UFA Day Discussion

[Trizzak]

FORWARDS

Mike Cammalleri ($6.000m) / Tomas Plekanec ($5.000m) / Erik Cole ($4.500m)

Max Pacioretty ($1.625m) / Scott Gomez ($7.357m) / Brian Gionta ($5.000m)

Travis Moen ($1.500m) / Lars Eller ($1.270m) / Andrei Kostitsyn ($3.250m)

Mathieu Darche ($0.700m) / David Desharnais ($0.850m) / Ryan White ($0.650m)

DEFENSEMEN

Andrei Markov ($5.750m) / P.K. Subban ($0.875m)

Hal Gill ($2.250m) / Josh Gorges ($3.000m)

Jaroslav Spacek ($3.833m) / Alexei Yemelin ($0.984m)

/ Yannick Weber ($0.850m)

GOALTENDERS

Carey Price ($2.750m) / Peter Budaj ($1.150m)

BUYOUTS: Georges Laraque ($0.500m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,645,509; BONUSES: $400,000

CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $4,654,491

These are the "best guess" lines I got, and Gorges' and White's cap hits are estimated of course...

So... where are the holes and who do you sign?

[dlbalr]

These are the "best guess" lines I got, and Gorges' and White's cap hits are estimated of course...

So... where are the holes and who do you sign?

Probably looking at a veteran bottom six guy right now, possibly 2 if there are concerns about the health of Eller heading into the season. Beyond that, not too much left to do unless they can land a top-6 forward and then work backwards. Plus of course, 3-5 signings for Hamilton.

[BTH]

These are the "best guess" lines I got, and Gorges' and White's cap hits are estimated of course...

So... where are the holes and who do you sign?

13th forward.

[saskhab]

13th forward.

Trotter. Or he's the 14th forward.

[JCPetit]

Palushaj was one of the last cuts last year. He'll make the team this fall.

[saskhab]

Palushaj was one of the last cuts last year. He'll make the team this fall.

He's close for sure. Engqvist is the other that has a shot. Eller's injury could open a spot for one of those two (and again, Trotter).

[dlbalr]

Palushaj was one of the last cuts last year. He'll make the team this fall.

He won't unless he is going to play on an offensive line, not sure he can with the roster as presently constructed. It probably would be best for him to start in Hamilton, let's see how he fares now as the focal point individually on the offence, instead of as a member of the focal trio. If he can put him similar numbers with less help, then he'll be ready.

[dlbalr]

Handzus to SJ, 2 years, $2.5 mil per. I like that deal.

And now Bergenheim to where else, Florida. 4 years for a guy who had 2 good months, $11 mil is ugly too. Kinda reminds of Joel Ward but at least Ward was consistently decent over the last couple of years.

Fedotenko re-signs in New York, 1 year, $1.4 mil. Decent deal there.

[ForumGhost]

Although my gut tells me Richards will sign in LA or NY, I'm still hoping against hope we can sign him and dump Gomez on a low-cap team. Make it happen PG!

[BlueKross]

Although my gut tells me Richards will sign in LA or NY, I'm still hoping against hope we can sign him and dump Gomez on a low-cap team. Make it happen PG!

Did we even call about Handzus? He might be the steal of the day.

[dlbalr]

Did we even call about Handzus? He might be the steal of the day.

It sounds like he gave every indication early on that he was planning to stay out West. Whether the Habs found that out by contacting him directly, hard to guess.

[habs rule]

ok you guys did you really want wiz so bad that you would sign him to 5+_mill per for 6 years? NOT ME. Jagr for 3.3 mill NOT ME. I like Pg he and I think alike we are in good hands.

[hab29RETIRED]

I hope that deal doesn't happen. Hemsky is way too soft. I watch a lot of Oilers hockey and would have loved Hemsky and his 45 games per year previous to signing the Cammy, Gomer and Gionta, bit I don't like the trade.

+1000000

I would really be pissed if the Hans traded AK46 for Hemsky!

[hab29RETIRED]

ok you guys did you really want wiz so bad that you would sign him to 5+_mill per for 6 years? NOT ME. Jagr for 3.3 mill NOT ME. I like Pg he and I think alike we are in good hands.

The point is, if the Hans negotiated with Wiz during the year, they probably could have got him for a lot less. I think a 4 or 5 year $4.5m deal would have probably appealed to wiz during the year.

