Link67

First off you are going off-course, I disputed the claim about me, personally where I "Classically Exagerated" when I said Which is exactly what the stats I posted immediately after your incorrect claim about me, showcased loud and clear. And in response to that you come up with some "but I said this afterwards and it is also correct" Hoopla? It is irrelevant in its complete form, you made a claim about me and it was wrong, I proved it with stats that line up exactly with what I SAID, and had nothing to do with what you were going to say, that's all there is to it. Can anyone explain to me how someone says "Player A is a clip under a PPG his whole career because he has a career PPG of 0.91" and would be considered Exaggerating by any stretch of the imagination? Doubtful..

is 537 points in 587 games not a clip under a PPG as I suggested? are the stats exaggerated? Because they equate to 0.91 PPG, if that isn't the epitome of a clip under a PPG then please enlighten me as to how I am classically exaggerating. Although I had a feeling he was close to a PPG player his whole career, I still went and did my homework before making the claim in my original post, perhaps you should have done the same instead of now knowing what the front half of your foot tastes like, unpleasant I imagine.

He has averaged a clip under a PPG his entire career, which is more than anyone on this roster or anyone who has been on this roster in what feels like 20 years. A career that might I add is entering its Prime years, with a player who has the tools to remain a significant player because he does not build his game around Speed. Speed is the first thing that goes on a player, and usually when a Player who builds his game from speed loses that, he declines much faster, and when the opposite occurs, they remain effective for much longer. See Jagr, and Chara as prime examples of that, 2 players at 2 different positions who were elite for many reasons other than foot speed, and remain effective long into their twilight years because their greatest strengths never truly dwindle as losing a step does. Point is Tavares could easily be effective until he is 35+ because he is not a point producer because of his speed, but because of his strength, shot, high end individual skill and hockey I.Q. If anyone in this fanbase or in upper management is ready to walk away from a deal that would land him here, after the years of trying to find someone just like him, for any reason other than he doesn't want to come here, or the price to get him is simply astronomical and insane to pay by an standards, then I really don't know what to say.

That snipe in the top corner on the PP was a thing of beauty, reminded me of Kovalev's vintage snipes from the other side. Kid certainly has high end ability to some of his game that is for sure.

If Max Pac is part of it, no way it takes that much, Pacioretty may not have as high a PPG as Tavares but he has still more goals in the last 5 years. Were not trading young assets and future pieces here. The trade instantly ramps up when you are talking about trading both team's best forwards for each other, for that reason if we start throwing around loads of top picks, prospects a long with our best forward, were grossly overpaying imo. Max Pac + Lindgren + 2018 1st rounder should be a very good offer to Start with, and it shouldn't take much more to get it done with Pacioretty involved. Maybe a 2018 2nd round for the sake of getting it done and ending the decades we have been without a true #1 Center, but that is absolutely it if Pacioretty is in the deal.

Also, Galchenyuk scored several beauties from the Right Point last season, maybe a double threat situation from the One Timer from either point is something to look into. Galchenyuk and Weber are as capable of setting eachother up for one timers as they are capable of scoring them from those areas, they both showed that last season anyway, maybe something to look into or experiment with. p.s I didn't even want to dignify the suggestion with a response, but here it goes, Weber, under no circumstance other than Injury, is to have no other place during the PP other than Left Point on the 1st unit, that's it that's all.

That is verryy steep, Gallagher and a 2nd should be a good starting point, Maybe a 1st instead of Philly agrees to retain some salary.

pretty sad that the guy using the walker was still the 2nd most important dman on this team, what does that tell ya

This has gotten entertainingly off topic lol, please keep them coming.

I agree, and am pretty well on the same boat, its been a lateral move type of offseason so far, I do think Drouin/Alzner/Schlemko is an upgrade over Radulov/Emelin/Beaulieu, however the loss of Markov has pissed away any gains in that department now. We are going to have to see what comes of this 8.5 mill in cap before we can determine whether we head into next season better than last.

He was useless when he went to Nashville, which is when he was 32, and "getting into his mid 30's" as I stated. Mid 30's by my estimation are 33 - 37. Also I am glad to note that was the only part of that whole point you tried to knit pick. Fact remains Volchenkov was battling mass amounts of injury problems that were costing him anywhere from 20 to 40 games a season for the final 3 years of his NHL career and accelerated his drop off, a problem that is non existent with Alzner who hasn't missed a game in 5 or 6 years. There is plenty to suggest he can be the healthy version of himself he was before last year. He is plagued by no historical reoccurring injuries, the injury he did have allowed him to still play but at a 70% state.

That makes more sense then as to why he is available, I agree with the free asset part of it, and if he turns into an NHL regular then even better.

I always find myself questioning the viability of a Drafted college free agent vs the Undrafted ones, if Colorado who has been in defensive purgatory for years now couldn't bother keeping him in their organization, what make him so special now?

Don't have to talk too long, that is actually quite a nice top 9, it certainly beats anyone of our top 9s this century.

Ok lets try this way then During the playoffs, a very recent situation, Schlemko playing on the SJ Defense, played every game, was 5th in scoring during that span with 3 points in 6 games, tied for first among their D, and coupled that with the best +/- at +2 on the entire team. Now he played a very serviceable role on their bottom pair, and never had his spot in the line up questioned during that span. On to Streit, who was scratched on a majority of nights on an even less formidable Pittsburgh D, had nothing to show for other than it was pretty clear he was no longer the Mark Streit from 2014, a Mark Streit you still seem to be expecting here in Montreal. If you think he has anything more than Flies Fart of a chance to be a more effective Dman for us than Schlemko at this current time, I simply think you are wrong. Schlemko, regardless where we put him in this line up right now, will be the better option over Streit, hands down, there is no debate. Schlemko may likely not be able to handle top pair minutes in the end, but he certainly has a much better chance at making it work than Streit at this point, the recent comparison speaks for itself really. Although I do agree, that in the end the most likely scenario is Alzner with Weber.

