This is why we can't have nice things....let me guess, you think MT is a great coach too?Pacioretty plays better with Desharnais than Eller or Galchenyuk...DD is the best passer on the team.
This is a worn out topic but you have to imagine if Bergy handled Subban differently, the Habs would also have more cap flexibility, which would come in handy right now. Granted, the Price and MaxPac contracts are great and help offset this, but it just goes to show how the emphasis on "character" arguably above skill is detrimental.
This is a worn out topic but you have to imagine if Bergy handled Subban differently, the Habs would also have more cap flexibility, which would come in handy right now. Granted, the Price and MaxPac contracts are great and help offset this, but it just goes to show how the emphasis on "character" arguably above skill is detrimental.
Meh.
They'd have more cap flexibility now, and less in the future.
Subban was never going to sign long term unless he was paid similarly to what Doughty got.
And I bet when Doughtys' contract is up he'll cost more than 2+ million that the Kings currently save against Doughty/Subban.
Subban would have never got a similar contract as Doughty. Never.
The pieces are there. As much as people wish Galchenyuk to turn into an elite center overnight, it just doesn't happen that way.
Signing Petry really is priority #1. There's not a whole lot of interesting pieces on the FA market this year, and definitely no one to turn our mediocre top 6 into a good one. Barring a blockbuster trade, we'll be more or less the same next season.
Resigning Petry completes our defensive squad going forward, for at least until Markov retires. I have as much faith as ever in Galchenyuk to turn into a #1 center, and I think he could do it as early as next season... if Therrien finally puts him in the position of a #1 center, that is. I believe one of our younger player could step in on our top 9 and help us out offensively, likely Andrighetto or Hudon, or maybe even both. Why look on the outside when some positions of needs can be filled internally?
After that, all Bergevin has to worry about is clearing up some dead weight. For the love of God, no more Desharnais. We have far better, cheaper alternatives to play on our middle 6 wings, and I'd be comfortable going into next season with Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Eller as my top 3 center. It's what makes the most sense anyway.
I could be tempted into keeping Parenteau as a stop gap on the wings next season, if the salary cap allows us to do so. No point in buying him out if there's no one else to fill his shoes.
Prust, as much as I hate to say it, likely has to go as well. Overpaid, not a lot of juice left in his legs... It sucks because he seems like a great locker-room guy, but we need to keep moving forward. If there's room to keep him, great, if the added cap space from trading him is what allows Bergevin to sign Petry, you don't think twice about it.
I'd try to move Emelin as well. He's a #5 in my mind and overpaid by at least 2M. I'm confident Pateryn can bring more or less the same thing to the table for a whole lot less money.
I'd resign Mitchell if he comes relatively cheap. He's decent on the 4th line. Flynn could be kept as a depth guy as well, I don't mind him much.
An interesting FA target could be Frolik. Fast skater, has the talent to play on the 2nd line. Could bump Weise down a line, which would do a lot of good to the look of our top 6.
In short;
Resign: Petry, Mitchell, Flynn
Out: Desharnais, Emelin, Prust, Malhotra, Gonchar, Weaver
In: Pateryn, Andrighetto, Hudon
Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Andrighetto - Plekanec - Weise
Hudon - Eller - Parenteau
De La Rose - Mitchell - Smith Pelley
Markov - Subban
Beaulieu - Petry
Pateryn - Gilbert
Great team? Perhaps not. Still needs help on offense, but there's nothing on the market that can fix this at the moment. I have faith in the younger guys to step up. People look at Kucherov and say how great he is... Andrighetto always kept up with him in the junior. Why not give it a shot? Also, that line-up is assuming we get no roster player in exchange for DD/Emelin/Prust.
And he would have never signed a contract of similar length, which included multiple UFA years, without being paid similarly.
Whether he'd accomplished enough to warrant that to date or not.
Only one here pretending is those who think Subban would have signed a long term deal at some bargain rate, despite there being NO evidence to support it.
It's a dead and pointless argument anyways.
Subbans' 9 million cap hit isn't preventing the team from improving any more than Toews' 10.5 or Malkins 9.5 cap hit is.
Great players get paid waht they deserve to get paid.
This is a worn out topic but you have to imagine if Bergy handled Subban differently, the Habs would also have more cap flexibility, which would come in handy right now. Granted, the Price and MaxPac contracts are great and help offset this, but it just goes to show how the emphasis on "character" arguably above skill is detrimental.
No, you just came out with a post that suggested that trading our best goalscorer was a good idea.
I've never understood your posts. It's black or white with all of our GMs with you. Ever since Gauthier went away you've been on this crusade about Bergevin sucking.
