Will habs ever be successful if they keep Price/Weber?

[Bargainbin]

And how many cups do they have combined?

They are all still in the playoffs

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Price and Weber have good years left in them but this team is broken. So the answer is no.

Trade them, let them have success elsewhere and rebuild. The window is closed and I hope the next GM realizes this.

 

[CHfan1]

Roy won a Conn Smythe trophy when he was 35, Thomas when he was 36.

Thomas and Hasek won Vezina trophies when they were 36. Brodeur when he was 35.

Goalies can play well into their mid-thirties.

I’m not ready to say Price is done, we’ll see how he plays next season. He could have another 5-6 good years ahead of him. I believe if Montreal can surround him with some elite talent, who can actually score more than 1-2 goals a game they can win with him.

 

[Whitesnake]

Nope. Not because of them. But because of the rest. And you can't improve the rest as much as we could without giving those guys. These two would be SO much of a greater help elsewhere. And their return will be SO much of a greater help to us.

But...it won't happen. We will drive those 2 till they are 34-35...and once we are still struggling to make the playoffs, probably we will get a few picks for them....

For Price though.....I still need to be convinced that he still has the fire to play this sport. I am not convinced. Whether it's the sport. Or whether it's the sport in THIS city. I don't know. But the new dad seems to have found what Stéphane Richer once said...there is MUCH more to life than hockey. Yet...for a guy who is supposed to be your best player and leader.....you want more. You need more.

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

Nope. Not because of them. But because of the rest. And you can't improve the rest as much as we could without giving those guys. These two would be SO much of a greater help elsewhere. And their return will be SO much of a greater help to us.

But...it won't happen. We will drive those 2 till they are 34-35...and once we are still struggling to make the playoffs, probably we will get a few picks for them....

For Price though.....I still need to be convinced that he still has the fire to play this sport. I am not convinced. Whether it's the sport. Or whether it's the sport in THIS city. I don't know. But the new dad seems to have found what Stéphane Richer once said...there is MUCH more to life than hockey. Yet...for a guy who is supposed to be your best player and leader.....you want more. You need more.

Or the management. Unless something really happened in his personal life, there was clearly something wrong with Price this season and it wasn't physical. I have a feeling that Price and Bergevin are not best friend. Maybe Price didn't like the direction or decisions that was taken in the last off-season. Markov, a big veteran leaving in "bad" terms, that was almost disrespected and our offensive leader in the reg season and mostly playoffs leaving aswell because they can't get to an agreement on the contract yet we had tons of money left and also signed dead woods in Streit and Hemsky instead.. Price probably wasn't too excited about that.

It was quite obvious that Price gave up on Therrien and his stats showed so maybe he's done with the GM's incompetency and it killed his motivation.

 

[scrubadam]

Or the management. Unless something really happened in his personal life, there was clearly something wrong with Price this season and it wasn't physical. I have a feeling that Price and Bergevin are not best friend. Maybe Price didn't like the direction or decisions that was taken in the last off-season. Markov, a big veteran leaving in "bad" terms, that was almost disrespected and our offensive leader in the reg season and mostly playoffs leaving aswell because they can't get to an agreement on the contract yet we had tons of money left and also signed dead woods in Streit and Hemsky instead.. Price probably wasn't too excited about that.

It was quite obvious that Price gave up on Therrien and his stats showed so maybe he's done with the GM's incompetency and it killed his motivation.

First point Price signed that contract on July 3rd, he knew what he was getting into. If he didn't like what was happening why did he sign?

Second point Hockey players should play hockey and not worry about managing the team. Price isn't Lebron James and this isn't Cleveland. Be a professional. His job is to stop pucks not whine and mope about players on the team or contracts given out etc... Who cares what he thinks of MB he doesn't even interact with MB outside of a few meetings here or there. I could understand if it was CJ since you deal with the coach every day but the GM.

Third I call BS that Price can just turn it off and on. If so then the guy is a bigger dick then I think. If he just decides to play like crap because of his feelings about the GM then he is not professional, let his teammates down, and let the fans down. Is he going to play like crap next year while he cashes his checks to the tune of 10.5 Million.

