Your UFA targets in order of Priority?

[Habs Halifax]

List your top 5 UFA targets in order of priority? Provide your max term/AAV you would offer each of them

Ferland (Turns 27 Apr 20)
Hayes (Turns 27 May 8)
Skinner (Turns 27 May 16)
Dzingel (Turns 28 Mar 09, 2020)
Nelson (Turns 28 Oct 15)
Panarin (Turns 28 Oct 30)
Duchene (Turns 29 Jan 16, 2020)
Eberle (Turns 29 May 15)
Karlsson (Turns 29 May 31)
Lee (Turns 29 Jul 3)
Gardiner (Turns 29 Jul 4)
Johansson (Turns 29 Oct 6)
Nyquist (Turns 30 Sep 1)
Simmonds (Turns 31 Aug 26)
Zuccarello (Turns 32 Sep 1)
Edler (Turns 33 Apr 21)

Click to read more...

 

[WeThreeKings]

I'm not gonna put my max offer on them because I'm not gonna pretend to know what it would cost.. just that I would bid until I could get any of the following in this order:

Karlsson. Then immediately trade Shea Weber or Jeff Petry.
Panarin.
Duchene. Immediately trading Danault for help on LD.

 

[Habs Halifax]

1) Panarin (7 years at $9.5M)
2) Karlsson (7 years at $11.5M)
3) Duchene (7 years at $9M)
4) Hayes (5 years at $7M)
5) Skinner (7 years at $8M)
6) Edler (2 years at $5.75M)

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm not gonna put my max offer on them because I'm not gonna pretend to know what it would cost.. just that I would bid until I could get any of the following in this order:

Karlsson. Then immediately trade Shea Weber or Jeff Petry.
Panarin.
Duchene. Immediately trading Danault for help on LD.

I'm close to this as well. I have Panarin 1 and Karlsson 2. I would certainly talk to Petry to see if he would be OK with trying out the LD side.

Petry / Karlsson
Mete / Weber
Kulak / Juulsen

Honestly, I think Duchene is our best shot in terms of him wanting to play for Montreal.

Domi / Duchene / Shaw
Tatar / Danault / Gallagher
Drouin / Kotkaniemi / Armia
Lehkonen / Poehling / Byron

 

[sandviper]

I don't know costs yet since it hasn't been established but yeah, ~11m for Karlsson to ~9.5 for Panarin sounds right.

That said, I will say who I would target in order:

Karlsson
Karlsson
Karlsson

In seriousness, Karlsson would be my big fish. Figure out what to do with Weber or Petry after.

After that, plan B would be:

Panarin
Duchene

To me, there is a drop after that. Hayes is certainly an option but I wouldn't be too broken up if we lay off UFAs if Karlsson, Panarin and Duchene all say no.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don't know costs yet since it hasn't been established but yeah, ~11m for Karlsson to ~9.5 for Panarin sounds right.

That said, I will say who I would target in order:

Karlsson
Karlsson
Karlsson

In seriousness, Karlsson would be my big fish. Figure out what to do with Weber or Petry after.

After that, plan B would be:

Panarin
Duchene

To me, there is a drop after that. Hayes is certainly an option but I wouldn't be too broken up if we lay off UFAs if Karlsson, Panarin and Duchene all say no.

I wonder if we could talk to both Methot and Karlsson and reunite them? Then move Petry for a grade A prospect at LD.

 

[sandviper]

I wonder if we could talk to both Methot and Karlsson and reunite them? Then move Petry for a grade A prospect at LD.

Honestly, I'd just stop at Karlsson. Methot is ok but to me, he isn't anything too special. I'd rather play Karlsson and Weber together despite both being righties than to spend cap money on Methot.

Moving Petry would still be on my to-do-list though if we get Karlsson.

 

[CDN24]

List your top 5 UFA targets in order of priority? Provide your max term/AAV you would offer each of them

Panarin (26)
Skinner (26)
Hayes (26)
Nelson (26)
Duchene (27)
Johansson (27)
Gardiner (27)
Lee (27)
Karlsson (28)
Eberle (28)
Nyquist (28)
Simmonds (29)
Zuccarello (30)
Edler (32)
Methot (33)

Some of your ages are off Panarin is 27, duchense is 28 karlsson turns 29 next month.

