Zowpeb

If you are going to low ball them both that badly then why bother. It is widely known that Fedorov wants 10+ million per season and Hatcher wants 7 million per season. If Fedorov was offered 40 million over 4 years what in gods name makes you think they'll even consider or think about 25 million over 5 years? All that would do is make them seem unreasonable and not worth dealing with. It would make it even harder for us to attract quality players.

Couple things: First: I did say our chances of getting both were slim to none. I believe I also said before it could even be considered we would need to clear up 8 million in salary. So my dream of getting both was just a hope and prayer. I was also talking about TRADING for both guys so the issue of "stars not wanting to play here" is limited by the fact that they'd be traded here and have little choice. I also think having Gainey as our GM increases our potential at getting star players to sign. I know that Habs77 likes our young trio and Souray, Rivet and Quintal to be the vets. However, we still don't know what Souray's status will be to start the season. We also don't know if Hainsey and/or Komi can be stick all year. Hatcher would look VERY good on our defense for a number of years...especially once Quintal is gone. Personally, if I had to choose between Guerin and Hatcher right now I'd take Hatcher. Our D is a bigger hole IMO. Plus, he's cheaper then Guerin and helps protect our number 1 investment(Theodore). Yes, I realise that our chances at either are slim but in theory I'd rather take Hatcher.

Quite honestly I'd love to see both of them in a Habs uniform. It would immediately give us a legit top line in Zednik - Koivu - Guerin. I agree 100% with Puck that Hatcher is exactly what we need for our defense. Both because of his physical and defensive play and also because I think we need him around Komi, Hainsey and Souray. He would be another American in our defense and may have develop a connection with Komi and Hainsey. Our defense has been horrible for too long now. Theo needs help... Now obviously money is the limiting issue. Realistically we probably can't get either one of these guys. It may be possible that we can get one if GG is willing to add payroll. The chances of us getting both are slim to none. If we were able to clear up about 8 million in salary then we might be able to get both. I think the Gainey connection has to mean something in dealing with both players. Although it probably means more in a trade for Guerin. Would it be possible to do a sign and trade for Hatcher and including Guerin in the deal? It would cost us more in a trade obviously but it would allow us to clear up some salary in the deal. Something like: Guerin and Hatcher for Hossa, Brisebois, McKay and ???(possibly another prospect like Plekanec or a pick in next years draft). Dunno, just threw that together pretty quick.

"Myself I'd prefer to also lose/dump/get-rid-of Juneau. The guy is a "problem" imo , he's creating problems in the room imo... Plus consider his age/productively/contract ... He is a total waste , ... Though when I put it that way its going to be tough to unload the guy.. " ------------------------------------------------------------------- The problem with trading Juneau is that our top two lines aren't exactly stellar. We need balance all the way through. Juneau can be a big part of that. He is capable of putting up 35 points with 4th line minutes. I think we need a good 4th line and very good 3rd line if we are to succeed with our 1st and 2nd line being what they are. Don't get me wrong I think Koivu and Zed are very good players...it's everyone else around them on the top two lines that scare me. Hossa I could live with since he's young and developing. I have virtually no patience with Perreault and to a lesser extent Ribeiro. I'm just hoping that with Ribeiro setting up Hossa and possibly bringing in a real good RWer we could see a better balance on our top two lines. As well as an improved PP.

I think Fichaud could still turn out to be a solid netminder. I'm not saying he's going to turn into a starter in the NHL. Just that I could see him being a capable 12-18 game starter as a back-up to a good goalie. I'm not sold on Michaud...

I'm not going into anything most of you don't already know. This team is so chalk full of 2nd - 4th line talent it isn't even funny anymore. We almost need to create our lines starting with the 4th line and working our way up. Line 4: (LW) Kilger - © Juneau - (RW) McKay Line 3: (LW) Sundstrom - © Bulis - (RW) Ward Line 2: (LW) Hossa - Perreault/Ribs (RW) via TRADE/UFA Line 1: (LW) Zednik - © Koivu - (RW) Audette The 4th line is expensive but that is where those guy are best suited...they can play physical, are strong defensively and will score some points. I love that 3rd line. The 2nd line needs some work. Hopefully the RWer could be a good player. I hope and pray that Czerkawski is gone and not an option. I think/hope one of Perreault or Ribeiro is gone by next year. The top line is fine except for Audette...I don't like him there and would love to see an upgrade over him. But I expect that we wouldn't see one for a while. It seems to be a consensus top line by most posters... I can see Ryder getting a call up if Hossa struggles. Depending on training camp I think we have some intriguing possibilities with our prospects. I can see a couple of them surprising... Our defense is a shambles right now. Bright future, crappy present. Rivet - Markov Souray - Komisarek Hainsey - Quintal Quite frankly, I think we should stick with Hainsey and Komi for a full year. Sure they might struggle but I can live with that. If they are really struggling come late November then maybe send one of them down. We need to commit to a youth movement. The big question marks, in my mind, should lie with Rivet and Souray. Souray because of his injury and Rivet because he gives the puck up WAY too much. If Souray was healthy and we could upgrade Rivet I'd be much happier with our D. At the very least a guy to replace Rivet on the top unit would allow Souray time to recover better and if Hainsey struggles it gives us better options... So, I've left out Brisebois, Dykhuis, Traverse, Dackell, Czerkawski and one of Perreault or Ribiero. If we can scrape together a good RWer for the second line and a top pairing d-man with those players I'd be ecstatic. Actually, if we could get a top notch defensive d-man for say Breezy, Dackell and maybe a pick I'd be happy. Someone the caliber of Norstrom. Then we could move Perreault, Dykhuis, Traverse and Czerkawski for draft picks. Release Traverse and Czerkawski if no one wants to give up a pick. Take the savings and sign a good RWer via UFA(if there are any :?-). Any thoughts/comments?

