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New cap fits Habs just fine


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Brisebois only probable casualty. Canadiens not faced with costly buyouts but must sign several restricted free agents

Thursday, July 14, 2005

With a new collective agreement, the National Hockey League sails into uncharted territory.

The keystone is a salary cap that requires teams not only to sign the right players, but also sign them at the right price.

At first glance, Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey faces a formidable task as he prepares for the start of training camp, which is a mere two months away. The Canadiens have only eight NHL players under contract and that includes veteran defenceman Patrice Brisebois, poised to become the team's first victim of the salary cap.

Brisebois rates as one of the team's six best defencemen, but his contract is at the team's option, and the Canadiens will probably opt to buy him out rather than pay him $3.4 million U.S.

Gainey will have to deal with some high-profile players, but the cap of $39 million U.S. shouldn't pose a problem. The Canadiens were in that neighbourhood in the 2003-04 season when they reached the second round of the playoffs and, with the exception of Brisebois, they aren't faced with the prospect of buying out any high-priced players to get under the cap.

Radek Bonk, acquired at the 2004 entry draft, and defencemen Craig Rivet and Sheldon Souray are the most prominent of the players under contract.

The Canadiens received one break when the age for unrestricted free agency remained at 31. Captain Saku Koivu would have become unrestricted if the age had been lowered, but he probably would have stayed in Montreal in any case.

Goaltender Jose Theodore, who was scheduled to be the Canadiens' highest-paid player in the cancelled 2004-05 season at $6 million, will take a cut in pay, but should remain the team's top wage earner.

Other key players are Mike Ribeiro and Michael Ryder, who was a finalist for rookie of the year in 2004. Ribeiro was the team's top point-getter in 2003-04, but he might face a reduced role this fall with the arrival of Bonk as the No. 2 centre behind Koivu.

Ryder might have gambled and lost when he rejected the team's offer last summer. He was hoping that his situation would improve under the new CBA, but if anything, it has gotten worse. As a second-year player, he has little bargaining power.

If the Canadiens don't keep Brisebois, they will have more money for some possible free agents. They have already freed up more than $7 million with the departures of Yanic Perreault, Joe Juneau, Karl Dykhuis and Andreas Dackell.

Some of those spots will be filled by youngsters who are under contract. Chris Higgins, Andrei Kastitsyn and Tomas Plekanec are ready to take a run at the NHL after strong performances in Hamilton last season.

The Canadiens will also find a spot for Alexander Perezhogin, who played in Russia last season while sitting out a one-year American Hockey League suspension for his role in a stick-swinging incident.

The Canadiens won't be allowed to sign any players until early next month. There will be a freeze on transactions to allow agents and team executives to go back to school and learn the intricacies of the new system.

Canadiens' Contract Situation

A look at the Canadiens' contract status for the 2005-06 NHL season. Salary figures in U.S. dollars for signed players reflect the 24-per-cent rollback:

Signed: Craig Rivet ($2.7 million), Radek Bonk ($2.4 million), Sheldon Souray ($2.13 million), Richard Zednik ($1.82 million), Niklas Sundstrom ($988,000), Steve Begin ($608,000), Cristobal Huet ($456,000).

In limbo: Defenceman Patrice Brisebois has a $3.4-million contract at club's option.

Restricted free agents: Jose Theodore, Francis Bouillon, Mike Komisarek, Jan Bulis, Pierre Dagenais, Jim Dowd, Saku Koivu, Andrei Markov, Mike Ribeiro, Michael Ryder, Jason Ward.

Unrestricted free agent: Karl Dykhuis.

Prominent minor-league players under contract: Ron Hainsey, Andrei Perezhogin, Andrei Kastitsyn, Chris Higgins.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005

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Thanks man! 'Preciate it.

I think these are exciting times. Guess Gainey has some work to do. Not that I fear that we'll lose guys like Theo, Ryder, Koivu etc. But I fear Kovalev is a goner.

With or without Brisebois, I think we might need to improve the defense corps a bit.

What I am really not sure about is what your average UFA thinks about playing in Montreal. Are we really that popular? How big are the chances of us landing a respectible UFA?

And what do you guys think is the biggest concern? In what department do we need to stock up?

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I agree that Brisebois got more than he deserved, but the same thing could be said for the way he's been treated by the Habs fans.

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Originally posted by GoGades

I still shake my head that Savard signed Brisebois to that kind of coin. What a stroke of luck that we can get rid of him at a much discounted rate.

(Nice board, by the way !)

Welcome to HW GoGades, yeah it is a nice forum :) ... how'd you find us btw?

I still cant beleive how much we paid Brisebois and Rivet, lol... Well at least those two contracts wont last much longer.

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Originally posted by Spider-Man NL

Some of those spots will be filled by youngsters who are under contract. Chris Higgins, Andrei Kastitsyn and Tomas Plekanec are ready to take a run at the NHL after strong performances in Hamilton last season.

Kostitsyn isn't NHL ready. He needs another season in the AHL, but with time on the top line to let loose his offensive talent.

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Originally posted by puck7x

Welcome to HW GoGades, yeah it is a nice forum :) ... how'd you find us btw?

Googled "Habs fan forum" or something similar, and it was as the top of the list. I saw it was pretty active so I signed up.

I still cant beleive how much we paid Brisebois and Rivet, lol... Well at least those two contracts wont last much longer.

Brisebois and Rivet are fine #5 and #6 dmen, but they're getting paid like #1 and #2. That's why people expected more from them.

Mind you, I'll never defend the constant booing Pat got for a while - that was so stupid - but it comes with the territory when a player is overpaid ...

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If Briz or Rivet would make it financially impossible for the Club to obtain a first class UFA winger for the first line, this would be a problem....but not being the case, it is not crucial whether they move or not.

I thinck the CH will thrived under the new arrangement specifically because the new cap is pretty much around the CH budget limit to start with, and this limit was influencing the ways in which the pre-cap CH was at work building the team,...so no major adjusment to meet the mostly favorable condition of the new deal.

Above the Cap, there is some rules changes that might favorised talented and speedy team by allowing them the room they deserve,...there too, the CH is ready to move along.

So beside the title of the good article above, '' New cap fits Habs just fine'' we could had, ''New rules fits Habs just fine'',....yeaa, things looks pretty good.

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When it comes to canadian, especially quebecois, players, perhaps the CH has a little pull. Why the hell, however, would Zubov or Kovalev care? We can only hope the Kovy liked what he say in his time here (how bad was he boo'ed for his cold streak?).

I gotta say I like Brisebois, but we don't know what rules are being adopted, and they were supposed to address clutching last season and that didnt happen. Don't forget that Rivet and Brisebois especially are not spring chickens. I imagine that for some players the season off has given then time for old wounds to heal but many will just not be able to get back into shape for the upcoming season, not to mention just natural decline for getting a year older.

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