Montreal Canadiens

[franklin]

Either one is fine with me. They won't play much.

Yep, it would take an injury before Redmond is ready.

[ericdaoust]

Habs call up Carr and Hanley.

[ericdaoust]

Montoya is in Friday, Price Saturday.

[Bass56]

Habs call up Carr and Hanley.

Does anyone know why they are calling guys up now? They went with no healthy scratches during the last game... why the call up; injuries, line juggling, playing it safe for the back to back...

[newfcollins]

Does anyone know why they are calling guys up now? They went with no healthy scratches during the last game... why the call up; injuries, line juggling, playing it safe for the back to back...

Carr was sent down to get same game action is my best guess since the Habs had a few days off and their farm team had three games in four nights.

You generally want some extra guys to make the practices run more smoothly just in case some of the veterans need a day off from practice.

[Bass56]

Carr was sent down to get same game action is my best guess since the Habs had a few days off and their farm team had three games in four nights.

You generally want some extra guys to make the practices run more smoothly just in case some of the veterans need a day off from practice.

I'm not as familiar as some on here with cap regulations but I heard on TSN690 that the move (go without any scratches) was made to potentially free up a bit of cap space, indicating that a trade could be looming. Is that even possible?

[ericdaoust]

I'm not as familiar as some on here with cap regulations but I heard on TSN690 that the move (go without any scratches) was made to potentially free up a bit of cap space, indicating that a trade could be looming. Is that even possible?

Not necessarily a trade but maybe just freeing up space for later. Cap dollars are spent towards the team's final total based on who is on the roster each day. If a player costs $1 million but he's on the roster half the year he only counts $500k towards the total. Same idea with Carr/Hanley. As to why take action now, well, I'm not sure.

[Bass56]

Not necessarily a trade but maybe just freeing up space for later. Cap dollars are spent towards the team's final total based on who is on the roster each day. If a player costs $1 million but he's on the roster half the year he only counts $500k towards the total. Same idea with Carr/Hanley. As to why take action now, well, I'm not sure.

Thanks Eric! I didn't fully see the savings at first, hence why I believed there was another Cap secret/''workaround'' but after looking at it, a guy making 650K comes up to about $8K a game. Do that for 3 players for about 20 non-scratched games a piece and you have an additional 500K in cap space. I guess it's best to do this early on when you have a full and healthy roster and when the games ''matter less''. Is this correct?

[ericdaoust]

Thanks Eric! I didn't fully see the savings at first, hence why I believed there was another Cap secret/''workaround'' but after looking at it, a guy making 650K comes up to about $8K a game. Do that for 3 players for about 20 non-scratched games a piece and you have an additional 500K in cap space. I guess it's best to do this early on when you have a full and healthy roster and when the games ''matter less''. Is this correct?

I'm not an expert on all the finer details but I know travel plays a role. For example if the team is out west it's wise to carry extra bodies to avoid having to call up a player from the east coast, cross four time zones and play the same day. Same thing might apply here with the trip to Columbus and the Saturday game vs Philly. Better to have a couple extra bodies so they're in-house in case something happens. Even a flight from STJ to Montreal could be problematic if it's being done at the last minute.

My point is they were at home and had days off between games so they kind of knew who would be in on Wednesday. But you're right about how freeing up roster space helps with the cap. Suppose the season is 180 days total. Keeping Carr ($725k AAV -> $4k per day) down an extra four days would save around $16k.

The concept of "cap dollars" being spent every day towards the final total is also why teams magically have a ton of cap space on deadline day. Only 1/4 of the season left to play so a team's $4 million acquisition only costs $1 million on their cap.

[ericdaoust]

Lehkonen is on IR with an upper-body injury.

[ericdaoust]

Andrighetto is back up, although I imagine Carr will get first crack at the lineup.

[Bass56]

Andrighetto is back up, although I imagine Carr will get first crack at the lineup.

I wonder if Andrighetto gets claimed if/when he gets sent down again. My guess is ''yes'' considering the injuries mounting up for most teams. He's over a ppg in the AHL; maybe he even sticks with the team this time around...

[ericdaoust]

I wonder if Andrighetto gets claimed if/when he gets sent down again. My guess is ''yes'' considering the injuries mounting up for most teams. He's over a ppg in the AHL; maybe he even sticks with the team this time around...

They'll probably find a way to keep him up as a scratch and demote Carr when Lehkonen returns. Or they'll demote Lehkonen on a conditioning assignment to buy time.

[ericdaoust]

Practice lines:

Byron - Galchenyuk- Radulov
Andrighetto - Plekanec - Gallagher
Pacioretty-Danault/Desharnais-Shaw
Carr-Mitchell-Flynn

[Axeman33]

I watched a bit of the game last night on Sportsnet. Am I the only one who noticed that the two announcers (John Bartlett and Jason York) keep saying that Galchenyuk is Russian? Are they just that ignorant or that uninformed? Get your facts straight boys. Geez.