Rumor: Victor Mete + Paul Byron on the block

Legend123

Registered User
Jul 3, 2016
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Habs aren’t going to give Byron away for free.

Two way forward with blazing speed, first wave PK and can pot 18/18 in 14 mins a game. Injuries have been a problem but healthy Byron at 3.4mm isn’t even a bad deal, and for a team that plans on contending is a nice piece in the top 9. He is a really good player, anyone that doesn’t know who he is check out his production the past few years.

Kulak and Weal are redundant and have no place in the lineup.

Just don’t see MB moving anyone unless it’s a hockey trade that improves his team or Laval. Love him or hate him, he is very good at asset management and giving away players is not his MO, Covid or not.
Byron wont go for free. We'll have to pay for another team to take his contract on.
 

TBF1972

Registered User
May 19, 2018
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well...this is a ...take. fortunately you're not a habs fan. Curious to know what team you're a fan of?
You can question the deals, but habs had the money and picks to make those moves. And guess what?
they'll have the money to resign their key pieces too.
Petry is great value for being one of only 7 dmen in the league to have 40+ pts the last 3 years.
Anderson is a player they've needed forever. is it risky? absolutely, but in line with what Tom Wilson-type would make.
Nit picking mete at 700K is just idiotic, and exposes your hate.
Allen is only signed for one year while primeau develops.
And guess what? habs have 14 picks next summer + allen off the books, tatar off the books + weal etc...they'll have 12-15 mill minimum to play with and more if they deal byron.
and the cap will be up within 2 years so they'll have more space

so no, most are not furious
i have no issue with the mete contract. but the tweet in the op speculates, that montreal is looking to move him just a few days afer signing him to a new contract. if true this looks like a lack of strategy.
i mean there were signs all over, that this off-season would be kind of different. plenty of teams made past moves with the outlook of a significantly rising cap. last year those expetectation fell short by around 2.5 million. with covid it remains flat for next season and the foreseeable future. we are talking about a gap of 7.5 million multiplied by 31 teams. that's over 200 million in missing cap space. contracts, which looked easily moveable before don't find takers or deliver severly depressed returns. hall with his injury history was willing to sign a one year contract. i bet the next off-season will be even worse for sellers.
 

japhi

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Jul 7, 2014
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Byron wont go for free. We'll have to pay for another team to take his contract on.

Ok sure. But why would we do that? We can get below the cap without moving him. Would be crazy to have to add to a 20 goal scorer that we can afford to keep. That may change, but I’d be shocked if MB would give away Byron for free, or plus, when we don’t have a cap issue today.
 

Bouboumaster

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Jul 4, 2014
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Ok sure. But why would we do that? We can get below the cap without moving him. Would be crazy to have to add to a 20 goal scorer that we can afford to keep. That may change, but I’d be shocked if MB would give away Byron for free, or plus, when we don’t have a cap issue today.

Next year, Gallagher, Danault and Tatar will have to be resigned.

Allen comes off the book, but it won't be enough.

I love me some Paul Byron, he is a FANTASTIC pick-up by Bergevin.
But he's not as good as the other three.
 

japhi

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Jul 7, 2014
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Next year, Gallagher, Danault and Tatar will have to be resigned.

Allen comes off the book, but it won't be enough.

I love me some Paul Byron, he is a FANTASTIC pick-up by Bergevin.
But he's not as good as the other three.

Yes may be an issue next year, but MB won’t give him and a prospect away until he has to.

Kulak to me is the clear odd man out
 

glenbuis

Registered User
Sep 17, 2012
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if you guys are happy with bergevin's work i am happy for you. :thumbu:

my impression is he rushed his actions and missed out on better values, once the prices adjusted to a buyers market. right now it would cost an asset to move allen as a back-up and he didn't use his leverage in the contract talks.
My impression was he knew the targets he wanted and wasted no time making it happen
 
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Evgeny Oliker

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Mar 12, 2003
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I think NJ should be interested in both. Right now , NJ has a ton of cap room and only 9 F and 5 D signed. Now, they will likely re-sign Bratt but even then they are only at 10 F and 5 D. One of those D is Carrick who is more of a #7. So even if they added Mete, they should still have 1 open D spot for Ty Smith.

Mete should fit in well on their 3rd pair. Byron can actually play on their 2nd or 3rd line for this season because their wingers are not very good right now.
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
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Ok sure. But why would we do that? We can get below the cap without moving him. Would be crazy to have to add to a 20 goal scorer that we can afford to keep. That may change, but I’d be shocked if MB would give away Byron for free, or plus, when we don’t have a cap issue today.


I think if we had faith Byron was still a 20+ goal guy moving forward - and one with strong defensive acumen - we'd definitely keep him and slot him in the top 9. The issue with him is he's 31 now, and he's coming off a really bad year (yes he had injuries, but didn't produce much when he played).

So we'll see. If there wasn't such a cap crunch across the league i think he'd be much easier to move for a return, but as it is it'll be hard. 2 or even 1 year ago, his value would have been a lot higher.
 

