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Bourque on waivers!


Meller93

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The start and end of Bourque's career as a hab, really shows what an idiot PG was!

Great move. by MB. Open's up a roster spot and gets rid of probably the most laziest piece of crap in the league. Don't want to EVER see him in a habs uniform again. The habs still need to pick up another scorer, i wish we could have tried to make a move where we could package Bouruqe with a prospect to get the whole cap hit of dork of the books..

I'd put Moen as #2. Too much money for a slow 4th liner.

nice and bold move by MB.

spot cleared.

Moens next.

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nice and bold move by MB.

spot cleared.

Moens next.

Wouldn't surprise me one bit. However, there's one big difference between the Bourque and Gorges dumps and a hypothetical jettisoning of Moen: Zoot Suit never signed the first two to those contracts. He was, though, the GM who signed Moen to his present deal. I'm not saying it'll make a difference - but it might.

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Wouldn't surprise me one bit. However, there's one big difference between the Bourque and Gorges dumps and a hypothetical jettisoning of Moen: Zoot Suit never signed the first two to those contracts. He was, though, the GM who signed Moen to his present deal. I'm not saying it'll make a difference - but it might.

he also signed Briere and he corrected that mistake pretty fast.

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Wow. I must say I never saw this coming. Hopefully he gets picked up, because that's a lot of cap to be burning on a guy playing in Hamilton.

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That's a lot of money being retained for a non-playoff team for what would amount to a low draft pick (Bourque at 50% retained doesn't carry massive value).

I think this is the order that Bergevin is following:

1) Try to trade him with no salary retention (that didn't happen)

2) Waive him in the hopes of him getting claimed - if not, send him to Hamilton and save a pro-rated $925,000 on the cap (I suspect he clears)

3) Try to trade him with salary retention at or below the $925,000 threshold

4) Try to trade him with salary retention at or below the buyout cost for next season

and dlbair has enlightened us as usual.

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That explains why Bowman was brought up-- the decision was made and they didn't want to risk him (Bourque) getting hurt if they needed a last minute change to lineup. We will know today if he clears or not. He may be what the doctor ordered in Hamilton; a veteran with the most NHL experience. Not sure exactly how many more veterans Hamilton are allowed? I wouldn't be surprised if someone picked him up despite his salary

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he also signed Briere and he corrected that mistake pretty fast.

good point

Wouldn't surprise me one bit. However, there's one big difference between the Bourque and Gorges dumps and a hypothetical jettisoning of Moen: Zoot Suit never signed the first two to those contracts. He was, though, the GM who signed Moen to his present deal. I'm not saying it'll make a difference - but it might.

good point

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Very odd. It's not like MB to burn cap space, even minute amounts. Maybe Bowman needed to pay his electric bill and MB took sympathy on him?

BlueKross notes what I think is a lot of the reason above, the decision was made to waive him and they didn't want to risk having to play Bourque if someone got hurt in the warm up. Bowman then became the emergency forward for Saturday.

What most don't know is that Bowman has a $50,000 guarantee on his contract beyond his AHL salary (so does Dumont for that matter). So calling him up for the two days took about $6,000 out of the extra $50,000 they owe him at some point. If you have to call a player up for a situation like this, you might as well pick one of the two players that have this guarantee.

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I wouldn't be surprised if someone picked him up despite his salary

Really? I would be VERY surprised if a team picked him up! Pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless!

Good move by M.B.

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I'm putting together the write-up for the site right now (which is fun with two potential outcomes). Here's a blurb regarding whether it's better to trade with retained salary or wait for a buyout at the end of the year:

A trade with retained salary is a much more ideal option than buying him out at the end of the season. The most Montreal could retain is a $1,666,666.66 cap hit (pro-rated this year, full in 2015-16). If they were to keep him in the minors for the rest of this season, they'd have a pro-rated $2,408,333.33 cap hit on the books this season, a $1,666,666.66 cap hit in 2015-16, and an $833,333.33 cap charge in 2016-17. Suffice it to say, expect Bergevin to actively pursue a trade while retaining salary in the near future.

This, of course, assumes he clears waivers. If he's claimed (and many are predicting he won't be), his cap hit goes away entirely.

