Speculation: Habs' off-season moves (all trades, proposals & free agent talk here)

[Banjo Cat]

No more bringing guys back for a while.

 

[Monctonscout]

Need to start looking for actual core players. Too many periphery moves...like getting Bouillion, Prust (good move), Halpern, Armstrong.

Time to actually make some tough decisions and move some assets we may not want to move.

You're not going to find core players on the UFA market. Drafting and developping is much cheaper than by trade.

From the sounds of it MB wants to build slow and steady rather than "we must win now". I see Galchenyuk Tinordi Beaulieu becoming key players in the next 2-3 years.

 

[Monctonscout]

I know where you are coming from but to be contenders we need to add quality pieces that we reasonably can count on, known commodities, so Id rather pay up in a trade to get a solid guy than go Walmart and get a guy like Komisarek.

The best way to add quality pieces is to develop them IMHO. If you want to add now you deal with a situation of low supply/high demand unless somebody is dumping a good player due to cap reasons, but usually the guys they dump also are not worth their cap hit. Volchenkov for example at 4.5 is pretty expensive with the cap dropping. I don't like the idea of tarding a tinordi or Beaulieu for a guy and have them be better than that guy in 2 years. That's the kind of price a d-man would cost IMHO as the UFA market is poor.

If Komisarek flops at least you have Emelin plus Tinordi may be ready by midseason.

 

[S Bah]

You're not going to find core players on the UFA market. Drafting and developping is much cheaper than by trade.

From the sounds of it MB wants to build slow and steady rather than "we must win now". I see Galchenyuk Tinordi Beaulieu becoming key players in the next 2-3 years.

Are you kidding teams are bidding yearly on core players, this year is an oddity.

 

[Habsawce]

This off season could be very good for the Habs. Teams have compliance buy outs and will probably be unloading players who need a change of scenery and will come cheaper than normal since they just got bought out.

Look for some solid vets to go on the market before July 1

 

[Hoople]

You're not going to find core players on the UFA market. Drafting and developping is much cheaper than by trade.

From the sounds of it MB wants to build slow and steady rather than "we must win now". I see Galchenyuk Tinordi Beaulieu becoming key players in the next 2-3 years.

Its been 20 years since the last Cup. "We must win now".

That made me laugh a sad laugh.

 

[Monctonscout]

Where are you getting your information from? Murray is averaging 16:32 of ice time per game.

Murray has 10:05 minutes of PK ice time which is tied with Eaton and is 1 1/2 minutes less than Letang and 4 1/2 minutes less than the team leader Paul Martin.

Those PK totals are over 4 games so Letang gets 20+ seconds more per game than Murray and Martin gets 1 minute more per game.

Easy minutes?

For comparison sake, we have Boullion averaging right at 15 min TOI and Tinordi is right at 14 min TOI.

Murray with his 16 1/2 minutes of ice time per game and his PK time is perfect for what I said he is and what Montreal needs.....a #5/6 DMan with size and PK ability.

Emelin with Markov, Gorges with Subban and Diaz with Murray gives us a great mix of puck carrying and defense along with more grit on the back end.

Somebody playing 16 minutes a night definitely isn't playing against top lines(Tavares) unless Tavares is now on the 4th line. He plays a lot on the PK like Gill, stays back and blocks shots.

I prefer Regehr who would possibly cost a bit more but play with Diaz or Subban.

 

[Monctonscout]

Its been 20 years since the last Cup. "We must win now".

That made me laugh a sad laugh.

Do you have a point in there somewhere?

From what MB said he wants to develop from within and not try for a quick fix/short cut to win "now". How hard is that to understand?

 

[Kimota]

Gill and Tinordi would be the ultimate PK duo. Double octopus mode.

The Invasion of the Giant Octopusses!

 

[Monctonscout]

I wonder if Morrow would like to come to Montreal, his wife is from here, Carbo's daughter. I have a hunch somebody'll give him 4 years 16 mil or something like that. At 34, fits more as a 3rd liner than true top 6 though.

 

[yianik]

You're not going to find core players on the UFA market. Drafting and developping is much cheaper than by trade.

From the sounds of it MB wants to build slow and steady rather than "we must win now". I see Galchenyuk Tinordi Beaulieu becoming key players in the next 2-3 years.

Agreed, but, I think MB wanted to be in the hunt within a few years but with the leap this year he will be looking at setting us up for as early as next season. Not saying a Cup favourite, but a team that can go deeper than appears to be our fate for this year. On the D, there are no ÙFAs of interest. We have 3 PMDs with Nathan B on the way. Great, but we saw in these play-offs and at seasons end players owning our slot. Ive raised a few times adding a big, physical shut down guy by moving Diaz. There is risk if PK or Markov go down because then Nathan B is our only option. But, are we better with Diaz in there or are we better with a guy like Grossman of the Flyers, big, youngish at 28, physical shutdown man.

 

[Kriss E]

I wonder if Morrow would like to come to Montreal, his wife is from here, Carbo's daughter. I have a hunch somebody'll give him 4 years 16 mil or something like that. At 34, fits more as a 3rd liner than true top 6 though.

A few years ago, yes, but moving forward I don't have much interest in Morrow.
I think Clowe and Clarkson will be the main targets.