The narrative is that Price took the habs to the cleaners by signing a huge contract for a GM he doesn't like, with a team he doesn't want to be on, and then sabotaged his own play because he is pouting and is a big baby ruining the professional lives of his teammates and coach. Ocams razor says to me he had a bad year like the rest of the team. Its up to him to put this past season behind him, stay healthy and get back to Vezna form. If not he can get his propecia and join Theodore.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Nope. Not because of them. But because of the rest. And you can't improve the rest as much as we could without giving those guys. These two would be SO much of a greater help elsewhere. And their return will be SO much of a greater help to us.

But...it won't happen. We will drive those 2 till they are 34-35...and once we are still struggling to make the playoffs, probably we will get a few picks for them....

For Price though.....I still need to be convinced that he still has the fire to play this sport. I am not convinced. Whether it's the sport. Or whether it's the sport in THIS city. I don't know. But the new dad seems to have found what Stéphane Richer once said...there is MUCH more to life than hockey. Yet...for a guy who is supposed to be your best player and leader.....you want more. You need more.

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

I don't see if fixing the team fast enough to have Price and Weber still in their prime.

 

[NORiculous]

Serious question. If we don't get Tavares or some fantasy result we're looking at another year without a top C with Price and Weber getting older into their long term contracts. Eventually, if it continues we either A) Go nowhere and then Price is untradeable resulting in extra years of misery B) Only find someone years down the road when Weber/Price are out of their prime.

I realize guys like Lundqvist and Rinne are good late into their careers but it's a big cap for Price, Weber and who knows if we keep pacioretty.

Seems like mediocrity with a high cap hit...

A bit part of me thinks if we don't get Tavares or some equivalent to tear it down. Sort of like Toronto did by trading Kessel. We need to be good enough to get good picks and Price and company won't allow it. If they do...we're even more screwed because we have 10.5 mil tied to a guy who isn't a game changer.

What is success?

 

[LyricalLyricist]

What is success?

Finals appearance? Several conference finals appearances? Perennial playoffs.

Success isn't always a cup win, only 1 team gets that. It's 2nd time in 3 years we have a top 10 pick. We've hit conference finals once and did very little else under MBs watch.

Since 2012 the habs have 19 playoff wins. 10 came in one playoff run I believe. It's not terrible, as they are ranked 12th in the league but habs are a team with endless resources and to make matters worse...our recent trend is alarming.

As Price and Weber begin to age I don't see them became better, only worse.

There is a legit concern we will not be going on another true run barring huge fixes. Playoffs? Sure but even then on and off. But no sign of success.

It doesn't help Buffalo, Toronto, etc... are on upswing with young talent.

I would rebuild now to let these teams take over while their ELC talent is hard to compete with.

This way when guys like Matthews are getting a boatload we have our own ELC high level talent.

 

[Tyson]

Amazing how much is needed. Price and Weber are not enough and are only going to get older and less effective.
Not sure what Bergevin was thinking giving Price that contract or taking Weber’s insane cap hit until he is 40. These types of moves have set this franchise back many years.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

First point Price signed that contract on July 3rd, he knew what he was getting into. If he didn't like what was happening why did he sign?

Radulov was gone the day after he signed. Markov was gone after he signed.... I'm not sure how he or anyone else could've known how bad that was going to be.

 

[scrubadam]

Amazing how much is needed. Price and Weber are not enough and are only going to get older and less effective.
Not sure what Bergevin was thinking giving Price that contract or taking Weber’s insane cap hit until he is 40. These types of moves have set this franchise back many years.

Agree with Price. That contract is so ugly.

Disagree about Weber. The guy is still a good 1D. I don't even think his cap hit is that bad, especially if the cap goes up the next few years. Sub 8 will start to become a bargain for 1D's soon. I think we can get top 20 D play out of Weber for the next 4 or 5 years.

But Price's contract will be an anchor. Either he plays good and then we are stuck in this same cycle of relying on the goalie to win games and winning 1-0, or he sucks and then the team has a 10.5 albatross hanging around its neck every off season. Having an overpaid C or D is bad, but when its your goalie its 10 times worse. Since there are only 2 goalies you can't play him on the 4th line or 3rd pair and squeeze something out of him. either you start him, or have him as back up which puts a dark cloud over the team. Its either you are paying 10.5 for a guy to eat hot dogs, or you are paying 10.5 for a guy to stink up the joint.

 

[scrubadam]

Radulov was gone the day after he signed. Markov was gone after he signed.... I'm not sure how he or anyone else could've known how bad that was going to be.

