Best Remaining UFA Forward To Sign

[Ezpz]

Leino, Booth and Stempniak could be bargain bin guys. Winnik could be a decent option too but there's no untapped potential there, you're getting a third liner who should really be a fourth liner on a contender.

I'd be fine with a Koivu-Eller-Bourque third line.

 

[Whitesnake]

Pierre Lebrun suggest a newly motivated Heatley....Any takers?

Alfredsson would be cool too. Not sure productive...but cool.

 

[EveryDay]

The only player Bergevin should try to talk to is Steve Ott..... 1 year at 2M

 

[Vi Nc E x13x]

The only player Bergevin should try to talk to is Steve Ott..... 1 year at 2M

We have too many Bottom 6 players as is why sign another? The only spot thats a ?? is a 2nd line RW .. Which we wont get from UFA ,it will likely be a trade if they feel no one impresses at camp.

 

[Ezpz]

We have too many Bottom 6 players as is why sign another? The only spot thats a ?? is a 2nd line RW .. Which we wont get from UFA ,it will likely be a trade if they feel no one impresses at camp.

Parenteau is the second line RW, no clue why people keep saying that's our ??.

 

[Captain Mountain]

-I wouldn't mind bringing in Booth on a 1 year "show me contract".
-Alfy said its Detroit or retirement for him, so he's out.
-Not a guy on your list, but Santorelli may be a decent under the radar grab.
-Not a huge fan of his, but Penner has to have something left in the tank, right?

Everyone else out there is either flat out awful, not a reasonable fit or not necessarily better than who they have in Hamilton.

Mostly though, I'd rather MB look at the trade market or Hamilton.

 

[MrNasty]

Ott is the only one left I would consider. He is dominant at faceoffs like Malholtra; however he was brutal in St. Louis. They don't really need a another Centre though.

The Habs are really in need of a scoring power winger more than anything. I am also not convinced they are happy with their RD. They need another one of those considering how MB loves to have a lot of depth on defense.

 

[MXD]

At this point, there's pretty much only Alfreddson I'd target, and wouldn't go too high.

 

[Habaneros]

trades

 

[Tuggy]

There is nothing out there left for Montreal.

Any new players will be via trade.

 

[Kafka]

I have really liked what the Habs have done so far this off season. I do feel as if they do need to add one more winger though. I just do not feel that no rookies are ready yet for a full time role. I am not including Sekac in that comment.

Of these remaining UFAs who would you want to try out on a one year, low salary contract;

Winnik, Moss, D'Agostini, Legwand, Alfredsson, Heatley, Stempniak, Morrow, Ott, Roy, Booth, Halischuk, Setoguchi


Please do remember that injuries do happen and you can never have enough depth.

I would have prefer Ott over Malhotra, but both players aren't earning the same $.

To fill the short term gap on the RW, I would say give a 1 year contract to Alfredsson... but I doubt the guy would agree. Will either retire or go back with Detroit or Ottawa.

I feel Andreghetto or Sekac could fill that last winger spot on the top three lines in a year from here, but not at the beginning of this season.

Stempniak could also be a good solution... although he probably looks for a 3-4 years contract.

 

[Monctonscout]

I have really liked what the Habs have done so far this off season. I do feel as if they do need to add one more winger though. I just do not feel that no rookies are ready yet for a full time role. I am not including Sekac in that comment.

Of these remaining UFAs who would you want to try out on a one year, low salary contract;

Winnik, Moss, D'Agostini, Legwand, Alfredsson, Heatley, Stempniak, Morrow, Ott, Roy, Booth, Halischuk, Setoguchi


Please do remember that injuries do happen and you can never have enough depth.

I really like Ott, would move Bourque if I could get him, but I think we need a 2nd line RW...Vrbata would have fit perfectly.

Legwand would fit pretty good if he is willing to play RW.

Setogucchi is an undervalued asset, might be worth a cheap 1 year deal at 1.75-2 mil.

Alfredsson has back issues, not sure if he is worth the risk.

 

[Monctonscout]

I would have prefer Ott over Malhotra, but both players aren't earning the same $.

To fill the short term gap on the RW, I would say give a 1 year contract to Alfredsson... but I doubt the guy would agree. Will either retire or go back with Detroit or Ottawa.

I feel Andreghetto or Sekac could fill that last winger spot on the top three lines in a year from here, but not at the beginning of this season.

Stempniak could also be a good solution... although he probably looks for a 3-4 years contract.

I can't see Ott signing here to be a 4th liner. He probably wants top 9 minutes.

Pierre Lebrun suggest a newly motivated Heatley....Any takers?

Alfredsson would be cool too. Not sure productive...but cool.

Alfredsson has pretty serious back issues I think...

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index...roit-redwings+(Detroit+Red+Wings+-+MLive.com)

I wouldn't mind Heatley, but his foot speed is a question mark...

