Rumor: Ryder isn't coming back (according to his agent)

[Tuggy]

Not a surprise whatsoever. This team still has a long way to go in their retool/rebuild and Ryder is going to demand more money/years than he is worth.

 

[ClasslessGuy]

he'll get 4.5 or 5 m a year this summer no thank you

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Max Pacioretty - Tomas Plekanec - Brian Gionta
Alex Galchenyuk - Lars Eller - Brendan Gallagher
Rene Bourque - David Desharnais - David Clarkson
Raffi Torres - Gabriel Dumont - Brandon Prust

I wouldn't mind Clarkson and Torres. I also prefer Dumont to White and Moen.

Dumont is terrible......

He is a depth player who should only be in the lineup when injuries create an opening. If he was 30+ years old everyone hear would agree that he is awful but people like to see him as a prospect with upside which simply is not the case. He will be a career minor leaguer with the odd cup of coffee at the NHL level.

White proved to be far more valuable than Dumont in the playoffs and comparing him to a bigger, faster version of himself in Moen is laughable.

 

[beowulf]

I like the guy and what he can bring. Just hope the team finds a way to replace his scoring.

 

[disturbedraven]

While he has a scoring touch, and was on a great pace for a bit. He vanished when it got late in the season and into the playoffs. Maybe it's not his fault, but it was pretty obvious that he never got too comfortable here. So can't say I will miss him. I just hope we can get someone of at least equal (or greater skill) to replace his goal/point production.

 

[Et le But]

This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what he's replaced by.

 

[Monctonscout]

With Gio out indefinitely and Ryder not returning, we absolutely need to get a couple of established NHL wingers.

What are the options?

Gionta's recovery(if it goes as planned) should have him ready to start the season so it's a non issue.

Some UFAs:

Bickell
Stalberg
Cleary
Jagr
Filpulla
Horton
Clowe
Clarkson
Latendresse
Torres
Ponikarovsky
Penner

... and there may be some more short term options available after buyouts. It looks to me like a buyer's market for wingers.

That's a hard group to disect, primarily because some will re-sign and be wiped off the list causing others to end up overpaid.

The point of letting Ryder walk was to keep cap flexibility going forward as he was going to requre 2, probably 3 and maybe even a 4 year deal. Even a "reclamation project" type signing at 1 year 2-3 mil would be better than 3 years at 4.5 mil for Ryder, he risks declining and being immoveable at that age, plus his career path(hot and cold).

 

[Monctonscout]

This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what he's replaced by.

It's doubtful Ryder would have signed a 1 year contract given his situation, I'm sure taht was a factor. Long term replacing Ryder will be guys like Kristo Gallagher LeBlanc Bozon Collberg etc

 

[hockeyfan2k11]

Will his production be replaced?

 

[Monctonscout]

Will his production be replaced?

In terms of offense, probably not right away.

 

[MXD]

In an ideal world, we'd trade Gionta, sign Ryder short-term.

But that is impossible.

So.... yeah. Not that I would have been against bringing him back, but the money that would have been given to Ryder would be better invested in another type of player.

 

[General Fanager]

Will his production be replaced?

Chuckie will take his spot on the second line next year and he will be fine.....

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Not surprising and to be honest I don't think he wants to be here anyways

 

[le_sean]

He had a poor playoff, but it was clear he came back early from his injury. I thought he was good here and provided something the Habs don't have, pure goal scoring. He could score in any given game.

 

[Monctonscout]

In an ideal world, we'd trade Gionta, sign Ryder short-term.

But that is impossible.

So.... yeah. Not that I would have been against bringing him back, but the money that would have been given to Ryder would be better invested in another type of player.

Ryder probably wants a long term(3-4 years) deal, plus overall he doesn't replace Gionta.

 

[Agnostic]

Ryder's money is already spent (on DD). lol.

 

[Uber Coca]

Pretty sure it was Bergevin's plan to let Ryder go when he traded Cole. Taking out Cole's salary is one more step for Bergevin in order to build a team like he wants. It makes sense, and I'm excited to see what's next. Bergevin must be thrilled to get bigger wingers to build around that center depth.

 

[Gustave]

Fine with me. But it went from "sign him 2-3 years" to "good riddance" in a about....2-3 weeks. Things change quite fast.....But we need another type of ingredient in this team.

And you know why he's not getting back; same old Ryder.

Caught absolute fire for a month, then.... more paper planes. Uninvolved and stayed far away from traffic. Great trade though. Worked for the best for both sides as Ryder padded his stats and we got rid of a rapidly aging and retirement prone Cole.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

If Kristo has a good start in Hamilton he could potentially play his way onto the team next year, wouldn't of minded Ryder back but can't say I'm disappointed he's gone.

 

[Coldplay]

Good riddance.

Pretty much.

It will be an upgrade either way through a better player or a youngster getting a bigger role. Unless MB replaces him with a scrub grinder, which I don't think he would do.

 

[void]

Good. He was great during the regular season but completely vanished in the playoffs... and that whole post-mortem stunt he pulled left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[BigHabs]

Some UFAs:

Bickell
Stalberg
Cleary
Jagr
Filpulla
Horton
Clowe
Clarkson
Latendresse
Torres
Ponikarovsky
Penner

... and there may be some more short term options available after buyouts. It looks to me like a buyer's market for wingers.

This should work:

FORWARDS

Max Pacioretty ($4.500m) / Tomas Plekanec ($5.000m) / Brendan Gallagher ($0.870m)
Bryan Bickell ($2.500m) / Lars Eller ($1.325m) / Viktor Stalberg ($2.500m)
Rene Bourque ($3.333m) / David Desharnais ($3.500m) / Alex Galchenyuk ($3.225m)
Travis Moen ($1.850m) / Brandon Prust ($2.500m) / Brian Gionta ($5.000m)

DEFENSEMEN

Andrei Markov ($5.750m) / Alexei Emelin ($2.000m)
Josh Gorges ($3.900m) / P.K. Subban ($2.875m)
Rob Scuderi ($2.800m) / Raphael Diaz ($1.225m)
Francis Bouillon ($1.500m) / Mark Fistric ($1.500m)

GOALTENDERS

Carey Price ($6.500m)
Peter Budaj ($1.400m)

OTHER

Buyout: Tomas Kaberle ($0.000m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $65,553,333; BONUSES: $2,485,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $1,231,667

 

[Pierre Dagenais]

If Bickell or Stahlberg only wanted $2.5 million, Chicago would just keep one or both of them

 

[otto bond]

Aside from the few goals, I didn't like Ryder one bit or better yet, he didn't fit well with this team. One major flaw IMO was the lack of grit in the defensive zone and infront of the oposite goalie. Plays very much on the outside.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

Good thing. I like Ryder, he for the most part was a great asset for us, but we need a guy with more grit and who gets involved in more aspects of the game to replace him.

Getting a guy like Bickell, Clowe or Clarkson would be fine with me. Might not bring the same sniping qualities, but they still would create more space for the other guys out there. Plus, Galchenyuk and Gallagher should logically improve over their production of last season. Counting on this improvement plus the 20 goals the guy we sign would bring, we would compensate Ryder's production all that while getting grittier and more physical.