The Build

The Build is back and I'm bringing you with me!

In this mailbag, we tackle:

• When is it time to trade Mike Matheson?
• Who is the next target in a Dach-like trade?
• A tier list of the defensemen
• What is the plan in net after Montembeault and why might it just be... Montembeault?
• And much more!

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and we have a trade to announce!

Topics include:

• How did the Canadiens do in the Jake Allen trade?
• How did the rest of the league do on Trade Deadline Day?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back! Let's talk about value.

Topics include:

• What do the Canadiens see in Arber Xhekaj long term?
• What is the goal of his development?
• Are the Canadiens a realistic landing spot for Trevor Zegras and what would it take to get him?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and it's so nice to see you again!

Topics include:

• A long overdue review of the Sean Monahan trade
• The Boygenius line is here and that's great news for the future of this team
• The 3-headed goalie is here to stay
• Are we in for a quiet trade deadline?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and we want more Ylonen!

Topics this week include:

• Why is Ylonen stuck on the fourth line?
• What does the goaltending market look like?
• Should we worry about the lack of production from the first line?
• Should the Canadiens extend Sean Monahan?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and we've got three more years of Snacks!

Topics this episode include:

• The Sam Montembeault extension
• What that means for the three headed monster in net
• The Alex Newhook injury
• The emergence of Juraj Slafkovsky
• The demotion of Arber Xhekaj

Links you should click on:

The Build is back! The Canadiens are bad!

Topics include:

• State of the team
• Three players with undefined roles
• Kaiden Guhle has arrived
• Kent Hughes and star players
• And a mailbag

Links you should click on:

The Build is back! Some things will change! Other things need to change! The only constant is change (and injuries)!

Topics include:

• Who is stepping up in the absence of David Savard?
• The top six needs help and there may be help coming
• Can Slafkovsky's play be accurately judged in his current situation?
• The goalies are playing well! Now what?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and so is the injury bug. Topics include:

• Breakdown of the games against Toronto, Chicago, and Minnesota
• What the Kirby Dach injury means for the Habs
• Mailbag

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and the 2023 preseason is in the rearview! It's time for meaningful hockey!

Topics this week include:

• Breakdowns of the last 4 preseason games
• Cuts, waivers, and players who made the team
• Lineup breakdowns

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and so is Habs hockey! (sorta)

Topics this week include:

• How I watch preseason hockey
• What the Habs lineups tell us about their thought process
• A recap of the first two preseason games
• Please stop scheduling games with the Senators

Links you should click on:

The Build is back! And this time with on fewer goalie and one more Tanner Pearson.

Topics include:

• Habs and Canucks make a trade
• Seems like there are too many players at training camp
• Season predictions
• State of the rebuild
• Paul Byron retires

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and so is Jeff Petry!... at least for now.

Topics in this episode include:

• Why did the Canadiens get in on this trade?
• How did Hughes do?
• Where might Petry be off to next?
• How does the Habs rebuild compare to the Sharks?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back for the 50th time! And since there's nothing to talk about, let's take a trip down memory lane together!

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and this offseason feels unending!

Topics include:

• Alex Newhook's contract looks better than the trade to get him.
• Are Cayden Primeau's days in Montreal numbered?
• How will the Habs create roster space?
• Does Hughes have another Monahan trade in him?
• A whole bunch of questions from you fine folks.

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and Joel Edmundson is not!

Topics in this episode include:

• Trying to make sense of day two of the Habs 2023 draft
• Information literacy
• Free agency opens with a Joel Edmundson trade
• Montreal takes a flier on Lias Andersson
• RHP gets RHPaid

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and everyone is mad!

Topics this episode include:

• The Habs take Reinbacher
• The Habs pass on Michkov
• What this means for the rebuild
• Hughes flips two high picks for Alex Newhook

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and so is Sean Monahan!

