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What If Saku Can't Go, Or Worse Retires?


kw11habs

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:hlogo: If Saku was to retire, we need to make some moves before any other teams know he's retiring to give us better value on the trade market. First it seems like Gagne wants out of Philly so go after him offer Ryder & Perezhogin, then sign E. Daze and also sign V. Kozlov both to 1 yr deals. Then move Bonk for a draft pick or prospect to free up more salary. Sign Gagne to a 4 yr deal between 22 & 24 mill. Then we look like this an all Russian line Kozlov, Kovalev, Samsonov and then an all french line Ribs, Gagne, Daze, an excellent third line of Plecanek, Higgins, Johnson and a fourth line of Grabovsky, Begin, Murray, Kostitsin and Downey. Kozlov played great in the Olympic's with Kovalev and he should come fairly cheap. If Ryder & Perezhogin ain't enough to get Gagne throw in what ever we get for Bonk. We would also be spending less money to give us more room under the cap when all is said and done.

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A big trade for a legit #1 C will be absolutely necessary if Saks is permanently out of commission. Why or whether it would be this one beats me (Gagne and Daze not being C, after all).

I wish people would stop drooling over Daze. Why not bring back Donald Audette while we're at it.

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A big trade for a legit #1 C will be absolutely necessary if Saks is permanently out of commission. Why or whether it would be this one beats me (Gagne and Daze not being C, after all).

I wish people would stop drooling over Daze. Why not bring back Donald Audette while we're at it.

I miss Petrov, personally.. :D

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First of all......i give all my hopes that koivu will be ready to play and he will play well.

But, if he is not ready, or worse.....gulp...retires, i dont think we need to make any major moves.

I personally think we have enough in our system to ice a winning team.

My lineups would go as follows:

Samsonov Ribeiro Kovalev

Higgins Plekanec Ryder

Perezhogin Grabovsky Kostitsyn

Begin Bonk Murray

The thing that has to be realized is that we CAN win with what we have. Koivu is obviously a big loss, but if the team, as it is, comes together as a group, we could do wonders.

And i know the first thing someone is going to say is "Your a crack head.....ribeiro is never going to be a 1st line centre...blah blah blah" but i think the 4 centres we have there would do a great job.

Grabovsky is my hopefull to make the team this year as the highlights i saw from the world championships last year were sensational...and, on the rush, he resembles the man who he tied (i think) in points in the tourney, one alex ovechkin. And no, im not saying hes as good as ovechkin, but brings the same dynamic to the offense, especially paired with bellarusian linemate kosty... and perezhogin is a 1st line player in my books when hes on his game.

Plekanec in my regards is also ready to step up in a second line role, especially since hes a great passer and higgins and ryder do wonders putting the puck in the back of the net.

The first line will do amazing.....thats all i have to say...dont doubt ribeiro, especially when he has the likes of .......dont make me say the names....on his right and left.

And the 4th line will be a line that teams will not want to play against. Begin and murray will beat u up and bonk will....well.....stand there and take pictures :D hehehehe, kidding....i think bonk will step it up as well.

In closing, all im trying to show is some optimism for what we already have. Its obvious gagne would bring alot to our team....but the chances of getting him are slim......and....who the hell is daze :?- :D hehehhee.

GO HABS GO!!!!! IM COUNTING THE DAYS TILL PUCK DROP :D:D:D

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Not to jump on you because it all sounds good but it also sounds like an EA Sports solution to me.

If Saku had to retire something would have to be done to remedy the problem but I highly doubt it would happen this season. There isn't another team in the league that wants/can give up a number on centre without hurting themselves let alone for a second line winger (Ryder) and a prospect (albeit a good one in Perezhogin). The answer would have to come from within, unfortunately.

Also, if Bonk could be moved with his salary for a pick or prospect he would have been gone a long time ago.

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One word,

CHIPCHURA

this guy is gonna wear the C some day. He plays like gainey. Plecanec or grabovski have the creativity to some day replace koivu, but if chipchura comes up, we're a defensive rock.