 

[Blind Gardien]

I wouldn't offer anybody more than a 1 year term, anyway. If there's a flyer to be taken on Setoguchi, Moss, Booth, whoever and they'll take 1-year term on the "show me" type of contract, it really can't hurt.

We have 1 "open" roster spot, in that filling it with a signing only bumps waiver-exempt prospects out, while still leaving 2 rookies on D. And it looks like we might have over $5M in cap space remaining. It's a "free player". Sometimes that helps if you hit injuries and need the depth, or sometimes it lets you trade depth for extra picks later on. Who knows. It's "free money" atm, though, so I don't think we should be reluctant to spend it... provided it's just a 1-year term with no future commitment or impact on the team.

 

[Monctonscout]

Parenteau is the second line RW, no clue why people keep saying that's our ??.

I think in order to compete with the "big boys" the Habs need 3 lines producing offense. Desharnais and Galchenyuk are playmakers on the 1st 2 lines, I would play Parenteau with Eller's line as main playmaker plus obviously with PP time.

 

[Monctonscout]

I wouldn't offer anybody more than a 1 year term, anyway. If there's a flyer to be taken on Setoguchi, Moss, Booth, whoever and they'll take 1-year term on the "show me" type of contract, it really can't hurt.

We have 1 "open" roster spot, in that filling it with a signing only bumps waiver-exempt prospects out, while still leaving 2 rookies on D. And it looks like we might have over $5M in cap space remaining. It's a "free player". Sometimes that helps if you hit injuries and need the depth, or sometimes it lets you trade depth for extra picks later on. Who knows. It's "free money" atm, though, so I don't think we should be reluctant to spend it... provided it's just a 1-year term with no future commitment or impact on the team.

I think we'll have more than 5 mil available after Budaj(can't see them moving or losing Tokarski for nothing) and Moen(he has no seat on the bus right now), that frees up around 2.5 mil more.

I doubt MB dumped Gorges' salary just to go through the season with 7 mil under the cap, either he had a UFA in mind that he missed on(Iginla?) or a trade lined up...Sharp? Kane? Marleau?

 

[Natey]

I'd take a chance on Whitney.

Santorelli is a good player too.

 

[Miller Time]

Moss, booth or Seto on a 1-year "flyer" would all make sense...

I'm pretty sure Heatley is done, but on the other hand, if we are going with another season of a DD-led "first" line that plays soft-minutes with heavy offensive-zone starts, he might actually be a decent fit on that line... question of wether he is done mentally, or if he has the kind of summer where he re-dedicates him to the profession.

would not be the first highly talented player who has a mini-career resurgence after hitting a career-low season well before he should have given his talent.

i'd be ok with any of the 4 on a 1-year deal to play on Patches-DD wing.

Patches - DD - Booth/Seto/Moss/Heatley
Bourque - Pleks - Pap
Galch - Eller - Gally

 

[WeThreeKings]

They want character guys.. Heatley is devoid of character. No, a thousand times no.

 

[HABIMUS-MAXIMUS]

Peter Mueller????

Right winger.....read that he is in Switzerland......Has everyone given up on this guy?......too much concussed? Maybe give him a chance for cheap$$$$

 

[Uber Coca]

LOL at the Heatley and Setoguchi talk. The point is to get rid of deadwood.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

At this point, I think I'm going after Stempniak or Setoguchi for the 3rd line. I'd rather just have a full lineup when training camp comes, and then, you deal Bourque if he doesn't look ready and/or if a rookie outplays him.

I still feel like we have a hole on our top-9, and a guy like Stempniak or Setoguchi, while not overly productive, would probably sign on 1 year deals for not too much, and would be a good complement to Eller and Bourque.

 

[Miller Time]

They want character guys.. Heatley is devoid of character. No, a thousand times no.

meh, no less a "character" guy than Mike Richards or Patty Kane.

and besides, if they were so deadset on character, do you really think Gorges gets dealt or Gionta walks so easily?

character is a piece of the puzzle, one they publicly talk about, but in building their actual roster "fit" and "need" are much more the name of the game.

not too mention how badly they whiffed on assessing Subban's character 2 years ago... not sure i'd trust MB's character filter after that one.

 

[Monctonscout]

LOL at the Heatley and Setoguchi talk. The point is to get rid of deadwood.

Contrary to what you seem to think, players sometimes have a nice resurgence with a change of team/atmosphere. Those guys have had past success, low risk, high reward gamble.

 

[TennisMenace]

With Vrbata off the market the Habs are done with this crop of UFAs.

Bergevin will have to go the trade route to add a top six winger at some point - maybe not 'til the trade deadline.

This.

No reason to add a mediocre declining player just to say we did.

I think there are still teams who may want to unload salary for cap purposes who we may be able to snag. This won't happen until preseason or more probably trading deadline. I think we all learned something about the Vanek trade.

I noticed six teams very strapped up against the cap that probably will have to unload some salary just to sign their RFA. I believe a deal can be made somewhere.