Permanent Rumour Thread

[PMAC]

Whoa! That's impressive work. And it does seem that we've lost significantly more than we've gained on the 'picks' front. So I'm inclined to say, hold on to 'em.

Actually, to me if you subtract that first and second for Tanguay our record on trading picks looks ok to me. Given the low percentage of picks that actually make the NHL i have no aversion to trading them(except first rounders, which should not be traded except for exceptional value) as long as the talent coming back is long term, or potentially long term, not over the hill vets.

[JGC21]

Would love to see Arnott with the Habs, a big center to stand in front of the net on the powerplay. He's a UFA at the end of the year so we wouldn't have to give up much to get him.

[BlueKross]

Would love to see Arnott with the Habs, a big center to stand in front of the net on the powerplay. He's a UFA at the end of the year so we wouldn't have to give up much to get him.

Unless you are prepared to say you are going for it this year, I say NO. I think several people have suggested we go defense first, that could change in a weeks time, but it also could become clear that that is what has to happen. Whatever needs to happen this year will be clearer at a later date. The worst scenerio in my mind would be that Martin if didn't get the Eller's and Maxwell's of the world ready to go for 2011/12.

[JGC21]

Unless you are prepared to say you are going for it this year, I say NO. I think several people have suggested we go defense first, that could change in a weeks time, but it also could become clear that that is what has to happen. Whatever needs to happen this year will be clearer at a later date. The worst scenerio in my mind would be that Martin if didn't get the Eller's and Maxwell's of the world ready to go for 2011/12.

My bet is Eller's going to Hamilton. Ben Maxwell has been forgotten. If Eller is sent down, then perhaps Ryan White can be called up. I'd rather see him in the lineup than Darche or Pyatt. Desharnais looks like he's here to stay.

I don't think the team can survive the rest of the year on defense with a banged up Hamrlik/Spacek and youngsters Subban, Weber & Picard.

Would love a Markov & Kostitsyn trade for Shea Weber. If Nashville agreed, would you do this?

[dlbalr]

My bet is Eller's going to Hamilton. Ben Maxwell has been forgotten. If Eller is sent down, then perhaps Ryan White can be called up. I'd rather see him in the lineup than Darche or Pyatt. Desharnais looks like he's here to stay.

I wouldn't say Maxwell is forgotten, he's the highest point getter left in Hamilton and is playing in every role possible now. That said, White makes the most sense in the prototypical bottom 6 role.

Would love a Markov & Kostitsyn trade for Shea Weber. If Nashville agreed, would you do this?

The Habs would without hesitating, but why would Nashville? They'd never trade their captain for an injured pending UFA and a struggling winger who may very well be a UFA (if unqualified).

[hab29RETIRED]

I wouldn't say Maxwell is forgotten, he's the highest point getter left in Hamilton and is playing in every role possible now. That said, White makes the most sense in the prototypical bottom 6 role.

The Habs would without hesitating, but why would Nashville? They'd never trade their captain for an injured pending UFA and a struggling winger who may very well be a UFA (if unqualified).

Shea Weber would be a dream come true, but if I'm nashville, I'm asking for Subban, Pleks and Ak46. If I'm PG, I'd tell them where to go.

[CoRvInA]

Whats up with M Commodore? why is he sent to the A league?

[hab29RETIRED]

Whats up with M Commodore? why is he sent to the A league?

He has been a healthy scratch for 8 to 10 games, even when they have had injuries. He criticized Arneil, saying it's personal and Arneil just doesn't like him. Arneil's issue with commodore is the same as most of our D, to slow, to expensive, to old and that Commadore can't support the transition play.

After he asked for a trade he was sent down. He is not a bad 6th dman, but was signed to a reall stupid $3.5m deal, with a NTC for the first two years. This was e en dumber then the Spacek $ a d terms - I would have been okay with spacek's deal if it was a 1 or 2 year deal. But with the new CBA rules you can't be giving someone over 35 a 3 yr deal, unless his name is Lidsteom - and even he has been signing one year deals for the last few years.

