Machine of Loving Grace

Just let me have the wordplay.

I had Galchenyuk but he's now a Coyote. Also picked up Lehkonen, Hudon, and Lindgren as rookies in case of injury. For former Habs I got Radulov and Subban.

With extension I want Adam Mascherin. Pure sniper, hard to move despite size, has done some great work on his skating.

To be faaaaaaaair, we have assembled some good tanks recently.

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-inside-out/what-the-puck-canadiens-and-max-pacioretty-are-in-lose-lose-situation If there's a rush to get him moved and not keep him on the roster come season time, Bergevin is going to end up eating a lower market price. If he can hold off until the deadline, he'll get a much better deal. He had a chance at a great deal, but Florida getting Hoffman, Calgary getting Neal, San Jose getting Kane, Philly getting JVR, and Perron back to St. Louis meant the winger market dried up. He could have got great value for him prior to that but he wanted too much. Now everyone is lowballing him because no team feels they *need* him yet. They won'g need him until the season gets going. So it's basically wait to the deadline? Get Max value. Trade him earlier? Get less.

Yeah, makes sense for him to stay since they love him and can afford him with Spezza's money freeing up for him but who knows. Maybe he pulls a Tavares and bolts based on his 9 year old pajamas.

They are top heavy because Nill thought he could rely on players to develop from the draft as depth. Janmark, Faksa, Shore, and Nichushkin were all supposed to be top six calibre players by now . Nichu might be now after coming back from Russia. Hanzal was a bad gamble though. Dallas for years got high grades on their drafts but the players haven't been panning out. Maybe this year going for a reach was a good attempt to change fortunes, especially since I have seen a bit of Dellandrea and think he was very underrated by scouts and draft lists. Then again Bitten is proof I tend to have a soft spot for Firebirds.

Dallas is going hard still for Karlsson. Otherwise he would fit them well. They are weak on the left side after Benn.

JVR at the same age as a PP specialist in Toronto who ghosts in the playoffs and still got a five year deal with Philly. Pacioretty is a much better player. Judging by age is a mistake too. I would rather overpay for Pacioretty than commit to Zucker or Wilson at the money and term Washington and Minnesota did. His mistake is pushing for eight years. Five is a good spot, three is perfect. I get why players do it and why agents push for the most years, but I think it's far more benefiting for a player to take a short term deal with a contender, win a Cup or get close, *then* cash in on the retirement deal with someone who can afford you and just wants you in the locker. Iginla was unsuccessful, mostly because he started late, but he had the right idea: leave your original team in your late 20s, be a mercenary for the best teams in the league, finish up on a three year deal somewhere well into your vet years based on reputation. Instead these guys get so focused on a new long term home they forget that the game has shorter and shorter windows for teams. You are better off being a hired gun leaving your prime like Hull was and then cash out when you are one foot out the door.

Max is American, Rick is Canadian and a former first overall pick who Toronto wanted for years. Buzz there is a bit different. Kane has a bit of different buzz, kind of controversy that follows him. Talk was that at the deadline, Florida and Calgary was very interested in him but Bergevin's asking prices were extremely high. He asked about Trochek as a return for Pacioretty. Come the draft, it looked like the Kings were willing to pay but wanted Max at a 6x6 not an 8x6 so they signed Kovalchuk as a UFA for three years instead. Calgary signed Neal, Florida got Hoffman. The Islanders might still be interested. I think the Rangers could want him too even if they are rebuilding. He'd be a good captain during the transition years. But basically the teams who were in a real hunt for a top winger got their wingers. That's why there's no buzz right now. At this point, Bergevin is hoping for an arm's race. Tampa and Toronto know they have each other to beat. Boston and Florida want in that mix. Washington wants to repeat and Pittsburgh wants revenge. Philly and NJ are looking for that move to get them into the mix. Columbus has to figure out Panarin who will be the only guy more valuable than Pacioretty. Over in the west the Central is the toughest division in the league and the Pacific has a declining Anaheim trying to reverse fortunes, Vegas trying to repeat success, two underachieving Alberta teams, and an intriguing Arizona team. The ball is in Bergevin's courts for his rentals and getting max value for them, which I think he's done well for selling at the trade deadline, but if he's insisting on the price for Pacioretty which it was last year? Forget it.