I am not a fan of Duchene despite what he is doing right now- saw to much of lazy unispired defensively Duchene here in ottawa. Would love Panarin but doubt we are on his radar, I think the one that we should target if he gets to free agency is lee. probably can be had for less $$ than some of the big names as well.

On D it has to be LD and that is gardiner- ouch lots of risks there 6 years /6M. More dollars on 4 year term.
Karlsson won't get 11M anymore IMO. Season has been so so. Playoffs- great offensively but he has been on for more goals against than Martain jones. SJ 10 Ga and Karlsson has been on for 9 of them. To high risk for Claude.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Some of your ages are off Panarin is 27, duchense is 28 karlsson turns 29 next month.

I am not a fan of Duchene despite what he is doing right now- saw to much of lazy unispired defensively Duchene here in ottawa. Would love Panarin but doubt we are on his radar, I think the one that we should target if he gets to free agency is lee. probably can be had for less $$ than some of the big names as well.

On D it has to be LD and that is gardiner- ouch lots of risks there 6 years /6M. More dollars on 4 year term.
Karlsson won't get 11M anymore IMO. Season has been so so. Playoffs- great offensively but he has been on for more goals against than Martain jones. SJ 10 Ga and Karlsson has been on for 9 of them. To high risk for Claude.

Ages are close enough. I was using the cap friendly UFA list and just showed the ages they showed.

Duchene. Here is the problem. I don't think anybody thinks he turns us into a contender over night. If you want to be picky, keep your cap space and let it sit doing nothing, Does this make it a better situation? We can't force UFA's to sign for the deal we want. We will have to overpay. Duchene has great skating and blends into our style of play. He is a addition to our top 6 and he can play either wing or center. I'm not buying this Duchene is lazy or is cancer propaganda. I rather add him than do nothing with our cap space. If you feel there are better options, then that is fair. But if you feel the better option is Nyquist, Johansson, Eberle, Lee, or Simmonds, I disagree.

Gardiner. I'd be interested but doubt he wants to play for Montreal and he will have a few offers. Also, I'm only interested in a short term deal cause I don't know how good he is when he changes his team. His increased point production is tied to when the Leafs inserted their 3 young guns. Buyer beware on him big time! Honestly, I rather sign Edler on a short team deal at $6M vs a longer term deal with Gardiner

Karlsson will get paid. Some team will be stepping up. I hope you are right in terms of his AAV coming down cause that means when we offer him $11.5M, it's the best offer and he seriously considers us. I don't believe he comes to the Habs on a fair deal to us... forget about that

 

[417]

Ages are close enough. I was using the cap friendly UFA list and just showed the ages they showed.

Duchene. Here is the problem. I don't think anybody thinks he turns us into a contender over night. If you want to be picky, keep your cap space and let it sit doing nothing, Does this make it a better situation? We can't force UFA's to sign for the deal we want. We will have to overpay. Duchene has great skating and blends into our style of play. He is a addition to our top 6 and he can play either wing or center. I'm not buying this Duchene is lazy or is cancer propaganda. I rather add him than do nothing with our cap space. If you feel there are better options, then that is fair. But if you feel the better option is Nyquist, Johansson, Eberle, Lee, or Simmonds, I disagree.

Gardiner. I'd be interested but doubt he wants to play for Montreal and he will have a few offers. Also, I'm only interested in a short term deal cause I don't know how good he is when he changes his team. His increased point production is tied to when the Leafs inserted their 3 young guns. Buyer beware on him big time! Honestly, I rather sign Edler on a short team deal at $6M vs a longer term deal with Gardiner

Karlsson will get paid. Some team will be stepping up. I hope you are right in terms of his AAV coming down cause that means when we offer him $11.5M, it's the best offer and he seriously considers us. I don't believe he comes to the Habs on a fair deal to us... forget about that

Duchene checks off a lot of boxes for the Habs...you could sign him, shift Domi to the wing and I think you'd be fine.

Problem is, for the money it's going to cost to sign Duchene....only to have CJ use him in a reduced role because we know no other C on this team is going to get more icetime then Danault (and that's no offense to Danault), makes no sense to me.

