Happy New Year, everybody, and welcome to the Basu and Godet Notebook.

We're back after the holidays. We're Friday, January fifth, 2024, and I'm with Arpen Basu. Hello, Arpen. How are you doing, my friend?

I'm good. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to everyone. It feels like forever since we've spoken to you, but it's only been a week and a half. But you're in the middle of the hockey season. This is an eternity. It is. And so a lot's happened since we last spoke to you. And so we wanted to sum things up. But I think with the current events of the Canadians does apply to what's happened since we last spoke, which was obviously prior to Christmas. The latest development being the season ending injury to Christian Dvorak and all the repercussions that may have. But You look at Christian Dvorak, and he is the epitome of meh. It's just like, yeah, Christian Dvorak, whatever. But he's really a key... He was a key...

Vanilla is Very tasty compared to Christian Dvorak.

Yeah, exactly. But he is a guy that played a role in the development of the Canadian's identity, mostly prior to Christmas, because he was basically not available after Christmas. He got hurt in the first game after Christmas in Carolina. He tried to play through it for a game in Florida. Playing through a torn pictorial sounds very painful. But really before that, In the lead up to the Christmas break, the momentum the Canadiens build and some of the continuity that they build in terms of the way they play. Richard Dvorak had maybe more to do with that, more as a facilitator of that than I think anyone, ourselves included, probably relates.

Yeah. I think it's not so much as what he does or how well he does things, but he's reliable in the sense that he doesn't put his team in trouble. He takes some minutes and some responsibilities off other guys. There's so much already that's put on the shoulders of nick Suzuki, and there's so many responsibilities already on Sean Monaghan, that when you have a healthy Christian Dvorak, at least it eases up their schedule a little bit and their playing time, whether it's defensive zone starts, some key face offs, some of the play on the special teams. It's not necessarily that he's a huge factor in the game. He's the ultimate low event guy. But I think that we're going to see the fact that he's not there now more because Because of the impact that it's going to have on Suzuki and Monaghan, even more than prior at the beginning of the season when he missed the beginning of the year and Doc was already out. Back then, they had Alex Neuha, who could take his place and be the de facto third-line center until he would come back. So now things have changed, and we cannot make jokes about Dvorak being out, and what day is he going to come back.

This time, we can predict that he's going That's what we're going to be back next season. But it's going to be tricky for the Canadians. It'll be tricky, especially for Sean Monaghan, I think, because they cannot squeeze the lemon too much with that guy. They cannot ask too much out of him. There's probably a Goldilocks zone in his usage that would be preferable to find because at the beginning of the season, he was probably their best player. His performance has dipped. And honestly, he's been better. He recovered from that, but he's never regained the level that he showed in the first 10 games. So how do you do that? And how do you do that when you ask him to do so much without Doc, without Dvorak, and without Newhug being there?

Well, here is what happened. We all remember the joke being that Dvorak was out until November fourth. Remember, it was a very specific date. It was a game in St. Louis. We all knew he was coming back that day. In the four games prior to that day, Sean Monahan played 21 minutes, 21:49, 18:51, 21:09, and scored in all four of those games. So he was rolling. And it's actually shortly after Dvorak's return and shortly after his minutes went down, because when Dvorak came back, Monahan went down to 15:40, 16:58, 18:29, 18:44. So he was climbing, but it was definitely lower than what he was doing prior to Dvorak's return. But Dvorak's return also seemed to trigger a slump for Monaghan. We can't forget what was going on with Josh Anderson at the time, and Anderson was often playing with Monahan at that time. But because of what Anderson was going through, I think the fact that Sean Monahan stopped producing fell under the radar a little bit. So now that we've had three games, really four, if you count the game in Florida, because Dvorak was playing, but he wasn't 100 % himself. Monahan in those games has played 18, 22, 20, 07, 20, 23, and 19 minutes last night against Buffalo.

And so is creeping back towards the levels that he was at just prior to Dvorak's return. I asked Martin St. Louis at practice today, what is that Goldilocks zone for Monaghan? Does he have a window that he needs to hit to be effective? And Martin didn't think he did. He doesn't think he thinks he can be productive with low ice time, with high ice time. He doesn't really see any limitations that he needs to put on him. And we shouldn't talk about Sean Monaghan like he's some ancient player. Yes, he's had injuries, but those injuries have made it so that he hasn't played that many games over the last several years. So if those injuries are not slowing him down, the actual mileage on his body for a guy who's verging on 30 or has he hit 30? I keep forgetting. But anyhow, I think he's 29. Yeah, I think so. I always forget his age. It's not like a normal 29-year-old. I mean, he had a good three-year period where he didn't really play that many games. So I think this is going to be the most interesting thing to see over the coming weeks is what is Sean Monahan's Goldilog zone?

Is there a Sean Monahan Goldilog zone? Because if there is and he surpasses it, he's become pivotal to the Canadians continuing what they established as their identity prior to Christmas and even after Christmas, which is the Suzuki line driving the bus, but having a secondary line that can support that line, and that line, it changed from game to game. It was often Monahan, Evans, and Anderson. But the beauty of having Dvorak is sometimes it could be his line, no matter what his line looked like. Without his line there, they no longer have the luxury of putting Evans with Monahan, having that righty lefty face-off split. And Evans now becomes the center of that line that they hope can be that backup secondary line. And with all due respect to Jake Evans, he's not very likely to do that. So I think the injury, especially awaiting Newhook's return, puts a decent amount of pressure on Sean Monahan to consistently provide that secondary option that can support the Suzuki line in continuously providing what the Canadians need to win games.

Yeah. So just to remind people, Alex Newhook went down early December He was scheduled to miss 10 to 12 weeks, which brings us to mid to late February. So if he is on schedule just before trade deadline, the Canadians should have a healthy Alex Newhook. Then they would be in a position to decide what they do with Sean Monaghan prior to the trade deadline. But I agree. I understand Martin Saint-Louis would want to commit to identify what would be the ideal usage for Sean Monaghan because why would you do that? Why would you say, Oh, it'd be better if we kept him under 19 minutes? Because there'll be nights where he's going to play 20 or 21. So there's no benefit for him to commit. But I go back to my question, do you think that there's a chance there that the Canadians might overuse him and that it affects either their ability to him or that basically it shines a different light on his play for the future in the hopes that they would want to resign him?