[BlueKross]

Unless you are prepared to say you are going for it this year, I say NO. I think several people have suggested we go defense first, that could change in a weeks time, but it also could become clear that that is what has to happen. Whatever needs to happen this year will be clearer at a later date. The worst scenerio in my mind would be that Martin if didn't get the Eller's and Maxwell's of the world ready to go for 2011/12.

I will go at this a little different. Let's go ahead. Given what we know now, who would we put on our Black Knights list?

[dlbalr]

Whats up with M Commodore? why is he sent to the A league?

On top of what was said a couple of posts earlier, he won't be down there long. He should be on re-entry waivers pretty quickly. Still, 2 full years at $1.875 mil (half his salary) plus the rest of this year won't be too desirable I don't think.

[l.moustakas]

On top of what was said a couple of posts earlier, he won't be down there long. He should be on re-entry waivers pretty quickly. Still, 2 full years at $1.875 mil (half his salary) plus the rest of this year won't be too desirable I don't think.

If he was an impending UFA, he could have been an interesting re-entry pickup for the Habs considering their injury situation. However, between the length of his contract and his complaining, I wouldn't bother either.

Oh, and since this is a rumour thread, thought it was interesting to see Eklund mention Frolov's name in relation to the Habs mere days (or should I say hours) before it was announced he was out for the season. Finally that little rumour will be put to rest.

[dlbalr]

Second time this year we've seen rumblings of extension talks for Gill, but this time apparently the Habs have said they'd like to hold off for now.

The Montreal Canadiens have two defenceman under contract for next year - Jaroslav Spacek and PK Subban. Hal Gill approached the Canadiens about an extension and was told they'd like to wait. "You win games, you win a new contract," Gill said. "I understand that."

If nothing else, it at least implies Gill would like to stick around, could be worse. There are other priorities than him to re-up though.

http://www.cbc.ca/sp...sby-debate.html

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Second time this year we've seen rumblings of extension talks for Gill, but this time apparently the Habs have said they'd like to hold off for now.

If nothing else, it at least implies Gill would like to stick around, could be worse. There are other priorities than him to re-up though.

http://www.cbc.ca/sp...sby-debate.html

According to Arpon Basu, Gill is the real leader on this team (scan to the bottom):

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110108/mtl_habshub_habit_110107/20110108/?hub=MontrealSports

If this is right, then he's invaluable. And he should definitely be re-signed.

[Chris]

Regardless if he is a leader, he can't be resigned. he is way too slow to keep up anymore.

They need to focus on gettign Wisneiski resigned and Markov to a reasonable contract with plenty of incentives for health.

Markov Wis

Subban

Weber Spacek

Carle

they need a partner for Subban, A bryan Allen, regher type player.

[hab29RETIRED]

According to Arpon Basu, Gill is the real leader on this team (scan to the bottom):

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110108/mtl_habshub_habit_110107/20110108/?hub=MontrealSports

If this is right, then he's invaluable. And he should definitely be re-signed.

Unless we can unload Spacek, we can't afford to resign Gill. Having one slow, old 35 dman whose best days are behind him are enough.

[CoRvInA]

Regardless if he is a leader, he can't be resigned. he is way too slow to keep up anymore.

They need to focus on gettign Wisneiski resigned and Markov to a reasonable contract with plenty of incentives for health.

Markov Wis

Subban

Weber Spacek

Carle

they need a partner for Subban, A bryan Allen, regher type player.

This is a good topic, it will divide us but will entertain us as well!

Gill is IMO and probably your opinion too, Better than Spacek. GILL is one reason (mainly Price) that we dont suck in PK department. Yes I agree he is older and slower, but unless we get more top 4 Dmen before the end of the season then we have no choice but to resign him for another year. PG will not and cannot overpay again for UFA Dmen on July 1st.