If you're going to sign Duchene, then the coach needs to change the way he matches up with teams...i'm not sure he's going to do that.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Cap Space is pretty high on my list. UFAs are buyer beware.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Duchene checks off a lot of boxes for the Habs...you could sign him, shift Domi to the wing and I think you'd be fine.

Problem is, for the money it's going to cost to sign Duchene....only to have CJ use him in a reduced role because we know no other C on this team is going to get more icetime then Danault (and that's no offense to Danault), makes no sense to me.

If you're going to sign Duchene, then the coach needs to change the way he matches up with teams...i'm not sure he's going to do that.

I think Julien gives Duchene more ice time if he proves to be trusted at all ends of the ice like Danault is. However, I think if we sign Duchene, he is considered a center/winger option with Domi. I don't care about who is listed as the "1st line" or who gets move ice time vs others. I trust Julien on this and the strategy they want to play in front of price and based on our team strength.

If we added Duchene, I think he slots in well with Danault as our top 2 centers. Let Poehling and Kotkaniemi earn their top 2 spots in terms of play on the ice in the coming years. this would be a great situation cause both Domi and Duchene can play either wing or center and opens up options for us.

Tatar / Danault / Gallagher
Domi / Duchene / Shaw
Drouin / Kotkaniemi / Armia
Lehkonen / Poehling / Byron
Weal, Peca, Weise, Deslauriers

 

[Justin11]

Duchene is the only big name we have a realistic chance of signing. If the CBJ go deep, this might change?
Karlsson would be nice, but would he would even consider signing with the Habs...

 

[417]

I think Julien gives Duchene more ice time if he proves to be trusted at all ends of the ice like Danault is. However, I think if we sign Duchene, he is considered a center/winger option with Domi. I don't care about who is listed as the "1st line" or who gets move ice time vs others. I trust Julien on this and the strategy they want to play in front of price and based on our team strength.

If we added Duchene, I think he slots in well with Danault as our top 2 centers. Let Poehling and Kotkaniemi earn their top 2 spots in terms of play on the ice in the coming years. this would be a great situation cause both Domi and Duchene can play either wing or center and opens up options for us.

Tatar / Danault / Gallagher
Domi / Duchene / Shaw
Drouin / Kotkaniemi / Armia
Lehkonen / Poehling / Byron
Weal, Peca, Weise, Deslauriers

Spending 8M per year or whatever it's going to cost to lock down Duchene, is appealing to me, but not if he's going to play 15 mins a game because CJ is constantly chasing his opponents by playing Danault against top lines.

Habs need to eventually get to a point where a guy like Danault, whose a very good player, is centering their 3rd line. Habs have to get to a point where they are dictating the pace and match up of a particular game, not the other way around.

I just don't think that's in the DNA of a coach like CJ who is consistently in "prevent" mode.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Honestly, I'd just stop at Karlsson. Methot is ok but to me, he isn't anything too special. I'd rather play Karlsson and Weber together despite both being righties than to spend cap money on Methot.

Moving Petry would still be on my to-do-list though if we get Karlsson.

If Karlsson signs with us, I'd go with this and see how the beginning of the season goes.

Petry / Karlsson
Mete / Weber
Kulak / Juulsen

* Karlsson plays with Weber on the PP and Petry plays 2nd PP unit. Once we see how Karlsson fits our team and how Petry performs on the LD side, I'd consider moving Petry in a 1/1 player deal before the deadline.

 

[jaffy27]

Nelson (Max Contract)
Panarin (Max Contract)
Karlsson (Max Contract)
Hayes (6yrs)
Edler (5yrs)

 

[Habs Halifax]

Spending 8M per year or whatever it's going to cost to lock down Duchene, is appealing to me, but not if he's going to play 15 mins a game because CJ is constantly chasing his opponents by playing Danault against top lines.

Habs need to eventually get to a point where a guy like Danault, whose a very good player, is centering their 3rd line. Habs have to get to a point where they are dictating the pace and match up of a particular game, not the other way around.

I just don't think that's in the DNA of a coach like CJ who is consistently in "prevent" mode.

