't do in the playoffs. He just is not someone Babcock can trust in a tense moment. Also Babcock has to ask what happened to Mathews this year. Mathews stopped backchecking and playing two way hockey....why? His game suffered because of that. Mariner and Taveres are examples of two way centres and so is old man Marleau when he plays centre. Not sure what happened but he stopped listening to Babcock and that is not smart.
People like to blame the coach, but Babcock is in the same school as Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Glen Sather, Joel Quenville, in terms of knowing how to handle brilliant players. I am sure he will figure it out just like those guys did with Lemaire, Trottier, Gretzky-Messier, Toews. Coaching brilliant centres is not easy. Then again having Tavares and Moreau as a role models will help. Also Mariner's t wo way play helps everyone.
The leafs need a power d, back up goalie and to dump Nylander and his powder puff play.