Price is Wright

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Feb 5, 2010
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New Jersey is a great spot for someone like Byron, but the Devils and a few other teams with cap space are smart to wait and make teams sweat on their high cap. Wait for Bergevin to be unable to make any move with anyone else and offer something good while taking nothing good back.
 
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abo9

Registered User
Jun 25, 2017
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Byron + Mete for picks would not be the end of the world

I'd actually try Mete to the AHL if no one shows interest in paying for him. There would be a risk of losing him for nothing but he'll be sitting on the bench anyway...
 

japhi

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Jul 7, 2014
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New Jersey is a great spot for someone like Byron, but the Devils and a few other teams with cap space are smart to wait and make teams sweat on their high cap. Wait for Bergevin to be unable to make any move with anyone else and offer something good while taking nothing good back.

Again, we do not need to move Byron to be cap compliant. So if teams are waiting for him to get desperate I guess I don’t see where that desperation would come from. We are tight to the cap but but not in any trouble.
 

Brownies

Registered User
Ok sure. But why would we do that? We can get below the cap without moving him. Would be crazy to have to add to a 20 goal scorer that we can afford to keep. That may change, but I’d be shocked if MB would give away Byron for free, or plus, when we don’t have a cap issue today.
Yeah it's strange how fine the line is nowadays between useful and hard to trade, because the cap did not go up. Byron is a useful player that brings good value on a scoring or checking line. We've seen an impact on the team when he's not playing, still he probably have negative or pretty much no value...
 

japhi

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Jul 7, 2014
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Yeah it's strange how fine the line is nowadays between useful and hard to trade, because the cap did not go up. Byron is a useful player that brings good value on a scoring or checking line. We've seen an impact on the team when he's not playing, still he probably have negative or pretty much no value...

I agree he has negative value but would not move him for a negative return, unless there is a better player available with the cap space. I am not convinced we get that much of a better player for his 3.4 so I expect Habs to hold.
 

Techcoockie

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Feb 3, 2020
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Mete is not a thrown in.... he still has top 4 potential, but he needs to work on his strength.

we will keep Mete and let him form in the AHL with Fleury as a pair, and at 25 years old he will be more than ready.


His edges , speed and decision making are too good to not become a top 4D, he works his strength and he will be a great player to have.
 

Treb

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May 31, 2011
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Montreal
Mete is not a thrown in.... he still has top 4 potential, but he needs to work on his strength.

we will keep Mete and let him form in the AHL with Fleury as a pair, and at 25 years old he will be more than ready.


His edges , speed and decision making are too good to not become a top 4D, he works his strength and he will be a great player to have.

Mete is waiver eligible.
 
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glenbuis

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Sep 17, 2012
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I think weal is the guy leaving first . Teams looking for a 4th liner, decent at face offs . If need be you can attach a 2021 5th to him for a 2022 6th . Replace him with poehling so you have a right shot (Evans ) and a left shot ( poehling ) for faceoffs with Lehkonen and Byron . This also makes us cap compliant
 
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Captain97

Registered User
Jan 31, 2017
7,610
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Toronto, Ontario
I think weal is the guy leaving first . Teams looking for a 4th liner, decent at face offs . If need be you can attach a 2021 5th to him for a 2022 6th . Replace him with poehling so you have a right shot (Evans ) and a left shot ( poehling ) for faceoffs with Lehkonen and Byron . This also makes us cap compliant

But only by like 100k, which means we aren't desperate to dump him (meaning it shouldn't cost too much too if needed).

But MB said he wants to be 1-1.5 under the cap, so im guessing he trades Byron and if I were him I'd go after one of Perry, Martin, Abdelakder in UFA or a Paquette in Tampa.

Basically I'd trade Byron and go get someone who could be a Villain on your fourth line. Not a goon, a villain. All these guys can still play hockey and have a role. Whether that PP or PK get a fourth line specialist who likes to crunch people.
 
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Habs 4 Life

No Excuses
Mar 30, 2005
41,015
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Montreal
Habs aren’t going to give Byron away for free.

Two way forward with blazing speed, first wave PK and can pot 18/18 in 14 mins a game. Injuries have been a problem but healthy Byron at 3.4mm isn’t even a bad deal, and for a team that plans on contending is a nice piece in the top 9. He is a really good player, anyone that doesn’t know who he is check out his production the past few years.

Kulak and Weal are redundant and have no place in the lineup.

Just don’t see MB moving anyone unless it’s a hockey trade that improves his team or Laval. Love him or hate him, he is very good at asset management and giving away players is not his MO, Covid or not.

As it stands right now, Byron on the 4th line making that much money for the next 3 years isn't going to work for us.
Yes he is a reliable player with great speed, but as we have seen in the past few weeks, if Byron is moved and I think he is the guy they will want to move, don`t expect that much in return. I`d be happy with a 3rd or 4th round pick in return without any cap retention.
 

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