What's going to happen to Tokarski?

[Jacques Trap*]

Habs should trade whichever of Budaj/Tokarski that would bring the best return

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Budaj will not be here this season.

 

[Jee]

lololol can't believe we gave Desjardins for him.

 

[Scintillating10]

I would keep Tokarski as Carey's backup. If he has a couple of good years(chances are he will), could trade him for good asset when Fucale is ready to backup Carey.

 

[Miller Time]

Still just have to wait and see what the landscape is like when you make the final cuts. It's entirely possible both of Tokarski and Budaj would clear waivers with no other NHL team needing a backup. Or it's possible some team out there could develop at least a temporary need due to injury that would see them prefer to take a waiver claim option rather than sign any of the bigger name free agent goalies. At this point, it's impossible to guess.

So you just let the process play itself out. See how the players perform in camp, see how the landscape looks at the time you actually have to make a decision.

That said, of course I'd take a trade for Budaj in the meantime, if one came up - I think we can presume there isn't, and hasn't been, any available opportunity there. And in the back of my mind, I'd be preferring to retain Tokarski for the longer haul. But it's pointless to try to force an immediate decision right now. There's a month and a more information to come in, so just let it play out.

disagree with the waiver assesment.

Budaj and Tokarski are, to my estimation, about as high quality "back-ups" as you can find across the league. I don't think either would get through waivers… worst case scenario for us is that we keep all three, and the one who starts the season in the AHL gets stuck there all b/c team doesn't want to lose him via waivers on the call up (to the point of calling up a worse option to play back-up if injury creates the need… happened to Labarbera a few years back with kings… languished in AHL all year, while his back-up & then his back-up's back up, got called up -and NHL time- ahead of him b/c kings didn't want to risk losing him for nothing.

Tokarski "should" have the greater trade value, but since no team has a glaring need to fill their #1 spot (or at least none where he'd be a clearly superior option to the incumbent), no reason to expect any "fair" offers coming our way.

Budaj, given his age (lack of potential) and cap hit (higher end of back up cap hits), likely has little-to-no value.


Either way, before opening day, one of the two should be traded, for the best possible return out there… and if it is Tokarski that goes, i'd be interested to know what (if any) offers were available immediately post-season vS what MB is able to get for him in September… i suspect it will be less, b/c GM's, like fans, tend to get over-enarored with quality playoff perforamnces.

 

[FerrisRox]

Budaj and Tokarski are, to my estimation, about as high quality "back-ups" as you can find across the league.

How, may I ask, did you arrive at the conclusion that Dustin Tokarski is "about as high quality a "back-up" as you can find across the league" when he has never even been a back-up goalie in the NHL?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Apparently Tokarski will now be 3rd string behind Price and Brodeur...

 

[Miller Time]

How, may I ask, did you arrive at the conclusion that Dustin Tokarski is "about as high quality a "back-up" as you can find across the league" when he has never even been a back-up goalie in the NHL?

simple. Performance under pressure combined with cap hit

yes, one playoff series in the NHL is a small sample size… but for any (playoff focused) team, the goal of a back-up is to have a guy who can step in and deliver an adequate performance under pressure… Tokarski played better than most starters did last offseason during his -albeit brief- stint in the ECF, and he did it off of minimal prep.

ability to perform under pressure is probably the biggest quality a back-up can have (consistency is for the starters). Tokarski showed that (and as small as the sample size was, his career performance history backs up the notion that he performs well under pressure)

imo, I'd gladly take Tokarski as Price's back-up this coming season ahead of the vast majority of back-ups out there for that reason alone (by and large, the only other back-ups who have shown themselves able to perform well in playoff crunch time, are of the aging vet type… guys, like Brodeur or Nabokov, on their last legs, far removed from their prime performance days… many a GM has crashed his team ship banking on a "past-their-prime" vet to be able to deliver in the present...

add in the fact that he's a sub 600K cap hit (for a team willing to spend to improve, the 750k-1M in savings vs most back-up salaries would be a big incentive) http://www.capgeek.com/comparables/?player_id=924

 

[Alexdaman]

Trade Tokarski for Crosby... Life's problems solved.

 

[Blind Gardien]

disagree with the waiver assesment.

Budaj and Tokarski are, to my estimation, about as high quality "back-ups" as you can find across the league.

I think you should take a look around every team in the league, then. Every team has a backup. Most have a #3 option, either as an AHL vet or a young up-and-comer. Today, no team needs to burden themselves with an extra goalie contract, and that's all that Budaj or Tokarski represent to anybody. Teams would have gladly burned a 7th round pick on Budaj if they really thought he was "as high quality as you can find". Nobody wants him.