At the end of the day, the Hans would have a locked up asset that could be moved for another asset in the future. I've been saying this for years ober here and have been pit down how that was bad business practice and players wouldnt want to play here with that type of management. Well I think Philly has proved that theory wrong. They had roenick waive his NTC a number of years ago. Signed Richards and carter to long term deals and moved them right afterwards. Now they are talking about moving Briere to bring in Brad Richards.

Also look at SJ. the day after they signed stegouchici they moved him for Burns. They have no issue signing players.

[habs rule]

The point is, if the Hans negotiated with Wiz during the year, they probably could have got him for a lot less. I think a 4 or 5 year $4.5m deal would have probably appealed to wiz during the year.

At the end of the day, the Hans would have a locked up asset that could be moved for another asset in the future. I've been saying this for years ober here and have been pit down how that was bad business practice and players wouldnt want to play here with that type of management. Well I think Philly has proved that theory wrong. They had roenick waive his NTC a number of years ago. Signed Richards and carter to long term deals and moved them right afterwards. Now they are talking about moving Briere to bring in Brad Richards.

Also look at SJ. the day after they signed stegouchici they moved him for Burns. They have no issue signing players.

and my answer over the years my friend has never changed, who says they didn't? PG was not prepared to sign this type of deal. Wiz's agent is no dummy and knew that with the poor crop of ufa's wiz was going to score, why sign for less in montreal? Besides I did not think he was worth 4.5 much less 5. I would have jumped at signing him at 3.75 which is what he is worth in a different year. He also had his best and really only truly good year in Montreal, and that had it's down times so what can we expect from him in the future who the heck knows. BTW it is HABS not HANs

[hab29RETIRED]

and my answer over the years my friend has never changed, who says they didn't? PG was not prepared to sign this type of deal. Wiz's agent is no dummy and knew that with the poor crop of ufa's wiz was going to score, why sign for less in montreal? Besides I did not think he was worth 4.5 much less 5. I would have jumped at signing him at 3.75 which is what he is worth in a different year. He also had his best and really only truly good year in Montreal, and that had it's down times so what can we expect from him in the future who the heck knows. BTW it is HABS not HANs

its the damn auto correct feature on iphone.

I disagree on the habs not being able to sign him for less earlier, closer you get to to the off season and then to July 1, the more reluctant the player is to resign. THis is the same argument I made with Pleks in November 2009. that the habs should sign him as soon as they can under the rules (would have have been Jan 1/2010 for Pleks). I think they could have signed Pleks for $500k to $1M less last year as well. In Wiz's case, he already was showing to be a good fit almost soon as he came over, so why wouldn't you want to lock him up long-term. He was already getting around $3.5M or $3.7M, so expecting to get him for $3.75M would have been unrealistic. IMO he is a MUCH better player then Souray was. I felt the habs should have moved him at the same time they moved Rivet. He had a bullet for a shot and was tough, but really the guy was a pylon on defense. Wiz, is no Lidstrom, but IMO is a capable top 3 D and I for one would have been thrilled at having a top three next year of Markov, Subban and Wiz. YOu can never have enough Dman.

[habs rule]

its the damn auto correct feature on iphone.

I disagree on the habs not being able to sign him for less earlier, closer you get to to the off season and then to July 1, the more reluctant the player is to resign. THis is the same argument I made with Pleks in November 2009. that the habs should sign him as soon as they can under the rules (would have have been Jan 1/2010 for Pleks). I think they could have signed Pleks for $500k to $1M less last year as well. In Wiz's case, he already was showing to be a good fit almost soon as he came over, so why wouldn't you want to lock him up long-term. He was already getting around $3.5M or $3.7M, so expecting to get him for $3.75M would have been unrealistic. IMO he is a MUCH better player then Souray was. I felt the habs should have moved him at the same time they moved Rivet. He had a bullet for a shot and was tough, but really the guy was a pylon on defense. Wiz, is no Lidstrom, but IMO is a capable top 3 D and I for one would have been thrilled at having a top three next year of Markov, Subban and Wiz. YOu can never have enough Dman.