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The targets go in order:

- Desharnais

- Moen

- Eller

Ha, well, there's a huge difference between Bourque and all three of these guys. Say what you want about DD and Moen, but it's plain as day that both of those guys (a) care a lot and (b) work really hard. Both have made careers out of getting the most out of their what talent they possess. I for one find it hard to despise players like that; even if they are overpaid, getting rid of them becomes a business decision (as it was with Gorges) rather than cause for celebration. Bourque is the exact opposite, a player with considerable natural gifts who never seemed to give a crap and who has done the absolute bare minimum with what God gave him. THAT'S what's so aggravating about him.

Eller is much closer to Bourque in this respect, and of the three he's the one I'd be most like to develop a full-blown hate-on for. But he too gets more rope than Bourque, because he's still relatively young. Unlike Bourque, then, there is at least some lingering hope that he will figure it out and "put it all together," becoming a reliably good hockey player. Eller is, however, definitely on borrowed time before he becomes Habs' fan Enemy #1.

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Quote from Eric Engels:

Can't help but wonder if Bergevin put Bourque on waivers to take him out of Therrien's mix. Bergevin and Rick Dudley don't decide who plays and who sits, but there have been some rumblings that neither of them were happy about Sekac being scratched for seven straight games, especially when it was in favor of Bourque.

Is there some disagreement between MB and MT?

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Maybe Bourque goes down and sulks or maybe he goes down and works on things and becomes a real productive player for the Bulldogs. The league style of play has changed so much, in even the last two years; some players will excel, some players will fail---- not everybody is going to be a good fit. Hope Rene rises to the challenge.

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Ha, well, there's a huge difference between Bourque and all three of these guys.

As you can see based on random hate for guys like Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, (and last year, Gionta and Gorges), fan-hate is largely unaffected by work ethic or even results. Very effective players can be the target of much vitriol. Cap-space used has a bigger effect, although it's not always the deciding factor, either.

As such, I predict within the next two years, Subban will soon become the most common whipping boy for "fans."

(Bourque is a rare intersection of overpayment, lack of results, and lack of any semblance of work ethic, which is enough for everyone to justifiably pile on him.)

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Quote from Eric Engels:

Can't help but wonder if Bergevin put Bourque on waivers to take him out of Therrien's mix. Bergevin and Rick Dudley don't decide who plays and who sits, but there have been some rumblings that neither of them were happy about Sekac being scratched for seven straight games, especially when it was in favor of Bourque.

Is there some disagreement between MB and MT?

It wouldn't be the first time that GM and coach disagree on player usage, and it won't be the last. I wouldn't read much into it.

I also think a completely different interpretation is possible, i.e., that Bourque was dressed in the hope that he would do something to enhance his non-existent trade value. In that case, the lineup decision would definitely have been co-ordinated with the GM.

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I sincerely doubt that Therrien/Bergevin/Dudley are so separated that they don't talk about line combinations or team needs.

People are obsessed with the conspiracy that Therrien loves every Hab player that doesn't perform well and hates every Hab player that does perform well.

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Not sure exactly how many more veterans Hamilton are allowed?

Here's the development (veteran) rule:

Of the 18 skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least 13 must be qualified as "development players." Of those 13, 12 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.

Here are the players that qualify for that veteran status:

- Drayson Bowman

- Rene Bourque

- Jake Dowell

- Gabriel Dumont (has played more than 260 games but under 320)

- T.J. Hensick

- Maxime Macenauer (assuming ECHL counts as a pro league; if not, he's in Dumont's class)

- Eric Tangradi

So they're over the limit now (although I wouldn't be surprised if Bowman is the one that comes up to take Bourque's spot). Assuming that happens, they'll probably just sit Macenauer which they do more often than not anyways.

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Ha, well, there's a huge difference between Bourque and all three of these guys. Say what you want about DD and Moen, but it's plain as day that both of those guys (a) care a lot and (b) work really hard. Both have made careers out of getting the most out of their what talent they possess. I for one find it hard to despise players like that; even if they are overpaid, getting rid of them becomes a business decision (as it was with Gorges) rather than cause for celebration. Bourque is the exact opposite, a player with considerable natural gifts who never seemed to give a crap and who has done the absolute bare minimum with what God gave him. THAT'S what's so aggravating about him.

Eller is much closer to Bourque in this respect, and of the three he's the one I'd be most like to develop a full-blown hate-on for. But he too gets more rope than Bourque, because he's still relatively young. Unlike Bourque, then, there is at least some lingering hope that he will figure it out and "put it all together," becoming a reliably good hockey player. Eller is, however, definitely on borrowed time before he becomes Habs' fan Enemy #1.

i for one dont have "to despise" a player to know he needs replaced.

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