Confirmed with Link: Montreal Canadiens Sign Paul Byron to 4-Year Extension ($3.4M AAV)

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Signing him for term takes you out of the deadline Ufa market, which is the most valuable point to sell good cheap support players.

Unless you eat salary

 

[BaseballCoach]

Much rather trade him at the deadline instead of keeping him long term. By the time, were ready to compete he will be on the decline.

Professional sports organizations compete every year.

Nothing wrong with keeping a 29 year old player who is improving every year.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Unless you eat salary

Habs did not have to eat Eller's salary to get two 2nds for him.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Love Byron and he deserve that contract but MTL will be bad over the next 2 years and base on is age that is probably when Byron would be the most valuable so i’m Surprised of the length... since I expected him too be traded at the deadline to help with the rebuild. Hope this won’t diminish is value latter.

Locking up Byron without a NTC just means that if for example two out three Kotk/Suzuki/Poehling make it on our C line, we could trade two of Danault, Domi or Byron to get a #2D, while buying a 2C UFA with our cap space, and then we are set!

 

[the valiant effort]

After next year's lockout we could see anything from salary rollbacks to numerous compliance buyouts (Alzner, etc). Either way, the cap will be $90+ million by 2022-2023. Quit worrying about a $3.4m AAV 5 year from now lmao.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Habs did not have to eat Eller's salary to get two 2nds for him.

He wasn't moved at the deadline though, I think that's what the poster was referring to

 

[Habs 4 Life]

I don't mind the idea of competing while rebuilding. The way the league is setup, you can be competing up until the TDL, sell off assets, and then tank the rest of the year and pick at the top of the draft.

Well you can but then you are faced with situations like this one
You want to remain competitive so you sign Byron to an extension, the same guy who could have fetched maybe a 1st or for sure a 2nd + in a few months.
So it's not so easy and the right decisions need to be taken and I do think when you lean towards the rebuild, you have to stick to it and trade off assets when you have them.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Signing him for term takes you out of the deadline Ufa market, which is the most valuable point to sell good cheap support players.

He wasn't moved at the deadline though, I think that's what the poster was referring to

Tatar and McDonagh were traded at the deadline with term remaining.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

He wasn't moved at the deadline though, I think that's what the poster was referring to

We aren't obligated to trade him at TDL either

 

[Max2]

Excellent signing for a quality player who is one of the fastest hockey players on earth and can play on any of your lines and kill penalties while being a scoring threat shorthanded. Glad to have Byron around for a long time.He makes all the games more exciting and entertaining as well.

 

[Habs Halifax]

The 1+4 year extension for Byron makes sense. He is with us for when Kotkaniemi, Poehling, Suzuki, Brook, Ylonen, etc are ready to make an impact in the NHL and before Price and Weber turn 35/37. I see a small 2 or 3 year window to compete with our current group and our prospects after 2 seasons from now.

Starting the 2020/2021 season, this is the core and age... There is a 2 or 3 year window to compete for a cup... if the kids reach their ceiling and Price/Weber are who they are today.

- Weber: 35
- Price: 33
- Petry: 32
- Byron: 31
- Tatar: 29
- Gallagher: 28
- Danault: 27
- Armia: 27
- Drouin: 25
- Domi: 25
- Scherbak: 25
- Hudon: 26
- Juulsen: 23
- Mete: 22
- Brook: 21
- Suzuki: 21
- Poehling: 21
- Kotkaniemi: 20
- Ylonen: 20
- Romanov: 20

There are others who can surprise but this would be the core and we would have plenty of cap space as there are no major contracts to be negotiated for a few years. Only guys to get raises are Gallagher, Petry, Tatar. Rest are RFA controlled.

 

[TouzY]

Good player, why not ! Happy for Byron

 

[Max2]

Professional sports organizations compete every year.

Nothing wrong with keeping a 29 year old player who is improving every year.

I agree.Any team in the league can compete and win it all any year.Look at the Golden Showers last year.The whole "we need to get rid of all players over 25 because we won't be competing for 8 years mentality is bollocks." Byron is an excellent player and we need excellent players to compete this year and on into the future.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I agree.Any team in the league can compete and win it all any year.Look at the Golden Showers last year.The whole "we need to get rid of all players over 25 because we won't be competing for 8 years mentality is bollocks." Byron is an excellent player and we need excellent players to compete this year and on into the future.

No disrespect but I would not be going with the Vegas plan to win a cup. Their run was just as magical as the Sens run a few playoffs ago where they were one goal away in a game 7 overtime from a cup finals. I rather have a year after year cup contender... at least for a 3-5 year window.

 

[Laurentide]

He`s still easily tradeable

A signed Byron should be easier to trade than an unsigned one.

 

[417]

A signed Byron should be easier to trade than an unsigned one.

Especially when he's signed to what 'should' be a very solid deal. With no trade protection whatsoever.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Especially when he's signed to what 'should' be a very solid deal. With no trade protection whatsoever.

Agreed. But I don't think trading him is the plan. I think the plan is to have him around when the young kids turn 20+ and are ready to make an impact. Byron is a valuable middle 6 piece who can play both wings and great on the PK.

The only way I trade him is if the offer is too good to turn down.

 

[417]

Agreed. But I don't think trading him is the plan. I think the plan is to have him around when the young kids turn 20+ and are ready to make an impact. Byron is a valuable middle 6 piece who can play both wings and great on the PK.