Topics this week include:

• Monahan's extension and what it means for the Habs' depth down the middle
• An update on the Pierre-Luc Dubois saga
• Would an offersheet make sense?
• Ian's hopes and expectations for the draft remain two separate ideas

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and the small goals boy is here to stay!

Topics this week include:

• The key takeaways from Cole Caufield's 8-year deal
• Frederik Dichow is no longer a Habs prospect and the Habs only have 4 goalies under contract
• Is Carter Hart someone the Canadiens should target?
• Does David Savard have a role on this team next season?
• Relationship advice (no, really)

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and we could just talk about Sheldon Souray the whole time if we wanted to.

Topics this week include:

• How is the Caufield negotiation going?
• A new game called "Is Cole Better"
• Why Caufield's contract is so important to get right
• And questions from you, the listeners

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and your host is only still slightly under the weather!

Topics include:

• Where have you been?
• Draft Lottery results and implications
• Viewing the Habs rebuild through the lens of the current Stanley Cup Playoffs
• Potential trade bait and a larger offseason plan
• An ode to RabidHabs

Links you should click on:

The Build is back and Ian only forgot Jayden Struble's name once.

Topics include:

• Sean Farrell signs his ELC
• Down with RHP
• The Pierre-Luc Dubois rumors continue to surface
• Mailbag
• A note on Pride Nights

Links to things I mentioned in the show:

The Build is back and we talk about Eric Fichaud for much longer than any other podcast ever has. 

Topics include:

• Jayden Struble signs his ELC! What does that mean for the rest of the log jam on defense?
• What kind of player are the Canadiens getting in Struble?
• A deep(ish) dive on the Habs Pro Scouting department and why it matters
• Another injury update
• Building Blocks and Drawing Board

The Build is back and so are all the Canadiens players because none of them were traded. 

Topics include:

• A recap of the two trades the Habs made before Friday's deadline
• Was the Habs' lack of action at the deadline disappointing?
• Revisiting the trade tiers
• Ian's priorities for the rest of the season and offseason

The Build is back and it is likely out of date by the time you hear it. 

Topics include:

• How did the Canadiens do in the Dadonov trade?
• What can Montreal expect from Denis Gurianov?
• Injury Update
• The 2023 trade deadline will likely be quiet for the Canadiens
• BUT the 2024 deadline is shaping up to be a pretty good one

The Build is back and hopefully Ian will be able to focus on this dang thing for the next few weeks. 

Topics include:

• Xhekaj joins the injured as Guhle is poised to return
• The state of the tank
• How has Jeff Gorton modernized the Canadiens?
• Will the Habs have a quiet trade deadline?

Links you should click on:

The Build is back! Ian's computer ate his notes, so this one is the real stream of consciousness. 

Topics include:

• Injury updates
• Is Josh Anderson going to get traded or are the Canadiens best served burning a year of his deal and trading him next year?
• Who could this year's Justin Barron be for the Canadiens?
• 2025 Habs lineup?
• Who is the Habs future in net? 
• Favorite fancy stat?

The Build is back! Sorry for the wait. Let's talk about some injuries. 

Topics include:

• Cole Caufield's injury sucks
• The Habs haven't claimed a forward on waivers yet. Why not?
• Kent Hughes' first year on the job
• Back to the Drawing Board and Building Blocks

The Build is back and Kent Hughes said some things!

Topics include:

• What can you take out of that Florida game? (spoiler alert: not much)
• The injuries are piling up
• What to make out of Slafkovsky's rough first season
• Is Sam Montembeault Montreal's future in net?
• Joel Edmundson oh my god why
• Some building blocks, both young and old

The Build is back and so is PK Subban.

Topics include:

• A fun thing St. Louis said
• Lineup decisions
• Should the Habs draft Matvei Michkov?
• Injury update
• The bittersweet return of PK Subban

Links to things discussed in this episode:

The Build is back and despite it being a new year, these are the same Canadiens. 