Anyone watching the conference? I'm at work so unless there's a web broadcast I can't see it...

Problem is that Turgeon's contract runs longer than Breezy's so it would be very hard for Dallas to justify evening out any money. Or did you mean they would even it out for one year? Quite honestly, I would love to have Turgeon on our second line. It would immediately give our second line some legitimacy. However, I wouldn't trade much to get him and the money issues would HAVE to even out for at least 2 of the years. If this happened I would hope that we would immediately deal Perreault and Ribeiro for a 2nd line LWer and d-man. On top of the fact that we need to deal/dump Czerkawski, Juneau, McKay, Dykhuis and Traverse. Of course that would be ideal and leave us with a much improved line-up. If we could dump Audette's salary somehow and replace him through FA then I'd be even happier. Hossa-Koivu-Zednik TRADE-Turgeon-Audette(FA if he's gone) Sundstrom-Bulis-Ward Kilger-Plekanec-Dackell Markov-Rivet TRADE-Komisarek Hainsey/Souray-Quintal

How exactly do you post your avatar? Is it just a jpeg pasted to the avatar section in your profile or a what? :zzz:

Dump Perreault and keep Ribeiro. The question of trade value really depends on who you are dealing with. Teams like Pittsburgh would value Ribeiro more while teams with money and an already solid line-up would probably value Perreault more. From our standpoint we have a payroll that's WAY WAY to high for our talent level. We need to pare that down. I don't think Ribeiro is that far off from Perreault right now. I'd give Ribs another chance and dump Perreault. Especially with a lock-out coming... I would also deal Hossa in a heartbeat. Personally I think we need a good LW to play on the top two lines. Hossa isn't that guy and combined with Perreault they could probably get us one. Then if we can get rid of Czerkawski and McKay I'd be ecstatic. We'd save coin and put a better line-up on the ice. We could use that money to upgrade our defense. Bulis Koivu Zednik LW(from trade)- Ribeiro - Audette Sundstrom - Plekanec/Juneau - Ward Ryder - Kilger - Dackell Markov - Rivet Tverdovsky - Quintal Souray?? - Komisarek I'd say we need to upgrade Rivet or Quintal. Or find a replacement for Souray if he can't play... I'll be very, very happy if Perreault, Czerkawski, McKay and Dykhuis are not on this team next year.

I'd take Tverdovsky over Brisebois in a heart beat. Christ, how many 40+ point seasons has Breezer had? Now count how many Tver has had. Now look at their ages. No contest that you take Tverdovsky. Actually if we did do a deal like that it would probably make Hainsey very tradeable. We'd have two very good offensive d-men in Markov and Tverdovsky, not to mention that Komi can put points up too. So at this point Hainsey could be dealt...although I don't think it would be necessary. As has been said, Jackman is nothing. In fact, Toronto has very few prospects of note. They traded some at this past years deadline and they didn't have much to begin with. LA would be a nice fit if we picked up a chunk of Breezer's salary. I think it will be tough to get prospects with the new CBA coming up. If the NHL plans to go hard on a salary cap then no one will be looking to add any salary and prospects become more valuable to the bottom line. So, if we can dump Breezer for Tverdovsky then I think we'll be in a good situation. If prospects do carry more value because of the CBA then Hainsey could very well be dangled for quite a bit. Hell, maybe we could even deal him at the trade deadline for a good draft pick. Breezer for Tver straight up. Maybe some cash involved... Then Hainsey and ?? for a top 3 pick. :guru:

I heard your mom could be considered a sport...

Wasn't it Garon Savard was offering up at last years draft? I think it could very well be the case that Garon will be trade bait. I believe the team is 100% commited to Theodore and Garon showed he's ready for NHL duty this year. Seeing as a number of scouts think Garon is potentially better than Theodore I think he would have some good value. I could see: Breezy, Dackell and Garon for Florida's pick. It would save us some salary, not really hurt the overall structure of our team and net us a top flight prospect. Then trade down a few spots from #10 and pick Bernier. Could possibly get another 2nd rounder if trading down to #15-17...especially if Parise is still available at #10. That's assuming it's Bernier the team wants. Personally I'd rather stick with the #10 and have Parise.

Do you really think AS would step aside like that. That would be a real beating to his ego... Z