The only way I trade him is if the offer is too good to turn down.

Plans change over time...but for now, he's a good player on a very good contract.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Plans change over time...but for now, he's a good player on a very good contract.

Agreed... the plan can change depending on team direction in the next season or two. However, at the moment, I don't see them trading Byron. I think they value him a lot in their "rebuild on the fly" plan.

 

[Sorinth]

There are two components, the deal itself and the team direction.

The deal is a good length at a reasonable price for what he brings. So it's a good deal and well deserved for Byron.

In terms of direction it's a bit more puzzling. At 3.4m it's a sign that they see him as a 2nd liner more so then a 3rd liner who can step up and fill a hole in the top-6. That assessment is fine, but given the logjam at wing we already have I'm not sure about committing for 4 years.

In some ways it similar to Desharnais's deal in that it lacks planning. When Desharnais re-signed we had Plekanec still producing well, Eller showing a lot of progress, and Galchenyuk on the doorstep. It made no sense to make that long of a commitment given where we should've been moving towards.

It's similar now, the plan has to be Kotkaniemi and Poehling (Or whoever we draft this year) as our top-6 centers fairly soon. That means Drouin, Domi, Gallagher locking up 3 of the 4 top-6 wing spots. Locking up Byron for that 4th spot doesn't make a lot of sense when you have Lehkonen, Hudon, Sherbak pusing for bigger responsibility. They are going to need that spot to continue to develop. So it might make sense to have Byron around for a year or two, while we wait for our centers to develop, but beyond that there's not a lot of room. And although there's always the trade option at that time, in MB's own words, trades are hard. It's better to keep the flexibility of a shorter deal.

 

[Milhouse40]

There are two components, the deal itself and the team direction.

The deal is a good length at a reasonable price for what he brings. So it's a good deal and well deserved for Byron.

In terms of direction it's a bit more puzzling. At 3.4m it's a sign that they see him as a 2nd liner more so then a 3rd liner who can step up and fill a hole in the top-6. That assessment is fine, but given the logjam at wing we already have I'm not sure about committing for 4 years.

In some ways it similar to Desharnais's deal in that it lacks planning. When Desharnais re-signed we had Plekanec still producing well, Eller showing a lot of progress, and Galchenyuk on the doorstep. It made no sense to make that long of a commitment given where we should've been moving towards.

It's similar now, the plan has to be Kotkaniemi and Poehling (Or whoever we draft this year) as our top-6 centers fairly soon. That means Drouin, Domi, Gallagher locking up 3 of the 4 top-6 wing spots. Locking up Byron for that 4th spot doesn't make a lot of sense when you have Lehkonen, Hudon, Sherbak pusing for bigger responsibility. They are going to need that spot to continue to develop. So it might make sense to have Byron around for a year or two, while we wait for our centers to develop, but beyond that there's not a lot of room. And although there's always the trade option at that time, in MB's own words, trades are hard. It's better to keep the flexibility of a shorter deal.

At 4.8M per year, that #4 spot should go to Tatar.
Byron's deal is very similar to Eller's deal. Elite 3rd liner's deal and i have no problem putting that tag on Byron.

 

[Habs Halifax]

At 4.8M per year, that #4 spot should go to Tatar.
Byron's deal is very similar to Eller's deal. Elite 3rd liner's deal and i have no problem putting that tag on Byron.

Agreed. There is zero problems with this signing. Byron is a great piece to have in your forward group. I like locking him up now. It's a fair deal for both the player and team.

 

[Sorinth]

At 4.8M per year, that #4 spot should go to Tatar.
Byron's deal is very similar to Eller's deal. Elite 3rd liner's deal and i have no problem putting that tag on Byron.

We'll have to see how Tatar responds, he wasn't even used by Vegas, so there are questions about whether he's a consistent NHL player still, penciling him in the top-6 is a bit premature high salary or not. But yes he's also part of that logjam of wingers that might make it hard to give quality minutes to guys like Sherbak.

Like I said if you just look at term/cap hit it's a good deal for what Byron brings. My concerns are more about the impact moving forward. Under Bergevin there has been notable issues with long term planning, he'll do deals he thinks are good deals without ever really having a vision for how the roster will evolve. This strikes me as another example.

 

[BaseballCoach]

It's similar now, the plan has to be Kotkaniemi and Poehling (Or whoever we draft this year) as our top-6 centers fairly soon. That means Drouin, Domi, Gallagher locking up 3 of the 4 top-6 wing spots.

Absolutely not. Domi does not have a spot "locked up" ahead of Byron. Wingers have to score. Nine goals a year, even including the empty netters, is not scoring much. Domi is either a 2nd line center or a third line winger at best.

 

[BaseballCoach]

We'll have to see how Tatar responds, he wasn't even used by Vegas, so there are questions about whether he's a consistent NHL player still, penciling him in the top-6 is a bit premature high salary or not. But yes he's also part of that logjam of wingers that might make it hard to give quality minutes to guys like Sherbak.

Scherbak should not be handed a top line role. In winning cultures, players EARN their roles. Lehkonen EARNED his status with the club. Scherbak has done nothing but show a flash here and there at the NHL level. By all means give him a chance, but no I do not support clearing out 20 goal-scorers so that he can get a spot by default.