tyberius67

I've got no issue with it, but to have the cap space to get him means something falls apart on the Radulov side of it, otherwise if you resign Radulov and Markov and Galchenyuk where is the money for a guy like Alzner? Certainly going to cost around 4 million to bring him in. I like him with Weber, though, just not sure how the money works

My thoughts exactly, the handcuffs put on us from the Francophone side of this on GM/Coaching is binding enough.

Thanks but i've actually been here a long time as Link67, just can't remember any of my log in stuff for that account or the email attached to it, so I started a new one lol

Ah yes forgot about that detail, well still makes it easier to trade in the second year though.

https://mobile.twitter.com/renlavoietva/status/878644011816411138?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet Markov camp rumoured to be asking for 2 years Don't really see an issue with it for the right structure, we can't get a better d-man on a 1 year than him anyway. So if this gets done as a 2 year 4.5mill AAV, 6 mill for year 1 and 3 mill for year 2, it makes it an easy to trade and easy to buy out contract if things go bad for some reason, also an affordable top 4 dman if things go well.

What off ice trouble did Galchenyuk get in last season? I only recall some partying issues and the Girlfriend incident the year before

De la Rose was always pegged as a potential good 3rd line center with Size, his offensive game was never in the same spectrum. with this kid, like I said, no one is talking about a depth forward. its all 2nd line center, who plays a gritty north south game, uses his speed to create scoring chances and has a very good shot. I personally like it, and I like that it puts a Center in the pipeline with some nice upside that has a chance to be in our top 6 a few years down the road, something we no longer had.

I'm still not convinced one those 2nd rounders doesn't get flipped as trade bait to acquire a current NHL d-man from a team who could use the cap relief

Not at all, so far I've heard his comparisons from multiple experts as Jordan Staal, Patrik Berglund, and Ryan O'Rielly. Pegged as a top 6 forward who will likely slot into a 2nd line center position, no talk of him being a bottom 6 forward at all. If he ends up being a bigger version of Plekanec while in his prime I would be one happy camper, anything more is a bonus.

I wonder if one of our 3 picks in the 1st and 2nd round doesn't turn into an NHL d-man before this evening is over now.

I agreed until that last paragraph, Beaulieu is further along in his evolution as an NHLer at this point, the team saw that here with us, what we saw from him was what we were likely going to get going forward with MAYBE a bit more upside. Galchenyuk is not there yet, and likely won't be there until at least another 2 years, until then everything is possible. He is walking the tight rope right now between underachieving top 3 pick and ready to bust out into a 5 time 30 goal scorer, both players in different parts of their journey towards their potential. As for the philosophy about 2 way centers, lets not forget that Pittsburgh has a great one in Crosby, Chicago has a great one in Toews, L.A has a great on in Kopitar, all recent cup winners. I'd say the philosophy isn't that far off its rocker at all, Julien became a champion on the back of a great 2 way center himself in Bergeron. If anything based on that list of champions, the philosophy has merit.

I Agree with some of your points for sure, but again I also see a whole lot of batting aside the positive and amplifying the negatives, Let me elaborate. On the aspect of player development, Bergevin should have made a change there with Lefebvre. However other than that we can't throw the fact that guys didn't come up and turn into 25 goal scorers annually on him, he isn't the day to day guy with these kids. His part of the blame lies in his philosophy for long term stability within his staff in all major parts of the team, whether its coaches, player development or scouting, and that has lead a couple times now to situations where someone should have been fired sooner than they did. on another note, development of a player evolves continually long after junior, and the AHL, up until the age of 26 or 27, and in that Aspect, Bergevin in your argument, is not being credited for positive situations he was a part of while at the helm. The development of Lehkonen is an easy one to see this season, McCaron looks able to handle a full time bottom 6 position with this team. Gallagher may not have been drafted by Bergevin but he is responsible for bringing him up to the NHL, and his development into the NHL player he is happened under Bergevin's eye. Danault was a depth player with potential when Bergevin acquired him, we could even go as far as saying Bergevin drafted Danault since it was his guy while he was in Chicago, and he believed in him when he traded for him. Now he has developed into a serviceable top 6 forward for us with still more time to reach his potential and it cost us a couple throw-aways to get him to boot. Lastly, Price, yup Carey Price is a player who reached his potential under the hand of Bergevin. Simply put Carey Price did not become the dominant league leader in goal until Stephane Waite came here and turned him into the guy we see today, and Marc Bergevin is the guy who saw the necessity in going after Waite to help Price refine his game. As far as good and bad moves are concerned, I agree with certain aspects of your assessment, The Subban trade is either love it or hate it and an endless debate we won't get into. The revolving door of stop gaps were all no risk type situations that didn't handcuff us or hurt us at all. As for good moves you can likely add the Drouin trade to that list already, as you mentioned. Lets not forget bringing in Radulov to help our top 6 last summer, the trade for Benn, and now Schlemko, both NHL d-men acquired for peanuts really. He did take too long to Fire MT as you mentioned, but again there MT wasn't all bad either, he had some good seasons, and some players did thrive under his coaching, some players also did anything but thrive under his coaching. That said there is no way he should have survived last summer, but as I mentioned earlier it is a philosophy that is being used there that may not always be optimal. Sometimes the need for swift change is necessary, and in that aspect I hope Bergevin does get more proactive in the future with his staff, as he has proven to be several times with his roster.

