With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA. 

Today’s featured country: Canada
2010 Result: Gold Medal
Projected returning players: 10 (7F, 3D, 0G)

TEAM CANADA’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

S. Stamkos – S. Crosby – C. Giroux
E. Staal – R. Getzlaf – C. Perry
M. Richards – J. Toews – R. Nash
T. Hall – R. Nugent-Hopkins – J. Eberle

FORWARDS: Canada’s chances at winning a gold medal comes down to the performance of their elite group of forwards. They need the right combination of speed, size, scoring and chemistry. Thinking back to 2010, it took Canada almost the entire preliminary round to figure out the best line combinations, so I will justify these selections by walking you through my thought process. The first line was easy; Crosby, Giroux and Stamkos are 3 of the top 5 forwards in the world. The second line has 3 guys with good international experience, a ton of size which will make them difficult to play against, good goal scorers in Staal and Perry and you have the Getzlaf-Perry chemistry. The third line consisting of Richards, Toews and Nash will be counted on to go head to head against the top lines from other teams. This is the exact same line that was put together late in the 2010 tournament and they did a phenomenal job. For the fourth line; you could make a very good case that James Neal is better than Hall; that John Tavares is better than Nugent-Hopkins; and that Tyler Seguin is better than Jordan Eberle. Having said that, Hall, RNH and Eberle formed one of the most dominant lines in the NHL this past season when they were healthy, so for that reason, I’m keeping the Baby Oil line together on Team Canada.

K. Letang – S. Weber
D. Keith – D. Doughty
M. Staal – A. Pietrangelo

DEFENSE: One thing that was made clear in 2010 was that Steve Yzerman doesn’t like erratic defensemen. Whoever is chosen will have to be able to defend well in their own zone. There are so many good choices, that rather than justify why I picked who I picked, I will go into why certain guys were left off. Tyler Myers is a good skater for his size and I am a huge fan of his, but his mobility might be exposed on international ice. Brent Seabrook would also struggle with the bigger ice surface in 2014. PK Subban falls under the 2010 Mike Green rule. Dan Boyle is left off due to age. Brent Burns is not elite enough offensively or defensively to warrant a spot. Karl Alzner should merit serious consideration, but there are just too many guys that bring more to the table than he does.

C. Price
C. Ward

GOALIES: This was a 4 horse race between Price, Ward, Fleury and Luongo. Canada has so much depth up front and on defense, that they don’t need a goalie to stand on his head and steal them games. They just need consistency, which is why I went with these 2 over Fleury and Luongo.

Other Road to 2014 Posts:
USA
Sweden
Russia
Czech Republic
Finland

With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA. 

Today’s featured country: USA
2010 Result: Silver Medal
Projected returning players: 13 (9F, 2D, 2G)

TEAM USA’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

Z. Parise – J. Pavelski – B. Ryan
P. Kane – P. Stastny – P. Kessel
M. Pacioretty – R. Kesler – B. Wheeler
J. van Riemsdyk – D. Backes – R. Callahan

FORWARDS: What Team USA lacks in skill in comparison to Sweden, Russia and Canada, they make up for with size and grit. It was tough leaving Derek Stepan off, but his versatility could earn him a spot as the 13th forward. Jason Pomiville was a tough one too, but I don’t see him ahead of Ryan, Kessel or Wheeler or as a fit on a 4th line. The toughest call was that last RW spot, as you could make a case that any one of Brown, Oshie or Okposo deserve it over Callahan. 

R. Suter – R. McDonagh
K. Yandle – K. Shattenkirk
J. Johnson – J. Carlson

DEFENSE: While the common theme up front was size, the common theme on D is speed. All 6 are good skaters and all are excellent at moving the puck. Others in consideration that didn’t make the cut were Erik Johnson (inconsistent), Brooks Orpik (age, speed), Cam Fowler (weak defensively)  and its too early to tell for rookies like Gardiner and Faulk.

R. Miller
J. Quick

GOALIES: Team USA will boast 2 of the NHL’s top goaltenders in Miller and Quick. Tim Thomas was not picked because he will be closing in on 40 years old and was therefore the odd man out. Americans probably won’t have a problem seeing as they are generally very patriotic and are likely still aggravated by his White House snub. 

