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Depressing. Cap space...


brobin

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It is pretty depressing to see our cap space be lower then Pitts when they have the best two players in the league locked up and a real contending team. Worse, he haven't even signed PK yet, which will put us near the highest paid teams in the NHL while being one of the worst on the ice. All those deals where we picked up an expensive, but average player, or overpaid add up.

Granted, Gomez comes off the books next year but then the cap comes down.

This team may need a year or two more in the basement to build a pool of very good players, vs good players. More Galys...

We also need some tight fiscal management to ensure we have money when we really need it for the true push for the cup. I would avoid any long veteran contracts for a while if possible.

I fear we have been no better then Toronto... Wasting money thinking we are only a piece or two away...over estimating the core...

Anyway, I hope Bergevin can be patient and do a proper rebuild of the core... I am willing to suck a year or two if it gives us a real shot at a cup in 4 or 5 years...

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It'll look slightly more rosy when Kaberle is bought out as well. Between he and the Gominator there was over $11M locked up in useless contracts. Put in a Subban at 4-5 (my guess) and you still have a $7M reduction. I think (and I could very well be wrong) that it's not as bad as it seems because of the amnesty buyouts. (Which, another of my guesses, Montreal specifically pushed for, and two of them, since they were going to be losing more money paying for the Phoenix's of the league etc.)

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Oh I know we can get under the cap, but this is more a comment about the futility of the former approach. It was expensive and it didn't work.

I would rather be on the Oilers trajectory, even if we have to eat more bad seasons.

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Well, we had to go the UFA route because Gainey Rebuild 1.0 failed to yield any core players, apart from Price and Pleks.

Gainey Rebuild 2.0, the UFA experiment, is now of course viewed as a bust, and it was unquestionably weak from a cap-management perspective; but it should be recalled that that team went to the Semi-Finals, almost beat the Bruins in '11, and probably would have been vastly better last season had Markov been healthy. If you looked at our stats for the first 2-3 months of last season, we were near the top in every category (even strength scoring, PK, shots against); it was the power play that killed us, game after game, until finally the whole thing melted down, Cammy rebelled, and the inevitable collapse occurred. So I dunno. I think that team had some good times and last year could have been radically different with better chemistry and a bit of luck.

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It is pretty depressing to see our cap space be lower then Pitts when they have the best two players in the league locked up and a real contending team. Worse, he haven't even signed PK yet, which will put us near the highest paid teams in the NHL while being one of the worst on the ice. All those deals where we picked up an expensive, but average player, or overpaid add up.

Granted, Gomez comes off the books next year but then the cap comes down.

This team may need a year or two more in the basement to build a pool of very good players, vs good players. More Galys...

We also need some tight fiscal management to ensure we have money when we really need it for the true push for the cup. I would avoid any long veteran contracts for a while if possible.

I fear we have been no better then Toronto... Wasting money thinking we are only a piece or two away...over estimating the core...

Anyway, I hope Bergevin can be patient and do a proper rebuild of the core... I am willing to suck a year or two if it gives us a real shot at a cup in 4 or 5 years...

Did you actually think these chumps were going to make the playoffs this year, sorry to sound negative but Gauthier and Gainey ****ed this team for at least three more years:

-Bad signings/trades (Bourque, Kaberle, Diaz, Gomez, etc)

-Overestimating the core (Gionta, Cammalleri, Markov, Markov, Markov)

The bad news is that we have at least two years before we make the playoffs again. The good news is that we are doing it the right way, we are done going the Calgary/Toronto route where we do anything to get that coveted 8th place spot. This team has been terrible for twenty years, and we are finally on the right track. Let the bangers and the young guys fill the seats, develop on our own time, and hope for better days.