this Galchenyuk stuff scares the crap out of me, smells like Tyler Seguin after the trade from Boston. And I don't want to be scratching my head when this kid explodes with 70 point seasons in his mid twenties.

One of, Brendan Smith, Karl Alzner or Simon Despres would be a quick fix UFA Lefty acquisition for our top 4 worth taking a look at if the trade market proves to be difficult. Kulikov at the right price might also be worth a look, although his time in Buffalo was quite unreliable, a calculated risk that a more insulated D-Core in Montreal would help him look more like the guy he was in Florida. He definitely has the most upside but with the greatest risk of flopping out of the bunch.

Despite what some may think here in our own fanbase, the fact is no matter who is GM here, once a few years start to go by, everything is highly scrutinized on a grand scale. The good moves get tossed aside in conversations and we dwell on the not so good moves vehemently, its the nature of the beast. First lets look around the league and find ONE active GM who has not made a blunder or 2 in the past 5 years in regards to Trades, Contracts, and Drafting. Once that task is complete and we realize there is no such GM lets move on to the next point. Just earlier today I saw Frank Seravalli talking on TSN about how Bergevin is widely regarded by his Peers as one of the most active, and capable GMs in the league. His ability to identify and make moves to fix issues within his roster over the course of the Summer is near the top in the league according to the GM who just won the cup 2 years in a row he said. They underlined the Drouin trade, the manipulation to nearly force Vegas to take Emelin, the very low cost acquisition of a top 6 dman earlier today. Bob Mckenzie is certain Bergevin is all over the phone searching for a top 4 Defenceman and a Center at the right price. Even if he doesn't pull it off, we can still see he has his sights set in the right direction, a direction not many of us would dispute are needs at this point. So lets stop acting like he hasn't made some good moves over the years, lets stop acting like all he does is incompetent ones, lets stop acting like we have missed the playoffs for 5 years straight instead of only the 1 year that we actually did. I look at his body of work, and I know it isn't perfect, but no one's will be, I know he has done a better job than the previous 4 Gms so far. It would seem he is highly regarded by those in his position around the league, all of that means something, It means it could be a lot worse, with very little guaranteeing it could be better. He hasn't screwed this team up to the point of not being competitive, and until he basically makes the wheels fall off we should just give him his chance to build a championship team. There are very good GMs who have been trying to Build Champions for much longer than he has, Bob Murray, Chuck Flethcher, Doug Wilson, Doug Armstrong to name a few. Why should Bergevin not get the same chance as long as he keeps icing a competitive team? Because we are a much more radioactive hockey environment than all the other places those quality GMs work for? Come on now..

He will be a very serviceable 3rd pairing guy, who can move up the line up incase of injury, He is every bit as useful as guys like Emelin and Beaulieu who were both better suited on our 3rd pair, and he will come at a cheaper price. Whats not to like? its not like they just traded a 5th round pick for a guy they are claiming is the next Brent Burns here. Guy makes 2 mill a year and is slotted for our 5th or 6th spot, and based on what I saw of him in SJ i'm more than comfortable with that.