Other Road to 2014 Posts:
Sweden
Russia
Czech Republic
Finland

With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA. 

Today’s featured country: Sweden
2010 Result: Lost to Slovakia in Quarterfinals
Projected returning players: 11 (8F, 2D, 1G)

TEAM SWEDEN’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

D. Sedin – H. Sedin – L. Eriksson
H. Zetterberg – N. Backstrom – J. Franzen
G. Landeskog – M. Johansson – D. Alfredsson
A. Steen – P. Berglund – P. Hornqvist

FORWARDS: The forward group representing Sweden will be a nice mix of veterans and younger guys. This will be a tough team to play against, as they boast a ton of speed, good 2-way players and they all have high hockey IQ. One question mark is if Alfredsson will retire in the next year.

N. Lidstrom – N. Kronwall
A. Edler – E. Karlsson
V. Hedman – A. Larsson

DEFENSE: Some of the league’s best defensemen are products of Sweden, and the end result is the phenomenal group listed above. To really get a sense of how good the Swedish D are; consider that Enstrom, Hjalmarsson, Ekman-Larsson and Murray did not make their way onto this roster.

H. Lundqvist
J. Enroth / A. Lindback

GOALIES: Sweden has arguably the best goaltender in the world in Henrik Lundqvist. The backup position will be wide open; youngsters Enroth and Lindback are the front-runners, but don’t rule out top prospects like Jacob Markstrom (Florida) or Robin Lehner (Ottawa).

Other Road to 2014 Posts:
Russia
Czech Republic
Finland

It’s been exactly 1 week since Geoff Molson (Owner, CEO and President of the Montreal Canadiens) announced that General Manager Pierre Gauthier has been relieved of his duties and that Bob Gainey would also no longer serve as a Senior Advisor to the organization. It was a much needed changing of the guard for a hockey team that has long been known as being an old boys club.

Naturally, the talk over the past week in Montreal has been about who will be the successor to Mr. Gauthier. With the help of Serge Savard, Molson has begun his search for the best man for the job. Here are 5 candidates who are considered to be among the front-runners right now.

Marc Bergevin
If for some reason I were asked to make this decision, Marc Bergevin would be my choice. He is currently the Chicago Blackhawks Assistant GM, but he also has experience in many different areas including playing, coaching and scouting. In fact, he has served as Director of Pro Scouting and as Director of Player Personnel for the Blackhawks. While I think that a variety of experience is vital, I especially like the fact that he has been part of a successful organization in recent years.

Julien BriseBois
It is said that a GM must be first and foremost “an expert on their own team”; and none of the candidates know the Canadiens like Julien BriseBois. He was with the Habs for many years and is currently Steve Yzerman’s Assistant GM in Tampa Bay. I recognize that BriseBois is a very good candidate, but he is my least favorite on this list; and I say that solely because of his ties to the old regime. They need fresh blood and to start running things differently, and BriseBois could easily be a step sideways.

Pat Brisson
Over the last decade, more and more agents have been making the jump to a General Manager position. That said, I was still surprised to hear today from a source that Brisson being contacted by the Canadiens is not just the team doing their due diligence, rather they are keenly interested in him. If the priority ends up being to find someone who can sell players on the idea of playing in Montreal and who can be a good communicator to the fans and the media, Brisson vaults to the top of the list.

Francois Giguere
Short of calling Florida to ask for permission to talk to Dale Tallon, the only person that the Canadiens will find who is bilingual and who has actual experience as a General Manager is Francois Giguere. Giguere was the GM of the Colorado Avalanche for 3 seasons, a time period where the Avs made the playoffs once.  While his experience is a pro, the con is that he has been out of the league for 3 years.

Claude Loiselle
Claude Loiselle is currently Brian Burke’s Assistant GM in Toronto, but his experience goes well beyond that. He played in the NHL for 13 seasons, has a law degree, worked for the Tampa Lightning as their Assistant GM, worked for the NHL’s Hockey Operations department and did some scouting for the Anaheim Ducks. It should be noted that Loiselle and Kevin Gilmore (Canadiens’ COO and Executive Vice President) have a very good relationship.