Well, so those are two different questions to me. The first one is, Marte St. Louis, might he overuse Sean Monahan? A hundred % he might overuse Sean Monaghan because he already has. We've already seen it. At the beginning of the season, he was overusing him and appeared to realize that once Dvorak arrived, as as an option, dialed back Sean Monahan's ice time. Actually, after the game against the Sabers, Monahan said, I asked him about how a lot of the things Dvorak did are now going to fall on his shoulders. He's like, well, it's going to be like the beginning of the season, and I want that. I want to be out there for important faith. Every player says that. Nick Suzuki, after the game, said, Well, I'm not going to complain about getting all two minutes on the power play. No player is going to complain about too much ice time. But 100 %, there's a risk that Martin Saint-Louis will overuse him, and who could blame him, really? I mean, if he's playing well and he's got such diminished forces, as he does right now, he could hardly be blamed for doing that because I think there is something to be said about Martin Saint-Louis' time as coach.

Every time that he has made some inroads with this club, something has happened that has sideswip that. And now it's this. I think he would have great interest in wanting to maintain just the quality of play, not necessarily the results, but just the consistency and the quality of the team's play. We saw how disappointed Marty was after the game against Buffalo, and he said at some point, We didn't have our A game, and it's been a while since we haven't had our A game, where we haven't played well. And that was what was disappointing to him. And he said the word disappointing about seven different times Friday morning, referring to that performance. Frankly, if you look at it objectively, it really wasn't that bad. It's not as if the Sabers actually blew them out of the water. It was a close game. It just got away from them. The penalty killing wasn't good, again, after a couple of games where it had done well. But it wasn't that terrible a performance. It was pretty bad. It was not great. And I'm of It's a firm belief that the first home game after a long road trip, that whole hockey thing is an actual thing.

It's difficult. I think we saw an example of it in that game. But as to your second point, your second question about Sean Monahan at the trade deadline, I firmly believe that no matter what happens... Because the other thing to remember is that, Tana Pearson was on the ice today. Raphael Harvey-Pernard was on the ice today for the second time. They are getting some guys back.

Yeah, Alvpinal is about 10 days away.

Right. So you do have the potential of having some more NHL bodies in your lineup. And I'm of the firm belief and the firm mind, and I wrote about this last night, is that no matter what, Sean Monahan has to be available at the trade deadline. And Dvorak's loss obviously makes him more important to the Canadians, but at At the end of the day, that can't matter when it comes to the management of Sean Monahan, unless the Canadian steadfastly believe that he is part of the future of this franchise or an important transition piece as a veteran guy to bridge the gap between this core and the next wave, I think. Perhaps this increased role in Dvorak's absence will only make him more valuable, and maybe he'll show more in the next month or so, and we'll make him even more attractive at the deadline. But I can't imagine the Canadians wouldn't be able to find a relatively robust market for Monahan services, especially considering it doesn't seem to be too many players likely to be available that would fit his profile as a really high-end depth center who could do a lot of things and play in a lot of situations.

And so barring some run that gets them into a playoff spot at the end of February, firmly into a playoff spot at the end of February, I think you got to trade Sean Monahan, before the trade deadline.

There's no doubt that there would be a market for him. On certain teams, he could be a second-line center. On good teams that are just weak down the middle, there's a couple of teams that could use him as a second-line center. He could He can certainly be a second-line winger, and he can, for sure, be a third-line center.

And he can play on both special teams.

There's a lot to like, plus the salary, plus the experience, the low maintenance aspect of the guy. Yeah, I agree with you 100%, there would be a market for him. But even though I'm a proponent, I agree with you in the sense that I'm a proponent of the Canadians trading him because the whole idea was to take take a veteran player and basically flip him for younger, fresher assets. But I don't think that the Canadians necessarily see that the same way. I don't expect it to be a given anymore that he's going to be traded. When you said that you thought they might be a transitional piece, I think that you're right on the money with that. You've got Suzuki Micky and Doc that would be your top two centers. I think that over the long run, they see Alex Newhook as a winger and not as a center. Dvorak, next year is going to be the last year of his contract. Since he joined the Canadians, he's played less than 59% of the games. When that third season will have ended, he'll have played less than 59% of the games because of various injuries.

So you cannot always rely on him to be there. So you could have Monahan either be a top six winger or your third-line center. You could move him around, but he's a well-liked guy and someone who can really help stabilize things on your roster. The other thing is, if you want to improve your top six, you don't know yet what's going to be available on the market. They don't know if they're going to be able to fetch the right pieces on the in the training market or even on the UEFA market. Let's not forget that last year, when Monahan, obviously, was injured for the last two-thirds of the season, but when he renegotiated with Montreal, it was not easy. It was not necessarily a smooth and something that was agreed upon in 24 hours. It dragged long until what? Mid-june, late June. So the same could happen this time around, especially Especially since the fact that he's healthy- I don't think he's going to take a home-to-home market.

He's not going to take a hometown discount. I don't think he will. He already did that once.

Right. And now, especially if he stays healthy, he's going to be able to say to other teams, Look, I'm Sean Monaghan. I still got a lot of mileage left, a lot to give, and now I can shop around. If he wants the same on Choual and the Canadian wants to keep him, they'll have to step up. But it's not something, necessarily, that's going to be decided or were all negotiated prior to trade deadline. Let's just be open to the possibility that the Canadians might keep him before the deadline, finish the season with him, and cross their fingers that they might agree to a deal with him later.

Yeah, but you see, this is my point. Yes, that might happen 100%, especially... I mean, this is the thing, is that there's always a balance between managing the future and managing your present club. You have to always appreciate the investment that the people on your team currently making into the season that is occurring, that is current. I'm a full proponent of that. You absolutely do have to respect what's going on, the effort being made in the room to do whatever. So if the Canadians are in a position where they're still on the fringes of the playoff race, or they've played themselves into the fringes of the playoff race, I should say, because I think now they're really fringe. They're very much on the fringe of the playoff race. But if they have a more favorable schedule between now and mid-February, so if they manage to do that, then it's going to be really difficult for Ken Hughes and Jeff Gordon to go to their head coach and their players and say, Hey, we're going to take away one of your most important players because he represents a real opportunity for us on the trade market.