For the sake of arguing, say we get another Dman before the last trade deadline

Markov - Wis

UFA - PK

Gorges - Spacek

Weber/Carle 7th

it seems ok. but OH wait SPACEK is still there, I for one don't think we can have Both Weber and Carle in the line-up next year, perhaps if a tall guy like A Henry learns to kill penalties like then maybe we can save another mil by not signing Gill (according to your reasoning)

[dlbalr]

it seems ok. but OH wait SPACEK is still there, I for one don't think we can have Both Weber and Carle in the line-up next year, perhaps if a tall guy like A Henry learns to kill penalties like then maybe we can save another mil by not signing Gill (according to your reasoning)

In a 6/7 split, I could see both Weber and Carle up next year; I personally don't think it's too farfetched of an option either. Whoever the 7th D is will be cheap, Weber could easily be 'Chipchura'ed' (close to minimum NHL salary in exchange for a 1-way deal), Carle could be similar to a player like Stewart before, take a higher AHL salary but a smaller NHL one. That will keep both of them (plus Festerling) in the picture. As for Henry, he's 31 years old, I'm not sure the lightbulb on how to skate better and kill penalties is going to turn on. The fact he signed for 2 years this offseason though means he too could play into the picture.

As for Gill, it should be noted that although he'll be 35+ next contract, the 35+ penalty (I call it that myself) only comes into play on a multi-year deal.

[illWill]

Going into next season, the Habs have only 8 players under contract. Gomez, Cammy, Gionta, Pleks, Moen, Spacek, Subban and Price at a total of $32.3m.

RFA's and UFA's needed and that will be resigned include: Pouliot($1.5), Eller($1.0), Wiz($4.0), Gorges($3.5), Markov($5.0), Weber($1.0) and Pax($1.5) at a total of approx $18m

The non-finished lines look like:

Cammy Pleks Pax

Pouliot Gomez Gionta

Moen Eller

Markov Wiz

Gorges Subban

Spacek Weber

Price

So that brings the total cap hit to around $50m, give or take a few. There are 4 vacant forward positions and a back up goalie postion. Assuming they are filled with similar players as this year, it would cost about $3.5m. So depending on the cap number for next year, there is approx. $5.0m to spend, maybe a bit more if it goes up. Should they resign Hamrlik at a reduced rate? Or a one-dimensional Gill? How about trying to land a quality top six forward via UFA or trade? Semin is probably out of price range but Gagne or Connolly would be a nice addition. Heck, even Kovalev at $3.0m wouldn't be too bad. Personally, I would prefer a quality forward but also wouldn't mind Hamrlik at no more than $3.0m. I am fairly comfortable with the defense going into next year assuming injuries don't crush us again.

[dlbalr]

Eller's under contract next year with a cap hit of $1,270,833, not an RFA. Bonuses will count in full until unhittable due to it being a CBA exit year, and you should probably account for an overage of a few hundred thousand as well. Not to mention Laraque's cap hit of $500,000 for one more year. My quick calculation has $33,211,309 in committed contracts for next season, no allowance for bonus overages.

And Kovalev at $3 million? You are aware he's having yet another abysmal year, right? He's not worth 1 million let alone 3.

[JGC21]

I gotta say, I'd much rather have Hal Gill than Jaroslav Spacek on the team. Gill plays such a "shut-down" game on the PK and in the playoffs, I think it's worth keeping him for $1.5M. Spacek at $3.8M makes no sense. Not when we have the following pairs:

Markov ($5M) - Wisniewski ($4M)

Gill ($1.5M) - Gorges ($3M)

Subban ($1M) - Weber ($1M)

Carle ($1M)

I'd rather have a younger, quicker d-man to play with Subban via trade or UFA signing.

Time to let Hamrlik go, and trade Spacek at the deadline or during the summer. I still can't believe those two make over $9M combined!

Edited January 12, 2011 by JGC21

[illWill]

And Kovalev at $3 million? You are aware he's having yet another abysmal year, right? He's not worth 1 million let alone 3.

Yes, I am aware that he is having another abysmal year in Ottawa. I don't think that he is done producing in the NHL though. We all know that he can put up points when he wants to and when he doesn't.....well this type of year happens. You could make the case that he is terribly disinterested in playing high level hockey with the struggling Sens, and therefore has horrible stats. He was quoted saying that he would like to return to Montreal to finish off his career. So perhaps the opportunity to return where he was loved most to finish his career playing for a playoff team, would yield positive results. I'd pay $3 million for 50 points, powerplay presence and the odd dazzling deke.