In terms of a wild card candidate, I would like to see Blair Mackasey get some consideration. I don’t know if he is ready to be a General Manager, but I do believe that if any of the 5 names discussed are hired, all of them would be well served to bring on Mackasey as their Assistant GM. To answer a few questions that will come up – Why no Patrick Roy? Because he is better suited to be a coach than a GM. Why no Pierre McGuire? Because even though I feel he is an excellent candidate, its hard for me to imagine someone who is as outspoken as he is getting the job. Think about the number of players and executives around the league who may hold grudges against him for things he has said over the past 10+ years working in the media.

With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA. 

Today’s featured country: Russia
2010 Result: Lost to Canada in Quarterfinals
Projected returning players: 10 (6F, 2D, 2G)

TEAM RUSSIA’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

A. Ovechkin – E. Malkin – A. Semin
I. Kovalchuk – P. Datsyuk – A. Radulov
N. Kulemin – A. Anisimov – A. Burmistrov
V. Tarasenko – E. Kuznetsov – N. Yakupov

FORWARDS: As per usual, the strength of Team Russia will be up front. No team can match the skill level of their top 6 forwards, and if soon to be NHLers like Kuznetsov, Yakupov and Tarasenko develop into the stars they are projected to be, this team will be a lot of fun to watch.

D. Kulikov – A. Volchenkov
A. Markov – A. Emelin
D. Orlov – S. Voynov

DEFENSE: Russia’s defense will not be among the better groups, but they are benefitting from the infusion of young talent in the NHL. In fact, the 3 rookies (Emelin, Orlov, Voynov) have performed so well that bigger names like Gonchar and Tyutin were left off of this list.

I. Bryzgalov
S. Varlamov

GOALIES: Goaltending has consistently been a weakness for Russia, and as it stands, the 2014 Olympics will be no exception. The smart money is on Bryzgalov to be named the starter, but it is very conceivable that Varlamov ends up being the consensus #1 goalie, as he has looked brilliant at times this season.

Other Road to 2014 Posts:
Czech Republic
Finland

With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA.

Today’s featured country: Czech Republic
2010 Result: Lost to Finland in Quarterfinals
Projected returning players: 13 (8F, 3D, 2G)

CZECH REPUBLIC’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

M. Michalek – D. Krejci – J. Jagr
M. Havlat – P. Elias – A. Hemsky
T. Fleischmann – T. Plekanec – J. Voracek
M. Erat – M. Hanzal – R. Vrbata

FORWARDS: The Czechs will have a lot of skill and speed at the forward position. The problem with this team, however, is that they will be small up front and a lot of their better players are older guys. Last time around, a number of forwards from KHL teams were selected, but that likely won’t happen again.

L. Smid – Z. Michalek
J. Hejda – R. Polak
R. Klesla – J. Kindl

DEFENSE: There are a number of options to consider player-wise, but the majority of the Czech D in the NHL are second or third pairing guys that will be over 35 years old when the time comes to make this team. This projected group consists of 2-way defensemen with good skating ability.

O. Pavelec
T. Vokoun
M. Neuvirth

GOALIES: There is a changing of the guard in goal for the Czechs, as Tomas Vokoun is no longer the country’s number 1 goaltender. Pavelec will be counted on to shoulder the load, while the backup duty will either go to the 38-year-old Vokoun or the young Michal Neuvirth.

Other Road to 2014 Posts:
Finland

With just under 2 years to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ProSportsBlogging.com will run a 6-part feature that will identify the hockey players that will likely represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games. The 6 hockey super powers to be covered include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and USA.

