Recalled/Assigned: [LAV --> MTL] Karl Alzner Recalled to Montreal (17/01/19)

[InglewoodJack]

Does anyone think he will retire after this season?

I can't imagine he is going to want to keep riding the bus in the AHL even if the money is good.

I can see him "retiring" and then trying to sign a million dollar contract or going to Europe/KHL.

I just don't see Karl spending all of next season in Laval either.

If he was giving up a 20k/year raise, then fine, but you'd have to be a fool to give up 13 mil because riding the bus hurts your ego. alzner is gonna redden the hell out of his contract.

 

[scrubadam]

The thought went through my mind. Money talks though. If he feels comfortable on the money he has made so far in his career sets him and his family up for life, I think he considers it. I'm not so sure Europe/KHL gives him a nice contract though.

After this year, he has made $12M/$23.125M and 3 more years to go. Maybe if he goes through this again next year, he seriously considers it. $16.625M/$23.125M

It looks like he made about 14 million or so from Wash in his career.

Add that to the 12 million he has made from the habs. Thats about 26 million.

Last 2 years of his contract is 6.5 Million.

I can see him doing one more season to make 4.625 next year. But I can't imagine the guy riding the buses in the AHL for another 3 years.

 

[Holystik]

I would pogo ball my way to the arenas for 3M$+

 

[scrubadam]

he's not going to say goodbye to 13.875M over 3 years to go in europe and sign for 1M a year

Or maybe he will hope an NHL team will take him on instead.

Ya its a lot of money but he already made 25+ mill since he entered the NHL.

Is risking injuries for the rest of your life and all the pain it takes to go through a season worth it for the AHL ?

I just can't see him wanting to play the next 3 years in the AHL even at that salary. I am sure he wants MB to trade him, but that will require the habs to take on another bad contract. So the best way for him to get back to the NHL might be to get out of his contract and give it a shot with another NHL team.

 

[scrubadam]

If he was giving up a 20k/year raise, then fine, but you'd have to be a fool to give up 13 mil because riding the bus hurts your ego. alzner is gonna redden the hell out of his contract.

How long did Redden stay in the AHL for?

 

[Habs Halifax]

It looks like he made about 14 million or so from Wash in his career.

Add that to the 12 million he has made from the habs. Thats about 26 million.

Last 2 years of his contract is 6.5 Million.

I can see him doing one more season to make 4.625 next year. But I can't imagine the guy riding the buses in the AHL for another 3 years.

I think it this continues... he considers it. Or they decide to void the contract and he tries to get another one from another NHL team. The Habs owe nothing to Alzner other than paying him. He has to earn his spot and Alzner knows it. Message sent and received.

 

[Habs Halifax]

How long did Redden stay in the AHL for?

Wade Redden - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Bought out Jan 17th by the Rangers. 1.5 seasons in the AHL. Then the Blues signed him Jan 18th?

The circumstance of when the player disappoints and when the contract ends plays a factor. The critical point with Redden was the 09/10 season. At that point he had 4 years left afterwards. Similar to Alzner and the Rangers were forced to buy him out in the end.

 

[scrubadam]

Wade Redden - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Bought out Jan 17th by the Rangers. 1.5 seasons in the AHL. Then the Blues signed him Jan 18th?

Ok so I can see Alzner doing at most one more season next year and then voiding the contract and leaving his final 6.5 on the table. He would of already made almost 30 millions for his career.

I think MB will do his best to try and trade him, but I would push to void the contract over taking back another bad contract in return. Cap space is not an issue so having Alzner in the AHL doesn't hurt.

Taking back a guy like Lucic just keeps us in the same mess. I would rather try to force Alzner's hand. Either ride the bus in Laval and collect your pay check, or void it and then he can be free to try to get another NHL job.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Ok so I can see Alzner doing at most one more season next year and then voiding the contract and leaving his final 6.5 on the table. He would of already made almost 30 millions for his career.

I think MB will do his best to try and trade him, but I would push to void the contract over taking back another bad contract in return. Cap space is not an issue so having Alzner in the AHL doesn't hurt.

Taking back a guy like Lucic just keeps us in the same mess. I would rather try to force Alzner's hand. Either ride the bus in Laval and collect your pay check, or void it and then he can be free to try to get another NHL job.