But if you don't have some certainty that you're going to be able to sign Sean Monahan to a reasonable contract as a transitional guy, not breaking the bank for him and have him express that I don't need to have the bank broken for me to stay, which I'm not sure he's going to do. I mean, yes, he loves playing in Montreal, but I mean, Look at the hoops they had to jump through just to get him the $2 million. They had to give him that wonky $15,000 bonus that he hit for playing literally one more game than he played last year, I think it was. Just because Sean Moundhan was hell-bent on getting to that $2 million figure. Now, if he plays a full 82-game season this year, what figure is he going to be hell-bent on then? And I'm not blaming him. Hell, at his stage of his career, he should absolutely try and cash in on a big deal right now. For sure. The best way for him to do that would be for him to get traded to a playoff team, for him to play in the playoffs, perform in the playoffs, and then you can go out and get a pretty nice healthy deal, probably a four or five-year deal at a decent amount of money that I don't think the Canadian shouldn't necessarily pay him.

But you cannot have it both ways in the sense that if there is not an enough robust market for him at the deadline-We both agree there will be.

We both agree there will be.

Yeah, there's going to be a market. Yeah, but I don't know how big... There's always a tipping point where a GM says, This is good enough of a return or I'll take my chances and keep the gut. If for some reason, the return is too overwhelming for can't use, then by the same token, if there's not a robust enough market, then you cannot expect Monahunt to break the bank in the summer. One goes with the other because it's a plan.

Not necessarily. I mean, yeah, no. I mean, it's one thing for a team to say, We're not willing to give you assets for this player. It's another thing for a team to say, Well, now we've gotten this bump in the salary cap. We have X number of contracts off the books. The playoffs have shown us that we have a deficiency in-depth at center. We don't have to give up any assets other than cap space to get this guy now. We're willing to commit to this guy. It's different than at the deadline saying, Well, we're not going to give you anything off our team, and so we're going to have to give you whatever level of draft pick the Canadians would want or seek or prospects that they would seek. It's a different equation when a guy is just available as a free agent. It's not the same.

Yeah, because the pool Of potentially interested teams is not the same.

It's larger. Yeah. And the cost is calculated differently. Cap space definitely has value, but let's be honest, over the coming years, The value of cap space is going to diminish somewhat as the cap catches up to the realities of the finances of the league right now. The supply of cap space is going up, which means the value of cap space is going down. I'm of the mind. I think it is. You're right. It's entirely possible that the Canadians decide to keep around as a reward for of the work that this group has done, and let's see what happens over the next six weeks. It's possible that there'll be nothing to reward by then, and this will all be moot. We're assuming that what we've seen happen with the Canadians since Christmas, where they went into one difficult building after another, and yes, lost three in a row, but were in each of those games in the third period, showed a a certain resiliency and attitude. I mean, Marty keeps using the word attitude, and I think it's correct. Their attitude was like, Okay, we'll show you. You guys think we're going to lose all these games?

We're getting blown out? Or we're not? And they didn't. They lost them all. They lost the first three. They were in them. And then they went into Dallas and beat them pretty handily other than the last six minutes.

It's largely in part to Saint-Montembeau, though.

Yeah. Yes. But I would say that was more towards the end. I mean, listen, the team's not perfect. I think there were stretches in that game where... I mean, let's also be honest. They forced Dallas for a lot of that game to play a bad game. They were in their face and they took Dallas out of their game to some extent.

Well, there are 18 shots for is is to play a bad game. They were in their face and they took Dallas out of their game to some extent. Well, there are 18 shots for is is All of the season.

Yeah, but I thought it was... There were moments where Sam had to bail them out, but it was really more in the third period, I thought, more than anything else. Anyhow, all that being said, there were periods in each of those games where that was the case. Point being is that if that continues without Dvorak, which is entirely possible because Dvorak is not exactly the catalyst for any of this, And if they deserve to be rewarded, then maybe Canadian management says, Okay, fine, we'll take the chance. We'll keep Monhand around as a reward because what we get back for him is not worth the discontent it would cause in our room to lose such an important player. That calculation I can accept. But saying that, well, what's out there isn't really all that great. Let's keep him and roll the dice that he'll sign a sweetheart contract with us because he makes it so much in Montreal. I think he's already done that once, and he's already made it clear that he did it in an effort to prove that he's worth more. I don't know how much money the Canadians should devote to a transition guy.

They already have a 6.5 million transition guy. They already have a $5.5 million transition guy. They have a lot of expensive transition guys. Adding another one doesn't seem like prudent money management. And it's not something that Historically, Jeff Gorton in New York, when they went through that, he identified the veterans that he kept were Zbanajad, who wouldn't keep Zbanajad after the trade he pulled to get him. And Kreider. Basically, that was it. It was more or less those two guys. The rest was just a full turnover. He traded Hayes, he traded Nash, he traded McDonald, he traded Miller, he traded Zucrello, he bought out Lunkway. I mean, it was just like... It was a full on clean out. And so it's not apples and apples because the Rangers were just starting a rebuild and the Canadiens are a couple of years into it right now. But I think what's instructive of that is that he saved his money for the Panarans and Fox eventually, and Truba, and all the guys he went and got using the assets that he acquired by trading all veterans away.

I think what's interesting here is that if the Canadians want to get better next year and add a significant player on their top six, top nine at worst, but let's say top six, they might want to trade some guys on defense that they've identified that they can move forward without. If they add a winger on their top six, bringing Monaghan back He might be redundant with Dvorak because they would end up pretty much occupying the same spot and having the same significance or same role on the team.

So basically-But he'd be a better Dvorak.

For sure. But if you choose to pay more, maybe, let's say, an equivalent amount of money, let's say $4 million to Monaghan for three, four years, whatever, you need to move Dvorak. Because if you keep both, then, as you said, you have way too many late 20s transitional guys, as you said. It might come down to choosing between one and the other. And of course, people will say, Well, I'll have them trade Dvorak, but it might be easier.

Yeah, good luck with that. No, good luck with that. I've spoken to scouts about the possible before he got hurt. I was convinced that Dvorak had some trade value. I must have spoken to five scouts about him, not one said they would recommend to their GM to get him. Not what? I mean, depending on the cost, obviously, but his salary makes him borderline untradable. The Canadians would have to eat money to get him traded, which they could do. I mean, as you mentioned, he'd be entering the last year of his contract. So it's not outside the realm possibility. The Canadians will lead 50 % of it for this year, take him for a fifth round pick or whatever. Someone might bite, but he doesn't have near the trade value I thought he did, at least based on the conversations I've had. And honestly, it's not- That's three overwhelming seasons in Montreal.

He might not be the Christian Dvorak that Burge went to get.

