Habs D next season

[MSLs absurd thighs]

Niskanen is a poor man's Diaz. Similar size but less skill. If you called Shero and offered him that trade he'd take it in a second amd throw in a good pick. Murray having 2 goals is irrelevant, it's a fluke, like winning the lottery.

Gorges would easily be #2 in Toronto.

Well the habs are just adjusting to Emelin's injury. Doesn't stop people like you from complaining we don't have a good defense.

Oh my God...

Have you even watched Niskanen? His defensive game is much, much better than Diaz's, and he's definitely more physical.

Gorges would NOT be #2 in Toronto. Phaneuf, Franson, Gardiner and Gunnarson are all better d-men than he is. It might be debatable with Gunnarson, but that's it.

Emelin's injury made our weak defense even weaker. The one who suffered the most of his loss was, you guess it, Gorges.

When you pay 4M long-term for a d-man, you expect him to step the hell up when you need him.

 

[gusfring]

Gorges #2 in Toronto? Thats a good one...

 

[gillyguzzler]

It's all debatable but really not much will happen.

PK is PK... one of the best in the league.
Markov will never be traded. He's a career Hab.
Gorges is a leader who might even be Captain next year. Big contract and will not be traded.
Bouillon has one more year. They gave him an extra year because they likes what he brings. He's going nowhere.
Emelin won't be ready for the start of the season. A team that wants to get bigger and more physical doesn't trade its most physical defenseman.

Diaz is the only D in question. As a UFA after next season, he may be moved for a bigger D. He was incredibly good before his concussion, and incredibly bad after. Still, I think he'd be a better fit - even for a team like Ottawa who have 4 or 5 big Ds to handle the hard defensive minutes. I like that he's a RH shot though - something we're missing.

Tinordi should start the season in Montreal I believe.

 

[Em Ancien]

I'd be happy if MB looked at it and thought the plan was to start with : Subban, Emelin, Markov and looked at upgrades for the rest.

 

[Charon]

It's not that I don't like Diaz. He's a good puck moving defenceman, but we have other more pressing needs. We need to get bigger and tougher and more resilient on defence, and we could use him in a trade to fill that need. I'd like to see this next year:

Subban-(Acquired top-4 big physical d-man)
Markov-Emelin
Tinordi-Gorges

Bouillon/Beaulieu

- Subban is Subban. So he will play top minutes.
- We need to acquire big, physical d-man who can play top-4 minutes.
- Markov and Emelin played well this year through the season and hopefully they can carry it into next year. Markov is needed for our PP.
- Gorges should be on the third pairing. He looked worn down after 40 games this year so we shouldn't expect him to be prepared to play top-4 minutes in a full season.
- Tinordi should be paired with Gorges on the bottom pairing as he continues to develop his game.
-Bouillon is a depth defenceman and is only used when we have an injury.

 

[Monctonscout]

Oh my God...

Have you even watched Niskanen? His defensive game is much, much better than Diaz's, and he's definitely more physical.

Gorges would NOT be #2 in Toronto. Phaneuf, Franson, Gardiner and Gunnarson are all better d-men than he is. It might be debatable with Gunnarson, but that's it.

Emelin's injury made our weak defense even weaker. The one who suffered the most of his loss was, you guess it, Gorges.

When you pay 4M long-term for a d-man, you expect him to step the hell up when you need him.

You're dilusional if you think Niskanen is better defensively than Diaz.

Gorges would be playing ahead of Gunarsson and Franson, Gardiner has been in and out of the lineup, he can't even crak a weak blueline every night. Good skater but horrible defensively.

 

[Habsawce]

I'd really like Rusty Klesla out of Phoenix to play with PK on the top pairing.

I wonder if we could trade DD for him or something around that!

 

[Zathronas]

I believe they will trade Markov in the off season

 

[onemorecup*]

Markov is more of a lock than Gorges. Let's not pretend Gorges wasn't one of our worst Dmen all season.

Right now PK , Emelin , Tinordi and and Nathan is all I have faith in

Markov showed he is 45 in a 35 year old body and cant play 5/5 , if he was worn out at 50 games what is he going to do at 80 games

Gorges played like CRAP most of the year , he tries but does nothing

Dias stinks period and wont come back

Weber ...see above

Kabbie ...see above

Boullion .....tries but is below average

we need what Ottawa has , Methot , Gryba and Cowan

 

[Goldthorpe]

Diaz is the next Streit: great offensive player, but not big enough to be on a top pair on a contender. He will ends up asking for too much money for a specialist and we'll have to trade him or let him go. Plus both are Swiss.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

You're dilusional if you think Niskanen is better defensively than Diaz.

Gorges would be playing ahead of Gunarsson and Franson, Gardiner has been in and out of the lineup, he can't even crak a weak blueline every night. Good skater but horrible defensively.

Gorges is neither very good defensively, neither useful offensively, neither a good skater.
Franson is bigger, faster, more offensive and stronger than Markov.
Gunnarson is in no way inferior to Gorges if we exclude shot blocking.

Niskanen is definitely better than Diaz defensively, as are a huge portion of this league's Ds.