But it's still all caveated with "yet". Injuries could eat into the stability that all teams in the league currently perceive they have in goal.

... Either way, before opening day, one of the two should be traded, for the best possible return out there…

Well, if the "best possible return" is a negative value or just some dead-end return contract, then it may still not be a trade worth making. Just putting one on waivers could well be a better option. I don't think we owe Joey MacDonald any especial consideration either, so if he gets bumped for a little while by Budaj or Tokarski coming down to the Bulldogs, that's no big deal.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Trade the one that will get you the best return. Pretty simple

 

[Subban signed e5]

Trade Tokarski for Crosby... Life's problems solved.

to small

 

[sandysan]

simple. Performance under pressure combined with cap hit

yes, one playoff series in the NHL is a small sample size… but for any (playoff focused) team, the goal of a back-up is to have a guy who can step in and deliver an adequate performance under pressure… Tokarski played better than most starters did last offseason during his -albeit brief- stint in the ECF, and he did it off of minimal prep.

ability to perform under pressure is probably the biggest quality a back-up can have (consistency is for the starters). Tokarski showed that (and as small as the sample size was, his career performance history backs up the notion that he performs well under pressure)

imo, I'd gladly take Tokarski as Price's back-up this coming season ahead of the vast majority of back-ups out there for that reason alone (by and large, the only other back-ups who have shown themselves able to perform well in playoff crunch time, are of the aging vet type… guys, like Brodeur or Nabokov, on their last legs, far removed from their prime performance days… many a GM has crashed his team ship banking on a "past-their-prime" vet to be able to deliver in the present...

add in the fact that he's a sub 600K cap hit (for a team willing to spend to improve, the 750k-1M in savings vs most back-up salaries would be a big incentive) http://www.capgeek.com/comparables/?player_id=924

there was no pressure because no one expected him to play and most rightfully knew that sans price the habs goose would be cooked.

That's VERY different than playing under the expectations that are present in montreal for goalies. One might even say UNIQUELY present in montreal. We have ZERO indication whether he can handle it when people view him as anything other than our last hope.

And it doesnt change the fact that if you choose him, you are essentially killing his career, no one wants a goalie who plays a dozenn games a year and by the time people get used to him playing such low numbers, fucale's probably ready.

He's a AHL calibre goalie who lucked into a NHL position and did better than expected which is still VERY different from good. That does not make him NHL calibre and it sure as hell doesnt make him one of the more attractive backups in the league.

right now who do you think has more value ( not upside on the inane supposition that they are going to get the chance to actually display their talents), tokarski or James Reimer ?

You can only trade on potential for so long, remeber that habs goalie who lit it up in the playoffs, that no namer who looked so bright. What was his name again ? Oh that's right, Steve Penny. How did that work out again ?

Tokarski isnt bad, he isnt good. What he is, is unproven. Thinking that a GM would trade a third for a guy whose still on his second sip on his cup of coffee in the nhl on the sheer basis that he " might" be good is crazy.

 

[Analyzer*]

The consensus amongst fans seems to be trade whichever one brings the most return.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Either way, before opening day, one of the two should be traded, for the best possible return out there… and if it is Tokarski that goes, i'd be interested to know what (if any) offers were available immediately post-season vS what MB is able to get for him in September… i suspect it will be less, b/c GM's, like fans, tend to get over-enarored with quality playoff perforamnces.

I would say it's more likely none get traded until December/January unless you can think of a team now that has backup problems and is either looking for a vet or a young guy who is about NHL ready with potential upside.

Right now teams are mostly set with their goaltending plans, but in 3-4 months they might change due to injury or underperformance at which point a GM might start calling MB.

 

[MasterDecoy]

I'd move Tokarski instead of Budaj.

I like Tokarski and loved the way he handled himself in the playoffs. Plus he's won at virtually every level. Budaj is viewed as a career back up at this point in his career. Tokarski has a chance to be a starting goalie. The return for a potential starting goalie is a lot higher than a back up. After Tokarski's playoff performance, I assume his value should be pretty high. Having a him play back up for a whole year, might drop his value.

Additionally, if we didn't have Price and Furcale, I'd keep Tokarski. With our goalie depth, we can afford to trade Tokarski.

Only downside of keeping Budaj, is how he reacts to being bypassed in the playoffs.