I'm not going to limit who we target cause we have Julien as our coach. Go get Duchene and fit him in our top 6 role which we will do (with Julien or not).

Danault lacks offensive ability but that kid has earned his spot and is trusted at both ends. Lets the other centers earn their ice time over him. I have no problem with this and for now, I'm sticking with the Tatar / Danault / Gallagher line. Wouldn't it be nice to have them as the actual 3rd line in a few years from now? I think so.

 

[417]

I'm not going to limit who we target cause we have Julien as our coach. Go get Duchene and fit him in our top 6 role which we will do (with Julien or not).

It's not about limiting...a player you're targeting, especially a UFA...the coach and his system and how he's going to use the player HAS to be a consideration for the coach, because it's obviously one for the player.

I mean, that goes without saying.

Again, if you're going to invest the kind of money it's going to cost to sign Duchene...only to play him 14-15 mins a game because the coach is afraid of matchups. It's almost guaranteed to be a bad signing.

Danault lacks offensive ability but that kid has earned his spot and is trusted at both ends. Lets the other centers earn their ice time over him. I have no problem with this and for now, I'm sticking with the Tatar / Danault / Gallagher line. Wouldn't it be nice to have them as the actual 3rd line in a few years from now? I think so.

I have no issues with Danault, I think he's criminally underrated by fans here...so that's not what i'm saying.

He's a very good player, but he's limited...i'm just not sure CJ sees it that way.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I wonder if we could talk to both Methot and Karlsson and reunite them? Then move Petry for a grade A prospect at LD.

Methot is done.

 

[Deebs]

List your top 5 UFA targets in order of priority? Provide your max term/AAV you would offer each of them

Panarin (26)
Skinner (26)
Hayes (26)
Nelson (26)
Duchene (27)
Johansson (27)
Gardiner (27)
Lee (27)
Karlsson (28)
Eberle (28)
Nyquist (28)
Simmonds (29)
Zuccarello (30)
Edler (32)
Methot (33)

From this list the only players I'd make a serious run at would be...

Panarin 7/$10M aav
Duchene 7/$8.5M aav


However, we land neither. Panarin wants to play in the States and I don't think Duchene wants to deal with the brutal Montreal media and unforgiving fanbase

 

[thegoalie39]

Nelson (Max Contract)
Panarin (Max Contract)
Karlsson (Max Contract)
Hayes (6yrs)
Edler (5yrs)

7 years to Brock Nelson ....5 years to Edler ....i thought Bergevin was a terrible GM.

 

[jaffy27]

7 years to Brock Nelson ....5 years to Edler ....i thought Bergevin was a terrible GM.

My feelings are hurt

Funny......I don’t see your list on the page??

 

[Vachon23]

Jordan Eberle 4 x 5

Alexander Edler: 3 x 6

 

[ArtPeur]

Realistically, I don't believe we'll be able to sign Duchene, Karlsson or Panerin. So...

1.5 Gustav Mi-Cuisse: 5 years, 5.5-6M$/y
1.5 Jeff Skinner: 6 years, 6.5M$
1. Jake Gardiner: 5 years, 5.5-6M$/y
4. Alex Edler: 3 years, 5.5-6M$/y
5. Niklas Kronwall: 1 year, 2M$ (if most of our depth walks, like Benn or Folin)
6. Brian Boyle: 3 years, 3M$/y (would be a 4th liner but likely our best too)

Let's say...

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Nyquist - Domi - Shaw
Drouin - Kotka - Armia
Byron - Boyle - Weal
Extra: Lehkonen, Poehling, Peca, Hudon

Gardiner - Weber
Edler - Petry
Kulak - Benn
Extra: Mete, Juulsen, Reilly

maybe, maybe not. I don't think we'll be able to sign any of these neither anyway. Maybe Mi-Cuisse.

 

[thegoalie39]

My feelings are hurt

Funny......I don’t see your list on the page??

First of all why would anyone think the inept buffoon Bergevin is going to land any top free agents going into year number 8 ....he has landed ...ZERO...in his first 7 years....and i would rather make trades than sign free agents other than Karlsson if he wants to play here you sign him.