He was definitely a better overall defenceman than Sheldon and I was one who did not want to sign sheldon to more than 3 mill per year stricktly because of his defensive lapse but the wiz has those as well. We will have one of the best defence in the league next year and there may not have been a spot for wiz who while not as one dimensional as soury is still and offensive def on a team loaded with them. I really do not believe that the Hans had a chance of signing prior to ufa but I would have liked to have got more than a 5th for him since we gave up a second. but that is probably nitpicking on my part.

[BCHabnut]

I have no idea, but I'd consider the Kosty-for-Hemsky rumour much more believable.

Yuck. I really don't want Hemsky on this team. He has great vision and is one of the best stichandlers in the league. Comparable to Malkin, Datsuk, Kovalev, but he is too soft and always injured. Dealing Kosty would counter the Cole pick up I think.'He would be great if we were already big up front.

[ForumGhost]

I would also rather keep Kostitsyn. He may be streaking, but he is a big, physical scorer who you can count on for at least 20.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I'm not saying we should trade Kosty for Hemsky, although a PPG player is nothing to sneeze at and I wouldn't cry in my beer if we did. But I was just repeating Chris's rumour.

Habs29, I find the idea that Wiz would have been willing to sign with us on the cheap in the middle of a career year and the last year of his contract totally implausible. You may (or may not) be correct about waiting too long to lock up past players, but Wiz spent half a season here - hardly enough to get deeply invested emotionally in the city and the organization.

A lot of fans and posters do this sort of thing, saying that player X is only 'worth' such and such, or could have been signed for A rather than B if only the team had done C, etc., etc.. Frankly, a lot of this is just pulling numbers out of our behinds. Wiz was one of the top offensive defencemen in the NHL last season. He'd have been a royal fool to sign for 3.75; everyone and his dog knew he was gonna command at least 4.5, probably more.

I also happen to think that in a couple of years Wiz at $5.5 will not look nearly as idiotic as everybody seems to think. At some point, we need to catch on: the cap keeps rising. Hell, it rose through the economic meltdown. Everyone acts like Wiz's year was a freak event, but you can just as easily argue that it was a case of a player coming to maturity (age 27-8, a classic age for defencemen to blossom) after some patches with injuries.

Columbus won't regret that contract. The contracts you regret are the ones where you lock in a player just as he enters his decline (this is the risk in the Cole deal, as Habs 29 rightly points out); or where the player happens to suffer injuries; or where the player is a mirage (Komisarek) or hugely one-dimensional (Souray). Overpaying for quality isn't really that big a problem. Like I keep saying, I see Philly, Chicago, Vancouver, Boston and other top teams signing the guy they want and sweating the cap later. That should give us a clue.

[lazy26]

So we've addressed two of our needs today; what's left? I'd like to see PG fill out the bottom line with some grit and shore up some defensive depth. I'm not sure what gritty centremen are out there besides Konopka, but I think we need someone in that slot. Engqvist may eventually earn it, but I'd prefer a backup plan for the start of the year. I for one wouldn't mind seeing Mara back as our 8th D next year. He seems ok sitting games at a time and adds some good physicality and solid play when he's in the lineup.

[bbp]

Pouliot to Boston, I hope he continues to be a dud and doesn't pull something on us

[habs rule]

I'm not saying we should trade Kosty for Hemsky, although a PPG player is nothing to sneeze at and I wouldn't cry in my beer if we did. But I was just repeating Chris's rumour.

Habs29, I find the idea that Wiz would have been willing to sign with us on the cheap in the middle of a career year and the last year of his contract totally implausible. You may (or may not) be correct about waiting too long to lock up past players, but Wiz spent half a season here - hardly enough to get deeply invested emotionally in the city and the organization.

A lot of fans and posters do this sort of thing, saying that player X is only 'worth' such and such, or could have been signed for A rather than B if only the team had done C, etc., etc.. Frankly, a lot of this is just pulling numbers out of our behinds. Wiz was one of the top offensive defencemen in the NHL last season. He'd have been a royal fool to sign for 3.75; everyone and his dog knew he was gonna command at least 4.5, probably more.

I also happen to think that in a couple of years Wiz at $5.5 will not look nearly as idiotic as everybody seems to think. At some point, we need to catch on: the cap keeps rising. Hell, it rose through the economic meltdown. Everyone acts like Wiz's year was a freak event, but you can just as easily argue that it was a case of a player coming to maturity (age 27-8, a classic age for defencemen to blossom) after some patches with injuries.