Today’s featured country: FINLAND
2010 Result: Bronze Medal
Projected returning players: 11 (6F, 5D)

FINLAND’S PROJECTED 2014 OLYMPIC ROSTER

J. Jokinen – M. Koivu – T. Selanne
V. Leino – O. Jokinen – T. Ruutu
S. Bergenheim – V. Filppula – L. Korpikoski
M. Granlund – S. Koivu – J. Armia

FORWARDS: Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne make their final appearances ever representing Finland at the Olympics. The lineup consists of hard working 2 way forwards, but is very limited offensively. Wild prospect Mikael Granlund and Sabres prospect Joel Armia will both make the team.

K. Timonen – S. Salo
T. Lydman – J. Pitkanen
S. Lepisto – S. Vatanen

DEFENSE: While Finland’s D boasts a bunch of good skaters and puck movers, they are an older group and noticeably undersized. The lack of depth will provide a good opportunity for Ducks prospect Sami Vatanen to crack the lineup.

P. Rinne
T. Rask
K. Lehtonen

GOALIES: The strength of Finland is in goal. Pekka Rinne is one of the best in the world at his position and he is expected to be the starter. Rask and Lehtonen are both extremely good backups; while both Backstrom and Kiprusoff will be left off due to their age.

With the Montreal Canadiens slated to pick in the top 3 of the NHL Entry Draft for the first time since 1980 (the infamous selection of Doug Wickenheiser over Denis Savard), it’s not a bad time to take a look at what the struggling franchise has in the pipeline. This Top 10 list is sure to change in the next year, especially at the top with the likely addition of one of Nail Yakupov / Mikhail Grigorenko.

Gone from the 2011 list are: #3 David Desharnais (with the Canadiens), #4 Karri Ramo (traded to Calgary), #7 Brendon Nash (significant injury), #9 Ben Maxwell (traded to Atlanta, now Winnipeg) and #10 Ryan White (with the Canadiens).

The current list boasts two potential top 4 defensemen, plenty of depth up front and a lot of good skaters. The glaring weaknesses are no goaltenders, no centers and the lack of a blue chip forward prospect that will in all likelihood develop into a top line player. It is also worth noting that 7 of the Top 10 prospects are not in the AHL with Hamilton. The Bulldogs have had a bad season as well, which is in large part due to the poor performances from a number of prospects that were considered to have had good upside. Alexander Avtsin, Gabriel Dumont, Joonas Nattinen and Ian Schultz are 4 players that fall into that category.

1 – Nathan Beaulieu – D

Beaulieu is hands down the top defenseman on the consensus top team in all of junior hockey. He has the size (6’3) to play big minutes in the NHL and his 50 points in 49 games is a testament to how good he is at jumpstarting the offense out of his own zone. He has also not been shy to show his physical side this year. There is a lot to be excited about with Beaulieu, that’s for sure. He can legitimately crack the Habs top 6 out of training camp, although to be fair, that has more to do with how weak the D are in Montreal.

Last year: NOT RANKED
Acquired: Drafted in RD1 of 2011 Draft
Current team: Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)

2 – Louis Leblanc – RW

It is still unclear whether Leblanc projects more as a second-line or third-line player, but what is clear is that he can play in the NHL. In his 28 games with the Canadiens, Leblanc has shown his relentless forechecking abilities, his knack for getting himself scoring chances and his strong two-way play. I don’t see him developing into a 30-goal scorer, but I can easily see him consistently scoring 20-25 goals and dishing out 30-35 assists.

Last year: #1
Acquired: Drafted in RD1 of 2009 Draft
Current team: Montreal Canadiens / Hamilton Bulldogs

3 – Jarred Tinordi – D

Despite being ranked #2 last year; there were some major concerns with Tinordi’s game. In his first OHL season, he looked slow, he took too many penalties and his plus/minus rating was among the worst on his team for D. He has shown major improvement in all of those areas this season to the point where he was arguably the best defenseman on Team USA at the World Juniors. I would be surprised if the towering defenseman is on the Canadiens opening day roster next season, a year in Hamilton will further help him adjust to the pro game.

