Will a Trade make the Habs a legitimate 2008

[HabsWEST]

Gainey must be asking himself this question now...and perhaps the most important question, sometimes the best trade is the one you dont make!!

Is our beloved Habs ready to win a cup in 2008. I dont know if a trade gets the habs to a cup contender this year...

(unfortunately)Foregoing some younger talent and/or draft picks maybe premature at this stage of development.

With post NHL agreement and FA market, judging Gainey's past record of not being fearful of pulling the trigger, may not be entirely accurate or a basis to go by...My belief, and I would hate to be wrong, is that regardless of a trade , Montreal is not in a position to win a cup this year, Making the playoffs and winnin a couple of rounds is more realistic..

So why mortgage the farm and future.The same player will more than likely be available this summer, FOR FREE!, and as noted, with a successful team, Free Agents are more willing to come to Montreal

CASE IN POINT:

Going by the Rumuors:

Hossa for Higgins, Chipchura,a First round, Emelin and rights to Perezhogin ( or combinations thereof)

Or wait until July:

Hossa as a free agent...for NOTHING...I know what I would choose...

A more logical trade would be Ryder for hopefully a First rounder, or a second rounder. And Dandenault for a 3rd.

Huet, and pending free agency is and will be key for this franchise,

Does one roll the dice and trade Huet for a first rounder plus?or Gainey signs Huet for 3/4/5 years for 5 million a year?

Huet will want a long term, This will prove to be crucial:

---Tied up cap space for a pending backup , one wont be able to move in 2/3 years

---With such a signing HALAK will be as good as gone, and Danis for that matter.

In my opinion Halak has been TRUELY unfairly treated, Given his play last year, and AHL performance last year and this year, and also including training camp...Gainey has to be very careful here, or else mark my words this will prove a weak spot in near future.

Huet in my opinion, offer a max contract for 2 years for 5.5 million a year ( offer a little more, even 6 million for short term)

If he doesnt agree, let him go ( even thaugh this may hurt short term)..so if this is case trade him now ( Gainey will not do this, too much of a gamble)

Halak's future with the organization is tied into Huet's fate. The fact he hasnt been given a chance this year, is a sign Huet will be signed...This may prove to be costly to the team, ALA Tomas Vokoun example etc...

We all believe the Habs Goaltending is in great shape in terms of depth, Price will be a matter of time,

But the prudent choice to build team for 2009/2010/2011 run is to continue to stay the course; build within, and look for a FA, while stocking up prospects and trading pending older FA's ( Ryder, Huet etc...)

---Keep Price, let him play rest of year in AHL, play Halak

---Dont trade for Hossa or anyone else ( would hate to lose Higgins, Chipchura or whichever prospect)

---Sign Hossa or someone in the FA market in the next 2/3 years for FREE

---Trade Ryder, Dandenault

---Trade Huet, or sign him to short term ( 2 year deal), lose Halak if this is case, and Danis for that matter, and look to draft a goalie for future backup...

Just in my opinion and to STAY THE COURSE, Bob Gainey please dont deviate, as tempting as it maybe...The Future is bright, lets not chase it!!

We trust you will make the right decision

Any thaughts??

Edited February 13, 2008 by HabsWEST

[MAK]

I dont expect much this year tradewize. besides dumping dandenault and ryder and maybe pick a marginal player. if he could pick up a high round draft pick he will but I doubt hewould do the opposite to get a rent-a-player....especially since he picked up a high-regarded scout.

Edited February 13, 2008 by marky_and_komi

[Psycing]

Michael Peca or Peca clone? I still think Gainey's going to try and bring in a better #3 centre if he can.

[Nilan]

Gainey must be asking himself this question now...and perhaps the most important question, sometimes the best trade is the one you dont make!!

Is our beloved Habs ready to win a cup in 2008. I dont know if a trade gets the habs to a cup contender this year...

