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July 1st NHL free agency


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Guys, I hear ya on the Bergevin has made more mistakes than not the last few years, and I agree wholeheartedly. For me it really started with the ridiculous trade deadline where we got King and Ott, in a season where we were lookin good, and only needed some more offensive punch to help shore up what was a clear weakness. We all knew going into that playoff, that even with Pacioretty, Radulov and company playing well, we were unable to score goals at a consistent or high level, we were missing one more legit top 6 player to make a deep run with Price in fine form. And with that said, we end up going to fetch three 4th liners, come up with some BS about size and grit, and get bounced from the playoffs in 6 while Price has a .930 SV% and we fail to score goals.

 

From that epic failure of a trade deadline, Bergevin has laid an egg more often than he has made an omelette, no one can deny that without subjecting themselves to extreme bias really. The man has been given a chance to redeem himself, albeit it is likely only because he is an albatross managerial contract, but given the chance none the less, we don't have to like it, but we must accept it. He will prove in his final swings at bat, whether he GETS IT, and manages for his life, or if he ultimately cruises to his eventual demise. Now don't get me wrong, I don't truly think he has the hockey mind to turn this thing around, but I am rooting for him to succeed simply because if he does succeed, it means we succeeded, and that is what I want. My hope for him is to do things differently than he has been for the past 2 years or so, listen to different advice, get different voices in your circle, value different things, things that matter in today's NHL. 

 

What I am not sure about, is the unsettling feeling people have that blowing it up and tanking is the easy answer and that we will come out of it contenders. For every team that has tanked for a few years and came out contenders, there are 2 or 3 who have been stuck in the cycle like quick sand for nearly a decade with no contendership status to speak of. The only 2 examples we have of teams who really bottom fed for several years but came out of it with contending multi championship teams are Pittsburgh and Chicago. There are a vast array of examples of teams who thought that was the answer and go into the adventure only to be stuck out in the desert for years wandering in limbo, are we still a lottery team? a maybe playoff wildcard?.Is that all we have to show for after all this misery and suffering, yes Pheonix, it is, yes Edmonton, it is, Buffalo, Colorado, Carolina, Long Island, New Jersey, Florida to a certain degree all in the same boat. The years of successful seasons far inferior to the years of unsuccessful ones, the years as lottery teams far outweighing the years as playoff teams. Toronto is the only team who was part of that pack for nearly a decade that finally broke free, the rest have been stuck there for what feels like since we had Scott Gomez on the team. 

 

This team might not be 1 or 2 players away from contendership status, but it can be 2 seasons away of smart management, and savy hockey decisions from becoming one. I seriously doubt Bergevin is the man who can do that, but I truly hope he proves me wrong. Still very much on the fence about a rebuild or a re-tool, something about getting stuck in that lottery wasteland for years and years scares the crap out of me, doesn't help that I have watched more teams get stuck there than not, on their quest for hockey's Holy Grail. 

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34 minutes ago, Link67 said:

Guys, I hear ya on the Bergevin has made more mistakes than not the last few years, and I agree wholeheartedly. For me it really started with the ridiculous trade deadline where we got King and Ott, in a season where we were lookin good, and only needed some more offensive punch to help shore up what was a clear weakness. We all knew going into that playoff, that even with Pacioretty, Radulov and company playing well, we were unable to score goals at a consistent or high level, we were missing one more legit top 6 player to make a deep run with Price in fine form. And with that said, we end up going to fetch three 4th liners, come up with some BS about size and grit, and get bounced from the playoffs in 6 while Price has a .930 SV% and we fail to score goals.

 

From that epic failure of a trade deadline, Bergevin has laid an egg more often than he has made an omelette, no one can deny that without subjecting themselves to extreme bias really. The man has been given a chance to redeem himself, albeit it is likely only because he is an albatross managerial contract, but given the chance none the less, we don't have to like it, but we must accept it. He will prove in his final swings at bat, whether he GETS IT, and manages for his life, or if he ultimately cruises to his eventual demise. Now don't get me wrong, I don't truly think he has the hockey mind to turn this thing around, but I am rooting for him to succeed simply because if he does succeed, it means we succeeded, and that is what I want. My hope for him is to do things differently than he has been for the past 2 years or so, listen to different advice, get different voices in your circle, value different things, things that matter in today's NHL. 