Last year: #2
Acquired: Drafted in RD1 of 2010 Draft
Current team: London Knights (OHL)

4 – Brendan Gallagher – RW

Out of all of Montreal’s forward prospects, Gallagher has the most offensive upside. In a notoriously rough WHL league, the 5’8 winger has managed to score 40+ goals in 3 consecutive seasons. Dating back to training camp in 2011, Gallagher impressed the fans in Montreal with his slick hands, good speed and his tenacious character on the ice. Look for him to challenge for a spot with the Habs as early as the upcoming 2012-13 season.

Last year: NOT RANKED
Acquired: Drafted in RD5 of 2010 Draft
Current team: Vancouver Giants (WHL)

5 – Danny Kristo – RW

Danny Kristo entered his Junior season with a lot of question marks following a disappointing Sophomore campaign that included a freak frostbite injury that almost cost him a foot. Kristo certainly silenced those critics with a spectacular season, which saw him put up 17 goals and 40 points in 35 games. He has nothing left to prove at the college level, so it would not surprise me if he is signed to an NHL entry level contract as soon as his season is over. Kristo is under 6 feet and less than 200 pounds, but he makes up for it with tremendous speed and a ton of grit.

Last year: #5
Acquired: Drafted in RD2 of 2008 Draft
Current team: North Dakota (NCAA)

6 – Michael Bournival – LW/C

Bournival has always been known as a hard-nosed, two-way forward. This season, however, he has really started to show off his offensive potential. In only 37 games, he has scored 27 goals and put up 52 points. Like Geoffrion and Palushaj, he does not project as a top 6 forward, but he has all the makings of being a quality third-line checking forward while still having some offensive flair to his game. I see a lot of Maxime Talbot in Bournival.

Last year: #8
Acquired: Traded from Colorado Avalanche
Current team: Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

7 – Aaron Palushaj – RW

Palushaj appears to be a classic “tweener” – someone who is an impact player in the AHL but the numbers don’t translate to the NHL. He is a point per game player with Hamilton this season (31 points in 31 games), but has managed to pick up only 1 assist in 24 games with the Canadiens. More AHL seasoning is not required for the speedy Palushaj, he will either find his way onto one of Montreal’s top 3 lines next season or will be labeled a bust.

Last year: #6
Acquired: Traded from St. Louis Blues
Current team: Montreal Canadiens / Hamilton Bulldogs

8 – Blake Geoffrion – LW

Acquired not long ago in the Hal Gill trade, Geoffrion comes to Montreal with family ties to the franchise. His grandfather Bernie Geoffrion and great-grandfather Howie Morenz both were legends with the Habs. Blake, however, is not quite in that caliber. He is a good third or fourth line winger with decent size, who can chip in 12-15 goals and be an effective penalty killer. He should make the Habs opening day roster in 2012-13.

Last year: NOT RANKED
Acquired: Traded from Nashville Predators
Current team: Montreal Canadiens / Hamilton Bulldogs

9 – Patrick Holland – RW

Originally drafted in the seventh round by Calgary, Holland has improved every year in the WHL, which has culminated with an impressive 2011-12 season in which he has already topped 100 points. Holland has a reputation for being a very responsible player who is good in all situations. He is also known to not be great at any one thing, which will make it difficult for him to find his niche at the NHL level.

Last year: NOT RANKED
Acquired: Traded from Calgary Flames
Current team: Tri-City Americans (WHL)

10 – Morgan Ellis – D

Ellis has shown significant improvement both offensively and defensively from last season to now. In 56 games this year (compared to 65 last year), Ellis has gone from 8 goals to 14 goals; 28 assists to 35 assists; and from a -27 plus/minus rating to a +21. He has emerged as one of the top defensemen on one of the best teams in the Q, and his transition to the AHL next year should be smooth given his good size and mobility.

Last year: NOT RANKED
Acquired: Drafted in RD4 of 2010 Draft
Current team: Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

With less than 2 weeks to go until the NHL trade deadline (February 27); it was starting to seem like the lead up to the day itself was going to be a bust. That was until late last night and early this morning when reports started to surface that the Columbus Blue Jackets are open to the possibility of trading Rick Nash. Renaud Lavoie of RDS, Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch and Bob McKenzie of TSN all reported that Nash is in fact available, however it is unclear which teams are prepared to offer the kind of package it will take to land the 27-year-old LW.