(unfortunately)Foregoing some younger talent and/or draft picks maybe premature at this stage of development.

With post NHL agreement and FA market, judging Gainey's past record of not being fearful of pulling the trigger, may not be entirely accurate or a basis to go by...My belief, and I would hate to be wrong, is that regardless of a trade , Montreal is not in a position to win a cup this year, Making the playoffs and winnin a couple of rounds is more realistic..

So why mortgage the farm and future.The same player will more than likely be available this summer, FOR FREE!, and as noted, with a successful team, Free Agents are more willing to come to Montreal

CASE IN POINT:

Going by the Rumuors:

Hossa for Higgins, Chipchura,a First round, Emelin and rights to Perezhogin ( or combinations thereof)

Or wait until July:

Hossa as a free agent...for NOTHING...I know what I would choose...

A more logical trade would be Ryder for hopefully a First rounder, or a second rounder. And Dandenault for a 3rd.

Huet, and pending free agency is and will be key for this franchise,

Does one roll the dice and trade Huet for a first rounder plus?or Gainey signs Huet for 3/4/5 years for 5 million a year?

Huet will want a long term, This will prove to be crucial:

---Tied up cap space for a pending backup , one wont be able to move in 2/3 years

---With such a signing HALAK will be as good as gone, and Danis for that matter.

In my opinion Halak has been TRUELY unfairly treated, Given his play last year, and AHL performance last year and this year, and also including training camp...Gainey has to be very careful here, or else mark my words this will prove a weak spot in near future.

Huet in my opinion, offer a max contract for 2 years for 5.5 million a year ( offer a little more, even 6 million for short term)

If he doesnt agree, let him go ( even thaugh this may hurt short term)..so if this is case trade him now ( Gainey will not do this, too much of a gamble)

Halak's future with the organization is tied into Huet's fate. The fact he hasnt been given a chance this year, is a sign Huet will be signed...This may prove to be costly to the team, ALA Tomas Vokoun example etc...

We all believe the Habs Goaltending is in great shape in terms of depth, Price will be a matter of time,

But the prudent choice to build team for 2009/2010/2011 run is to continue to stay the course; build within, and look for a FA, while stocking up prospects and trading pending older FA's ( Ryder, Huet etc...)

---Keep Price, let him play rest of year in AHL, play Halak

---Dont trade for Hossa or anyone else ( would hate to lose Higgins, Chipchura or whichever prospect)

---Sign Hossa or someone in the FA market in the next 2/3 years for FREE

---Trade Ryder, Dandenault

---Trade Huet, or sign him to short term ( 2 year deal), lose Halak if this is case, and Danis for that matter, and look to draft a goalie for future backup...

Just in my opinion and to STAY THE COURSE, Bob Gainey please dont deviate, as tempting as it maybe...The Future is bright, lets not chase it!!

We trust you will make the right decision

Any thaughts??

I don't see any reason to trade youth for a short term fix here. this team has improved from last year - and hopefully will continue to improve into next year with the same stategy. we are not a stanley cup contender and won't be with the addition of a superstar. i wouldnt be surprised to see gainey do nothing till the offseason.

[Chris]

They haven't even locked up a playoff spot yet. They are as close to being out of the playoffs as they are to first place. We all know the history of the team taking 4-6 weeks off, it hasn't happened yet, but they way it looks it could be the beginning.

So if trading some veteran garbage what you meant, i'm all for it.

In reality, i only see Ryder and a fringe player moving, hopefully a goon and a pick comes back.

[tokyohabs]

I think you have to look seriously at the option of getting someone like Hossa (Jokinen, player of your choice...), IF we can sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal now. Our record of attracting top UFA's doesn't need repeating.

But it isn't the Bob way. It seems he feels little adjustments are going to push us into the playoffs - like a real 3rd line ctr with experience. I wouldn't be surprised to see both Lapierre and Chipchura back in Hamilton together sometime soon, if such a deal is to be had.