Not sure how it goes down. There is certainly more risk with Lucic who has a higher cap hit and one more year in term. But at least he is playing and not a liability. He's just not measuring up to his contract. Alzner is a liability and not playing. An argument can be made he can fit on the 3rd pairing but that means he takes Benn, Kulak, or Reilly's spot and they all provide more value vs Alzner.

But I do support keeping Alzner in the AHL and saving $1M in cap space. The $3.625M would hurt but we won't need that for a bit yet. We would still be able to sign Stone or Panarin for $9M if we could.

Coincidentally, the amount of salary cap increase is rumored to be similar to what the cap hit would be for Alzner in the AHL. $3.5M +/-

 

[scrubadam]

Not sure how it goes down. There is certainly more risk with Lucic who has a higher cap hit and one more year in term. But at least he is playing and not a liability. He's just not measuring up to his contract. Alzner is a liability and not playing. An argument can be made he can fit on the 3rd pairing but that means he takes Benn, Kulak, or Reilly's spot and they all provide more value vs Alzner.

But I do support keeping Alzner in the AHL and saving $1M in cap space. The $3.625M would hurt but we won't need that for a bit yet. We would still be able to sign Stone or Panarin for $9M if we could

Lucic wouldn't be "playing" here though. He isn't better than Shaw or Armia, let alone Tatar, Byron, Lek, Drouin. Heck I don't even know if he brings more than DLo at this point.

Lucic would be the Alzner of forwards taking a spot from a younger player. Habs could also play Alzner in the line up on the 3rd pair instead of Reilly if they wanted to.

Also Lucic has NMC so trading for him locks us in with him and he has to be protected at the x draft.

It would be creative and would reunite CJ with his buddy, but I just think it puts us in the same boat we are in with Alzner. An older player that can't keep up taking space away from younger better players. And especially in 2 or 3 years when we have guys like Suzuki trying to make the line up I don't want Lucic blocking his way.

I beleive the best thing for MB is to keep Alzner in the AHL and force his hand. If a team will take Alzner off our hands without sending us back another bad contract than make the trade. If not pay Alzner to play in the AHL until he gets sick of it and asks for his release.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Lucic wouldn't be "playing" here though. He isn't better than Shaw or Armia, let alone Tatar, Byron, Lek, Drouin. Heck I don't even know if he brings more than DLo at this point.

Lucic would be the Alzner of forwards taking a spot from a younger player. Habs could also play Alzner in the line up on the 3rd pair instead of Reilly if they wanted to.

Also Lucic has NMC so trading for him locks us in with him and he has to be protected at the x draft.

It would be creative and would reunite CJ with his buddy, but I just think it puts us in the same boat we are in with Alzner. An older player that can't keep up taking space away from younger better players. And especially in 2 or 3 years when we have guys like Suzuki trying to make the line up I don't want Lucic blocking his way.

I beleive the best thing for MB is to keep Alzner in the AHL and force his hand. If a team will take Alzner off our hands without sending us back another bad contract than make the trade. If not pay Alzner to play in the AHL until he gets sick of it and asks for his release.

Not saying Lucic turns into a Tatar situation but sometimes player don't fit on certain teams. The Habs do lack strength in our top 9.

I'm not ignoring the risks either. Totally agree with the concerns you are talking about.

 

[InglewoodJack]

How long did Redden stay in the AHL for?

Only ~1.5 years, could've sworn it was longer.

Either way, if your options are 1) making 15 million dollars playing hockey and 2) not making $15 million dollars, I think the answer is pretty obvious (to me). I don't know how long until it "stops being worth it", but this is the guy's one chance to make big $$$ so he's going to have to set himself up for life.

 

[scrubadam]

Not saying Lucic turns into a Tatar situation but sometimes player don't fit on certain teams. The Habs do lack strength in our top 9.

I'm not ignoring the risks either. Totally agree with the concerns you are talking about.

Its interesting but I see it as a sideways move. I would have had more interest in taking Lucic as a cap dump for EDM's 1st then switching Alzners bad contract for Lucic's bad contract.

 

[scrubadam]

Only ~1.5 years, could've sworn it was longer.

Either way, if your options are 1) making 15 million dollars playing hockey and 2) not making $15 million dollars, I think the answer is pretty obvious (to me). I don't know how long until it "stops being worth it", but this is the guy's one chance to make big $$$ so he's going to have to set himself up for life.

Its true hard to walk away from big money, but he already has made 26 million. If he toughs it out one more year thats 30 million, and he is just leaving 6.5 on the table.