Which is exactly why we should be holding on to him until he can prove to be better, raises his value, buds will never have value higher or lower than now

Same Reasoning, different conclusion

 

[FerrisRox]

simple. Performance under pressure combined with cap hit

yes, one playoff series in the NHL is a small sample size… but for any (playoff focused) team, the goal of a back-up is to have a guy who can step in and deliver an adequate performance under pressure… Tokarski played better than most starters did last offseason during his -albeit brief- stint in the ECF, and he did it off of minimal prep.

ability to perform under pressure is probably the biggest quality a back-up can have (consistency is for the starters). Tokarski showed that (and as small as the sample size was, his career performance history backs up the notion that he performs well under pressure)

imo, I'd gladly take Tokarski as Price's back-up this coming season ahead of the vast majority of back-ups out there for that reason alone (by and large, the only other back-ups who have shown themselves able to perform well in playoff crunch time, are of the aging vet type… guys, like Brodeur or Nabokov, on their last legs, far removed from their prime performance days… many a GM has crashed his team ship banking on a "past-their-prime" vet to be able to deliver in the present...

add in the fact that he's a sub 600K cap hit (for a team willing to spend to improve, the 750k-1M in savings vs most back-up salaries would be a big incentive) http://www.capgeek.com/comparables/?player_id=924

Michael Leighton back-stopped his team to the Stanley Cup Final - meaning he did what Tokarski did, except he won multiple series and didn't it for a much longer time. Where's he at?

If you think Tokarski winning a game in the ECF suddenly make him among the best back up goalies in the league I think you're going to be very surprised when he gets waived to the minors next month. He doesn't have anywhere close to the value you seem to think he does and he has a helluva lot more to prove before he will be perceived as legit NHL back-up let alone among the best in the league in that regard.

Every GM in the league knows Montreal has Price, Budaj and Tokarski under contract. They also know that Joey MacDonald was signed. If they were perceived as "about the best back ups you could find in the league" I assure you, teams would have been contacting Bergevin to acquire one of them. Montreal will be forced to make a decision at the end of camp, so teams know they would be available and the price would be very reasonable, and still, there was no trade. Your perceived value and the actual value are dramatically apart it would seem. I think Budaj might return a 5th or 6th rounder at best to a team like New Jersey. I don't think Tokarski has much trade value at all.

 

[FerrisRox]

I would say it's more likely none get traded until December/January

Surely you're not suggesting the Canadiens carry three goalies until Janjary in order to maximize the imaginary return on a back-up goalie?

If a team needs a backup due to injury, why would they trade for Dustin Tokarski when they could just sign Tim Thomas?

One guy was a starter in the NHL last season, has won a Cup, and a Vezina. The other guy has 2 career playoff wins?

Why not sign Martin Brodeur? Or Ilya Brzygalov? I think teams are much more likely to go with guys that are proven veteran players with successful track records - and who are free to acquire at no cost - over a career-minor leaguer who played five games last season in the playoffs.

 

[Hackett]

It has to be budaj and you take what you can get for him.

Mentally, I don't see how budaj can perform for this club after the playoffs.

The reason he didn't get the torch in the playoffs is because he does not have the trust of his coaching staff.

Goaltending is mentally hard as it is. I can't imagine how budaj can perform while knowing that he doesn't have the coaching staff behind him.

He's mentally done in Montreal. Now it's just a matter of moving the body.

 

[Runner77]

Waive Budaj. If Budaj was really meant to be counted upon to stay, they wouldn't have passed him over in favor of a green goalie in a playoff context.

Neither Budaj, nor Tokarski have any trade value. Plus as others noted, Tokarski allows for a salary discount.

 

[calder candidate]

Not of these guy have any value on the trade market...
Tokarski is better, cheaper, has more potential and can actually pick up the slack if Price does down to injury.

Budaj is probably one of the most like guy in on the team, as great work ethic and attitude he is a very solid back up as long Price is able too play, as soon as Price actually out he just isn't getting the job done.

If it's a stickly hockey decision Tokarski is the back up and Budaj is waived MacDonald starts in the AHL.

 

[HatTricK09]

lololol can't believe we gave Desjardins for him.

lololol can't believe we gave Desjardins for a goalie.. twice... both times with the Lightning

 

[FerrisRox]

The reason he didn't get the torch in the playoffs is because he does not have the trust of his coaching staff.

You don't have the faintest idea why Budaj didn't get the call versus the Rangers so it's odd that you would attempt to pass off your opinion as a fact and think that people here wouldn't figure that out.

"The reason he didn't get the torch in the playoffs is because Therrien was playing a hunch and went with the little known rookie."

See, I can do that too. Doesn't make it true.

 

[Harpo]

The only reason to keep Budaj is team's chemistry. He's a decent backup, but he's definitely gone after next year. Tokarski is cheaper, younger and has more upside.

None has decent trade value.

So either we try our luck by putting Tokarski on waivers, or we part with Budaj right now.

I wish Budaj was an a-hole, it would make things much easier.

 

[Mr Jackpot]

They went with Tokarski in the playoffs because the Habs had a better chance to win the cup with him, there's no other reason.