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

[Sorinth]

Pretty logical take. I agree the plan should be to keep Byron for a season or two and eventually use him as trade bait. But I think trading him will be easier than you think; in fact, I doubt Bergevin has to actively shop him. Byron's skill and contract make him the type of player other GMs seek out and specifically ask about.

3.4m is certainly a good price for what he brings, but it's still a big enough chunk of change that any deal will likely involve sending salary back our way. And that more then anything else is what complicates trades.

 

[BaseballCoach]

3.4m is certainly a good price for what he brings, but it's still a big enough chunk of change that any deal will likely involve sending salary back our way. And that more then anything else is what complicates trades.

Tatar fetched a 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the deadline, and had a $5.3M contract for four years.

 

[Sorinth]

True but he got hurt and we were trying to win a division/make the playoffs. When he came back, they didn't have confidence in him at all. In his 6 seasons with the Habs, he never played one full season at center. I find that ridiculous... we can blame whoever we want but we drafted him as a center and he didn't even play center for one full season in the 6 years he was with us.

To reinforce my point... Look at Galchenyuk's stats when he played center and with skilled players (End of 2016 and beginning of 2017). He produced. But for some reason, the Habs demoted him time and time again. I know he has to mature but I don't think we managed him correctly. We treated him like a vet because he started in the NHL at age 18.

Think about how it looks if he plays center for full year in the desert and gets 30 goals and 60+ pts. It's possible they get frustrated with him and demote him but something tells me they will be patient with him and at least let him play center for one full year.

We raised a kid and treated him like he should of been Crosby. We jumped on him every mistake he made. That's not how you should raise a kid and develop their confidence

I can't believe it, but I agree with everything you wrote. Did someone hack your account or something

 

[Habs Halifax]

I can't believe it, but I agree with everything you wrote. Did someone hack your account or something

Were bound to agree on something at some point

 

[Milhouse40]

The top line is Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Domi and Armia have got PRE-SEASON trials on the second line. No problem!

Drouin was given a chance at 1C because he proved in the 2016 playoffs he could produce, and the Habs had no one else anyway.

Danault did GREAT on the fourth line, then third line before getting a chance on one of the top two lines.

Danault had 0 points in his last 11 games before getting Pacioretty and Radulov. Not sure that's great.
As for Drouin, he didn't even earned it in Tampa Bay, was only du to injury and Habs hd others choices but didn't like him (Galchenyuk...who has proven more than Drouin in his NHL career)

Domi and Armia got their shot in the preseason, it's true......you are aware that Scherbak is the only Habs who scored more than 1 goal in the preseason. Habs are looking for goal scorer, let's give him a chance in the preseason then.

 

[Max2]

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.

While I agree with long term planning,there's so much parity in the league these days that with a few teaks,most teams can be competitive.

 

[Runner77]

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.

I don't mind collecting a welfare cheque while being a millionaire. Competing while rebuilding is just a smoke and mirrors concept to keep gullible fans buying tickets. You can't do both unless you want to be mediocre at doing both or either. You can't be competitive and hope to land top picks in next year's draft, that will provide you with the foundation or missing pieces you need for a rebuild. It makes no sense.

 

[JianYang]

3.4m is certainly a good price for what he brings, but it's still a big enough chunk of change that any deal will likely involve sending salary back our way. And that more then anything else is what complicates trades.

I don't think it's a complicated contract to move. It might mean picking up a cheap and useless contract if the other team is super tight against the cap, but that is not a big deal.

You can argue that putting term on Byron's deal adds leverage for Montreal too since he's more than just a rental now.

 

[Lshap]

I don't think it's a complicated contract to move. It might mean picking up a cheap and useless contract if the other team is super tight against the cap, but that is not a big deal.

You can argue that putting term on Byron's deal adds leverage for Montreal too since he's more than just a rental now.

This is how I see it. Armed with a fair contract, Byron can be more than a rental, which expands potential trade partners to any team looking to solidify their 2nd/3rd line for the next few seasons.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Would have probably gotten 4 mil in the open market

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Tatar fetched a 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the deadline, and had a $5.3M contract for four years.

McPhee is a terrible GM , people think hes a genius for that Las Vegas team lol

 

[DAChampion]

McPhee is a terrible GM , people think hes a genius for that Las Vegas team lol

It's an amazing achievement.