He's not. I kept seeing on Twitter yesterday, there was a resurgence of, wow, what a terrible move Burge made to get into Dvorak because he tore his peck, which was odd. But it's also because the season-ending injury led people to bring up his player cards and whatever. And he's had an overwhelming season as he has his entire time in Montreal. I still don't think that was a terrible bet by Berjeev. Not matching the offer sheet on Cotkaniemi was not a bad decision, even though he's playing marginally better this season. He's probably not worth what the Carolinas- He's not worth his money. He's not worth what Carolinas paying him. Dvorak had shown at that point that he was more than a serviceable player, that he was perhaps verging and with his age and everything. I don't think it was a terrible bet. It didn't work out. It turned out to be a terrible bet. But if you go back to that moment, I don't know if it was that bad of a bet based on what you had done in Arizona up until that point. No, I agree. But just to bring it back to this thing is that I still firmly believe, and whether they do so or not, it doesn't change my belief that Sean Monahan is the best trade chip this team has right now, unless they put David Savard on the market, in which case, I think multiple teams would be very interested in getting him and would be willing to pay somewhat of a premium to get him.

But that's not clear. To me, that's even less clear that the Canadiens would be willing to do that and to remove his veteran presence from the young defense. I think they see benefits to having him around. Every young defenseman on that team looks up to David Savard in a significant way. I could see that. And plus, he has another year left, so there's no urgency I see there. So if you take him out of the mix, which from the Canadians, I would put him in the mix. But if he's not, then Sean Monahan has their best trade chip, and they have to use the trade deadline to acquire some assets in some in some way, because the one thing that I do know is that Canadian management, no matter what this team does, they know they're not all that close to what they want to become. They know that. So you have to have that knowledge while also recognizing what this current team is doing. So if they go on, let's say they play like 600 hockey over the next six weeks, let's say. Not likely. In fact, it's extremely unlikely. But let's say they do.

If you're King of Management, you can't just pooh-pooh that and say, well, we're not going to get blinded by this. We're just going to sell as much as we can. You can't do that. But in And in Annaman's case, especially with New hook coming back around that time, they could justify it. And I think they should justify it and find a way to get him to a playoff team. And honestly, if I were talking to Sean Monahan right now, I'd I think it'll be the best thing for you, too, for you to go to a playoff team, have a good playoff, and that'll get you the contract that you probably feel you deserve on July first.

Yeah, because the type of hockey in tight spaces, I think he would thrive in the playoff.

I think so, too. It'd be a waste for him to play on a non-playoff team.

Okay, so listen, let's move on because you mentioned earlier the three losses in a row in Carolina and then the two games in Florida. And then they won in Dallas. I just want to go back to that holidays trip because we could say You say that the level of stability that Martin St. Louis was able to get from his top nine, from his top three lines during that time, having a very, very effective first line that found a new gear that's got clear chemistry going on. Slavkowski, very often, one of the best forwards on the team night after night. Then you were saying you You need one more line. Obviously, the pressure is going to be on Monaghan now to do so because you got very limited goods behind. But the fact that they were looking for that consistency, they found it despite the win-loss record. But now, how far are they going to, or how close are they going to remain from that? In the next little while, with the current state of their forward group? Because they tried to play 11 forwards for a couple of games. They called up Emile Heinemann. He's going to be in uniform.

And I think that he's got a chance to do a forward what Jaden's Trouble did on defense.

Yeah, he does.

Start with maybe limited amount of minutes. But if he showcases himself properly, he'll be given the leeway to get more. But they'll need bodies and they'll need production because it's only been the Suzuki show, the Suzuki Line show for the past little while. Collectively, yes, they've been engaged. Yes, they've been in the games, and they played significant periods and all that stuff. But offensively, it's been almost a one-line team.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying is that Yes, it has. It's the one line that's been consistent. But if you go on a game-by-game basis, there was always one other line that was good. And that's what they need. What we've learned about this team is that they've bought into a certain forechecking philosophy. They are able to apply it, I would say on average, two-thirds of the time in their games. And oftentimes, those two words, wherever they fall in the game, are enough to keep them in games. And so if they can get that up to 80% of the time, 90% of the time, they give themselves a better chance of winning games. Because when they're on it, when they're in your face and they're taking away time and space and they're effective on the forecheck and they're not easy to get through the neutral zone against, they can be effective. Those are things that are not necessarily talent-based. The talent stuff for the lack of talent is the lack of scoring. And what are the Canadians doing this season? What is Martin St. Louis trying to do this season? He's trying to establish a baseline of how his team plays.

And he has said it in the past. It doesn't matter who's in the lineup or who's out of the lineup. The way we play doesn't change. In fact, I think he said it today. The fact that they're establishing something that resembles that somewhat consistently is an achievement, I think, for Martin Saint-Louis, and it's now going to be a challenge to maintain that and keep that going. But that's what this season is about, is establishing that identity, having these players that will be part of the future. So who's in the lineup right now who will be a part of that future, this theoretical, successful future that the Canadiens might or might not have? Slap, Obviously, the whole first line, Slap Suzuki, Caulfield. Maybe Alonin. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. So Gouly, maybe Barron, maybe Harris, maybe Strubel. I mean, it's But these are guys who are in the mix to be part of that. Even Matheson is in the mix to be part of that at that point. It's nine guys, but only three for sure.

Add Gouly to that.

Add Gouly, right. So four. But even if it's just those four, what's happening now in establishing the way they play, to have those four guys learning that and being effective at it and embracing it will help when the rest of the core guys arrive, whether that's via trade, whether that's via free agency, whether that's via health, when Doc is back, a New Hook is back, what have you, when Ryan Backer gets here, Hudson, or Mayu, or Jacky is back, that's going to help. Just spread that. I don't even know where I was going with that. I forget what the point was. But that's what I look at. When I look at the trip and the way the team is playing, whether they win or lose, that's what I look for, is are they playing a style that is recognizable game to game? I think right now for maybe the first time under Martin Saint-Louis, I think they are. And that's what they should be focused on.

When he talks about no matter who's in the lineup, we should be playing the same way game after game, I think it's really the influence of the Boston Bruins there. And you see it this year, even though Krejee and Bergeron have retired and they were the ultimate Boston Bruins, they're gone, and yet the brand remains, the effectiveness remains, and the Bruins have remained the Bruins. They've been replaced by other guys, and the wheel keeps turning, and yet the recipe is in place. You might change the ingredients a little bit, but the recipe is in place. That's what Matheo St. Louis is looking for.

