Proposal: Free Agency Thread

[HabsForHire]

Lavoie Dreger Denis all said that it’s not happening... I this we should start to think more about Duchene then Karlsson

Id rather duchene anyways

 

[loudi94]

 

[webersshot]

We should offer sheet Marner and make an offer to Gardiner at the same time. Get one, get both or just f*** the leafs over

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Dreger talked to "some people" could they be anymore vague ? I still believe he takes a long look at montreal. Have faith people !

Dreger special...

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

We should offer sheet Marner and make an offer to Gardiner at the same time. Get one, get both or just **** the leafs over

Leafs will laugh as us if we take Gardiner for 6-7m for 6-7 years. Hes going UFA leafs dont care if he go play for the habs.
And giving 4 1st pick to TOR would f*** us over not them. So they would f*** us twice.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Leafs will laugh as us if we take Gardiner for 6-7m for 6-7 years. Hes going UFA leafs dont care if he go play for the habs.
And giving 4 1st pick to TOR would **** us over not them. So they would **** us twice.

It's okay... we're going to get EK for 11.

 

[Kotkaniemi15]

Nothing changed from last week. We're not getting Karlsson and we are among the favourites for Duchene.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

It's okay... we're going to get EK for 11.

expect Mike Reilly instead

 

[Miller Time]

Are you saying we didn't give Drouin full reign? What do you call sticking with him at center for a whole year. He's had 1st line duties & full PP time since day 1 in Montreal. And if you want to compare how they started the NHL, they were arguably similar in their rookie/sophmore years, but the major difference is Kessel got better year over year, with Drouin it's almost the opposite, the only difference between now and his rookie year and now is he's been getting lots of PP. He hasn't actually gotten better in his first 4 years, which is why expecting him to suddenly break out is unlikely.

And for the record, I don't think there is a roster fit that would allow him to shine and the team to do well. What we can hope to do is make him shine at the expense of the team in order to "trick" a GM into thinking Drouin is actually a good player.

Kessel, who was a year younger, did better offensively in his last year with Boston (playing with a talented Bruins top 6) & then went to Toronto where he played leading minutes, despite their futility & his defensive issues.

Drouin was basically on pace, playing with TB, then came here & spent 1 year out of position (can you imagine Kessel getting thrown at C lol), then saw his minutes slashed in year two .... Deservedly so, sure, but that's a far cry from how Kessel was treated despite his major flaws & the laffs struggles (understandably so given the ransom Burke gave up for him).

Kessel gets his wish: Better linemates

Can you imagine how MB would have responded to Drouin saying the same things publicly (vs Burke's comments in response to Kessel, who was on pace for 55pts, in year 5, at the time).

Put Drouin on a team where the coach can't easily demote him to bottom line role & minutes, which he experienced this year (yet still matched career best pt total), and the GM is actively committing to getting him complementary talent, and i suspect you could add at least another 5-10pts to his stat line, which would have kept him right near Kessel's 5th year output...

2010-11

Toronto

NHL

82

32

32

64

-20

24

12

1

6

19:38

325

0.78

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

2009-10	Toronto	NHL	70	30	25	55	-8	21	8	0	5	19:32	297	0.79
2008-09	Boston	NHL	70	36	24	60	23	16	8	0	6	16:33	232	0.86
2007-08	Boston	NHL	82	19	18	37	-6	28	5	0	3	15:13	213	0.45
2006-07	Boston	NHL	70	11	18	29	-12	12	1	0	0	14:04	170	0.41

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

2018-19	Montreal	NHL	81	18	35	53	-8	26	3	0	3	16:56	190	0.65
2017-18	Montreal	NHL	77	13	33	46	-28	30	4	0	4	17:36	164	0.60
2016-17	Tampa Bay	NHL	73	21	32	53	-13	16	9	0	6	17:42	183	0.73
2015-16	Tampa Bay	NHL	21	4	6	10	1	4	0	0	1	14:26	25	0.48
2014-15	Tampa Bay	NHL	70	4	28	32	3	34	3	0	0	13:14	76	0.46

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

And to be clear, I'm not advocating that we give Drouin the Kessel treatment... We're trying to improve, not save face (I hope).