Columbus won't regret that contract. The contracts you regret are the ones where you lock in a player just as he enters his decline (this is the risk in the Cole deal, as Habs 29 rightly points out); or where the player happens to suffer injuries; or where the player is a mirage (Komisarek) or hugely one-dimensional (Souray). Overpaying for quality isn't really that big a problem. Like I keep saying, I see Philly, Chicago, Vancouver, Boston and other top teams signing the guy they want and sweating the cap later. That should give us a clue.

cc some of the contracts handed out this year are completely stupid ( wiz is one)and is irrelevant because we would have had to pay more to accommodate the tax sit in quebec, erhoff is another Jager whom you wanted so badly is another but for only 1 year so that is fixable. In bad ufa years these guys get stupid money. Wiz was one of the top offensive defence men this year while he was in Montreal which reflects more on our system and how we used him. I did not hear you say he was one of the best defencemen out there. I see no norris trophy here. Eric Cole was overpaid but if we wanted him we had no choice and we wanted him. You think the cap will keep going up eh? what happens in the new cba is not yet determined, but a lot of teams screwed themselves royally last time by locking guys up long term to big dollars. We did not do that and it was smart. That was why there was a 25% rollback, are you counting on that? But hey everybody manages the cap better than we do, I call bs. We have a good team and good prospects, buying a team is really not much of an option any more. We need to develop from the farm and steal players where we can. We did that today picking up cole at a premium but we needed a big forward who can score and we got one. I really like what PG has done. What I said about wiz at 3.75 was what he would get in a normal ufa year which this is not. And I don't care cause that is his value in my honest opinion. You do not have to agree.

[Sir_Boagalott]

Habs29, I find the idea that Wiz would have been willing to sign with us on the cheap in the middle of a career year and the last year of his contract totally implausible. You may (or may not) be correct about waiting too long to lock up past players, but Wiz spent half a season here - hardly enough to get deeply invested emotionally in the city and the organization.

A lot of fans and posters do this sort of thing, saying that player X is only 'worth' such and such, or could have been signed for A rather than B if only the team had done C, etc., etc.. Frankly, a lot of this is just pulling numbers out of our behinds. Wiz was one of the top offensive defencemen in the NHL last season. He'd have been a royal fool to sign for 3.75; everyone and his dog knew he was gonna command at least 4.5, probably more.

I also happen to think that in a couple of years Wiz at $5.5 will not look nearly as idiotic as everybody seems to think. At some point, we need to catch on: the cap keeps rising. Hell, it rose through the economic meltdown. Everyone acts like Wiz's year was a freak event, but you can just as easily argue that it was a case of a player coming to maturity (age 27-8, a classic age for defencemen to blossom) after some patches with injuries.

Columbus won't regret that contract. The contracts you regret are the ones where you lock in a player just as he enters his decline (this is the risk in the Cole deal, as Habs 29 rightly points out); or where the player happens to suffer injuries; or where the player is a mirage (Komisarek) or hugely one-dimensional (Souray). Overpaying for quality isn't really that big a problem. Like I keep saying, I see Philly, Chicago, Vancouver, Boston and other top teams signing the guy they want and sweating the cap later. That should give us a clue.

I agree CC aboot signing him cheap. Anybody who thought WiZ would sign cheap was foolish and not in the know. Wiz already thought he was worth over 5 mil/yr before he was even a Habs after getting 30some pts with the Ducks. The Ducks GM wouldnt even talk with his agent, they went to arb and eventually settled and then he was immediately shipped to NYI, who then couldnt sign him for any sane amount and shipped him to Montreal.

I loved WiZ while he was a Hab right from the announcment of it. Unfortunately I think CBJ will be buying him out of this contract, eventually. WiZ is only good offensively, which is bad for Dman to only be good at what the forwrads should be doing. tbh, I wouldnt be surprised to see WIZ becomming a part owner. Too many large crazy contracts like this could end up bankrupting a fairly new small market team like CBJ. They just dont have the fans or the deep pocket owners to be buying out players of silly contracts that shouldnt have been signed in the 1st place.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

The worst deal of the day goes to Colorado!

A first (probably a high pick) and a second for Varlamov is insane!!!!!!!!