[dlbalr]

Yes, I am aware that he is having another abysmal year in Ottawa. I don't think that he is done producing in the NHL though. We all know that he can put up points when he wants to and when he doesn't.....well this type of year happens. You could make the case that he is terribly disinterested in playing high level hockey with the struggling Sens, and therefore has horrible stats. He was quoted saying that he would like to return to Montreal to finish off his career. So perhaps the opportunity to return where he was loved most to finish his career playing for a playoff team, would yield positive results. I'd pay $3 million for 50 points, powerplay presence and the odd dazzling deke.

He'll turn 38 next year. Whether he tries or not, his best days are behind him. I think a fully motivated Kovalev could get 40 points and for $3 million, you can do better in terms of getting bang for the buck. I couldn't care less about him saying he wanted to go back to Montreal, the fact that he did shows how selfish a player he truly is when you say so before ever putting on the Ottawa uniform (and after haggling the Habs for more money). If you need the spotlight and unexplainable devotion of the fans to succeed, it's time to step aside. I don't think he will, he'll hang on for 1 more year but unless he's willing to sign for his actual value (about $1 million) and not based on past performance, better not be in Montreal.

[hab29RETIRED]

He'll turn 38 next year. Whether he tries or not, his best days are behind him. I think a fully motivated Kovalev could get 40 points and for $3 million, you can do better in terms of getting bang for the buck. I couldn't care less about him saying he wanted to go back to Montreal, the fact that he did shows how selfish a player he truly is when you say so before ever putting on the Ottawa uniform (and after haggling the Habs for more money). If you need the spotlight and unexplainable devotion of the fans to succeed, it's time to step aside. I don't think he will, he'll hang on for 1 more year but unless he's willing to sign for his actual value (about $1 million) and not based on past performance, better not be in Montreal.

Kovelev gave us a few good playoff performences and one truly great season, but I don't want him back. We give the kids so much grief of their unprofessional behaviour, yet a lot of people don't have issues that he constantly had to be handled with kid gloves by the GM to get him back on track. Even if he came back for a $1M on a one year deal, i'd rather use the cap space and roster spot on a kid who may progress.

As far as Gill goes, I really don't want Gill AND Spacek back next year. I think Subban (or any other young dman we may bring in), would be just as well served by bringing in a solid assistant coach like Robinson, who not only has done it all, but also knows what its like playing D in Montreal.

[illWill]

He'll turn 38 next year. Whether he tries or not, his best days are behind him. I think a fully motivated Kovalev could get 40 points and for $3 million, you can do better in terms of getting bang for the buck. I couldn't care less about him saying he wanted to go back to Montreal, the fact that he did shows how selfish a player he truly is when you say so before ever putting on the Ottawa uniform (and after haggling the Habs for more money). If you need the spotlight and unexplainable devotion of the fans to succeed, it's time to step aside. I don't think he will, he'll hang on for 1 more year but unless he's willing to sign for his actual value (about $1 million) and not based on past performance, better not be in Montreal.

Well I am not saying I want Kovalev back, I'm just saying that I am open to the idea. I don't understand how you can say that a fully motivated Kovalev would only get 40 points. Ottawa as a whole is struggling to score, that's like saying Kovalchuk is done because Jersey sucks this year and doesn't have alot of points(yes, I acknowledge the age gap). And you also value him around $1 million not based on past performance....but yet you came up with that figure based on this year. In conclusion I would definitely prefer a Gagne or Connolly via UFA or resign Hamrlik at a reduced rate, or just fill spots with prospects.

[saskhab]

Hamrlik should definitely be considered for a new contract. He won't get $5.5m again, anywhere. Those days are done. But give him something in the $2.5 to $3.5m range and we're talking, I think. He's been our #1 d-man whenever Markov goes down, and that makes him very valuable to us. Plus, I think he's tailor-made for playing alongside Subban.

Markov/Gorges, Hamrlik/Subban, Spacek/Weber, Picard/Carle.