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Again. Edmonton target the wrong player on the ducks. You think draisaitl and penner are the equival by players, or think draisaitl has same ceiling as penner?? Really???? Penner at no time was considered to have draisaitl's ceiling. Penner had a John druce year. Lowe is an idiot who went after penner after vanek didn't work out - like Wilson going after neimi. i know you like being argumentative, but get real. if you were to trade for Tavares, who would you give up?? Probably top line player like galchenyuk and at least two first rounders. I'd give up more for draisaitl at 21 than I would for Tavares at 27. Signing draisaitl for 7 years, makes more sense than signing Tavares for seven years when he is 28.

Yah. But thing is : you don't have to give away 4 first rounders to overpay an old UFA...

Wilson (sj), offer sheeted chicago. i think if price wants more than $8.5m (I really wouldn't want to go over $8m), you move him. He is going to want 8 years. Do you want to be locked into price for 8 years at $9m or $10m? I'd be willling to do that with a 21 or 22 y at old centre. I sure the heck don't want to be locked into that with a 29 or 30 year old old goalie. Look at lundquist today. Even $8.5m is a mistake. Weber you hopefully can move once his salary drops. Bottom line, id rather pay a #1 centre $9m than a goalie. Team have one one with good goalies and elite centres. When was the last time a team with an elite goalie, but not an elite centre win the cup?

You best lower your expectations.

Kessel was not a guy to build a team around. Draisatl is a complete player who has been compared to kopitar - but looks like has more offence. He is 21, finished 8th in scoring, and led his team in the playoffs. When the leafs made that trade they were at the start of a rebuild. They didn't have defence, offence or a goalie. Our window is now. the guys we would be drafting in the next 4 years are not going to be here when Price and Weber and maxpac are productive. We should be picking no better than 18th. I'm good with giving up late first rounders for a franchise centre. if we go the course, we are going to be just good enough to make the playoffs and possibly win a round. If we don't do something significant, we may not even make the playoffs, given that the two Florida teams should get into the playoffs next year. But I can't see us getting a top 5 pick unless we lose Price again.

How about, just make the playoffs. - the cup doesn't matter anymore.

That should be the new sign in the dressing room. Pretty much the epitaph to the Bergevin era.

One thing that Habs29 understands is that this team is entering 'desperation' territory. It's not clear that MB understands this, since he has claimed not to believe in a Cup window. Maybe his theory is that Price will single-handedly give us a chance to win until he turns 38. But less deluded souls recognize that players start declining, typically in their early to mid 30s. This means that Patches, Price, Radu, and Weber - the defining players of this core - are right at the apex of their careers, or in Weber's case entering the downside. Nor is there much help coming from the farm, except for Sergachev. Finally, even if you have a great team, it may take a few tries before it wins. And this team is not great, being handicapped by the most laughably inept C configuration of any team in the NHL. Therefore, this team has to lift every rock, explore every back alley, in order to fix the crippling weakness that is keeping it from truly contending within its window. The normal rules ('no offer sheets,' etc.) increasingly need to be suspended. Otherwise the Bergevin era will come and go with zip to show except a decimated farm system.

What's our track record in the first round Since taking Price? 2005-Price - only good pick that was almost ruined in development 2006-Fischer - useless pick 2007-McDonough - given away for garbage (I'm not counting pacioretty who was picked with a San Jose pick) 2008-kristo- dumped for peanuts 2009-Leblanc- dumped and should never have been picked 2010- tinordi- dumped for peanuts 2011-Beaulieu - will probably be dumped or middle to bottom pairing in Montreal 2012 -galchenyuk- should be a #1 or at worst #2 centre, but will probably be dumped 2013 -mcarron - bottom 6 2014 -schrebak - still in AHL 2015 -juulson - hopefully will be a top 4 2016 - sergachev - looks like a legitimate future top pairing dman- if we don't Fxck up his development anyways, that's a hardly a great success. If you exclude the two guys still in junior, we have have a franchise goalie, one guy who should be a front line player, one top D we gave away, two guys who are bottom pairing dman/bottom 6 forwards (and mccarron should not have been taken before the 3rd round), one guy in the minors who HOPEFULLY becomes a top 6 winger and three wasted picks. We picked 4 legitimate top players with our 1st round picks, So yeah, I'd give up four 1st rounders. Even when we picked promising players we fxcked up their development. Id be willing to give up four 1st rounders for a guy who already has developed into a top centre and is only 21. Hell I'd offer $10m for 7 years to make sure we get him. We've proven that we can't draft and develop a top line centre. Koivu was the last guy close to being a top line centre, but he was never the same after blowing his knee. MB and his foxhole buddy have totally messed up galchenyuk, who SHOULD be a top line centre.

We need to improve our centre position . When we are scoring it's because our centres are making plays. 2nd half of the season when teams play harder and our centres disappear and we don't score. It happens ever year. time to blow up our centres. trade call up the avs trade to avs galchenyuk + emelin + a prospect to habs duchene trade plekanec for a pick sign hanzal and stone resign radulov pacioretty-duchene-radulov lehkonen-hanzal-Gallagher byron-danault-shaw king-Mitchell-martinsen stone-weber benn-petry markov-beaulieu price montoya