Confirmed with Link: Habs sign Nick Cousins (1 year, $1M AAV)

[Cole Caulifield]

No, that was the lockout year. I'm talking about the year before. I remember him being very good at camp, and may have been among the final cuts.

I think that was before Bergevin.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

I said history proves. History implies past.

He said the best players make the team and that's it. Like if it was some sort of immutable truth. There's many examples proving otherwise. Experience is clearly valuable in this league and i don't really understand what is to prove here. Always has been and always will be.

It's pointless to look at what other management teams did. You do have a point about Julien but he is not the same guy he was back then, and management has a big say in who gets to stay and who doesn't (not just the coaching staff). Since 2012 we've been giving these young guys a fair chance.

 

[Omar]

I believe the window for buyout is now closed. Players had to be waived by a certain date before they could be bought out and we wisely elected not to go that route.

I believe there’s a second buyout window approaching.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

There's many examples and i wont go thru all of them. Two notable names are Ron Hainsey and Francois Beauchemin. Both far superior to Patrick Traverse and Karl Dykhuis. Michel Therien and Claude Julien were the coaches back then. Two very familiar coach names. Another one would be Craig Conroy. Koivu was ready to be a 2nd line center. Damphousse could have been moved back to wings (position he played in 92-93) and Conroy could have taken the 3rd line center spot which he was perfect for. It's too soon to know if we did any mistakes lately. Time will tell.

That was a long time ago and Beauchemin was not considered to be anything special at the time. Hainsey just wasn't ready yet which is why he wasn't on the team.

I have never seen a player who clearly should be on the team not be given the chance to do so. I think your examples could be described as subjective and viewed through the lens of unintentional confirmation bias. The list is far longer of players who never made it but fans mistakenly thought they were being blocked by lesser players. I am in agreement that Therrien and Julien can be very close minded. Bergevin has taken measures to ensure that more diverse opinions are considered by bringing in Ducharme and Richardson along with Muller. Julien does not have the autonomous clout that he once enjoyed.

The Red Wings built one of the best systems by forcing their prospects to become complete players in the minors. They were only blocked by their willingness or unwillingness to learn and adhere to the system. This should be the template for the development and promotional protocol for all organizations. It doesn't preclude a team from immediately promoting a prospect but it makes it more unlikely.

 

[1909]

It's pointless to look at what other management teams did. You do have a point about Julien but he is not the same guy he was back then, and management has a big say in who gets to stay and who doesn't (not just the coaching staff). Since 2012 we've been giving these young guys a fair chance.

Actually, Habs , in recent years, burnt a couple of guys because they brought them too early at NHL level.

 

[1909]

That was a long time ago and Beauchemin was not considered to be anything special at the time. Hainsey just wasn't ready yet which is why he wasn't on the team.

I have never seen a player who clearly should be on the team not be given the chance to do so. I think your examples could be described as subjective and viewed through the lens of unintentional confirmation bias. The list is far longer of players who never made it but fans mistakenly thought they were being blocked by lesser players. I am in agreement that Therrien and Julien can be very close minded. Bergevin has taken measures to ensure that more diverse opinions are considered by bringing in Ducharme and Richardson along with Muller. Julien does not have the autonomous clout that he once enjoyed.

The Red Wings built one of the best systems by forcing their prospects to become complete players in the minors. They were only blocked by their willingness or unwillingness to learn and adhere to the system. This should be the template for the development and promotional protocol for all organizations. It doesn't preclude a team from immediately promoting a prospect but it makes it more unlikely.

Unless you have a young budding superstar in your hands, that's exactly the way to go. I am not convinced yet that keeping KK last season was the right decision to make about his development.

 

[LaP]

It's pointless to look at what other management teams did. You do have a point about Julien but he is not the same guy he was back then, and management has a big say in who gets to stay and who doesn't (not just the coaching staff). Since 2012 we've been giving these young guys a fair chance.

It's true but we also have been trading pretty much all of them. For an okay to a good return yeah but i'm still not convinced building a team almost exclusively from parts acquired from other teams is the way to go. It takes time to create a team spirit. We really don't have many players drafted by us in the team right now.

I guess we will see. I grew up watching the Montreal Canadiens when the team was composed mostly of players drafted by us. This is how i think you should build a winning team. Maybe i'm wrong. I don't know. But like i said history so far proves me we did it right back when i was young.

Out of the 20 most used players in the playoffs of 86 and 93 here's how many were drafted by us (or signed by US as 20 years old UFA after junior) :

86 : 17/20
93 : 13/20

We project next season to have 6 players drafted by us in the lineup (if Poehling makes the team). For one I have a hard time identifying myself to this team and history tells me building a team thru trades and UFA signing (of NHL players) is rarely working. Not saying it's impossible of course but it's easier to draft well and use your own players imo and fill the few remaining holes with trades when the team is ready.

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Pehling-Domi-Drouin
Lehkonen-Kotkaniemi-Armia
Byron-Cousins-Weal
Thompson
Peca

Mete-Weber
Chiarot-Petry
Kulak-Juulsen
Reilly
Folin

Price
Kinaid

Outside of potentially better drafting (remains to be proven) our strategy right now looks a lot like the Houle years. Trying to hit water as many times as we can in the hope of hitting something and ignoring our own players. I think anybody saying it has not been true the last 2 years is living in la la land. We have been told it's just a stop gap while the kids are ready. Well it's been 2 years of stop gap and we are still waiting for something to happen. It looks like we will be waiting for another extra year (3rd year) with all the signing lately. At which point do we decide it's not working and we need a new management? At which point we stop with all the excuses? We waited too long to fire Houle are we going to do the same with MB?

