I would say so...he very much reminds me of Ribs. That said...with the right coach, mentor and team leadership (i.e. not lazy Russians), he could become a dominant player. Ribs became soft because a) He made the wrong friends, B- the coach did not hold him accountable for his work ethic, and c) the Montreal women got to him!

So, on the Team 990, McGuire said Aucoin is coming to Montreal. If this is true, could it be for Sammy? Does this mean So long Souray?

Would be odd for the Habs to make that move now. Aucoin has two years at 4 mil Sammy has just one and for less money the Hawks would have to throw something else the Canadiens way.

So, on the Team 990, McGuire said Aucoin is coming to Montreal. If this is true, could it be for Sammy? Does this mean So long Souray?

I disagree JMMR (I think this is a 1st ) becasue it's clear that trading a disgruntled player means we would lose said trade. Having said that, if said trade were to occur I hope there is some extra gravy in it for us

If Aucoin works out though he could be a nice addition to our defence. With a bit of luck we could even get a pick as high as a 2nd rounder thrown in.

If the Aucoin rumours have merit, it's obvious that Souray is truly gone and Gainey is working the fill the void here. Aucoin is an acceptable option to get us through to the promised land of full time O'Byrne, Emelin and Valentenko. ESPECIALLY, if Samsonov goes the other way. For us to absorb a 2 year at 8 million dollar contract (I think that's what it is - not sure ) is sufficient to get a reliable rearguard if we can shed 3.5 the other way on a mistake. The Sammy cap hit is 1.8 million if he is bought out. Think of Aucoin as actually costing 4 million minus 1.8. That means Sammy is out and Aucoin is being paid 2.2 million in CAP money/solving problems. Yeah yeah, Aucoin is getting 4 million in reality but as far as solving problems and versus buying out Sammy? If BOb can do it. I say GO. This rumour has some logic to it like it or not.

Think about it. It all depends on Sammy or I say no!

PS. The Sammy buyout is for 2 years in cap OneSharpMarble

Gotcha

I never thought Souray was coming back anyway. Why would the Habs try to sign a guy they were shopping around as meat just before the trade deadline. It just doesn't make any sense.

my two cents

WOW
Look at this crap from Eklund:

"The Montreal Canadiens Free Agent Forecaster

MONEY TO SPEND TO $50M: $28M (6RFAs)

SPENDING TENDANCIES: The Habs spent 98% of last year’s cap and have shown that they aren’t afraid to spend. They are a young team and are likely to get even younger. The Habs are trying to build a Sabres-esque team of speed and may not have to sepnd that much to do so given the success that Hamilton had this past season.

HOLES TO FILL: Defensively, Sheldon Souray will likely move on and his points are going to be hard for the current crop to pick up. Offensively the Habs lack a real sniper and need to score goals in all sorts of ways, many of which are ugly. Higgins is going to be a very good player, and Latendresse has shown signs of brilliance despite the early pressure that was on him to be a star out of the gate. The Habs need to make a pitch for a big name UFA this summer and land him.

KEY UFA’s Up For Grabs:

Sheldon Souray: Obviously an offensive force, but many times Habs fans have told me that he is a defensive liability. Sheldon is a big ticket in the new NHL because he moves the puck so well and will make an immediate impact on a team’s power play. We all saw this past season that a team like the Sabres essentially lost due to a lackluster power play.

Radek Bonk: I am a fan of Bonk. I feel Radek spent most of his career miscast as a speedy scorer, these pst few years he has actually turned into a solid all around player who can score but can also play experienced defense.

Mike Johnson: I was not a huge fan of Johnson in Phoenix. I was kind of shocked when the Habs got him actually. Johnson is streaky, but at times very lapsed. Still young enough to straighten out however, because the talent is there.

Trade Bait: There is no secret that the Habs want Esposito out of this draft and I couldn’t agree with them more. The Montreal kid is exactly what is missing from the team and I do believe that Espo would light up the city for years to come. He is being WAY under-valued in the current draft rankings and it goes to show you that we have learned nothing from Phil Kessel. Sometimes players develop quickly and become targets. This is clearly what happened to Esposito. The Habs have been rumoured to be dangling Higgins in an attempt to move up. Another possibility would be Komisarek.

Current Depth Chart:
The following players are placed where I believe they fall. This gives you an idea of what the Habs could be looking for…and what they could move if they have say 2, #2 centers.

Centers

1. Saku Koivu
2. Christopher Higgins RFA
3. Tomas Plekanec RFA
4. Steve Begin
5. Garth Murray
6. Maxim Lapierre

Left Wings
1. _________________
2. _________________
2. Guillaume Latendresse
3 . _________________
4. . Sergei Samsonov

Right Wings
1.__________________
2. Michael Ryder RFA
2. Alexei Kovalev
3. ______________
4. Alexander Perezhogin RFA
5. Andrei Kostitsyn

Defensemen
1. ______________
2. Andrei Markov
3. Mike Komisarek RFA
4. Mark Streit
5. Francis Bouillon
6. Josh Gorges RFA
6. Mathieu Dandenault

Goalies
1.
2. Cristobal Huet
3. Jaroslav Halak
Youngsters who could make an impact:

Carey Price: Not could, but WILL make an impact. In fact I am hearing that he will have every opportunity to be the #1 goalie for the Habs this season. This will leave the Habs with some serious decisions to make. Huet and Halak have both been very good, but as one scout said, “Price can be great.” Much credit has to be given to the Habs for making this “unpopular” at the time draft selection. Many thought Price was taken way too high given the Habs current situation.