He might also go for another team's problem player if it means he can play in Ryder's place: clearly Michael is 100% finished here and will not snap out of anything in our uniform; and who knows, a player coming in to different surroundings might pick his game up.

Goaltending, plenty of threads on the issue.

[Chris]

Lapierre is a much better fit with Begin, Kostopolous. That is an in your face line. Teams need that. The problem is people thinking higgins is a top line LW, he is not. I like his skills and he brings alot to the tanle but he is a perfect 3rd line LW.

currently i would move the Kosty brothers with Koivu. Let Kovalev and Pleks carry another line.

[SAKS-AVENUE]

I agree that mortgaging the future is not a good idea. I think Gainey would only consider trading for Hossa if Hossa would sign a long term deal. There is no way we would trade a Higgins type player for a two month rental.

As far as Hossa being free this summer? Yes he will be, but like last year I don't think Hossa's first choice will be to come and play in Montreal, unless we take a long run in the play-offs which is highly unlikely considering we need a player like him to do this. Also like last year, I don't want to be bitching about how we should have traded in 07/08 because no UFA's want to play in Montreal.

I read today something about talks with Hossa are not going anywhere. Waddel is starting to scramble realizing that teams are not going to pay the price he is asking. Considering he has been hanging around the Montreal Canadiens a lot lately is leading me to believe that at LEAST Gainey, out of all interested teams, has laid something on the table that has intrigued Waddel. The man does not want to lose Hossa for nothing which seems more and more likely as the trade deadline draws near.

Will we be a contender? A Hossa type trade will make us better. That's good and that's what we all want.

Isn't everyone who makes the play-offs a contender? So yes we would be contenders, but I think you are really asking would they be favorites?

Probably not, but I've seen a lot of underdogs surprise people and the Montreal Canadiens with a Hossa type player locked up could be worth the gamble, they are already proving experts wrong..........I hope Gainey pulls it off.

[Habsfan]

Waddell was at teh Game again last night. This has got to mean something. A G.M. doesn't follow another team around for over 1 month not to make a trade.

[Dalhabs]

Garnet Exelby maybe would be the kinda player Gainey trades for.

[Wamsley01]

I agree that mortgaging the future is not a good idea. I think Gainey would only consider trading for Hossa if Hossa would sign a long term deal. There is no way we would trade a Higgins type player for a two month rental.

As far as Hossa being free this summer? Yes he will be, but like last year I don't think Hossa's first choice will be to come and play in Montreal, unless we take a long run in the play-offs which is highly unlikely considering we need a player like him to do this. Also like last year, I don't want to be bitching about how we should have traded in 07/08 because no UFA's want to play in Montreal.

I read today something about talks with Hossa are not going anywhere. Waddel is starting to scramble realizing that teams are not going to pay the price he is asking. Considering he has been hanging around the Montreal Canadiens a lot lately is leading me to believe that at LEAST Gainey, out of all interested teams, has laid something on the table that has intrigued Waddel. The man does not want to lose Hossa for nothing which seems more and more likely as the trade deadline draws near.

Will we be a contender? A Hossa type trade will make us better. That's good and that's what we all want.

Isn't everyone who makes the play-offs a contender? So yes we would be contenders, but I think you are really asking would they be favorites?

Probably not, but I've seen a lot of underdogs surprise people and the Montreal Canadiens with a Hossa type player locked up could be worth the gamble, they are already proving experts wrong..........I hope Gainey pulls it off.

I would do a couple of mid level prospects for a rental, but that is about it.

No McDonagh, Emelin type players for 6 weeks.

[Harp77]

Lets be honest - in todays NHL the key to winning is by building.

So far, the Habs have seriously exceeded alot of critics in how well they have played. Imagine if Ryder was up to what he was last yr.......wow! We might be ahead of Ottawa.