 

What I am not sure about, is the unsettling feeling people have that blowing it up and tanking is the easy answer and that we will come out of it contenders. For every team that has tanked for a few years and came out contenders, there are 2 or 3 who have been stuck in the cycle like quick sand for nearly a decade with no contendership status to speak of. The only 2 examples we have of teams who really bottom fed for several years but came out of it with contending multi championship teams are Pittsburgh and Chicago. There are a vast array of examples of teams who thought that was the answer and go into the adventure only to be stuck out in the desert for years wandering in limbo, are we still a lottery team? a maybe playoff wildcard?.Is that all we have to show for after all this misery and suffering, yes Pheonix, it is, yes Edmonton, it is, Buffalo, Colorado, Carolina, Long Island, New Jersey, Florida to a certain degree all in the same boat. The years of successful seasons far inferior to the years of unsuccessful ones, the years as lottery teams far outweighing the years as playoff teams. Toronto is the only team who was part of that pack for nearly a decade that finally broke free, the rest have been stuck there for what feels like since we had Scott Gomez on the team. 

 

This team might not be 1 or 2 players away from contendership status, but it can be 2 seasons away of smart management, and savy hockey decisions from becoming one. I seriously doubt Bergevin is the man who can do that, but I truly hope he proves me wrong. Still very much on the fence about a rebuild or a re-tool, something about getting stuck in that lottery wasteland for years and years scares the crap out of me, doesn't help that I have watched more teams get stuck there than not, on their quest for hockey's Holy Grail. 


Good post
 

I just don't see how we get either of the two players we need this off-season.  They don't appear to be out there if we are not a consideration for Tavares.

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1 hour ago, Link67 said:

What I am not sure about, is the unsettling feeling people have that blowing it up and tanking is the easy answer and that we will come out of it contenders. For every team that has tanked for a few years and came out contenders, there are 2 or 3 who have been stuck in the cycle like quick sand for nearly a decade with no contendership status to speak of.

 

That is the Habs today. No contendership status in 2016, division win and out in the first round in 2017, no contendership status in 2018. We're going into 2019 with even less offensive weapons and planning to trade our 30 goal guy. That's another year of no contending in 2019. So while you fear a cycle of rebuilding, this club is not rebuilding but getting the results of the teams you fear.

 

I don't treat a rebuild like a guarantee. We might clean out management and bring in Guy Carbonneau to be GM and it's another five years of crap. And then a new management has to come in and they are once again rebuilding because the last GM screwed the pooch. But eventually you're gonna start bringing in guys who can actually turn the tide in a game. We got one: Carey Price. That's it. Gallagher is fun but he ain't a game breaker. Drouin has skill but he's no game breaker. Weber is consistent but he's no game breaker. Domi is an idiot but he's no game breaker. If we want those, we gotta draft high.

 

And right now, with the dream of a re-tool, this club is still gonna be bad. But it's bad without you having to feel like it's hopeless. Which is actually more hopeless than if we traded our top guys for draft picks. You don't get Auston Matthews with a retool. You don't get Rasmus Dahlin with a retool. You don't get Alex Ovechkin with a retool. You don't get Sidney Crosby with a retool. You don't get Nathan Mackinnon with a retool. You don't get Taylor Hall with a retool. You won't get Jack Hughes with a retool. You get them with a rebuild.

 

I don't want a rebuild thinking it's a guarantee for the Stanley Cup. I want a rebuild because nobody needs a fresh start more than this club.

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Last night I filled out the Habsworld UFA pool list with where I thought players would end up and I was wondering why Toby Enstrom wasn’t on the list? I may have chosen him as dark horse pickup candidate on the 2nd/3rd pair for the Habs :ph34r:

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36 minutes ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:

Last night I filled out the Habsworld UFA pool list with where I thought players would end up and I was wondering why Toby Enstrom wasn’t on the list? I may have chosen him as dark horse pickup candidate on the 2nd/3rd pair for the Habs :ph34r:

 

I tried to scale the pool back a bit this year so I had to cut out some decent players.  Instead of putting him in, I chose former Habs (Emelin, Pateryn).

 

Speaking of defence, this is my rundown of the defence market: http://www.habsworld.net/2018/06/2018-ufa-preview-defence/  (We'll have the forward preview tomorrow.)

 

And from PHR, our annual Top 50 list: https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2018/06/phrs-2018-top-50-nhl-unrestricted-free-agents.html

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9 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

I tried to scale the pool back a bit this year so I had to cut out some decent players.  Instead of putting him in, I chose former Habs (Emelin, Pateryn).

 

Speaking of defence, this is my rundown of the defence market: http://www.habsworld.net/2018/06/2018-ufa-preview-defence/  (We'll have the forward preview tomorrow.)

 

And from PHR, our annual Top 50 list: https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2018/06/phrs-2018-top-50-nhl-unrestricted-free-agents.html

Makes sense and nice reads. I’m looking forward to seeing how things play out this Sunday. :habslogo:

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Okay, let’s get back to whom we (and I mean me) think the Habs will sign:

 

C - Tomas Plekanec

RW - Anthony Duclair

LW - Antoine Roussel

 

After the dust settles with Tavares, Skinner and ROR, then Pacioretty gets moved for a LD.  Those are my predictions.   

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