 

[Mr. Hab]

It's obvious that trading Markov may be a solution. Not sure what to expect via a trade. Honestly, I would move Diaz before Markov but we know wich one has more trade value. To me, the only untouchable D we have is Subban and Tinordi.
Subban for the obvious reason and Tinordi for the type of Dman he will become. The rest is about getting the right fit via a trade.

I just want to make sure some people here know...I didn't write that!!

I loved one thing (mostly) about Markov this season after 3 seasons of being jinxed with injuries (and us giving up 2nd Rnd Picks trying to replace him...who knows what we could have had with those 2nd Rnd Picks!)...Markov stayed healthy for once and many of you (incl. me!) found out that he's getting slower and slower (turtle-slow). And...he was never a playoffs performer...never will be, never was. Markov when healthy...is a regular season player (plays for the $$$ ; invisible in playoffs...does well in regular season to get that $5.75mil).
Subban was a playoffs warrior from DAY 1. Gorges was a warrior BEFORE that big contract...I hope he makes a comeback.

Markov = no Cup...ever again in Mtl...imo.
(Markov gone...we could move on and go for it).

Markov is a UFA right now? (July 1st).
Here's our chance...or we could go another year with Markov.
(another year without the Cup).

He will never give a bargain to our Habs...that I know.
(hope I'm wrong).

Not worth $5.75mil/year.
Would love to replace him with a top 4 dman (tough/big/tall/rugged/playoffs warrior).

Time for Markov to move on...
Or we just do the usualy ''meh'' and have him back for another year.
(playoffs success here we come...'cause with Markov we have a lot of playoff success).

 

[AcadiaAxeMan]

Why has Emelin NOT had surgery yet? WTF? Missing the first 2 months? Why?

Tinordi saw his ice time cut back in Game 5 after he was on the ice for the first two Ottawa goals, but the Canadiens might have to rely on him in the fall. That’s because Emelin is still waiting for surgery on his knee and will miss at least the first two months of next season.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/spor...+this+season/8368545/story.html#ixzz2SzObBtA5

 

[Hannibal]

Why has Emelin NOT had surgery yet? WTF? Missing the first 2 months? Why?

Tinordi saw his ice time cut back in Game 5 after he was on the ice for the first two Ottawa goals, but the Canadiens might have to rely on him in the fall. That’s because Emelin is still waiting for surgery on his knee and will miss at least the first two months of next season.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/spor...+this+season/8368545/story.html#ixzz2SzObBtA5

lol WTF? Why no surgery yet?

 

[Koivu777]

Bring Mara Back!

 

[Hullois]

Right now PK , Emelin , Tinordi and and Nathan is all I have faith in

Markov showed he is 45 in a 35 year old body and cant play 5/5 , if he was worn out at 50 games what is he going to do at 80 games

Gorges played like CRAP most of the year , he tries but does nothing

Dias stinks period and wont come back

Weber ...see above

Kabbie ...see above

Boullion .....tries but is below average

we need what Ottawa has , Methot , Gryba and Cowan

Markov played in the KHL all this fall before they signed the CBA, he probably played more games than half the players on the Habs

 

[Guilliam]

Why has Emelin NOT had surgery yet? WTF? Missing the first 2 months? Why?

Tinordi saw his ice time cut back in Game 5 after he was on the ice for the first two Ottawa goals, but the Canadiens might have to rely on him in the fall. That’s because Emelin is still waiting for surgery on his knee and will miss at least the first two months of next season.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/spor...+this+season/8368545/story.html#ixzz2SzObBtA5

I think they have to wait until the swelling disappears.

Markov played in the KHL all this fall before they signed the CBA, he probably played more games than half the players on the Habs

This. I actually think that Markov is gonna be better next year. He has played a lot of hockey this year for a guy that hadn't played in almost 2 years. Of coure he was gassed. I think he should definitely p=have less icetime though. He should pretty much be on the 3rd pairing 5 on 5 and on the first PP.

As for our defence next season, nothing on the UFA market rellay appeals to me so a trade is probably our best way to make our D tougher to play against with Diaz and/or Gorges being the odd man/men out.

 

[bud12]

I would like to have Sad Stu for the #7 spot

 

[prairie hab]

How about Kostka from Toronto? Has a decent offensive/defensive skill set. Physical enough and durable enough for #4 , 5 or 6 minutes.

Fistric is a FA that could be cheap bottom pairing depth. Physical and a hitting machine. Not great at anything else however....

 

[hogtownhabsfan*]

By the end of next season Emelin should be back, and Tinordi should be ready for a full time role. I think we need a two guy more than shutdown guy.

If we can't land a legit two way top 4 guy though, through FA or more likely trade, I think I'd just roll with what we got.

If we can get legit top 4 guy, by the end of the season with Emelin back:

????-Subban
Markov-Emelin
Tinordi-Gorges

If not (end of season):

Gorges-Subban
Markov-Emelin
Tinordi-Diaz
Boullion


Diaz had a dreadful playoff, but I think it would be too early to write him off completely.

 

[No More Subban]

How about Kostka from Toronto? Has a decent offensive/defensive skill set. Physical enough and durable enough for #4 , 5 or 6 minutes.

Fistric is a FA that could be cheap bottom pairing depth. Physical and a hitting machine. Not great at anything else however....

Are you out of your mind? Id rather keep Drewiske.