That's an early There's a bit of Mardiism that he's dropped, where he used to say the train has to keep rolling, and the cars might change and whatever, but the train... So you need a locomotive on that train. The guys that are there now are potentially going to be that locomotive. For a long time in Boston, the locomotive was Patrice Bergeroll and David Krejee. Now it's Brad Marshan and Charlie McAvoy. But McAvoy had years under Bergeroll. Pasternack. These guys had years, and mainly Pasternack and McAvoy had years under the Marsha and Bergeroll, Krejee regime, Charra even, and they've just taken that over. In an ideal world, that's what you to establish. If you were looking for another example, like a team that Marty admires a lot is his Tampa Bay Lightning and the way they operate. Same deal. You have people come and go. You have some core elements that have been there for a very long time, and they know how the Tampa Bay Lightning want to play. The coach has been there for a very long time. So when people come in, they just slide in line and they just play that way, and that's all there is to it.

You don't have a choice. So that's He's trying to establish, and he's not even close to getting there, but at least that process is seemingly starting now. It hasn't really started until... Gosh, I would say it started when they lost in Boston.

Because it was a wake-up call and they were all so shaken away.

It was like an electroshock. Yeah, it was an electroshock. Really, since then, they've been Building up to the point where they have an identifiable identity to some extent. I don't want to overplay it because, listen, they're far from perfect. They're not even close to being perfect, but they do have some recognizable elements of their game that exist from game to game. It doesn't change drastically. And even against Buffalo, as I mentioned earlier, it's not as if that wasn't a total horror show, but it was the first game in a long time where they didn't have that as consistently as they did in the other games.

Okay, so that game against Buffalo, we saw for the second time that they were playing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. And I think that lately, during that trip and during the two games-It was the third time. That third time, yes. Yeah. So they had-It was Tampa, Dallas, and Buffalo. And then Buffalo. So that That group of seven defensemen, it seems as though the hierarchy has changed from before they left for that trip to how it is now. I mentioned Jaden Strooble earlier. The minutes, his usage has increased progressively, and now he's borderline top four defenseman. It's a little bit hidden in the fact that they were playing 7D recently. So you just look at identifying pairings in in different situations and how they're going to be... Usage also is factored by special teams, and Struble is not being used on special teams all that much or hardly at all. But as time on ice has increased, Barons has decreased, and Kovalevich, who a month ago was playing 20 minutes a night, is now Was top pair. He threatened to be scratched for the third time in the last six game. He's there 7D. Even in a situation where they had seven defensemen against the Sabers, there was a situation in the second period where he had the option to just chip the fuck out of his zone.

He tried to make a play. He turned the fuck over. The Saber spent quite a bit of time in the Canadian zone, and that ended his night. He did not play after that, didn't play at all in the third period. He knows it, and he knows that he's struggling. He remains confident, but he knows that he needs to be smart about the way that he manages the fuck. But he's back to being the Jonathan Covice Dabritsevitch that we had pictured originally as the ideal seventh guy. It's just that the guys in front of him now are different. You've got Strubel, you got Baran there. You don't have Jacky, who's still in Le Bal. So the whole picture has changed. And to me, it's all for the best because the Canadians have a better read on all those young defensemen that have turned pro, that are readily available to them. And I think that they'll be in a good position in the summer to say, Okay, off that group, which is the one guy or maybe the two guys that we can move and get some help somewhere else? And which are the ones that we're going to invest in heavily and go with in the future?

Yeah. And it makes the waiver The waiver situation, I think, is what... I think in an ideal world, they wouldn't have to make that call right now because you look at guys and sometimes guys just take longer. And sometimes it's okay to leave young guys in the age... Look at what the Red Wings are doing with Simon Edmondson. He seems to be a guy who should be in the NHL at this point, and they're slow playing it hard. I could see the Canadians doing that with Logan Mayu, for instance. He's taken a while, and he's just now starting to figure out the AHL at this point. You remember when he got cut, Martense Louie is like, would you bet- He thought he would play games in Montreal. Would Would you bet that he would play games in Montreal this year? I would. He very confidently said it, that we're going to see him at some point this season. But Logan Maillou is nowhere close to a call-up right now, and that's a good thing. I think the Canadians have made the decision that... And even, I'm going to send it today after practice, how Mitchell Stevens is a guy who can play a role, is a veteran guy, can do certain things that they need out of that role, and most importantly, and he slipped us in there, allows us to keep the young guys who are not quite ready yet in Laval.

Referring to a Joshua or a Sean Farrell or a Riley Kidney or what have you in terms of the forward position. But the Canadians have been pretty hell-bent from day one. Heinemann was always identified as a guy that was just on the cusp of the NHL. So he's, I think, an exception to this. But And I think Norlander is that guy, maybe on defense, if he's warranting a call-up, which I don't know if he is right now, but I think he would be that guy. They'd be comfortable bringing him up and having him on the fringes of the lineup or playing limited minutes or if they had to. But guys like Kua, Kidney, Farrell, Mayu, these are guys that they want to keep in Laval for this season, if It's not also next season. They want them to fully develop there.

You could add Trudeau maybe to that.

You could add Trudeau to that. I think he's in that grouping. All similar age. I mean, it's like, my age is 20. Jacky is going to be 23 at the end of the month, so he's a little older, and he's obviously not in that category. But I think the one caveat to that is look at Strubel. Strubel is the one example where the argument could be made that Strubel was not ready for the call-up. He looked at it by the way he was playing in LaVal, but you could have easily made the argument that Strubel is in that group of guys that we should keep in LaVal and let them marinate. And he gets called up. The NHL style actually suits him better somehow. And he's stealing chairs, left, right, and center. Marten was asked today, is Heinemann in a position to steal a chair? And he had a little grin on his face. He said, there's always room to steal a chair, and there's always opportunity. And the best line for him after practice on Friday that I found was that no coach cuts his bench in the first period. Everyone pretty much starts on equal footing.

It's up to you to force me to put you out there more. And so it's an interesting opportunity for in them in, but on defense, that's what Strubel did. It's literally that. What Martin said there, that's Jason Strubel. And the Canadiens, that's the issue I have with saying, We're going to identify this guy and that guy to get rid of. They could have identified. Honestly, two years ago, they could have identified Jason Strubel as the guy they could have traded. Did not look like an NHL prospect in his junior year in Northeastern, let's say. Yeah, but you need to test those guys.