Topics include:

• Is this the same team Dominic Ducharme coached?
• Is Marty St. Louis in trouble?
• Is Juraj Slafkovksy's development in trouble?
• Injury update
• The Drawing Board and Building Blocks

The Build is back with one more chat before the Holidays. 

Topics include:

• How is the tank going?
• Should the Canadiens look at different options in net?
• Fans need to relax about Jonathan Drouin
• The Habs current roster is complicated
• An idiot's guide to the Habs prospects in the 2023 World Juniors
• The Drawing Board and Building Blocks

The Build is back, the Habs are back from their road trip, and they're bringing a little adversity with them. 

Topics include:

• Late games stink
• The Habs most valuable defenseman is...
• Slafkovsky and on-ice awareness
• The TSN broadcast is having a rough start to the year
• Lane Hutson is him
• Suzuki and Caufield are them

The Build is back, but this time you do the show planning! 

Topics include:

• Are the Habs ruining the tank?
• The listeners show up with some great questions
• What's going on with the powerplay?
• Jordan Harris?
• Jordan Harris again? 
• Jordan Harris a third time?

The Build is back and we are not here for slandering the blue jersey or our new blue overlord, Metal. 

Topics include:

• The Habs most exciting game of the year so far
• One of the worst Habs games of the year so far
• How is the tank going?
• Injury news
• What is the plan for Mike Matheson's return to the roster?
• Some thoughts on Jeff Gorton's interview with Tony Marinaro
• Building Blocks and Back To The Drawing Board

Links to things I mentioned during the show:

The Build is back and the Habs are playing... well...? Topics this week include:

• Are the Canadiens ruining the tank?
• Not sure if the Canadiens have a number one line, but they sure have a Big Line(TM)
• Montreal has too many forwards and a lot of them are not playing well.
• Who was a Building Block this week and who is getting sent back to the drawing board?

The Build is back and there are real-life regular season games to talk about this week! Ian breaks down all the games before diving deeper on what has made Montreal tick in the four games to open the season. 

Topics include:

• Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are breaking out as a duo.
• How has Juraj Slafkovsky looked in his debut?
• This Kaiden Guhle guy is pretty good!
• Mike Hoffman is certainly playing hockey! 
• Plus a new segment: Building Blocks and Back To The Drawing Board

The Build is back and it's time to dance on the grave of the preseason!

Okay it wasn't that bad, but it was bad and Ian talks about some of the surprises out of camp. Topics include:

• Slafkovksy makes the roster... for now.
• Where could Slafkovksy spend the season?
• What good came out of training camp?
• How Ian is going to watch this season.
• The laundry list of injuries from the preseason. 

The Build is back! And Ian is married! 

Topics in this one include:

• Preseason hockey is bad
• How I watch preseason hockey
• Some standouts in the first three preseason games
• Where should Slafkovsky play this season?
• Have we learned anything about the 2022 Canadiens in the first few preseason games?
• And an ode to PK Subban

The Build is back! 

(But don't get used to it because Ian is getting married soon)

The Canadiens ruined Ian's plan of taking the rest of the summer off by doing a bunch of stuff and now we're going to talk about all that stuff. 

Topics in this episode include:

• Kirby Dach's signing and his wide range of outcomes
• Cayden Primeau's signing and what we can parse out of the contracts the Canadiens have in net
• The expectations the Canadiens have for themselves and why it's okay they have different answers
• The jersey ad is bad, but not for the obvious reasons
• The Habs find a captain lacking years but not experience 

The Build is back and for the first time it's not just Ian yelling into the void! Scott Matla from Locked On Canadiens and Habs Eyes on the Prize joins the show this week. 

Topics in this episode include:

• The Sean Monahan trade
• Revisiting the trade tiers
• Scott Matla on Carey Price's place in Canadiens' history
• Where do the Habs head next in net?
• Can Scott remember the Guys(TM) from Price's first NHL game?

