Rumor: Karl Alzner generating trade interest

[Burke the Legend]

He shouldn't be mentoring any of the young ones. So yes, he is a terrible addition anywhere.

Why? Just because he's not currently on a NHL roster (roughly 200 D-men spots in the league) doesn't mean he's a bad hockey player. strange logic.

 

[A Loyal Dog]

Why? Just because he's not currently on a NHL roster (roughly 200 D-men spots in the league) doesn't mean he's a bad hockey player. strange logic.

Have you not seen him play? He was a liability every time he hit the ice.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Not saying that Alzner is a great player anymore but in the last 10 years there have been much worse players that have been moved, so let's not act like he isn't tradable.
Something will happen for sure and he will be moved, it will most probably be your typical bad contract for bad contract that makes sense for both teams.
Like Chicago and Pittsburgh a few years ago when they swapped Scuderi for Daley

 

[Habs Halifax]

Why not?

I’m sure Alzner will be a nice addition in Laval.

Habs don't need the cap space. I agree. Let Alzner drown in the AHL. If he produces like NHL value type defenseman, let other GM's call and offer something. Other than that, I'm not desperate to trade Alzner and retain.

A bad contract for a bad contract? Maybe I'm interested but not desperate to make a lateral move.

I do think some GM's are interested in Alzner if the Habs retain. But Bergevin needs to be careful with the double down in terms of a bad move with Alzner. Just let him drown in the AHL while we save a bit more than $1M in cap room.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Not saying that Alzner is a great player anymore but in the last 10 years there have been much worse players that have been moved, so let's not act like he isn't tradable.
Something will happen for sure and he will be moved, it will most probably be your typical bad contract for bad contract that makes sense for both teams.
Like Chicago and Pittsburgh a few years ago when they swapped Scuderi for Daley

Hero or Zero mentality in Montreal. Alzner is a bottom pairing value defenseman that the Habs are paying top 4D value. Habs fans have thrown him under the bus so much that we have devalued him to AHL quality. Popularity comments based on trends on HF boards don't have any value to me.

I agree, Alzner is not as bad as it's perceived to be and I think some NHL GM's agree. The issue is his contract. He would be a very decent depth piece for cup contenders but they won't acquire him cause he is like $2M overpaid.

Alzner (Retention down to $3M) for a future pick. That's the deal I am interested in. If you can't agree to these terms, then I add Scherbak and we talk a bit more. But I want futures in return. Not interested in exchanging a bad contract for a bad contract if the Habs are forced to waive another player after the trade. No deal? Sure. Alzner stays in the AHL while the Habs save $1M in cap room. We are not desperate to trade him in retention while you give us another player that don't play.

There you go. This is from the Habs perspective so use this info if you want to try to address our needs while also addressing your team needs.

 

[Beendair Donedat]

I seriously doubt AHLzner is generating much interest anywhere. But Bargain Bin has managed to trade guys like Rene Bourque and Desharnais before, so there’s still a possibility I guess.

Dallas may be a fit, depending on what the pieces are on each side. No issues giving up Scherbak here, so I’d pull the trigger on a Alzner and Scherbak for Honka and Hanzal, as the focal parts of the deal.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

No one saw any of this coming

 

[Habs Halifax]

I seriously doubt AHLzner is generating much interest anywhere. But Bargain Bin has managed to trade guys like Rene Bourque and Desharnais before, so there’s still a possibility I guess.

Dallas may be a fit, depending on what the pieces are on each side. No issues giving up Scherbak here, so I’d pull the trigger on a Alzner and Scherbak for Honka and Hanzal, as the focal parts of the deal.

I tend to agree. The only interest Alzner is generating is other GM's thinking they can get Alzner, use him as a depth piece, and have the Habs retain a lot of salary. What's done is done. Alzner is not worth more than $2.5M AAV and he is overpaid by $2M ish. 3 more years in term left after this year.

Until the Habs actually need the cap space, let him drown in the AHL. If he produces, maybe it opens up the door a bit to moving him for meh futures.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Don't Alzner's hands like not work anymore?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Don't Alzner's hands like not work anymore?

He made his career and value in the clutch and grab era. He still plays a reliable game in his own end but lacks vision. When you remove his contract, you come to realization that he is a decent depth piece if you were able to get him for 3 years at $3M or less.

The contract and term is a the hurdle

 

[ShelbyZ]

I'll bet if there is any truth whatsoever to this, it was the GM's of those teams trying to see if Bergevin was dumb and desperate enough to throw away a good young player, prospect or pick to get rid of the contract in exchange for a warm body or lesser piece of bad salary.

Almost like 4 people walking into a dealership and offering to trade a 100k mile beater straight up for a used Lambo and the sales manager goes "Wow, there sure is a lot of interest in that car!"

 

[Frank Drebin]

I'll bet if there is any truth whatsoever to this, it was the GM's of those teams trying to see if Bergevin was dumb and desperate enough to throw away a good young player, prospect or pick to get rid of the contract in exchange for a warm body or lesser piece of bad salary.

Almost like 4 people walking into a dealership and offering to trade 100k mile beaters straight up for a used Lambo and the sales manager goes "Wow, there sure is a lot of interest in that car!"

except the interest is in the beater, not the lambo

 

[ottomaddox]

To MTL
Nylander (long term 7.6 million)

To TOR
Alzner
1st in 2019

 

[Agalloch]

To MTL
Nylander (long term 7.6 million)

To TOR
Alzner
1st in 2019

Come on. Toronto needs to give more.

 

[MasterMatt25]

Jim Nill better not give up Honka for Alzner lol.

I assume he would be involved somehow though..maybe Methot or Ritchie too. Does Montreal have any young struggling wingers available with top 6 potential?

Lehkonen, Hudon, Scherbak

 

[Baksfamous112]

I'd rather buy him out than take a bigger dead weight like Lucic and Ladd. Habs won't really need cap space until 2021-2022 where Kotkaniemi, Suzuki, Poehling, Mete and Drouin will need/want new contracts and at this point Alzner will only cost us a bit over 1m against the cap:

Cap Hit Calculations

SEASON	BASE SALARY	INITIAL CAP HIT	ACTUAL COST	SAVINGS	FINAL CAP HIT
2019-20	$4,625,000	$4,625,000	$1,069,444	$3,555,556	$1,069,444
2020-21	$1,500,000	$4,625,000	$1,069,444	$430,556	$4,194,444
2021-22	$3,500,000	$4,625,000	$1,069,444	$2,430,556	$2,194,444
2022-23	$0	$0	$1,069,444	-$1,069,444	$1,069,444
2023-24	$0	$0	$1,069,444	-$1,069,444	$1,069,444
2024-25	$0	$0	$1,069,444	-$1,069,444	$1,069,444
TOTAL	$9,625,000	$13,875,000	$6,416,667	$3,208,333	$10,666,667

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So unless we pay an asset (Scherbak, Hudon, draft pick) and retain no more than 500k I would either buy it out or let him play in the AHL until someone is ready to take him off our hand. There's no need to panic here.

 

[izzy]

Have you not seen him play? He was a liability every time he hit the ice.

hes an NHL veteran, and he will be able to easily eat difficult minutes in a lesser league (ahl). So, yeah, he will be of help to the young players down there.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

He shouldn't be mentoring any of the young ones. So yes, he is a terrible addition anywhere.

Just because he sucks on the ice does not mean he knows nothing about defense.
He certainly has the knowledge to play defense well, he just does not have the capabilities to actually do it at the speed he needs to.

Claude Julien knows a lot about playing defense, but he would look absolutely terrible if he was asked to defend against an nhl player in a game.

Alzner can definitely teach the younger kids how to react and play in defensive situations

 

[didimentionlarseller]

To MTL
Nylander (long term 7.6 million)

To TOR
Alzner
1st in 2019

what are we the Sens?

 

[Canuck86]

alzner retained for eriksson with retention. What the %'s are I dont know

 

[bigd]

Just because he sucks on the ice does not mean he knows nothing about defense.
He certainly has the knowledge to play defense well, he just does not have the capabilities to actually do it at the speed he needs to.

Claude Julien knows a lot about playing defense, but he would look absolutely terrible if he was asked to defend against an nhl player in a game.

Alzner can definitely teach the younger kids how to react and play in defensive situations

Some fans on here just show their complete ignorance of the game. He can most certainly be of value mentoring younger defenseman.
We will probably see him coaching when his playing career is over.

 

[WhatWhat]

Do people really believe a 50% retention is going to happen.

I mean he isnt good and has a lot of term. Hit current cap hit + terms is ugly as hell but at 50% its not nearly as bad. MTL has money to waste so if they retain 50% they might actually get some value in return in exchange for a bit of dead cap

 

[Grigowski]

From the Avs pov the only deal that makes sense is Alzner at 50% (then buried in the minors) along with a 2nd rounder for a 3rd or a nothing prospect. But that makes no sense for the Habs.

I hope Sakic learned his lesson regarding old washed-up players on bad contracts.. Our D is set with Makar and Timmins in the pipeline.

There is no need to waste salary for tjis guy when Rants, Compher, Varly, ... need new contracts.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

The 4th period sucks, so. What better way to generate traffic than say a popular team wants to get rid of a cap dump ?

 

[Agalloch]

alzner retained for eriksson with retention. What the %'s are I dont know

Eriksson (salary retained) for Alzner.