You need to test those guys.

That's my whole point, is that they need to test those guys.

It's like saying, let's trade Lane Hudson while he's got the highest value, because you'll see, once he reaches the NHL, it won't be the same. Well, they'll want to make sure of that before they do anything with him or with Ryan Backer.

I think that same principle applies to Jordan Harris. That same principle applies to Jonathan Kovalevich. Even though Kovalevich is I'd maybe not apply to him as much, but Jordan Harris, to me, is the perfect example. I don't know what he can be. I don't think you know what he can be. I'm not sure the Canadians know what he can be. They should find out first, is what I'm saying. That's the point I'm trying to make in a very long-winded way, is that- That's not your style. No, that's it. But they need to find out first. So as long as they can push this... Yes, if you lose Gustave Lindstrom, not the end of the world. And even Kovalevich, to some extent, as great a guy as he is and as unique a player... A guy who's 6'5 and weighs 220 or whatever he does and has the tools that he has is a valuable guy, especially if you fashion yourself a playoff team. It's like it's... Guys like Kovalevich are valuable in the playouts.

And so-Head-hended shot.

Right shot, physical, heavy. Those are guys that playoff teams are after. And so this whole rush, this whole rush that everyone feels. Every time we solicit questions for anything. How many people ask, what's going to happen on defense? We have so many defensemen. When are we going to trade defensemen? There's no rush. And for a lot of these guys, if you choose to trade Jordan Harris, what do you think you're going to get in return? Because if the Canadian The Canadians don't know what he's going to be, I can sure as hell tell you that the Anaheim ducks don't know what he's going to be or the Colorado Avalanche don't know what he's going to be. They might have some idea, but no one knows better than the Canadians. It's worth letting it play out. The risk is that he loses some trade value in the process, but I don't know. I think that they're starting to know more about those players because they've got a sample size now.

But there's a misconception when you bring up the comments or questions we get from our listeners and they say, Well, what are they going to do? There's this misconception of they need to move someone in order to make room for somebody else who's coming. There's never a room, a place that's given to somebody, and you train Date somebody else so that the newly arrived king can sit on his throne. That doesn't happen, except for Kerry Price, when they traded Cristabaluet. But that's about the only time. Generally speaking, on a day-to-day basis, That's not what happens. The new kid, yeah, great. You come with full fanfare and everybody says great things about you. Now show us. Show us on the NHL level what you can do and steal the chairs.

Well, remember the last time management tried to force feed a young player on their coach? Yeah, on Farrell last year? The most entertaining part of last season was that. So, yeah, it's not everyone's Carlos Carlos Paine, to again make a money for reference.

Okay, you have to explain that one. Yeah, explain that one, please.

Where Billy B. Traded Carlos Paine because Ardha would not play Scott Hadberg at first base. So what he did is he traded regular first baseman and said, Now you got to play Scott Hadberg at first base. So that doesn't happen in real life. That made for a good scene in the movie, and that actually did happen in real life. But generally, general managers don't behave that way. By the end of the season, both David Reimbacher and Lane Hudson could potentially be in the greater Montreal area, let's say, if not in Montreal, but they could be somewhere in Laval or in Montreal, and they're going to get added to the mix. And everyone Everyone's aware of it. You know what? Listen, we were both in Laval on Tuesday, had a chance to speak to Jackai, and I spoke to Mayu about this, and he had what I thought was a really Good quote. I'm going to read it because in case you didn't read my story, which came out on Thursday. But his quote, I thought was really mature. And so he said, That's how we're going to get the best product on the ice. It's by pushing each other in practice every day.

I mean, that's how the league works. That's how hockey works. There's guys coming and fighting for jobs. You've got to take a job at the end of the day if you want to play in the NHL. And once you take that job, there's another guy coming behind you that wants to take it as well. So he knows that there's going to be a lot of competition for seats in the NHL. He knows that the Canadians are overloaded on defense. He's like, Bring it on. I am ready for that. I want to go and earn my spot. And if it's harder to get there, it'll only make us better. And that's the attitude that everyone has to have. It's on. When Ryan Backer and Hudson get into the organization, with Jacky doing what he's doing in LaVal, and I think our conversation with him, we spoke to him for 15 minutes, just the three of us, and he was clear-minded for the first time all season, probably, where I thought his perspective on what he's being asked to do in Laval, but having the assurance that management told him, You are a part of our future.

You're a part of what we're trying to build here, but we need you to work on these things, has given him that clarity. And so the The needs of, according to Arbër Jackai, sounds like they've identified him as a core piece. Why? Because of what we just mentioned with Kovalee Sevich earlier is that he is exactly the type of guy that teams that have playoff success can lean on. Big, mean, skilled guy who can move. They're rare.

I think he has a perfect understanding of his path and his situation. In that sense, the Waze quote from Martin St. Louis regarding Slavkowski perfectly applies to Jacky and Laval also.

Yeah. Should we tell our listeners what the Waze quote was? I could paraphrase it.

Yeah, because we never brought it. I remember we recorded an episode, and I think that Marty had said it the day before or that very same morning.

Yeah, we never brought it up.

Yeah, we never brought But listen, most people know what it...

But basically paraphrasing, Marty one day said, Hey, do you use Waze? So when Waze says it's going to take 35 minutes or X number of minutes to get somewhere, and then you start driving and an accident happens and a traffic jam pops up, what do you do? Do you turn around and you go home? Or do you find another way to get there? Waze is going to find you another way to get there. And eventually, you wind up getting there. You might not take the path that Waze laid out for you at the beginning, but you get there and you get through the obstacles along the way. So that was basically the analogy he used for Slavkowski. But yeah, you're right. It applies to all sorts of different people. Right now, Jackai is dealing with an unexpected traffic jam and dealing with it quite well. Just to be clear, that conversation, he felt really good in his skin. When he got to La Valley, he did not seem like a guy who was good in his skin.

He was shaken.

He was shaken, and he admitted it.

