By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

PENTICTON, BC. — Here are a few thoughts on different topics surrounding the Habs’ and the NHL as the teams continue to work on improving their teams on time for training camps. We’re covering Semin, Markov, Galchenyuk, Plekanec and many other topics today. Feel free to post your comments as they are always welcomed.

1- Alexander Semin’s agent says that his client is motivated and wants to have an immediate impact on the Canadiens, knowing full well that his future in the NHL depends on it. Time will tell if Marc Bergevin’s low-risk gamble with a one year, $1.1 million contract will pay off or not, but just like Zack Kassian said he wants to establish himself, it looks like he picked up two individuals who have the right frame of mind coming into the fold.

2- It was interesting to hear Semin talk about having spoken to Andrei Markov prior to signing with the Habs as it means that Bergevin and the Canadiens’ brass has approached the veteran defenseman before making a decision. Markov has two years remaining on his current contract, likely his last in the NHL and it will be interesting to see if he sticks around the organization after he retires. We know that he loves Montreal, where he spends his summers.

3- People should not read too much in the fact that both sides are taking a bit of a break when it comes to Alex Galchenyuk’s contract talks. You can only re-hash the same thing so many times and sometimes, a bit of time away from the phone or the table is exactly what the doctor ordered. There is no doubt in my mind that Galchenyuk wants to stay in Montreal long term and that the Habs want him for a long time as well. It’s just a matter of deciding what to do with this next contract.

4- Speaking of Galchenyuk, many fans including yours truly, would like to see him play at centre from day one next season. The problem is that the Canadiens already have three established centres for the top three lines and while there is no way that they would consider moving Plekanec to the wing, Desharnais’ game is not suited for the wing and the Eller at wing experiment didn’t show much promises. I remain firm on the thought that one of Plekanec, Eller or Desharnais must be traded before the start of the season to give a spot for Galchenyuk.

5- This leaves us wondering on what to do with Tomas Plekanec as he will be entering the final year of his current contract, with a cap hit of $5 million. According to Capfriendly.com, the veteran centreman has a modified no-trade clause but the details are unknown. Plekanec, who will turn 33 at the end of October, has spent his entire 761-game career with Montreal.

6- As you know, I seldom comment on trade rumours but the blogger known as Eklund wrote this past week that Marc Bergevin was talking to the Washington Capitals about either David Desharnais or Lars Eller. This would make some sense as the Caps don’t have much after Nicklas Backsrom. What makes absolutely no sense is that Eklund says that a defenseman would be heading back to Montreal. With Subban, Petry, Markov, Gilbert, Emelin, Beaulieu, Pateryn, Tinordi and Barberio, all NHL caliber defensemen, it would be very unlikely that Bergevin, even if he likes having depth at that position, would want another defenseman.

7- This brings us to Montreal-born, Mark Barberio, a recent pick-up by Bergevin. The 25 year old left-handed defenseman stands in at 6-foot-one-inch and weighs in at 200 lbs. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2008, and he has played 103 games for them, most in the last two years. Barberio has tremendous offensive instincts and hockey sense, and he moves the puck well. I wouldn’t be too quick at counting him out for making the team next season as he knows that he can play in this league.

8- How would summers be if there were the endless discussions and comparisons between Lars Eller and David Desharnais? It seems like it’s never-ending, doesn’t it? Bring me all the fancy stats you want, it won’t matter to me. The fact that I see is that both players have their strong points and weaknesses. Desharnais has more offensive flair and better hockey IQ and that’s how he was comically nicknames mini-Gomez. He sees the play quite well but in his zone, defensively, he is lost. Eller is quite good defensively and when motivated, he plays a physical game, which is when he’s at his best. His hockey IQ is, unfortunately, not that great, which is why I think he should be forming a line with another player with the same problem: Zack Kassian. Their game plan will be to dump the puck in and use their combination of size and speed to generate turnovers and scoring chances.

9- Looking at the Canadiens’ roster, one has to wonder if there is room for any prospect to crack the line-up. In my opinion, there are 10 forward spots that are pretty much guaranteed. This would leave two or three spots up for the taking and those fighting for it will be Brian Flynn, Jacob De la Rose, Christian Thomas, Sven Andrighetto, Michael Bournival, Daniel Carr, Gabriel Dumont, Charles Hudon, Mark MacMillan, Michael McCarron and Nikita Scherbak. That’s a lot of traffic for only a few spots but as Marc Bergevin has always said, “Force me to make room for you and I will.” That’s what Brendan Gallagher did a couple of years ago and Bergevin kept his promises.

10- Much has been said about the addition of Semin at even strength and on the powerplay, but he brings yet another important aspect. The NHL has announced that they will be playing three-on-three in overtime and Semin could very well be a huge asset in Michel Therrien’s arsenal. The way I see it, the first three lines in such OT should be:
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Subban
Semin – Plekanec – Petry
Gallagher – Galchenyuk – Beaulieu

11- I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s most recent comments on the shootout. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Bettman claims that “overwhelmingly fans like it.” I’m not sure where he gets his numbers from but everywhere I read, whether it’s on Twitter, in the media or on fan forums, a vast majority of people want to see the shootout gone from the game once and for all.

12- Perhaps the biggest non-sense to ever come out of Bettman’s mouth (and that’s not taken lightly based on the lockouts under his reign), is when he said that it is not impossible that the new Quebec franchise could very well play in the Western Conference. I was going to get upset about it but then I thought that no one in their right mind could remotely think that seriously… or could they?

Stick with us at All Habs this summer folks as we have tons of new articles posted regularly, and a great variety of topics and point of views to keep you well entertained and informed about the NHL and our favourite team, the Canadiens.

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Go Habs Go!!!