Maybe he does suck... I don't know. He's made some good moves and some bad. But I'm not about to write him off. So by all means continue down this path of arguing that everything he does is wrong and suggesting that a team that is hurting for goals should go out and trade Max... but you aren't going to have a whole lot of credibility doing this.
I don't see how anyone can deny the bridge deal cost us cap flexibility. You'd have to simply ignore reality. At the time, signing Subban long term would've been cheaper but of course it's also a double edge sword since he'd be UFA a few years sooner. Nobody is saying the bridge deal didn't have its purpose but to deny he could've been signed cheaper in a year with a lower cap, with less comparable deals available and technically less UFA years locked up is just silly.
Say we signed him for 7x7 then, he'd have become a UFA again sooner and would've gotten likely an even bigger pay day his next UFA contract since the cap would likely be higher, more comparable contracts that are even higher, etc. Technically, we would have saved money by doing that but in a few years from now when he would have gotten another deal likely north of 10 mil a season he'll still be locked up. It's just the way it is, you look at guys who signed contracts a few years ago and they're getting paid less than guys similar who signed contracts more recently.
A guy like Karlsson for example had he done a bridge deal would've gotten 9 mil too and it's almost not even really worth debating cause denying it is pretty much denying reality. But the sens will save cap space for the time being and end up having to re-sign him sooner rather than later and his second deal is likely to be a monster one.
Like I said it's a double edged sword, bridge deals allow you to have the player guaranteed for a longer period of time eating up more UFA years but end up costing you more cap hit during those years. I'm fine with paying Subban 9 million now instead of say 7 then just to get two extra guaranteed years of Subban's prime.
And he would have never signed a contract of similar length, which included multiple UFA years, without being paid similarly.
Whether he'd accomplished enough to warrant that to date or not.
Only one here pretending is those who think Subban would have signed a long term deal at some bargain rate, despite there being NO evidence to support it.
You're speculations have a whole lot less backbone than mine. What you're saying is that Subban, at the time where he signed his bridge deal, after barely establishing himself as a #1, had as much of a right to ask for a 7M AAV long term contract as a guy that was seen as a top 3 defenseman in the entire league the day he signed his contract.
Plenty of players sign long term contracts right after their ELC for far less money than Doughty. McDonagh, at 4.7M, Tavares, at 5.5M, Pietrangelo and Karlsson, at 6.5M... If Subban was interested in a long term contract at that point, which is what the rumors going around were suggesting, Subban had no leverage at all to ask for the same money as today. There's really no other way to put this, and I fail to see how the concept seems to elude you.
Yes, yes it does. Paying your player more than you could be paying them does hinder your ability to improve the team. Case in point, resigning Petry, which should force MB to move some players around to fit him under the cap.
You have no basis for that assumption. We have various rumors suggesting he would. At the time of the bridge, Subban wanted long term and held out for it. Even TSN was speculating the number was roughly 5.5M.
I don't see how anyone can deny the bridge deal cost us cap flexibility. You'd have to simply ignore reality. At the time, signing Subban long term would've been cheaper but of course it's also a double edge sword since he'd be UFA a few years sooner. Nobody is saying the bridge deal didn't have its purpose but to deny he could've been signed cheaper in a year with a lower cap, with less comparable deals available and technically less UFA years locked up is just silly.
Say we signed him for 7x7 then, he'd have become a UFA again sooner and would've gotten likely an even bigger pay day his next UFA contract since the cap would likely be higher, more comparable contracts that are even higher, etc. Technically, we would have saved money by doing that but in a few years from now when he would have gotten another deal likely north of 10 mil a season he'll still be locked up. It's just the way it is, you look at guys who signed contracts a few years ago and they're getting paid less than guys similar who signed contracts more recently.
A guy like Karlsson for example had he done a bridge deal would've gotten 9 mil too and it's almost not even really worth debating cause denying it is pretty much denying reality. But the sens will save cap space for the time being and end up having to re-sign him sooner rather than later and his second deal is likely to be a monster one.
Like I said it's a double edged sword, bridge deals allow you to have the player guaranteed for a longer period of time eating up more UFA years but end up costing you more cap hit during those years. I'm fine with paying Subban 9 million now instead of say 7 then just to get two extra guaranteed years of Subban's prime.
This is exactly what I've been saying.
To me, having Subban at 6, or 7 until the age of 28 or 29...as opposed to having him at 9 until the age of 33 is a no brainer.
I'll happily take the extra 2-3 million on the cap hit in the meantime knowing that he is locked up with the club through his entire prime.