He didn't completely understood why he was there. No. He said, I didn't think I had arrived necessarily, but he didn't understand or picture what it was about his game that justified him being sent down. I think that as days pass and he sees what he's being asked to do in Laval. More and more, he's going, Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, fine. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do what's being asked of me, and then I'm going to go back up. But in that sense, he's never lost confidence in his ability. But I find that that's where the environment of the Laval Rocket is so good and so professional that guys, when they get there, they're like, Man, this is not the NHL, but it's really the next best thing. It's a very positive environment. He told us that Norlander and him, while they were on the bench during a game, at some point, Norlander said, Arbër, look around. They were playing a game in Laval. And he said, Listen to those fans here. Look at that atmosphere. Wherever we could be traded in hockey, we would not get the same experience, whether we're in Montreal at the NHL level or Laval at the AHL level.

The guys go play in Hersey, in Springfield, in Lehigh Valley, and man, it's dead compared to what they experience in Laval. There's an uplifting part to their development that makes the blow of being sent down or just doing time in the American League so much easier.

Jacky said he was looking around in Lehigh Valley. He's like, Are we playing in the same league? What is this place? And even Hersey, which has healthy crowds, he couldn't stop gushing about the atmosphere in La Val and somewhat the similarities between La Val and Hamilton, which is his hometown, a suburban or workman-like crowd. I don't think it's quite the same in terms of demographics with Hamilton and La Val, but what the reality is, is that LaVal is a more accessible arena where you get probably more of a diehard fan turnout. You have more kids in the crowd. It's just a more affordable evening. So you get more genuine fans and fewer Fewer business types, let's say, at the game, even though I think the atmosphere at the Bell Center is fantastic. But you do have a 10,000 seat arena that is often packed, and they just play two sold out games, their last two home games. Yeah, it helps for sure. And you just watch Arbujacki, even the practice that we watch, you just watch him on the ice and he's having fun. Guys are laughing. He's joking around with people. He's in a good place, but He can be in a good place knowing that he was given that assurance by management when they sent him down.

He literally told us his first thought when he was sent down was, holy shit. That was the first thing that went through my mind. He's like, you're just coming over that shoulder. He was like, what if I hurt my shoulder again down there? I'll never be back here. It was just dire things going through his head. But now he seems in a good place. If they can clean up the things that he needs to clean up, I'm like, you know.

Oh, he'll be back.

He'll be He is, I think, a core element of this team going forward. I really do think the Canadians view him that way.

It's funny because I asked Logan Mayu, who's obviously paired with Mayu in Laval. I said, Well, what has it meant to you to have Jacky next to you? So Arbër, here's my question. And he replies himself, I'm a father figure. From all of his 22 years old.

Yeah, he's two and a half years older than the guy, but he is. I mean, for Myuh, he is. That's reality. He's a guy who's-It's the NHL experience. Exactly. It's not about being 22. He's been in the show. He's not quite that, but he's the crash Davis on that team, giving the sense that he's been in the show. He's had his taste of the show, and he knows what it's like, what everyone's after over there. It was a great visit over there.

Speaking of kids that have not been to the show yet, let's wrap it up. We're Friday, so this is Future Friday. We thought of doing a quick roundup of the World Junior, which at this time of the recording just ended with the US beating Sweden for the host middle Host Sweden by a score of 6-2. The USA really ran away with the game in the third period with three unanswered goals. So the Canadians had four prospects in this tournament. Obviously, they had Owen Beck for Canada. They had Lane Hudson, obviously, for USA. They had Jacob Fowler, backup goalie who played three games, and Philipp Meshar, playing for Slovakia. So let's have just a quick look at how those guys fared. Overall, are you happy with how the Canadian prospects played during that tournament?

Yeah. I mean, if I were the Canadian, I'd be happy. I mean, Philipp Meshar was a big-time play driver and a leader on the Slovak team, along with several other guys. Dal Borja Vórskaj, I thought had a great tournament. But yeah, Meshar was really continued to show what he was showing, what he's been showing in Kisner since going down to the OHL. And really what seemed like a really dire situation at the beginning of the season with Meshar talking about the difficulties he had last year and everything after this tournament, and actually now it's going to be interesting what happens when he goes back, because this is the point of last season where Meshar's season went sideways, was on his return from the World Juniors is when things went south. But he plays on a very competitive rangers team. I don't think that's going to happen again. He's probably going to be able to draw on that experience to prevent it from happening again. So yes, Owen Beck, arguably Canada's most reliable forward. I mean, it's honestly like they had so many uneven performances throughout their lineup throughout the tournament. Beck seemed to be a guy that the coaching staff was trying to get out there against some of the top threats on every other team, which is It's going to be his identity.

I thought he played a very mature tournament. Jeff Marek reported yesterday he's on the verge of being traded to the Saginaw spirit in the OHL. So second year in a row that he's going to get traded to a playoff contending team. We'll see what that does for him. But yeah, I thought he had a good tournament. One of a few people on Team Canada who could say that. Maybe because the expectations were not quite as high.

Maclin Celbrini didn't have...

Maclin Celbrini, of course. But I think Owen Beck can say that because no one expected him to produce offensively and blow everyone's doors off offensively. He basically provided exactly what was expected of him. As far as the US guys, Lane Hudson was one of the top players on team USA, I thought it showed a more diverse game than we've seen from him in the past. Was not just the flash and dash version of Lane Hudson. I thought there was a lot more I guess maturity would be the word, but just a more solid sound game mixed in with some of the really flashy offensive skill he has. I guess the one guy The Canadians probably would have liked to see Jacob Fowler grab that starting job that he ultimately lost to Trey Augustine.

But I'm not sure.

That's nitpicking.

I think Augustine, being from the program, having been at the World Juniors before, he had a leg up.

He had a leg up for sure. No, Fowler had to vastly outperform him. But I don't know. I don't know how vastly he had to outperform. I think he had a shot. I think they went in there with an open mind. But if it was tied, then the tie to Augustine because of that. I think Fowler had an opportunity. It's not that he failed to seize it or anything, but he didn't win out in the end. And that's fine. There's nothing... I don't think he played poorly. Not necessarily. Definitely that shootout against- Chekia. Chekia, he was outstanding. That one save he made reaching his leg back. I mean, his competitiveness really showed in that instance. But But yeah, so all in all, I think, fine performance for all the Canadian guys that are there. They don't have that many of them. I think Seattle has seven guys in the tournament, if I'm not mistaken, and did not send Shane Wright, which could have been their eighth. But the guys they had there, I thought, did pretty well.

