I find a huge disconnect lately with a lot of what Habs fans are saying about Emelin and Gorges in particular, and even Markov to a lesser extent. It's funny, I sort of used to be the guy pointing out Emelin's flaws and limitations and arguing against his new contract. I mean, he still hasn't actually _earned_ it. But both him and Gorges are reasonable enough middle-roster defensemen. They have various collections of strengths and weaknesses... sort of like you'll find everywhere when you start looking at defense corps closely around the league.
Too much of a microscope on these guys, IMHO. They are ok. There are areas Emelin can improve on, and you just sit back and see if he gets moved back to LD or settles in a bit better on RD, gets a good start without the big injury next year, etc.
I can't see the Habs getting better if they move guys like Emelin or Gorges. All they can do is pick up different middling defenders with different combinations of warts. I'd stick with the known, rather venturing into potential trouble with different players. What we've got worked pretty well despite some issues, but I think that leaves us with some good room for internal tweaks and improvements. Looking outside for solutions in the current marketplace seems like a risky proposition to me.
I mean, sure, provide the specific options and I'll think about whether I'd bite or not. But I doubt it would make a serious difference. Take a guy like Garrison. Maybe the Habs were thinking they could flip a current D for a pick then use that pick to acquire Garrison in the same salary cap slot. I don't see that representing any improvement. Just a different middling player with an even bigger contract, and more redudancy on the PP. I'd rather just stick with what we have, get a solid-but-cheap veteran D like Weaver for the #5 spot, and build the top-4 from within - at least until the marketplace shows a more clearly preferable option.