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Did you actually think these chumps were going to make the playoffs this year, sorry to sound negative but Gauthier and Gainey ****ed this team for at least three more years:

-Bad signings/trades (Bourque, Kaberle, Diaz, Gomez, etc)

-Overestimating the core (Gionta, Cammalleri, Markov, Markov, Markov)

The bad news is that we have at least two years before we make the playoffs again. The good news is that we are doing it the right way, we are done going the Calgary/Toronto route where we do anything to get that coveted 8th place spot. This team has been terrible for twenty years, and we are finally on the right track. Let the bangers and the young guys fill the seats, develop on our own time, and hope for better days.

Don't mean to nit pick here but how is Diaz a bad signing? Cheap, NHL serviceable, no assets lost.

Edit: I see commandant mentioned that too, I also don't know where this "Etc..." of bad signings are on the team.

I didn't like the way the team was run under them either, but this is quick to judge... Bourque deal hasn't been determined yet, I mean he came into a terrible year can't expect him to play 110%, so I wouldn't throw that in bad at this point.

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Don't mean to nit pick here but how is Diaz a bad signing? Cheap, NHL serviceable, no assets lost.

Edit: I see commandant mentioned that too, I also don't know where this "Etc..." of bad signings are on the team.

I didn't like the way the team was run under them either, but this is quick to judge... Bourque deal hasn't been determined yet, I mean he came into a terrible year can't expect him to play 110%, so I wouldn't throw that in bad at this point.

You made me laugh bbp...so true. People throw around etc's when they really aren't applicable. Kaberle is next to be bought out, if the team decides it's necessary. Not because he's not a serviceable player, but because his one dimensional play is a luxury the team might not be able to afford. Yes, we all know about the few assists per week he records.
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IMO, it isn't easy, and maybe not possible under the cap system, to buy or trade for your core. I think you need to build through the draft now and rely on good trades and UFAs for secondary pieces.if we can snag some offensive juggernauts to go with the defensive prospects coming up, we can be a power house again.

We have the goalie, we drafted some good D, now we need to draft some more top forwards.

If you want to see what we can be in three years, watch a Blues game... Tarasanko looks bloody awesome.

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IMO, it isn't easy, and maybe not possible under the cap system, to buy or trade for your core. I think you need to build through the draft now and rely on good trades and UFAs for secondary pieces.if we can snag some offensive juggernauts to go with the defensive prospects coming up, we can be a power house again.

We have the goalie, we drafted some good D, now we need to draft some more top forwards.

If you want to see what we can be in three years, watch a Blues game... Tarasanko looks bloody awesome.

I believe this is exactly what the management is doing. Only because it is montreal they need to ice a semi-competitive team just to keep their jobs. We have Price, we have d-men like Tinordi, Beau, PK, plus others, and beyond Max we have a nice young crop from the last draft in Gally(3rd overall), Hudon looks good, Collberg is starting to score overseas, and Gallagher has developed nicely as well. Along with Leblanc who I assume will be at least a serviceable 3rd liner if not 2nd line.

We aren't that far away from being competitive we just need to be good enough to keep guys like PK, Max, Price, and solid vets like Georges or Prust to stick around.

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I believe this is exactly what the management is doing. Only because it is montreal they need to ice a semi-competitive team just to keep their jobs. We have Price, we have d-men like Tinordi, Beau, PK, plus others, and beyond Max we have a nice young crop from the last draft in Gally(3rd overall), Hudon looks good, Collberg is starting to score overseas, and Gallagher has developed nicely as well. Along with Leblanc who I assume will be at least a serviceable 3rd liner if not 2nd line.

We aren't that far away from being competitive we just need to be good enough to keep guys like PK, Max, Price, and solid vets like Georges or Prust to stick around.

I agree in general, but while we have some good players coming up, I thing we need one or two great players. I am counting on Galy to be one, but I think we need one or two more to be an elite team.

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We should manufacture CSWC bracelets and sell them to all the people throwing out their livestrong ones.

OR....

We could put a rolled up fiver in each bracelet along with HGH. Score!