Either way I would rather MB force him into the AHL until he voids his contract than trading him for another bad contract that the habs will need to bury anyways.

 

[OldCraig71]

I would pogo ball my way to the arenas for 3M$+

Yeah no kidding and for that matter he can pay for his own flights on road trips and still be making a bazillion times more than his fellow teammates in the AHL.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Its interesting but I see it as a sideways move. I would have had more interest in taking Lucic as a cap dump for EDM's 1st then switching Alzners bad contract for Lucic's bad contract.

I would like the 1st/Lucic swap as well. But then you got both Lucic and Alzner. I'm a minority but I think Lucic > Alzner and I also think Lucic could provide some value in our forward mix cause he brings strength. A change of teams might just turn things around for Lucic and Alzner.

Not drooling over this move though

 

[danyhabsfan]

He'll be a buyout candidate this summer anyway.

 

[Habs Halifax]

If he was giving up a 20k/year raise, then fine, but you'd have to be a fool to give up 13 mil because riding the bus hurts your ego. alzner is gonna redden the hell out of his contract.

Very likely but we don't know. The extra pressure and attention Alzner will get is different in Montreal. As time moves forward, he might consider retirement. We don't know. This is not the same situation as people who work for a living and go pay check to pay check. Alzner already made Millions and his family is already set for life.

How about this. You win the lotto but have a work contract paying you $300k a year. Maybe you don't want to go into work every day and sit on your ass while you prefer to explore other things in life. Having money in the bank and being set of life changes things

I agree, it's likely he milks the rest of the contract even if he has to ride a bus. But there is a possibility he gets tired of it and retires so he is free to do other things.

 

[Adam Michaels]

So Alzner was assigned to Laval. But this is only a paper transaction. He will not be playing any games for Laval (they have one on Friday and Saturday). It's only a question of pausing the counter for him not to have to go through waivers as soon as if he stayed on Habs' roster.

 

[26Mats]

So Alzner was assigned to Laval. But this is only a paper transaction. He will not be playing any games for Laval (they have one on Friday and Saturday). It's only a question of pausing the counter for him not to have to go through waivers as soon as if he stayed on Habs' roster.

wouldn't we rather him be on waivers? Although it's pretty much impossible he'd get picked up, would be better if he did.

In fact, wouldn't it be better to have him in Laval anyways, for the cap savings. If there is a sudden injury, hopefully someone could be called up from Laval in time. If not, worst case scenario, D-lo plays D for a game or a period or two, until the player arrives.

 

[Sterling Archer]

It looks like he made about 14 million or so from Wash in his career.

Add that to the 12 million he has made from the habs. Thats about 26 million.

Last 2 years of his contract is 6.5 Million.

I can see him doing one more season to make 4.625 next year. But I can't imagine the guy riding the buses in the AHL for another 3 years.

Why not? He’s playing hockey for a living and making $6.5 M for his troubles.

 

[Prairie Habs]

wouldn't we rather him be on waivers? Although it's pretty much impossible he'd get picked up, would be better if he did.

In fact, wouldn't it be better to have him in Laval anyways, for the cap savings. If there is a sudden injury, hopefully someone could be called up from Laval in time. If not, worst case scenario, D-lo plays D for a game or a period or two, until the player arrives.

I think its just a respect thing for a guy who has been a good soldier. If there was a team that would take him for free they know they could just ask.

 

[Adam Michaels]

wouldn't we rather him be on waivers? Although it's pretty much impossible he'd get picked up, would be better if he did.

In fact, wouldn't it be better to have him in Laval anyways, for the cap savings. If there is a sudden injury, hopefully someone could be called up from Laval in time. If not, worst case scenario, D-lo plays D for a game or a period or two, until the player arrives.

No need to complicate it. It's just a paper transaction to pause the counter. They're still giving the veteran Alzner his chance to rest for the bye-week like the rest of the Habs players.

 

[overlords]

If he was giving up a 20k/year raise, then fine, but you'd have to be a fool to give up 13 mil because riding the bus hurts your ego. alzner is gonna redden the hell out of his contract.

Time for some light hazing!

 

[kris]

Isn't there a compliance buyout coming at some point before Seattle enters the league? Saw it referenced in EDM/Lucic threads but if there is one coming, makes sense that Alzner would be the one from the Habs.