Without any inside information whatsoever, I’m going to try to identify the 6 teams that would be the most likely destinations for Rick Nash.

The first factor to consider: Rick Nash has a no-movement clause. Having played in only 4 career playoff games, Nash will without a doubt want to go to a playoff team with a good future, and preferably a good hockey market.

This eliminates Phoenix, Calgary, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Edmonton and Anaheim in the West; and Florida, Winnipeg, Montreal, Tampa Bay, NY Islanders, Buffalo and Carolina in the East.

Down from 29 teams to 15 teams

The second factor to consider: Rick Nash carries a cap hit of $7.8 million per season for the next 6 years. The team acquiring Rick Nash will need to have both short-term and long-term cap space, and it will need to be a team that is not averse to spending to the cap ceiling.

This eliminates: Vancouver (no cap space this year), Nashville (Suter/Weber), Chicago (long-term cap space), New Jersey (will try to sign Parise) and Ottawa (committed to their rebuild).

Division rivals Detroit and St. Louis can be eliminated as well. Even though there will likely be some kind of re-alignment in the future, I still don’t see Columbus wanting to trade Rick Nash within their division.

Now down to 8 teams

The final factor to consider: Columbus will require significant assets in return. Any team wanting to trade for Rick Nash will have to give up a young impact player, a few high-end prospects and a 1st round pick.

San Jose does not have a good pool of prospects, they won’t want to move any of their top 4 defensemen and Columbus would insist on Logan Couture being part of any deal with Rick Nash. They’re out.

Pittsburgh would be a serious contender for Rick Nash, but there is too much uncertainty surrounding Sidney Crosby. For that reason, it would not be smart for Ray Shero to give up the assets he would need to part with in order to land Nash.

And that brings me to the 6 teams that I feel are the most viable options for Rick Nash.

Boston Bruins
David Krejci and Tuukka Rask are roster players that would intrigue Columbus. The Bruins also have 2 blue chip prospects in Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron and a few other good ones in Jared Knight and Ryan Spooner.  Remember that Boston is struggling right now, Nathan Horton is out indefinitely and Peter Chiarelli is not afraid to make bold moves around the deadline.

Los Angeles Kings
Between Jonathan Bernier, Slava Voynov, Andrei Loktionov and prospects Tyler Toffoli, Derek Forbort, Thomas Hickey, Linden Vey and Brandon Kozun; you would think that the Kings could put together some kind of a package that would intrigue the Blue Jackets. While it may not appear that LA has cap space to get a deal done, they have quite a few expiring contracts (Penner, Stoll, Mitchell) that could be thrown in to balance out the salaries.

New York Rangers
Its been well documented that the Rangers feel that they need a scoring winger for their top 6. Like the Kings, GM Glen Sather is fortunate to have a long list of young assets that would peak the interest of Columbus. That list includes: Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto and prospects Chris Kreider, Christian Thomas, JT Miller, Tim Erixon and Dylan McIlrath.

Philadelphia Flyers
In all my years following the NHL religiously, I have learned to never count out Paul Holmgren when it comes to big trades. They don’t need Rick Nash, but acquiring him could put them over the top. A deal between these 2 teams starts with Sergei Bobrovsky, that’s for sure. You have to think some combination of Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Read would be included as well; and you can throw in a D prospect too in either Erik Gustaffson or Marc-Andre Bourdon.

Toronto Maple Leafs
You don’t need a hockey insider to tell you that Brian Burke will be interested in acquiring Rick Nash. He is exactly the kind of guy that Burke wants in Toronto. He also finds himself in a position where he has the assets to acquire a player like Nash. Nazem Kadri, Joe Colborne and Keith Aulie are all NHL ready prospects. The Leafs also have a wealth of defensemen that would have an immediate impact in Columbus, such as Luke Schenn, Cody Franson and Carl Gunnarsson.