Having said that - my opinion is perhaps dump Ryder and try and get something now. Other than that Gainey should keep the ship the way its going.

[Habsfan]

I agree that mortgaging the future is not a good idea. I think Gainey would only consider trading for Hossa if Hossa would sign a long term deal. There is no way we would trade a Higgins type player for a two month rental.

The problem with that is that you have to get permission from Waddell to speak with Hossa first, and If my memory serves me well, didn't waddell deny the rumours that the habs were talking with Hossa about 2 weeks ago? He said that he had never given permission to the Habs to talk with Hossa!

[BCHabnut]

Lets be honest - in todays NHL the key to winning is by building.

So far, the Habs have seriously exceeded alot of critics in how well they have played. Imagine if Ryder was up to what he was last yr.......wow! We might be ahead of Ottawa.

Having said that - my opinion is perhaps dump Ryder and try and get something now. Other than that Gainey should keep the ship the way its going.

Last year, the Koivu line was very good, and Ryder followed suit. Higgins and Koivu were buzzing all the time, and feeding Ryder so he could shoot. It's not all Ryder that's an issue. It's the whole line. I think that Ryder would do well on another team with an elite centre. I feel bad for him. Someone needs to tell him that all he can do is shoot. Don't try anything else. Just shoot. Never pass, cuz you'll just give it away.

I think the Koivu line has to step it up for this team to have any shot at getting passed the first round of the playoffs.

[Wamsley01]

Last year, the Koivu line was very good, and Ryder followed suit. Higgins and Koivu were buzzing all the time, and feeding Ryder so he could shoot. It's not all Ryder that's an issue. It's the whole line. I think that Ryder would do well on another team with an elite centre. I feel bad for him. Someone needs to tell him that all he can do is shoot. Don't try anything else. Just shoot. Never pass, cuz you'll just give it away.

I think the Koivu line has to step it up for this team to have any shot at getting passed the first round of the playoffs.

Yep, but for those of us who feel like being irrational we can attempt to summon the ghosts and have Carey Price pull a Roy/Dryden/Penney.

It is my hope Unrealistic maybe, but when they stink the joint out it helps me sleep at night.

[Habsfan]

I'd be happy if Price could win us a couple of play-off rounds. if we can make it to the conference finals, i'll more than happy!

Edited February 14, 2008 by Habsfan

[Wamsley01]

I'd be happy if Price could win us a couple of play-off rounds. i f we can majke it to the conference finals, i'll more than happy!

I to this day find it amazing that in Toronto they have stunk for 40 years, they have had only 2-3 Hall of Famers and average

about 1 trip to the Conference Finals every 10 years and yet Leaf fans are nothing but optimistic.

Last year when the Habs were 14 points ahead almost every Leaf fans I knew was assured they would catch them. And they did.

I lost a bet with a guy who thought that it was reasonable to expect the Leafs to make up 14 points in 28 games.

Even when I told him that he realized the Leafs would have to play .700 hockey (coming off .475 hockey) and the Habs would

only have to play .475. Also the same guy who told me John Pohl would score 40 goals one day.

Then you go to Montreal, a team that has won 10 Cups in 40 years, Handfuls of Hall of Famers and miracle runs in the playoffs

in 71, 84, 86, and almost again in 2002 yet we are the most pessimisstic fan base that I have ever seen (outside the Red Sox).

1 week ago we were talking about 1st in the East, then within a week we are worried about missing the playoffs.

It is just amazing to me. BTW, I am one of them and I can't help it.

Bizarre.

Edited February 14, 2008 by Wamsley01

[Habsfan]

1 week ago we were talking about 1st in the East, then within a week we are worried about missing the playoffs.

Hey, i said it a couple of Times, I don'T think we have what it takes to make it, let alone stay at the no.1 spot in the conference.

A few too many people got their panties all wet when the habs were playing really well.

I'm trying to be a realist here. I know we don't have what it takes to win it all this year, but ask me the same question in a couple of years, and the answer will be a whole lot different!