Links to things I mentioned during the show:

The Build is back and this one is all over the map! Topics in a slow summer include:

• The Nick Suzuki Penalty Shot memes are getting me through summer
• Jonathan Huberdeau's massive contract
• Is the signing bonus contract structure going to cause a lockout?
• Stephane Robidas joins the Canadiens bench
• Emil Heineman may play in Sweden if he doesn't make the Habs this year

Links to things I mentioned during the show:

The Build is back and, thanks to the wonderful listeners of this show, we have some stuff to talk about!

Topics include:

• The Habs' Twitter troll
• The latest on Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Jets (and therefore the Canadiens)
• The Matthew Tkachuk trade doesn't make sense at all
• What else do the Canadiens have to do this summer?
• Can you blow a number one pick and still have a good draft?
• Is Paul Byron a superhero or a Jedi?
• If the season started right now, how does the Habs' lineup look?

Links to things mentioned in this week's episode:

The Build is 20 episodes old and Kent Hughes is still chipping away at this roster!

Topics this week include:

• The Jeff Petry (and Ryan Poehling) trade
• New contracts for Rem Pitlick and Sam Montembeault
• The latest on Pierre-Luc Dubois desires to be a Montreal Canadien
• The ways Montreal can go about getting Dubois
• The introduction of the Kent Hughes Trade Tier List

Articles discussed in this episode:

The Build is back! Montreal picked first! Then all hell broke loose. 

Topics in this week's episode:

• There are things associated with this draft that we (The Build TM) will not be discussing
• But there are lots of things that we will discuss, including why Slafkovksy?
• Why not Wright? 
• Does Ian agree with the pick?
• What about the big three-team trade?
• And we check back in on last week's bold predictions. Spoiler alert: they were all wrong

Content mentioned in this episode:

The Build is back and so is Ian's voice! As the hockey world prepares for the draft this week, the Habs find themselves at the center of discussion. Topics this week include:

• Are the Canadiens really unsure of who they are taking with the first pick?
• The trade value of Jake Allen, Josh Anderson, and Christian Dvorak
• Does the Ryan McDonagh trade have any impact on the impending Jeff Petry trade?
• Some bold predictions for the offseason

Articles discussed on this episode:

The Build is back and this week, Kent Hughes traded the team dad right before Father's day. So let's unpack it. 

• What do the Canadiens get in Evgenii Dadonov?
• How does this make sense of the salary cap situation for the Habs and Golden Knights?
• What defines the Shea Weber Era?

Also...

• Josh Anderson might get traded
• Jeft Petry is definitely getting traded

Articles discussed on this week's episode:

The Build is back and OH MY GOD MARIE-PHILIP POULIN IS A MONTREAL CANADIEN!

Okay, sorry didn't mean to yell, but...!!! Ian gushes about what this means for the Candiens in this episode. 

Also topics of discussion:

• Brett Kulak coming back?
• Montreal has given Chicago the green light to talk to Luke Richardson
• The Canadiens aren't trading Josh Anderson... Until they are (hopefully for Kaapo Kakko)

Articles discussed in this week's episode:

The Build is back after a quick holiday and mental health week. 

Lots to cover on this week's show. Topics include:

• Martin St. Louis' contract and what it means for the next three years
• Carey Price wins the Bill Masterton trophy and Ian thinks the way the awards are voted on needs to change
• A Price health update
• Should Montreal trade Jeff Petry?
• Laval's playoff run continues
• Chris Wideman re-signs in Montreal

Things I talked about on the show:

The Build is back and things are pretty quiet for the Habs right now. But that won't stop Ian from talking for a half hour. 

Topics include:

• The Battle of Alberta is great
• Jordan Binnington and the treatment of Nazem Kadri
• The Laval Rocket are making moves in the playoffs
• Does winning the Calder Cup matter for the success of an NHL team?
• Ian builds a prototype Canadiens' roster to compare against when the season starts
• Is Shane Wright still the guy?

Things I talked about on the show: