Kotkaniemi finishes the season with 27 points in 79 games.

[WarriorofTime]

Only Montreal fans could think that taking a player third overall and then some offer sheet shenanigans resulting in them having Christian Dvorak out of all of it is a win in a zero-sum schadenfreude game of 4D chess.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

I'm guessing by the existence of this thread that the Habs fans are bored with nothing worthwhile to discuss about their own team anymore

As we all know, this signing has turned into an absolute boatanchor of a deal for the Canes that is really holding them back to... *checks standings*... 2nd in the East, likely only 1 point back of the President's Trophy had they not rested the entire core last night. Really screwed ourselves with this one, huh?

Umm, not really....We Habs fans see a bright future, a great looking young team, better than having a great Regular Season team that continually flops in the playoffs. Say Hi to your Floppy friends the Leafs and Bruins while you're there.

 

[newsportsfan123]

Umm, not really....We Habs fans see a bright future, a great looking young team, better than having a great Regular Season team that continually flops in the playoffs. Say Hi to your Floppy friends the Leafs and Bruins while you're there.

Carolina has won a round every year man.. they make it farther than the Leafs and Boston every year stop with this take, you’re just showing that you don’t watch hockey.

 

[habdynasty]

Bambi on ice. What a crappy pick that was.

 

[banks]

Not too many players in the league I'd like to have less than Kotkaniemi. He's a bland 3rd liner, at best. I remember during his hot streak I argued that he still didn't pass the eye test, and that I considered him a cap dump.

How many more years of this guy? I might prefer Jack Campbell.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Worse is arguable as it is hard to be worse than KK and Dvorak was hurt most of the year. Carrying dead cap for almost a decade is a great reminder of Carolina's childish stupidity.

I thought it was stupid as well, but carrying 8 years of dead cap space of $835,000 and 4 years of $455,000 won't be a big deal. Especially if they decide to wait a few years to do it.

 

[Ford Prefect]

pls point me to those fans.

Don't look at me. I wanted Zadina.

 

[Orfieus]

who?

 

[1909]

I mean I remember the camera cutting to THIS lady. She embodied what the entire city of Montreal was thinking when Kotkaniemi was drafted over Brady Tkachuk

Passing over the big strong power-forward with family pedigree for an off the board gamble going 15 spots above his projected position with the 3rd overall pick.


There was not a single happy Habs fan back then, and there sure as shit aren't any now that Brady hits fights and scores 35 goals+ for their rival.

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That lady wanted ZADINA !!!! Even worse than KK. And NO, not that many Habs fans wanted Thachuck either. They did not know him well, and he scored like 8 goals for his College team back then.

 

[TheFinalWord]

Umm, not really....We Habs fans see a bright future, a great looking young team, better than having a great Regular Season team that continually flops in the playoffs. Say Hi to your Floppy friends the Leafs and Bruins while you're there.

So you just flop in the regular season?

 

[Lolonegoal]

Every single thing Bergevin did in h̶i̶s̶ f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ o̶f̶f̶season was disastrous

Being a little dramatic? That off-season he signed David Savard, who's been their best defensive D-man and 2nd in points for their defensemen the last two seasons. And he drafted Mailloux and Joshua Roy (in the 5th round), and drafted Guhle the year prior, and Caufield the year before that.

In fact, the decision to let Kotkaniemi go on the offer sheet, took some big balls and might of been one of his best decisions as GM. If he signed that would have been a hilariously bad scenario. The team would have been over the cap, had to get rid of cap and then still finished last in the league.

 

[Habby4Life]

Remember when Habs fans loved the pick over Brady Tkachuk. Good times

Only some hab fans, many of us were pissed they did not take Brady.

 

[wetcoast]

Is it safe to say the Canes made a mistake? 4.8M for a 4C. Do you think they will buy him out or trade him (cap dump)?

Maybe it was a mistake but it was also really funny and they got some vlaue out of him.

Maybe he does well in the playoffs and the regular season is forgotten?

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Only Montreal fans could think that taking a player third overall and then some offer sheet shenanigans resulting in them having Christian Dvorak out of all of it is a win in a zero-sum schadenfreude game of 4D chess.

None of us thinks it's a win. We just laugh at how the thing unfolded for the Hurricanes. It's a lose-lose scenario for both teams involved.

 

[Kimota]

Would you be willing to take him back on the Habs?

Not at any price but yes. Before he left I felt he was ready to take the second center spot. It would be a great depth move. Whether he would be our third line center or a winger on the second line.

Edit: how about Dvorak for him?

 

[sennysensen]

Sometimes he looks like he's improving, and becoming a real 2nd line player. But then his scoring always regresses. He'll certainly have a long career, and is a useful 2-way player, but he's a disappointment.

 

[Kimota]

Only some hab fans, many of us were pissed they did not take Brady.

I was in the forums. Not a lot wanted Tkachuk. KK was intriguing, he looked good in a tournament and we desperately wanted a center. There was no shoe-in at our positions. The comments were "Tkachuk would be a Bergevin-type of pick". And several were lifting their noses at him.

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

Only Montreal fans could think that taking a player third overall and then some offer sheet shenanigans resulting in them having Christian Dvorak out of all of it is a win in a zero-sum schadenfreude game of 4D chess.

Taking him 3rd overall was the loss. But that has been long proven. The situation with the canes was net 0. I haven’t seen a single poster that loves how that pick was handled. This is just an untruth

 

[MakoSlade]

27 points in 79 games isn't bad. If he was a sixth or seventh round pick we would all be lauding Montreal for hitting this one out of the park.

 

[Habby4Life]

I was in the forums. Not a lot wanted Tkachuk. KK was intriguing, he looked good in a tournament and we desperately wanted a center. There was no shoe-in at our positions. The comments were "Tkachuk would be a Bergevin-type of pick". And several were lifting their noses at him.

I wanted Brady and so did others.

KK was disaster.

 

[Habby4Life]

Not at any price but yes. Before he left I felt he was ready to take the second center spot. It would be a great depth move. Whether he would be our third line center or a winger on the second line.

Edit: how about Dvorak for him?

Good god NO! I’d take Dvo over him any day.

KK sucks, and isn’t top 9 material.

Jake Evans is a better C than KK.

 

[Toene]

Hold up, if you’re going to play that game then you need to follow through with how they flipped that package for Christian Dvorak (an even worse player than Kotkaniemi) and a B prospect. It’s unlikely they end up with anything at all to show for this series of transactions.

You mean Engstrom? May very well end up as the best player of that transaction.

 

[MNRube]

I think he would get 40-50 pts on a team like Seattle. Was he even on PP2 in Carolina?

 

[Mobiandi]

Offer-sheeting him and extending him long-term was so strange from a team that usually nails their pro scouting

 

[Vukotal Recall]

Being a little dramatic? That off-season he signed David Savard, who's been their best defensive D-man and 2nd in points for their defensemen the last two seasons. And he drafted Mailloux and Joshua Roy (in the 5th round), and drafted Guhle the year prior, and Caufield the year before that.

In fact, the decision to let Kotkaniemi go on the offer sheet, took some big balls and might of been one of his best decisions as GM. If he signed that would have been a hilariously bad scenario. The team would have been over the cap, had to get rid of cap and then still finished last in the league.

Every GM (and coach) inevitably makes some good moves sometimes, even the terrible ones. Blind squirrel, stopped clock, etc. Bergevin definitely made a handful of good trades and had a few good draft picks (not necessarily all the ones you cited). But overall he was an extraordinarily stubborn, tunnel-visioned, arrogant, short-sighted and poor GM, which also pretty much describes every Habs GM (and coach) before him for the previous three decades or so.