 

[JianYang]

Would have probably gotten 4 mil in the open market

Byron could have definitely made more assuming he doesn't take a massive step back this year.

When I first heard that figure, I just automatically assumed he got an NTC, but it doesn't seem like he got that either. That's the key for montreal from a future trade POV.

 

[sheed36]

Byron was on TSN690 with Melnick about an hour ago. Talked about how devastated he was when he found out that he was placed on waivers by the Flames after working so hard to get back from injuries. Talked about having to try to hide his smile the next day when the Flames called him aside to tell him he had been claimed by the Habs thinking no team would pick him up.

After listening to that interview I don't know how anyone cannot pull for this guy and be happy for him and the contract he just signed. Hopefully the audio will be up later on the TSN690 website since it's a good listen IMO.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

It's an amazing achievement.

picking the obvious choice is so hard

 

[DAChampion]

picking the obvious choice is so hard

They weren't all obvious choices. Most GMs would not have succeeded in building such a great team. For example the William Karlsson trade was not obvious.

 

[groovejuice]

...Actually, he was on waivers because Calgary thought they could sneak him down while dealing in the fallout of an injury.

The Flames still rue the day they underestimated the interest Byron would have if on waivers.

 

[Tyson]

McPhee is a terrible GM , people think hes a genius for that Las Vegas team lol

He also traded Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat

 

[groovejuice]

He also traded Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat

Bergevin does one of those virtually every year.

 

[Runner77]

Bergevin does one of those virtually every year.

You jumped the gun.

"Consistency" will replace "attitude" as MB's new buzz word next year.

 

[groovejuice]

You jumped the gun.

"Consistency" will replace "attitude" as MB's new buzz word next year.

I'm still betting on "Freshness"

 

[sheed36]

Here's the link to the audio of Byron's interview with Mitch Melnick from earlier this evening. Good listen.

Byron: Proud to sign extension with Canadiens
https://www.tsn.ca/radio/montreal-690/byron-proud-to-sign-extension-with-canadiens-1.1179969

 

[Diehardwithavengence]

Maybe a year too long, but I don’t how anyone can complain about this. As already stated, he’s a great role model and he’s just so serviceable night in night out, I cant imagine how we could get a something better than him in return.

As much as I’m a fan of Byron, if I was GM there is no way I’m giving up a first or early 2nd for him. The only NHL GM who would/could do that and still have a job the next day just signed him to an extension.

Rare is the day I applaud the berg but good job picking him up for nothing and good job locking him into a friendly deal.

Well earned PB!

 

[Scintillating10]

That's still more goals than we can score

Not really. Additions to coaching alone should help our scoring. Early yet but at practice and exhibition games this team looks significantly better than last.

Richardson big upgrade on JJ, so far anyway. Like how he is handling Juulsen. Having Bouchard in Laval should be big improvement in our depth. Where Syl couldn't.

If we have Weber healthy for 50 games, and Price we can play meaningful hockey down the stretch.

K is making us look better than we are, but I think we can play .500 hockey

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Not really. Additions to coaching alone should help our scoring. Early yet but at practice and exhibition games this team looks significantly better than last.

Richardson big upgrade on JJ, so far anyway. Like how he is handling Juulsen. Having Bouchard in Laval should be big improvement in our depth. Where Syl couldn't.

If we have Weber healthy for 50 games, and Price we can play meaningful hockey down the stretch.

K is making us look better than we are, but I think we can play .500 hockey

Sigh. It's pre-season making us look better, not Kotkaniemi.

And forget Weber for 50 games. 2 weeks ago (sept 11th) he said he wants to return as soon as possible, but if it's still 4 months, he'll do 4 months.

He'd need to return a full month earlier than expected to be here 50 games as 4 months would put his return close to January 11th which is around the 45th game mark with only 37 remaining and even then, he won't be effective from the getgo, so that gives us a max of around 40 games of 100% Weber if he comes back a full month earlier. More realistically, around 25-30 games at 100% if he sticks to his prescribed date.

I do agree that the coaching will be a variable that could go for the better, but I wouldn't expect miracles considering there are gaping holes everywhere in the linepup and our division has become much tougher. I won't sell them short (coaching), but you shouldn't praise them up so quickly.

,500 hockey is, imo, a scenario where we overachieve, so I'm not expecting that.


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