No one knows what goes on in the scouting rooms, but I’d be happy if they got Lindstrom. But otherwise - if they are dead set on Helenius or Cattan or whoever above Lindstrom, I’d make the trade.

Honest question - how often do we see trades to move up one spot, particularly in the lottery range?

In the top 5, almost never. Normally teams are worried about gamesmanship.

I would argue this year is a good year for it though. There is not a clear order. Big mix of defenders and forwards. Lots of late risers. Lots of injuries amongst the top of the list.

The Habs can afford to be honest about who they are targeting and CBJ can believe it's Lindstrom. The Habs past 2 drafts have made their ambitions clear. Get bigger and get players who can play in the playoffs.

After seeing Necas play yesterday, i wouldn’t give up a first round pick for him. Especially with the fact that Cole Beaudoin will probably be available at that range. Necas was completely invisible yesterday. When game get physical he just ain’t showing up.

I only think the Habs would be able to move up if Anaheim or Columbus want RHD and think Levshunov and Parekh are on the same level. If Verbeek knows he's guaranteed one of those two at 5 then he may take a package of Winnipeg's 1st or Barron to move back from 3. I don't know if 3 gets you Demidov though, Chicago may go down that road but they are the wild card in my mind.

SJ - Guaranteed MC
Chicago - has needs everywhere, do they do the 1-2 punch Bedard Demidov or do they see a dman as a top pairing #1
Anaheim - guaranteed RHD
Columbus - BPA - they just have needs everywhere and could go forward or D

He has 6 points in 7 games with limited power play time. One game does not define a player. They let Trochek go and I'm sure they regret it now. We need to get better fast.

Same problem with Hurricane, btw Necas was playing well yesterday. they need to be more physical

Id much rather the Jackets just take Lindstrom ourselves. We dont really need defense, as we have plenty of prospects already getting to the point where they are pushing for spots we dont have. We need offensive talent, and a big bodied forward would be perfect.

So far I don't have a preference on who they take among any of the top five guys on Bob's list, yes including the two D. It's kind of refreshing.

I mean a RD just wouldnt have space, we have Jiricek, Severson, and Gudbranson. I guess Gudbranson would be gone before whoever we draft would probably be pushing for a spot, but they probably wouldnt be a bottom pairing. Same issue on the left with Werenski and Mateychuck. We would get much better value from a top 6 caliber forward. We also have some undersized forwards in our pipeline so having some size in there would help alot. Thats why im pretty heavy on the Lindstrom train, but really the best forward available is who i would prefer. That said if we did take a defensman, i would want Silayev.

Silayev can play both sides, apparently, and is under KHL contract for three years. By the time he'd be over, it wouldn't matter who's on the roster now. Demidov is obviously my first choice of the batch, but failing that, Silayev is my next favorite and also most likely to be the Jackets pick in my opinion. Won't be one bit upset if it's Levshunov or Lindstrom, though.

Necas is completely invisible in playoff. Forget is point because they where garbage point against a team that barely made the playoffs. Necas as absolutely no character, he is flavorless and never pay the price. I don’t want anything to do with him. On top of that he will likely ask for 7+ millions on is next deal. That would be terrible for the Habs. Necas is Thomas Tatar 2.0. I have seen enough of him the past couple of season, i really hope Habs stay away from this players.

Talking about Necas and need to be more physical in the same sentence is contradictory. Necas is 0 physical, when Sebastian Aho have more hit then you in the playoffs it’s because you are not physical at all. Necas is Tomas Tatar 2.0. Habs must stay away from this trap. Pay a guy’s 7 millions to completely disappear in playoff is mot a Hugues and Gorton way to go.

I believe fans used to say the same about Trochek!

Necas is a fine player and is worth about 7M/season.

Yeah Necas is a fine players just ne the one you win with.
I would take Trochek anytime over Necas. Necas at 7 millions is wasting money big time. If he is that good Carolina will keep him if they aren’t red flag.they have money to keep him for sure

They have to re-sign 10 UFAs and some RFAs... No they don't have the money, at least not without letting other players walk

Pesce will be gone, Scott Morrow is likely to be is successor. This gave the money the meed to keep Necas and Guentzel.

Can you explain the thought process of why they wouldn't let those other players walk and keep Necas? Like, if they are keeping the other players and trading Necas, surely that means the other players are better. They are UFAs this year, so why not just sign them to the Habs? And if you want to trade for Necas because he is better, why would the Canes trade him in the first place?