I really strongly believe it should be MB last year if there's no results in the NHL and AHL. And by results i'm not talking about winning the cup here i'm talking about kids developing, showing something and winning some games at least at the AHL level. And no more depth acquisitions at the deadline when the team is not contending. Ice the kids and see what happens. Simple strategy. It worked wonderfully when i was young and i believe it's still working in today's NHL.

 

[LaP]

That was a long time ago and Beauchemin was not considered to be anything special at the time. Hainsey just wasn't ready yet which is why he wasn't on the team.

I have never seen a player who clearly should be on the team not be given the chance to do so. I think your examples could be described as subjective and viewed through the lens of unintentional confirmation bias. The list is far longer of players who never made it but fans mistakenly thought they were being blocked by lesser players. I am in agreement that Therrien and Julien can be very close minded. Bergevin has taken measures to ensure that more diverse opinions are considered by bringing in Ducharme and Richardson along with Muller. Julien does not have the autonomous clout that he once enjoyed.

The Red Wings built one of the best systems by forcing their prospects to become complete players in the minors. They were only blocked by their willingness or unwillingness to learn and adhere to the system. This should be the template for the development and promotional protocol for all organizations. It doesn't preclude a team from immediately promoting a prospect but it makes it more unlikely.

And Patrick Traverse was considering to be anything special? Let's agree to disagree and move on we are wasting our time here.

 

[De Montreal]

I think one of Lehkonen, Armia or Byron - along with a pick or a prospect - is gonna get traded for a LHD now.

Lehkonen seems untouchable in MB mind so my guess is Byron. Guy is scoring at a 20 goals pace for three season now and he is signed cheap.

We can afford to trade him with Cousins on board:

Lehkonen Danault Gallagher
Domi Kotkaniemi Tatar
Drouin Poehling Armia
Cousins Thompson Weal
McCarron

 

[Omar]

I think one of Lehkonen, Armia or Byron - along with a pick or a prospect - is gonna get traded for a LHD now.

Lehkonen seems untouchable in MB mind so my guess is Byron. Guy is scoring at a 20 goals pace for three season now and he is signed cheap.

We can afford to trade him with Cousins on board:

Lehkonen Danault Gallagher
Domi Kotkaniemi Tatar
Drouin Poehling Armia
Cousins Thompson Weal
McCarron

Or as pieces in a trade for a big time forward and sign Gardiner. But I agree, we have too many picks, prospects and middle of the road guys to package for someone.

 

[Scintillating10]

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
50s
Les Canadiens se sont entendus sur les termes d’un contrat d’une saison avec l’attaquant et joueur autonome, Nick Cousins (contrat à un volet, valeur de 1M$).

Cousins put up big offensive numbers in junior. Some decent years in the AHL also. Looking at his stats

 

[1909]

Or as pieces in a trade for a big time forward and sign Gardiner. But I agree, we have too many picks, prospects and middle of the road guys to package for someone.

Habs signed Chiarot because they know that there is 99% chance Gardiner won't sign with them.

 

[Chili]

I believe there’s a second buyout window approaching.

True: Buyout FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

It's based on having arbitration cases.

Rangers are one candidate after signing Panarin.

 

[cashinstinct]

 

[Scintillating10]

True: Buyout FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

It's based on having arbitration cases.

Rangers are one candidate after signing Panarin.

So we can't buy out Weise?

 

[Omar]

Habs signed Chiarot because they know that there is 99% chance Gardiner won't sign with them.

Says who?

 

[Chili]

So we can't buy out Weise?

That appears to be the way the rule reads (based on the cap hit).

 

[Omar]

True: Buyout FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

It's based on having arbitration cases.

Rangers are one candidate after signing Panarin.

Habs have 3 players who filed for arbitration. What’s the reserve list?

“Buyouts Outside of the Regular Period

Clubs whom have 1 or more arbitration filings may be permitted to perform a buyout outside of the regular window. This gives teams another opportunity to become cap compliant following an arbitration case.

Clubs are permitted to perform a buyout outside the regular period during the 48 hour period beginning on the third day after the final of [CBA 13(c)ii]:

1. Settlement of the Club's final arbitration case, or
2. Receipt of the Club's last arbitration award

Requirements:

1. A buyout can only be performed on a player who was on the clubs reserve list at 3:00pm on the most recent trade deadline
2. The player must have a cap hit of at least $3,455,438 for the 2019 offseason”

 

[1909]

Says who?

If they wanted Gardiner, OR Gardiner wanted the Habs, it would be already done.

 

[Omar]

If they wanted Gardiner, OR Gardiner wanted the Habs, it would be already done.

Again, says who? You seem to be making a lot of proclamations. Dreger just said on Thursday that the Habs were ramping up on Gardiner FYI.

 

[Chili]

Habs have 3 players who filed for arbitration. What’s the reserve list?

Capfriendly has everything: Reserve List FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

What is a reserve list?

An NHL team's reserve list is comprised of any player who's signing rights they hold. This includes unsigned draft choices, all players signed to a Standard Player Contract (SPC), and all players signed to an SPC while playing in a junior league.
Each club can have a maximum of 90 players on their reserve list.

 

[Omar]

Capfriendly has everything: Reserve List FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Then it seems Habs can buy out Alzner during that second buy out window.

 

[Chili]

Then it seems Habs can buy out Alzner during that second buy out window.

That's the way I read it too.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Then it seems Habs can buy out Alzner during that second buy out window.

Yes, they can, but we need one of our players to win an arbitration award to get it.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Again, says who? You seem to be making a lot of proclamations. Dreger just said on Thursday that the Habs were ramping up on Gardiner FYI.

He said that before the chariot signing was announced.
Now its highly unlikely we go for gardiner