Kyle Chipchura: Big and tough, and a born leader. His knock has been that he takes games off, but he also has a tendency to have an extra gear when it really counts…He is the kind of player the Habs need however. He is a solid checking center that can tie up big players on the opposing team.

Andrei Kostitsyn: This will be a big camp for Andrei. The speedy highly touted pick spent much of last year working on his game away from the puck and it showed with a remarkable improvement in his +/- in the AHL…raising 40 points over the previous season from a -14 to a plus 24. Even in 22 games with the Habs he managed to be a +3 on a team where many forwards were big-time minuses. However, Andrei only netted a single goal with the big club.

UFA’s the HAbs are targeting:

Daniel Briere: There is no secret to this, although some have told me that Briere may not want to play in Montreal, I have also heard others who say he does. So, when that many mixed signals and rumours are flying around you have to chalk it up to speculation and only Dan really knows. I currently have the Habs as the favorite on the RUMOUR CHART for Briere with a 50% chance of him signing.

Brendan Shanahan: The Habs were runner up in the Shanny sweeps last summer and if they can manage to woo him away from NY, Shanny may just go and play in Montreal. I have him at 25% going to Montreal, trailing the Rangers and tied with the Wings.

Zubrus: There is a growing belief that DZ could return to Montreal. He does fill some size holes and could help defensively as well as pitch in offensively. I have the Habs as #2 to get Zubrus, trailing only the Islanders.

Todd Bertuzzi: A great fit if healthy for the Habs. They tried to get him via trade prior to the Luongo deal I am told. On THE RUMOUR CHART, I have Bertuzzi listed with the Habs Being the Favorite at 35%.

Yashin: Just say No"
This whole thing would be comical but his suggestions of Higgins and or Komisarek being "dangled" as trade bait is lunacy. By the way Ek, Higgins hasn't been a centre for years!
I also think that Kostitsyn is better then a 5 on the depth chart, behind a guy who isn't even playing for the habs.Ek will change his mind when he pots 25-30 this season.
Sammy as bad as he is isn't a fourth line winger either.

mmm I love this thread
Ekland, classic.

Really JMMR?
I dunno first there's talk of him being traded to a SoCal team. Then he shows up at the Ducks Stanley Cup Finals game in Anaheim.
Yeah I know he lives in SoCal but still, you don't show up at that game, it comes off as you trying to give a signal to someone.
Anyway I don't see him coming back.

Why would the Habs try to sign a guy they were shopping around as meat just before the trade deadline. It just doesn't make any sense.

Gainey was not going to trade one of the leaders of the team. He was not going to allow the team to dismantle and he felt like he had a good chance to sign him back. Souray has opened a new restaurant in Montreal. He and his wife were (no update) looking for a house in Montreal 2 months ago. But, it's starting to look like Gainey gambled and lost.

Losing Souray is going to hurt for me. This is like when Muller was traded. Bummer. I might like the move if BOb compensates on the UFA market, but it'll break my heart. At least in the Muller trade we got back Turgeon, not that it mattered in the long run. Hopefully the void is filled.

But, I have to give the benefit of the dout that Gainey does not want to handcuff the habs with a McCabe scenario. Souray is a risky asset. Three years tops. After that, he will decline IMO.

Losing Souray is going to hurt for me.

Souray-Augroin

think if we could package Samsonov as well as a Bouillon or Dandenault...

A Souray-Aucoin pairing wouldn't help us out. Split them up and pair each of them with a fast skater.

A Souray-Aucoin pairing wouldn't help us out. Split them up and pair each of them with a fast skater.

You still have the fill the hole that Samsonov leaves at forward which even if it is a young guy close to $1 million.

That hole was filled last year. I believe a Mr. Andrei Kostitsyn did that nicely.

I guess the Samsonov deal means that MacGuire was talking out of his arse when he said that Aucoin is a habs? Or is something else cooking, do you think?

Markov-Augroin
Souray-Komi ?

Yeah I was just talking about the Cap situation someone has to be added to the roster now that Sammy is gone.

Why has there been no talk of Nylander? We are in the market for a scoring Center, and Habs fans have talked about Briere and Gomez, but why not Nylander? He is a great player, and he would help us out in my opinion...

Ek today has an E4 of Marleau and an E2 of Preissing coming to the habs.

Wow. His e4's are true a very high percentage of the time.

Usually he puts out an E4 as theyre about to be reported.

When/if Marleau comes on board it will include Ryder. that leaves me to believe that it likely won't happen until Ryder signs a contract (obviously one San Jose is willing to pick up). San Jose knows that Ryder has been a tough signature the past few times and they likely won't give him a chance to make it hard on them (he might not be happy about being traded there). When he signs look for a trade from there on out as he is one of the most valued for us on the trade market.

Not totally sure the Sharks let Marleau go. I am sure Montreal will keep Ryder aboard as they need his goals now as the longer Souray thinks about the Habs offer, the closer he is to a California based team.

Am I the only one who noticed that Ryder was checking opposition players beter this year? He is not a dynamo like a Begin at checking, but with his added bulk (muscle?) it looks like he was more effective at two way play.

San Jose is heavily rumored to be pursuing Chris Drury this off-season, so this trade might be a "wait and see" thing from SJ's perspective...

But I'd actually expect Plekanec to go the other way in a potential Marleau deal. We'll see.

I agree and Plekanec would be a nice fit with San Jose cheap 2 way centre.

Plex wont move, we need the Cs and they need the wingers.