Of course I am just making excuses for Bergevin, who I didn't even mention in my post and is actually in my doghouse for his cataclysmic failure in the Markov situation, but keep trying to peg me a blind Bergevin supporter. I am however, defending Alzner, who remains a very solid Dman, and who you seem to think is little more useful than Captain Barbossa on skates this year after one Groin/Hamstring injury. You mention 2 players who don't even compare to Alzner in the current situation either, which I find comical. Volchenkov was getting into his mid 30s by the time he started being useless, and Komisarek was a byproduct of Markov, incapable of looking effective without him. Alzner has forged his own way through his career never having relied on anyone to make him who he is and was a top 3 on one of the best hockey teams for years, he is also not 32 or 33, he is 28. I also noticed the subtle impossible challenge for him to suddenly pick it up offensively when that is not at all his style of play and we all know it. Just a little insurance policy on your part so you have something to rag on him for all year? "Nope not even on pace for 35 points, USELESS!" I can hear it already. It is like asking Adam Foote 7 years into his career to show better offensive ability.

Yep I have to agree, its not ideal but I see it exactly as you do, Its one of two line ups, the one you just posted, or the identical line up with Alzner and Schlemko swapped. Those are pretty well the only 2 viable things to try this season as it stands anyway.

I'm not sure what point you think i'm not seeing here but let me clarify my stance on this further. Streit does not belong on the top pair is what I am saying, I don't care how many points he averages he CANNOT and WILL not be thrown into a situation where he sees the best players every night for over 20 minutes a game. You don't sign a 39 year old to a 700k contract to play that role, he is coming in here as the 3RD best LHD on this team, and under no circumstance should he or will he be jumping over Alzner or Schlemko on the depth chart. He has better odds of being bumped by Jerabek than he does of bumping either of the other 2 for ice time.

I'm not high on Schlemko, I just know he is a very solid #5, and for us will likely have to be a #4, but he is without a doubt ahead of Streit at this point there is no debating that, the notion that you think Streit should be placed higher in the pairings than Schlemko against better opposition and more 5 on 5 ice time is the point I am trying to bang on here. Streit will already be getting a lot of PP time now that Markov is gone, Schlemko will not. But who should be on a higher D pairing is not debatable, you put the younger, faster, and better Dman against the better opposition, that is only logical.

come on man, I get you don't like Alzner, its screaming at me loud and clear but are you going to be negatively biased about everything Alzner now until this contract is up? He had a groin/hamstring issue that plagued him all year, you know what generally cures that? inactivity for a prolonged length of time, he decided to play through the pain and accept whatever role he was given in the meantime until he could not anymore. You think all these months off and working out when it heals isn't going to allow him back to 100% in October? We had to get in a bidding war for him, as many as 9 teams were reportedly in on him, we had to give him the helicopter tour and all the bells and whistles just to try and stand above the rest. have you ever seen a bidding war for a player who is broken and has no chance to be anything more than a depth player with bad contract? Me neither. You want to fault this signing because he is not a puck moving new age dman? go ahead, you want to act like Alzner is not a top 4 Dman on most NHL teams? that is simply not accurate, his style might not be what we envision we needed, but he is a rock solid proven player at preventing goals and minimizing mistakes in his own zone, that makes him a good Dman in my book, new age or not.

You are in for a rude awakening this season if you think Streit is going to be as effective as Schlemko, go check on other teams forums and see if the San Jose community is as thrilled about losing Schlemko as Philly or Pittsburgh are of losing Streit. The point is moot though, Alzner will be the top pairing guy with Weber, there just is no choice at this point. Schlemko and Petry will be the second pair while Streit and Benn can be the 3rd. With the eggs we have on this team, that is how they should be placed in the basket based on their capabilities, it is not ideal, but it is reality.

You aren't That far off, I got Pittsburgh, Florida, Rangers, Nashville, Jets, Calgary, San Jose, who have a more expensive top 7 than us. the one striking thing about it though, is Pittsburgh is arguably the only defense that is as underwhelming as ours for all that money. Everyone else on that list may be more expensive but for good reason, they are better than ours entirely.

The Jaws theme would have nothing to do with us getting eaten up in a trade for Giroux that involves Shaw, Plekanec, Picks or anything of the sort. Come on man, I get he is overpaid but by 3 million? Jesus, he had more points than everyone except Pacioretty on this team last year from a non playoff team. So if his 58 points last year are worth only 5 million in your opinion, why would we have given Radulov 6.5mill+ for his 53 points? When having a discussion it is always important to try and make sure your foot does not end up in your mouth. Giroux would be an expensive, yet still, a #1 center here, who fits our needs and enters the same age group as most of the leaders on this team trying to get a championship out of the next several seasons. He would also be brought in relatively cost effectively in a trade because of his cap hit, if not he can stay in Philly. We don't have to take him but if the price is right and were one of the only teams who can accommodate his salary then it needs to be looked at very closely Giroux represents the top Buy Low option for a #1 Center out there right now, and you want to walk away from the table because you think he is finished at 29 and only worth 5 million? Worse yet, you think we still get eaten in the trade if we manage to send Plekanec or Shaw off in the deal, are you even hearing yourself?