Washington Capitals
The Caps can make this work “cap-wise” in the short-term by trading away Alexander Semin or Mike Knuble and Jeff Schultz. They also have great young players in Marcus Johansson, Karl Alzner and John Carlson; future stars in Evgeni Kuznetsov, Dmitri Orlov and additional quality prospects in Cody Eakin and goaltender Braden Holtby. They certainly have the artillery to get a deal done for Rick Nash, the question is more about if George McPhee is prepared to drastically alter the team’s personnel. Out of the 6 candidates, I am most skeptical about Washington, but you never know!

Things are getting ugly in Montreal. This has been a nightmare of the season for the Canadiens, and frankly, it seems that just when you think it can’t get any worse, it always does. The problems with the team are well documented, so I don’t want to waste your time giving my opinion on why this team is not performing. In fact, rather than harp on negatives, I prefer to look at how they can make the best out of this bad situation.

In a nutshell, the organization needs to start thinking about the future, and not about how they can maybe squeak into the playoffs and get run over by New York, Boston, Philly or Pittsburgh. It’s not going to happen. Even if it only took 92 points to make it in, that would mean the Habs would have to go 21-7-3 the rest of the way. This team is simply not good enough to pull that off.

Now that we got that out of the way, here is my 10-point plan for the remainder of the season, which would hopefully act as the starting point for a successful 2012-13 season.

1 – Trade Andrei Kostitsyn

Do we need to look at TSN’s list again of teams looking for a top 6 forward? Kostitsyn has his critics, but he has a great skill set, he has good size and he can put the puck in the net. Would be an attractive rental for a playoff team, and the Habs could potentially acquire a decent prospect in return.

2 – Trade Hal Gill

Gill notoriously elevates his game come playoff time, and there would be no shortage of interest should he be made available. With the demand for defensemen high and the supply low, perhaps the Habs could squeeze out a second round pick for Gill.

3 – Trade Travis Moen

Moen has a Stanley Cup ring, plays with jam and is a very capable third line shutdown winger that can chip in with some offense. He is yet another player that would be in high demand should he be made available. Like Gill, the possibility of acquiring a second round pick in return for Moen is not unreasonable.

4 – Don’t trade Tomas Plekanec

Not that this is rumored or anything, but with the number of teams looking to acquire help at the center ice position, I have to think teams will be calling Montreal to check on his availability. This is the kind of move that should be made in the offseason (I believe they should explore it in the offseason), not right now.

5 – Keep Louis Leblanc in the NHL for the remainder of the season

The priority now should be development for next year, and I feel it is important that the Canadiens start defining a role for Leblanc going forward, so that they know where they can pencil hm into the lineup at the start of next season.

6 – Call up Aaron Palushaj from the AHL

Palushaj, the player Montreal got in return for Matt D’Agostini, has never really gotten a real chance to showcase his skill at the NHL level. He is a point per game player on a bad Hamilton team, has tons of speed and has good vision. Use the rest of the season to play Palushaj in the top 9 and see if he figures into Montreal’s plans for next year.

7 – Announce that Andrei Markov will miss the rest of the year

I doubt this will happen, which is more a testament to the stubbornness of Pierre Gauthier than anything. His famous words: “ca progresse bien”, which translated means “he is progressing well”. There is no point in risking further injury to Markov; the goal should be to have him healthy and ready to go for the 2012-13 season.

8 – Re-sign Carey Price

Want a way to make your fans happy? Re-sign your franchise player to a long-term (4-6 years) deal. What better time to do it than when the team is struggling.

9 – #FailForNail or #FailForMikhail

Ok, I don’t actually mean trying to lose so that they can draft Nail Yakupov or Mikhail Grigorenko. What I mean is if you get rid of your expiring contracts and you turn your attention towards the development of your young players (i.e. getting them more ice time), naturally the team will continue to fall in the standings. This will result in the franchise getting their highest draft pick since Carey Price at #5 overall in 2005.

10 – Ownership should make a decision NOW if they plan on firing Pierre Gauthier, and if that’s the case, do it NOW and put an interim GM in place.

The Canadiens should absolutely turn their attention to next season, and that means if ownership does not envision Mr. Gauthier retaining his role as General Manager for the 2012 offseason, he should not be the one calling the shots as the February 27 trade deadline approaches.