You might get that if he does a sign and trade (which he supposedly wants an 8x8 contract), you won't if he's just a rental. If Pacioretty has a year like last year we're looking at a Rick Nash level return. If he goes back to his usual 30 goal campaign, we could get closer to that in a rental situation. There is some fear he could end up a Bobby Ryan, so teams don't like him asking for eight years in an extension. But when you look at what Tom Wilson got for a 14 goal career highmark, I don't think teams are afraid to pay him. Just afraid to give him that end of career insurance contract. If Pacioretty was willing to do a three year extension with someone, I could see them fine with paying him $8M and giving Montreal a great return. But the rumoured 8x8 he asked New York and LA for? That's where his value becomes sketchy.

Never ask an Oilers fan what they would give up for Max Pacioretty. I saw a guy say the best offer he could make for Pacioretty was Kirill Maksimov and a 2nd round pick.

Your Stanning of Shaw will never cease to amaze me. It's a mirage because if Chicago handled their cap better he never would have played on the PP and if the Habs were smart they never would have been in a position to play Shaw for the PP. Instead they emphasized grit over skill. Even now I would have Gallagher and Scherbak on the right and he would never play a minute of PP but you know he will. Gotta make that contract look acceptable.

He can chirp still, but the fact he was contemplating retirement after his last concussion tells me he's one hit away from being done for. And before he went down, Marc Bergevin wasn't entertaining any offers for him. Which makes me think teams were making offers for him.

Shaw is now damaged goods but his issue is more that he was always a mirage. He's a mid 20 points at best even strength player who has been played on the PP to boost his stats. Play him in the bottom six without PP time like he should and he's a 25 point winger for $3.9M. Due to his damaged goods status he's now more of a 15-20 point bottom six winger who will likely only play 60 games at best a season. For $3.9M per year.

Both are bad players who shouldn't make over $3M.

Johnny Football baby!

Since the Bolts in 04 almost every Cup winning team has had a few re-sign blunders to keep the team together. The Ducks are one of the few who didn't but that's because Neidermayer and Selanne fake retired for half a year and it still feels like that was in some way an F U to Burke. Chicago of course has had the worst examples of it, especially Bickell. Most thought it would be DSP who got a dumb contract but it ended up Wilson, who I'm sure will be great for all of the suspensions he is bound to get post Cup for crap he used to get away with.

I'm fine with Galchenyuk at wing in 12-13 I'm fine with Galchenyuk at wing in 13-14 but he probably should have moved to C by the end of the year I'm not fine with him at wing in 14-15 I'm not fine with him being proclaimed a RW by Therrien in 15-16 after he "failed" at centre with Eller and Semin as his wingers, before he finally got moved to C and excelled. I'm not fine with Julien deciding it was a "strategy" to play Galchenyuk as a fourth line RW against New York I'm not fine with Galchenyuk at wing in 17-18 when our centre options at one point was Drouin/Plekanec/DLR

I don't know if I'll ever get over the fact we offered to give up a second round pick in that trade if Sergachev didn't play 40 games.

If Bergevin just wanted to deal him as a rental, he probably has a dozen potential offers. The hold up is teams wanting a sign and trade, and Pacioretty wanting too much.

I don't go out of my way to watch Habs games anymore. If they are on I'll watch. Watched a lot of Predators last season. Kinda intrigued by Arizona so I might seek out their games at the start of the year.

He didn't just leave him there. He outright defended his performances and said he liked what he saw in the players. 100% convinced firing Sly was Molson.

My personal wishlist with Vancouver includes Elias Pettersson, Michael DiPietro, Brock Boeser, Adam Gaudette, and Kole Lind. Boeser and Pettersson are likely untouchable, while they likely want to see if Gaudette is as dominant of a scorer as he was in NCAA. That leaves DiPietro and Lind, and I'm probably biased with DiPietro having watched him a lot. I'd take him over all of our goalie prospects. That said, if they put Pettersson on the table, there's a lot I would add for him. If they were willing to give up Gaudette for Pacioretty I'm for it, but I'm guessing it's more likely a deal around Lind and a first.

We are so so so lucky as Habs fans that in 2015, the Bruins three first round picks weren't Barzal/Boeser/DeBrusk.