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Any 'plan' that banks on an unproven rookie exploding into a major NHL first- or second-liner is no plan at all: it's just delusional fantasy. The FACT is that this team has no proven NHL-caliber centremen of high quality except Koivu. End of story. If some miracle happens and a rookie suddenly dominates, great, but short of divine intervention we will have to make a major deal to shore up the C position if Saks can't return.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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If Saku can't return then i'd say sign Allison ... it won't cost us any players or prospects ... he's played with Samsanov before in Boston and Kovalev likes to hang onto the puck and slow the play down anyways so Allison's speed won't be a super issue ... also he did get 60 points in 64 games last season on the 2nd line in Toronto so he's still got the skill to play ... his health will be the issue

Sami , Allison , Kovalev

Higgins , Ribs , Ryder

Perez , Pleck , Johnson

Begin , Bonk , Downy

Either that or move Bonk up to the 2nd line and see how he responds

Sami , Ribs , Kovalev

Higgins , Bonk , Ryder

Perez , Pleck , Johnson

Murray , Begin , Downy

Edited by CaliHabsFan
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Just to throw in my 2 cents..

If Koivu can't go, Bonk takes his spot on the first line and is given at least Kovalev on his side, maybe Samsanov as well.

That is, of course, a temporary solution, but Bonk has been a number one before.

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Not to jump on you because it all sounds good but it also sounds like an EA Sports solution to me.

My thoughts exactly. That's an awful lot of dominos that have to fall to make that happen. It's the great thing about being a fan, we can make all the trade suggestions we want. We sometimes forget that reality is much different.

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http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect...newsItemID=5143

Doesnt sound anything like its a risk he will retire to me. He might just need to wait a few games but Im 100% sure he will be back. One thing we DO need for the next game against the canes is someone to mark Williams. Im not saying we should kill the guy but someone should give him a huge charging hit as quick as he enters the ice just to make him know we wont take it if he does something like this again... Komisarek, are you up for the task?

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Forget Daze, he finished..... its over. Why are people so hung up on him?

If Koivu retires its going to be a huge hit for the Habs. THere will be no effective way of replacing. Montreal simply cannnot go out and replace a first line centre. First off there are non available and second of all if there was (ie Gomez from New Jersey because of their cap situation) it would deplete Montreal's farm system to the point of it not being worth it.

And what happens with the salary cap? When Malakov retired in New Jersey if f*ucked them royally as he still counted against the salary cap. If Koivu retires does his $4.75 Million per season still count against the cap over the next few years

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Well, If Saku was to retire, god forbid, then what you all seem to be overlooking, unless I missed something, is the cap room that opens up...We could take on a pretty good player with his salary plus remaining cap space, so stop worrying.

1st off he will be fine

2ndly if not we have depth

3rdly if needed we can buy a replacement

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If Koivu can't go, then we've got a ton of money under the cap. Someone who's in the last year of their contract will become available for a good prospect later in the season. We got Kovalev for Balej, and where's he?

In the meantime, it's an opportunity to shake the lines up and give some of the young guns a limited-time opportunity to shine.

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From today's Gazette:

Koivu underwent surgery to repair damage to his retina and his peripheral vision is limited as a result of the incident.

"The blind spot is still there," said Koivu. "The good news is that it's not going to get any worse; the bad news is that it's not going to get any better."

Koivu said it was still too early to say how the injury would affect his performance.

"I've done some skating with the guys the past few days but nothing that's the same as game conditions," said Koivu. "I wish I could tell you more, but you'll have to wait three or four days and then I can give you a better idea."

This guy is not going to get any better, then. He's permanently damaged. So we can stop hoping for a miracle. The remaining question is whether he can adjust and continue to play at the level of a #1 centre, or at least a #1A centre, which is what the Habs need him to do.

And not to be a jerk about it, but if his game suffers as a result and he wants to keep playing - say as a #2 centre - we're still on the hook for his salary. So this could turn out to be a really serious problem in pure hockey terms, in a cap system. We might not be able to afford to pay for a bona fide #1 or #1A centreman under these circumstances.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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