What I like about Lane Hudson, obviously, he was still very efficient in his transition game. We talked about prior to the tournament, the fact that he had a chance to break some records as a defenseman. It was far from it. In terms of production, I think that the Americans, even though they won the tournament, they didn't crush the high-end competition. They carried throughout the tournament the feeling that, Yeah, they're okay, but can they give us more? Because they were so stacked offensively. And part of the production that you could hope for from Hudson was the surroundings, the fact that overall, that group offensively was so deep, so talented that he would collect, assist, left, right, and center. So I think he finishes with six assists throughout the tournament. He didn't register a single point in that gold medal game against Sweden. But what's very interesting is the ice time. That's really striking. Prior to the gold medal game, he had played on average 23 minutes a game, played 25 against Finland, and close to 10 minutes in the third period against Finland that was the semifinal, and he was out there to protect the lead in the last few minutes of that game.

That's good. When you're Lane Hudson, if you're asked to be out there in a key situation to protect the lead, that You were talking about maturity in the game. That's a huge level of trust that's given to you by your head coach. So that's the sign that I really look upon favorably. And today against Sweden, after two periods, it was over 19 minutes. So once again, I don't know the third period, how it went, but it buzzed well because at that level, you can tell that he's a dominant and reliable in all situations type of defenseman.

So he did what he had to do. He played 27-20 in the final. He played nearly half the 27 to 20. He led the team a nice time. Just ahead of Chesley, his defense partner, who's at 25, 16. So still two minutes ahead.

He had 12 penalty minutes, just like that. Okay. I don't I don't know if it happened at the end of the game.

Yeah. So anyhow, it's 27, 20 in the gold medal game. What a goon. Yeah. What a goon that guy is. But it still showed... I mean, this is an element of him that big minute Muncher was not exactly his MO. It is at BU, but at this level hadn't been until now. So interesting to see that he could handle that. I don't think he'll ever do that in the NHL. He's never going to play 27 minutes in the NHL. Well, maybe he will. I don't want to say that, but interesting to see him play a game predicated on just being sound.

They're not going to I don't think room necessarily for him, but I'm really curious to see whose chair and which chair he's going to take. He's going to be given the possibility to do so because that level of skill is tantalizing.

Yes. And so this is like, Ken Hughes has said, When he seizes at BU, we'd like to sign him. And it goes back to, we were joking about the Sean Farrell thing earlier. What's going to happen if the Canadians are still somewhat competitive in March? Let's say they're four points out of a playoff spot or five points out of a playoff spot, and they're fighting to try and get back in the race. All of a sudden, Lane Hudson shows up, and they're like, We'd like this guy to get a game in. They're like, Really? We're doing this again? Brian Backer shows up. They're like, Oh, we'd like to get him in a game. It's like, Really? We're doing this again? Yeah. Okay. I thought I made it clear last time that I don't like this to be happening.

Would you agree, though, that Hudson and Reinback are a different level of prospects than Farrell?

Of course they are, but I think the principle remains the same. And so I think management would go to them. I think the management will go to them and say, Listen, we're taking these guys on. When you decide to put them in a game, put them in a game, but we'd like to get them in a game. It doesn't have to be this specific game, which is what they did with Farrell, but we'd like, When you feel it's appropriate, please make it sure that these guys get in the game. I think that's how they would do it if they had to do it again with Farrell. Instead of imposing that he play in that game in Philadelphia. They probably would have done it differently, I think. Retrospect, hindsight being as 2020 as it is. So now, if these two guys do show up at the end of their seasons, maybe it'll do it that way because I think they saw the consequences of doing it the way that they chose to do it.

Well, it was the first time that they were put in that situation. As a management group and involving Martin Saint-Louis in the discussion, and the decisions, too, it's just a way of doing things that needed to be defined. And I think that that episode helps.

Well, there's a division of labor, right? There's a division of labor, and And Marte accepts all the lineup or the roster decisions that are made and just deals with the roster he's given. Look, he finished the trip with 11 healthy forwards. They had to play 11-7 because the Canadians decide not to carry an extra forward on that trip because they can't, because there's three goalies on the roster, and because they have two extra defensemen. And the three extra players are right there. So that's out of Martin's control, but that's not his job. He understands that. But setting the lineup every night is his job. So once they stepped on that, he reacted, let's just say. Anyhow, I doubt they'll do it in the same manner, but it would be exciting to see one or both of these young guys come in and really start to break the pressure up again on this defense group and see where it can go because it's... Just to get back, I guess, to wrap it up, but with what we were talking about on defense, that's what the beauty of the Canadian situation is that I think clearly the defense is going to be the heart and soul of this team when it's good.

It's interesting to see the germination of that process starting now with this inner competition, but this helpful development, like Jackai helping Mayu develop in Laval, that could be... Who knows? I don't know who. Maybe Strubal next season starts in Laval because he doesn't continue on his track this year, and he helps arrive.

He might take a step back. Yeah.

Who could have guessed that Arbër Jacky would be in Laval right now, at this time last year? Was he healthy? Yeah, he was healthy at this time last year. No one could have foreseen Arbër Jackai being... And so that could happen with Strubal, and that could happen. And then maybe he'll be Playing with Ryan Backer in LaVal next year and helping him as the guy who had a season in the NHL and becomes a crash Davis on that team at that point. We'll see. But I think it's an exciting time for the organization as these guys, especially with the way that tournament Hudson just had. These guys are getting closer and closer to that point.

For sure. All right, let's wrap this up. Let us remind you guys that if you want to send us your questions for the Monday mailbag, you can do so by either tweeting us at Bessu and Godin, or you can send us an email at Bessuandgodin@gmail. Com. So Sometimes the emails make for a more in-depth question. You have time to make all the necessary nuances. So it's fun. And it's almost old-fashioned now to send an email.

It's crazy. It is. It is very old-fashioned. And I would say, though, if you do email a question, please put it in a length that makes it so that we can read it on the show. I love the longer questions, and we read them all. And the longer questions are It's great, but it forces us to edit your question. If you could not make it short, not make it like tweet length, but two or three paragraphs, if you can limit it to that so that we can actually read the whole thing on the air or on the show, I should say. And not be forced to edit out some parts of your question. That would be the one request on the email. But I do love... I prefer email because it is more detailed of a question, and usually the questions are better just because of that extra space. But we'll try and keep those emails a little readable, at least in the context of being read on the show.

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That's it. Let us tell you. Okay, so we'll be back on Monday. Thank you so much for being with us again. The Notebook is back after this little holidays hiatus. We're very happy to be back at the helm. Well, enjoy your weekend, everybody, and we'll talk to you on Monday. Bye-bye.