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I believe this is exactly what the management is doing. Only because it is montreal they need to ice a semi-competitive team just to keep their jobs. We have Price, we have d-men like Tinordi, Beau, PK, plus others, and beyond Max we have a nice young crop from the last draft in Gally(3rd overall), Hudon looks good, Collberg is starting to score overseas, and Gallagher has developed nicely as well. Along with Leblanc who I assume will be at least a serviceable 3rd liner if not 2nd line.

We aren't that far away from being competitive we just need to be good enough to keep guys like PK, Max, Price, and solid vets like Georges or Prust to stick around.

Management has been pretty explicit about this, if you look at interviews.

I always thought the UFA Rebuild was intended as a place-holder anyway, buying time until the next generation could come up. It worked for two seasons, and if Markov hadn't been hurt and Goat had made some better decisions, it might conceivably have worked for a third.

I agree that cap space is overrated. Yes, you want to manage it wisely, and the new CBA justifies some caution until the dust has settled and the parameters become clear. But under the old deal, the cap rose every year, and despite this fans went kaka-kookoo with rage over practically every signing the Habs made (e.g., Cole). We never really were crippled by cap management despite a fair degree of incompetence. Our REAL problem was the lack of young players after the initial wave (Higgins, Komi, Fatendresse, etc.) petered out.

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I agree in general, but while we have some good players coming up, I thing we need one or two great players. I am counting on Galy to be one, but I think we need one or two more to be an elite team.

This is why I want the Habs to rip the band aids off fast. Trade Gionta and Cole for draft picks. Maybe one of Eller or DD. Buy out Kaberle. Hopefully get Subban signed at a reasonable deal. Doing this stuff will see, what I think is probably a lottery team already, crumble to pick in the 3-7 range. Use the new picks to be in the top 3 already if you aren't. If you are then package some of them to try and get another top 10 pick. Go into the off-season with huge cap room and knowing you have 2-3 recent top draft picks in your top 2-3 lines...UFA's next year include Getzlaf/Perry/Iginla/Clowe/Horton/Hartnell/Edler/Smid/Enstrom.

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This is why I want the Habs to rip the band aids off fast. Trade Gionta and Cole for draft picks. Maybe one of Eller or DD. Buy out Kaberle. Hopefully get Subban signed at a reasonable deal. Doing this stuff will see, what I think is probably a lottery team already, crumble to pick in the 3-7 range. Use the new picks to be in the top 3 already if you aren't. If you are then package some of them to try and get another top 10 pick. Go into the off-season with huge cap room and knowing you have 2-3 recent top draft picks in your top 2-3 lines...UFA's next year include Getzlaf/Perry/Iginla/Clowe/Horton/Hartnell/Edler/Smid/Enstrom.

IF those guys don't get signed by their teams first. And it won't be long until you're arguing that we should get rid of whichever massively overpaid UFA we do eventually sign. Bird in the hand, my friend.

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IF those guys don't get signed by their teams first. And it won't be long until you're arguing that we should get rid of whichever massively overpaid UFA we do eventually sign. Bird in the hand, my friend.

Of that list, Enstrom was already extended (5 years, $5.75M per) as was Hartnell (6 years, $4.75M per) and Edler just recently (6 years, $5M per).

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This is why I want the Habs to rip the band aids off fast. Trade Gionta and Cole for draft picks. Maybe one of Eller or DD. Buy out Kaberle. Hopefully get Subban signed at a reasonable deal. Doing this stuff will see, what I think is probably a lottery team already, crumble to pick in the 3-7 range. Use the new picks to be in the top 3 already if you aren't. If you are then package some of them to try and get another top 10 pick. Go into the off-season with huge cap room and knowing you have 2-3 recent top draft picks in your top 2-3 lines...UFA's next year include Getzlaf/Perry/Iginla/Clowe/Horton/Hartnell/Edler/Smid/Enstrom.

Oh look, I think you would be a great customer for the CSWC bracelets.

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