[Captain_Stealth]

I'll chime in here despite the fact that a few of you have already stated what I'm going to say.

The Habs have a team that has showed can play at a high level this year and if the right bounces go their way, it's entirely possible they can make a run for it. It depends on when management feels they have the best possible shot for the cup and until then, Gainey is NOT going to make bonehead moves like a lot of GMs will be doing in the next 13 days. I know the Habs have a ton of quality youth in their system which they could use for a rental but Gainey isn't that type of GM. All you need in the playoffs is to get on a run and look out. It's not necessarily going to take a Hossa for that to happen.

What the Habs need to do now it make "smart" aquisitions. Everyone wants the flashy players and I agree, Hossa would be a HUGE help to Montreal's offense. However I believe players like Hossa are going to net their teams huge returns and I can't see him paying out for one unless it's long term help. What's need here is Gainey to aquire some grit and depth and this is where a guy like Peca would be a huge aquisition for you guys. That's right BTH.

I know some fans are impatient with Gainey but he's going about this the smart way. The team's drafting has done really well lately and he has some good pieces there already. It sucks to see some of this UFA crap happen to you guys but Bob will get the pieces he needs to make the team as successful as it can be. If Gainey doesn't really do much it's because he felt there weren't any deals out there that helped the team so I wouldn't get mad if he doesn't do anything. Patience is key.

I'll admit I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to the Habs and I've probably just re-stated what a lot of people already know so don't flame me.

[BCHabnut]

I'll chime in here despite the fact that a few of you have already stated what I'm going to say.

The Habs have a team that has showed can play at a high level this year and if the right bounces go their way, it's entirely possible they can make a run for it. It depends on when management feels they have the best possible shot for the cup and until then, Gainey is NOT going to make bonehead moves like a lot of GMs will be doing in the next 13 days. I know the Habs have a ton of quality youth in their system which they could use for a rental but Gainey isn't that type of GM. All you need in the playoffs is to get on a run and look out. It's not necessarily going to take a Hossa for that to happen.

What the Habs need to do now it make "smart" aquisitions. Everyone wants the flashy players and I agree, Hossa would be a HUGE help to Montreal's offense. However I believe players like Hossa are going to net their teams huge returns and I can't see him paying out for one unless it's long term help. What's need here is Gainey to aquire some grit and depth and this is where a guy like Peca would be a huge aquisition for you guys. That's right BTH.

I know some fans are impatient with Gainey but he's going about this the smart way. The team's drafting has done really well lately and he has some good pieces there already. It sucks to see some of this UFA crap happen to you guys but Bob will get the pieces he needs to make the team as successful as it can be. If Gainey doesn't really do much it's because he felt there weren't any deals out there that helped the team so I wouldn't get mad if he doesn't do anything. Patience is key.

I'll admit I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to the Habs and I've probably just re-stated what a lot of people already know so don't flame me.

Your Fav Habs are Canucks? I grew up in BC and my fav habs are habs.

[Captain_Stealth]

Your Fav Habs are Canucks? I grew up in BC and my fav habs are habs.

Hey, the Nucks are my team. What can I do? :king:

[ForumGhost]

I would love to have Hossa here, but not for Higgins and Chipchura. I would definitely try to wait till June.

[JMMR]

I would love to have Hossa here, but not for Higgins and Chipchura. I would definitely try to wait till June.

I highly doubt Gainey trades Chipchura the defensifve centre teams win cups with or HIggins a young guy they just gave an "A" to for any addition at the deadline.

[Neech]

I highly doubt Gainey trades Chipchura the defensifve centre teams win cups with or HIggins a young guy they just gave an "A" to for any addition at the deadline.

You've got to find that comma button on your keyboard.

[BTH]

Hey, the Nucks are my team. What can I do? :king:

lol... I saw Maca mention Peca before and I thought of you.