The point that you missed is Price signed when both Markov and Radu were not resigned to the team. He knew what was going on. If he cared that much about how MB ran the team then he shouldn't of signed the deal. Look at JT he has refused offers from NYI. Don't accept a gigantic contract and then 2 weeks later cry how horrible the GM/Team is and play like crap for that reason. You knew what you were getting into. And also Price has been around MB for 6 years he knows the guy and how he runs the team, whatever happend/happens shouldn't be a surprise to the guy.

All this to say I don't think Price played bad because of MB's off season moves. Players have bad years all the time and its not usually about the GM. I mean did Theo fall off a cliff because he didn't like Gainey or something. Seems like a odd correlation to make.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The point that you missed is Price signed when both Markov and Radu were not resigned to the team. He knew what was going on. If he cared that much about how MB ran the team then he shouldn't of signed the deal.

I stopped reading there...

 

[Deluded Puck]

No... but not because they aren’t good enough, the rest of the core simply wouldn’t be ready before they start to decline.

 

[StanleyCH25]

... Having an overpaid C or D is bad, but when its your goalie its 10 times worse. Since there are only 2 goalies you can't play him on the 4th line or 3rd pair and squeeze something out of him. either you start him, or have him as back up which puts a dark cloud over the team. Its either you are paying 10.5 for a guy to eat hot dogs, or you are paying 10.5 for a guy to stink up the joint.

Agreed. Bad goalie contracts really hamper you badly. It’s along the same philosophy of the impact of mistakes on the ice. If a forward makes a mistake, it leads to a potential odd man rush. If a defenceman makes a mistake, it leads to a scoring chance. If a goalie makes a mistake, it leads to a goal. Price still has elite skills but unless the team surrounding him works, he has the potential to look absolutely horrible.

 

[scrubadam]

I stopped reading there...

If you stopped reading then why did you reply?

So are you saying Price didn't know what his former teammates were thinking and signed his contract because he had 100% faith that MB was going to resign those guys? Even though he has been working under MB for 6 years?

If Price played bad because MB then he shouldn't of signed the 8 year contract. He knows the org and the GM, he knew what he was getting into. Should of been like JT and told MB he want's to wait and see what type of team he will build and decide from there. Instead he committed to this franchise for 8 years. At that point his feelings for MB don't matter anymore. He put himself in that position and he needs to deliver.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If you stopped reading then why did you reply?

Because I want you to know that I at least made the effort. But you haven't changed... it's the same old shtick.

Carry on.

 

[scrubadam]

Because I want you to know that I at least made the effort. But you haven't changed... it's the same old shtick.

Carry on.

Well you didn't make an effort because you stopped reading.

You say Price couldn't know how bad it would be? Well he should read HF because plenty of people on here saw it.

I don't even know what your point is? That Price got butt hurt a few days after he signed his contract because after 6 years he finally realized MB was an idiot at his job?

 

[NobleSix]

Nope. By the time this team builds itself up to seriously compete, Price and Weber will be starting their major declines.

 

[habsfan909]

I’m not ready to say Price is done, we’ll see how he plays next season. He could have another 5-6 good years ahead of him. I believe if Montreal can surround him with some elite talent, who can actually score more than 1-2 goals a game they can win with him.

We've only been saying this same thing every off season for 20+ years lol... surround our star goalie with offense and we can be good!

 

[CHfan1]

We've only been saying this same thing every off season for 20+ years lol... surround our star goalie with offense and we can be good!

Well it is true, probably not realistic with this management though.

 

[Cobra Commander]

We dam well better win a cup, as soon as Bergevin is gone the next guy will have a small window to try and fix things.

 

[scrubadam]

We dam well better win a cup, as soon as Bergevin is gone the next guy will have a small window to try and fix things.

Here is the thing about the NHL. If you lose a cup you aren't going back to the finals. Since 2006 only 1 team lost in the finals and won a cup, the Pens.

Since then no team has lost and won a cup, let alone got back. You basically have 1 shot. Thats your window.

 

[Cobra Commander]

Here is the thing about the NHL. If you lose a cup you aren't going back to the finals. Since 2006 only 1 team lost in the finals and won a cup, the Pens.

Since then no team has lost and won a cup, let alone got back. You basically have 1 shot. Thats your window.

One more shot is all i ask for after all this suffering.