 

[Hemlor]

Where are you getting your information from? Murray is averaging 16:32 of ice time per game.

Murray has 10:05 minutes of PK ice time which is tied with Eaton and is 1 1/2 minutes less than Letang and 4 1/2 minutes less than the team leader Paul Martin.

Those PK totals are over 4 games so Letang gets 20+ seconds more per game than Murray and Martin gets 1 minute more per game.

Easy minutes?

For comparison sake, we have Boullion averaging right at 15 min TOI and Tinordi is right at 14 min TOI.

Murray with his 16 1/2 minutes of ice time per game and his PK time is perfect for what I said he is and what Montreal needs.....a #5/6 DMan with size and PK ability.

Emelin with Markov, Gorges with Subban and Diaz with Murray gives us a great mix of puck carrying and defense along with more grit on the back end.

That sounds great, but how much will he cost? Bouillon was relatively cheap, if Murray comes cheap then why not, sign him up, but if he wants cash and term, then he may not be worth it. If he is paid like a 5-6 D-man, then its fine with me.

 

[Monctonscout]

A few years ago, yes, but moving forward I don't have much interest in Morrow.
I think Clowe and Clarkson will be the main targets.

The only problem with that is they won't come at a reasonable(2-3 years 3 mil-ish) they'll cost 4-5-6 years and 4.25-5 mil/year. Those can quickly turn into dead cap space type contracts, maybe not Gomez level but Cammalleri level. Clowe is a poor skater and he declined this year. Clarkson other that his big year last year isn't a top 6 level guy unless he has another "gear".

 

[Hemlor]

Its been 20 years since the last Cup. "We must win now".

That made me laugh a sad laugh.

It took The Hawks 50 years to win, but when they built it right, and took their time, they have built a solid contender. I think this is what he meant

 

[Kimota]

I wonder if Morrow would like to come to Montreal, his wife is from here, Carbo's daughter. I have a hunch somebody'll give him 4 years 16 mil or something like that. At 34, fits more as a 3rd liner than true top 6 though.

Too old. Habs are in rebuild mode. They played the kids this year and this will continue next year with other young players.

 

[Treb]

The Invasion of the Giant Octopusses!

Get Boyle as the forward also, octopusses all over the defensive zone during 5 vs 3

 

[Kimota]

Get Boyle as the forward also, octopusses all over the defensive zone during 5 vs 3

That's a genius plan right there.

 

[yianik]

The best way to add quality pieces is to develop them IMHO. If you want to add now you deal with a situation of low supply/high demand unless somebody is dumping a good player due to cap reasons, but usually the guys they dump also are not worth their cap hit. Volchenkov for example at 4.5 is pretty expensive with the cap dropping. I don't like the idea of tarding a tinordi or Beaulieu for a guy and have them be better than that guy in 2 years. That's the kind of price a d-man would cost IMHO as the UFA market is poor.

If Komisarek flops at least you have Emelin plus Tinordi may be ready by midseason.

I am an absolute believer in drafting and then developing your players. UFA market is often a losing proposition as the players are most often past their prime, get paid huge and at best deliver for a year or two on their 4-5 year deals. But when you draft and develop right, you should have depth to be able to trade for a piece you are missing. I see Tinordi like others do, a huge, physical shut down D-man to be, he will take a few more years to finally hit his true long term form. We shouldn't put too much pressure on the guy and should let him develop on bottom 6 minutes to start and go from there. In the mean time that leaves us with 2 defencemen that hit, PK and Emelin, and no crease clearer kind of guy. I view Emelin as a big hitter, not a guy who throws people out of the front of the net. Im thinking we need a big, physical crease clearer and Tinordi is sometime from being a top guy at doing that and if there is anybody else in the system they are further away than that. On the other hand we have Nathan B who might be putting up 30 plus points and moving the puck in a couple of years. So Im thinking try to trade Diaz for such a guy. I have identified Grossman or Coburn ( unlikely ) of the Flyers since they are deep in big guys and short on PMD. These players fit our time frame as they are only 28 and so should be effective for many years to come, you know, when we are competing in the Finals.

 

[PricerStopDaPuck]

Anybody feel leblanc can make the team next year? Pulling for him seems like a great guy

 

[Ginu]

All I know is that our D is too small to keep them out of the crease, and their D is too big that we can't get to the crease. And it's like that every playoffs.

 

[Ginu]

Anybody feel leblanc can make the team next year? Pulling for him seems like a great guy

I want Bergevin to get people here who are playoff built. Leblanc is more of what we already have. He may be ready but we have other priorities first. At least I hope so.

 

[Frozenice]

Anybody feel leblanc can make the team next year? Pulling for him seems like a great guy

I can, especially if Gionta is going to be hurt at the start of the year.

Depends how busy we are on the UFA market, unforeseen events tend to cloud my crystal ball, lol.

Leblanc plays well with Eller and I can see Galchenyuk playing with Pleks next year.

 

[Masuli]

Anybody feel leblanc can make the team next year? Pulling for him seems like a great guy

To play in which line? No space for him since already have Plec, DD, Eller, Gally and White.

 

[Ezpz]

Desharnais has to go plain and simple. We are not serious about winning if he is here in September. I would say Diaz would be better off being traded but he was really good before his concussion, and is doing little harm on the third pairing when healthy.