But as frustrating a player he is, the talent and ability to put up points are clearly there.

Avalanche, Jets, Oilers, Sharks, Devils... And on and on.... There is no shortage of teams that have the kind of sniper talent that Drouin is perfectly suited for.

Our problem (as far as maximizing Drouin's talent) is that our top offensive talents (Domi, Tatar, JKO) are more playmakers than snipers, and our top goal scorer is more grinder/dirty area goal scorer than pure sniper.

 

[Mrb1p]

Offersheeting Marner
Signing Karlsson
Signing Duchene/Nyquist/Dzingel

Trade away Drouin
Trade away Petry
Trade away Danault
Trade away Byron
16M+12M Gives us Marner+Karlsson+Dzingel/Duchene and well be up to the cap but at least well be f***ing competing hard.

Then when we need to sign shit we trade Weber.

 

[Jpageman]

Imagine if Bergy makes a trade for Chicago’s first round pick and signs Karlsson!??

In 2 years we would have one of the best if not the best defense in the league

Byram - Karlson
Romanov - Weber
Mete - Juulsen/Brooks

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Imagine if Bergy makes a trade for Chicago’s first round pick and signs Karlsson!??

In 2 years we would have one of the best if not the best defense in the league

Byram - Karlson
Romanov - Weber
Mete - Juulsen/Brooks

That's assuming Byram pans out and quickly. Romanov comes over and pans out. Juulsen gets better/Brook pans out. Karlsson's injury doesn't effect him and Weber doesn't hit a major decline.

 

[Kwikwi]

Something around Petry and good + to detroit (hometown) for Anathesiou/Mantha

After signing EK

That would be epic

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Well it was fun while it lasted.

Yeah because Dreger has a sound track record lol.

 

[Scintillating10]

I don’t know where you’re getting your information but it’s either wrong or you’re exaggerating like crazy. The only major injury he’s ever had was when a skate severed his Achilles’ tendon in 2013. Since that, he won the Norris in 2015, won best D at the Ilympics, was an All Star multiple times and took Ottawa to the ECF almost single handedly. He’s also played almost every full season except this last one where he had a groin pull which is not a chronic issue and the last season when he took personal days after his wife had a miscarriage and they had a very difficult year not to mention Hoffman’s gf cyber bullying her through.

Fact is Karlsson doesn’t have a history of injury. He had his Achilles’ tendon sliced years ago and has shown no issues since he came back and continued to dominate at his usual rate. When a guy like Karlsson becomes available, you take him. Sure there’s a risk to signing a player long term to big money but that’s the case with every long term contract. It’s the cost of doing business and we’ll never get anywhere if we balk at signing large contracts for elite players and Karlsson is as elite a player that there is in the NHL.

That’s not a red flag, that’s cold feet.

No, 11 million per too much for me. Karlsson clearly too much risk. I wouldn't do it.

 

[Guns n Roses]

I don't think there is any evidence to that opinion.

Both have had serious questions about their training diligence.

Kessel gets picked on because of his body type, but he’s very fast and a hard worker. He’s not the CheeseBurglar like many people/haters call him. He had 82 points last season, you don’t go PPG for a full season without working hard out there. If Drouin would have worked harder out there we would have made the playoffs.

 

[26Mats]

Kessel gets picked on because of his body type, but he’s very fast and a hard worker. He’s not the CheeseBurglar like many people/haters call him. He had 82 points last season, you don’t go PPG for a full season without working hard out there. If Drouin would have worked harder out there we would have made the playoffs.

but what will he be like at 33, 34, 35?

That's when it tends to show up most for athletes that didn't keep in tip top shape from early on in their career.

 

[Guns n Roses]

Try 7 11. That’s what it will be. Subban is half the player and is 9. I’d pay ek 11 no probs.

Apparently his options are Montreal or Ottawa. The Sens offered him 8 x 10, and we are one year removed from that. If he’s willing to go back to Ottawa that means he’s willing to take 10 million x 7 years from them.. Montreal is a much better destination for him and gives him a legitimate chance at a cup in the Price/Weber window. If he’s reasonable, he’ll take the 10 million and let Price retain the title of highest paid Hab.

 

[Miller Time]

Kessel gets picked on because of his body type, but he’s very fast and a hard worker. He’s not the CheeseBurglar like many people/haters call him. He had 82 points last season, you don’t go PPG for a full season without working hard out there. If Drouin would have worked harder out there we would have made the playoffs.

From the horses mouth as they say...

Kessel: 'I skated 10 times maybe all summer' - Sportsnet.ca

Drouin has more career points than 22 of the 30 players drafted in 1st round his year... Does that mean hes worked harder than them?

Kessel's point production is not causally related to his work ethic, nor is Drouin's. JD's perimeter play & all too frequenr lack of effort is very reminiscent of Kessel's days in TO.

But anyways, you don't see the similarities, power to you, agree to disagree.

I'm sure we can both agree that the best case scenario for the Habs is to ship Drouin out for the best possible return we can get, no?

 

[The Great Weal]

Kessel silenced the critics with his playoff performances. Drouin turned into a liability when we needed him the most.

 

[Guns n Roses]

but what will he be like at 33, 34, 35?

That's when it tends to show up most for athletes that didn't keep in tip top shape from early on in their career.

Kessel is in tip top shape, you don’t go PPG if you’re not. He only looks out of shape, mainly because of his head and neck. He’s been stereotyped, not fair.

 

[Guns n Roses]

From the horses mouth as they say...

Kessel: 'I skated 10 times maybe all summer' - Sportsnet.ca

Drouin has more career points than 22 of the 30 players drafted in 1st round his year... Does that mean hes worked harder than them?

Kessel's point production is not causally related to his work ethic, nor is Drouin's. JD's perimeter play & all too frequenr lack of effort is very reminiscent of Kessel's days in TO.

But anyways, you don't see the similarities, power to you, agree to disagree.

I'm sure we can both agree that the best case scenario for the Habs is to ship Drouin out for the best possible return we can get, no?

Sorry but I don’t see any similarities in the two players.

Semin - Drouin, yes I can see it
Yashin - Drouin, yes I can see it
Nylander - Drouin, same player, Drouin is less skilled.

And yes, please, let’s ship him out ASAP for the best possible return.

 

[The Great Weal]

Sorry but I don’t see any similarities in the two players.

Semin - Drouin, yes I can see it
Yashin - Drouin, yes I can see it
Nylander - Drouin, same player, Drouin is less skilled.

And yes, please, let’s ship him out ASAP for the best possible return.

I don't know if Nylander is more skilled than Drouin. He's more expensive and barely outproduced him despite playing with an elite centerman and outstanding offensive cast.

 

[Dominator13]

Nothing changed from last week. We're not getting Karlsson and we are among the favourites for Duchene.

Ah yes.. It's that time of the year where everyone pretends they're insiders.

You can't affirm anything.

 

[le_sean]

If Skinner actually clocks in at $9 million, the best course of action is to go all in on Karlsson (priority #1) and Panarin (priority #2) only. After they undoubtedly strike out on Panarin, walk away from UFA forwards and just hope for some progress from within.

Guys like Skinner and Duchene just don't tilt the ice enough to command this kind of money, cap inflation or not. And I'm a big Duchene fan.

EDIT: I wouldn't cry if Duchene was signed...

I think Duchene does tilt the ice a bit. The Habs were a couple of points from making the playoffs and that’s with their best forward playing with Lehkonen and Shaw as his wingers down the stretch. If you give him Duchene, a real top 30 centre, you’re going to see some positive results. Add a LD and you’re rolling.