Like said in the title, i got this from my tsn tradecentre app in iPhone..

Blues announce trade with Montreal -- Palushaj to Mtl, D'Agostini to StL. Official from press release.

As per Bob McKenzie.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/Aaron_Palushaj

Nice little bit of info on the prospect.

well we just got another small player in the system.

Looks like garbage in, garbage out - a nothing trade.

I dunno...the scouting report looks decent...saves some cap room at least.

I'm no capologist, but if I understand Brian's chart, it gives us 100k more to spend now, about 500k total

cap + roster spot. Bah... why not ?

it is a trade that does nothing, wrather then bench d'ags might as well just move him

like joe said, a roster spot is a roster spot.

Benoit Brunet said it well tonight after Darche's goal: D'Agostini could not fit on this line. Too much "finesse". Darche is a great fit and it is paying off.

Good luck Matt in St. Louis !

Some reports state that STL was pretty high on this kid for a few years. He's a little undersized, but reportedly has potential; let's see what Boucher can do with him.

This is a SMART trade. D'Agostini was not ready and as you have seen Martin has no room for young players to develop in his line ups. Aaron is 6' and will be fine as soon as he puts on some weight and strength. I like his multiple point games for Peoria. What, he is 21, we have control of him for 2 years. Pierre you have done good. I would like to see more of the bulldogs older roster turned over to younger players. I think GM's are starting to get it, that you got to spend more time managing your younger assets.

6 feet isn't small.

On the hockey db he is listed as 5'11" & 187lb

I agree with the $100 k in savings but 500k to spend? We're still $1.2 million over the cap, at least one more player dump needs to happen realistically in order to possibly get under by year's end. I've updated the cap sheet with the deal.

I really like this trade. I remember Palushaj at last year's world junior and thought he was one of the best players on the US team. I recall wishing we owned him.

I like this move. The kid is only 20 years old. He has some good hands and isn't too small (6' /185 pds). Wait til he reaches 200 pds, he'll be tougher then!

Also, he used to play with Paccioretty in the minors. They used to be room mates!

It's a player that we needed to play right now, but couldn't justify it, for a guy with at least 2 1/2 years of development time to use if he needs it. That's a good thing. Plus, he has an awesome name. Not that D'Agostini didn't have that, too.

great, another ushl product that flat out sucks, and to boot he's a six foot wuss, where have we seen this style of player before?

Time to fire the every scout tied to ushl scouting, TT has been a disaster and can be directly held responsible for the 7yr + wasted experiment using valuable team foundation building top picks on US high school and college players. Bob's gone, time to move out his moronic foot scouting team.

Don't shoot the messanger, this is what those in STL thought of him.

"The knock on Palushaj is that he plays small. He’s real shy from the standpoint that he doesn’t welcome the physical aspect of the game like say a Lars Eller does. Palushaj’s lack of desire to get into confrontations is what likely allowed the Blues to second guess his long-term value."

I wouldn't get overly upset either way; D'Agostini wasn't doing anything for the Habs. Palushaj is a player they can send to Hamilton to work with Boucher (heck, he can play with Pacioretty) to see if there's something there. Seems to me it's a low risk, high(ish) reward deal. No issues with that.

I really like this trade. A lot of people are pretty high on Palushaj and let's face it, we don't lose ANYTHING in D'Agostini. Only upside here. Nice move Gauthier.

Exactly what I was thinking. This kid is only 20 years old. He can spend 2 even 3 years in hamilton. Take his time to develop into a bonafide NHLer. D'agostini wasn't doing anything in Montreal.

I like the talent analysis on the HF site on this prospect:

"Palushaj boasts a good all-around game. He can snipe goals with his quick shooting, and his stickhandling and playmaking abilities are also strong. He doesn't mind physical play, willing to dig in the corners to win the puck."

Palushaj was Pacorietty's team mate during his one year of college at the U. of Michigan. I am not sure that they were linemates, because I remember reading that Max had two older linemates (Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik, both seniors and PHO prospects), but there's a decent chance that they played together at some time. He left college after 2 years, and averaged a little more than a point a game. W this being his rookie AHL season, he's managed to tie for 2nd on the team in goals scored, so I don't buy the reports that the guy is just a playmaker. I hope the Hamilton coaches consider him as a centre for some shifts, especially if Pyatt ends up staying in Montreal. To me, he sounds like a strong offensive prospect, who's still very young (20), with some two-way ability, but only average size. It's arguable that St. Louis is deeper in offensive prospects, when you look at they young players they have in the NHL and AHL, so they could gamble on moving Palushaj especially since he's not that close to NHL ready yet. I'm not sure why they are interested in D'Agostini, but I'm glad they agreed to the trade.

I don't know how anyone can be annoyed with this one. Most people wanted D'agostini waived outright. The Habs actually yielded a warm body in return for him. A former 2nd rounder at that (not that it means anything).

Apparently the Blues felt he struggled with bigger men.

For me, at least, this trade is less about Palushaj and more about the organization giving up finally on D'Ago and trying to get an asset for him. In this light, this trade is a win; D'Ago wasn't getting any better, so getting any asset for him is impressive.

Having said that, I think Palushaj is the missing link. Where's on Ste. Catherine's is the best place to see the parade??

Yeah.. Deadline is over, no more stupidity about trading Price or Halak.

Not until the entry draft lol.

I'm basically relieved. The worst-case scenario would have involved trading young talent or high picks for immediate, short-term help. We *did* do this with Moore, which is why I was annoyed with that deal, but the important thing is that the Moore trade did not set a pattern.

The best-case scenario would have involved trading expensive veterans for good young talent. We didn't do this either, but I can't be angered by that simply because I do not subscribe to the scortched-earth model of franchise building. Nor do I believe that we *need* to blow the team up - I say we're only a 2-3 good players + a more effective team system + continued goalie maturation away from contending, and much of this can come from within.

The scenario we actually saw was a Pouliot-style trade, a swap of two interesting young prospects. That seems to be a very 'Gauthier' move and he has a track record of success with such moves, so I have no beef with this.

The real work for this organization going forward consists in cap management and internal player development. I don't see blockbuster deals as the path to glory *unless* it's part of the cap management thing.

A good day for Gauthier: cool-headed and responsible. Well done - especially since Gauthier's inaction didn't come with a batch of wild rumours about the Habs going for big-name veteran X or Y, meaning that his inaction was deliberate and not just a result of striking out. He showed that his head is in the right place philosophically. That's reassuring.

You have seen to-day an unprecedented amount of prospects included in deals. Prospects are one of the new currencies. Another new currency is cap space; and hopefully GM's will soon get a handle on it.

Yes we might be 2-3 good players away from a really good team but that are 2-3 good players that we arent even close to being able to fit under the cap so this team needs to dump alot of salary. Next season we will be 4-5 players away from a good team since we cant afford to resign players.

Those mysterious 2-3 players will have to come from within, and therefore cheaply. Subban is one. Pacioretty may be another. If the former becomes a top-4 guy and the latter a legitimate top-6er, suddenly this team, as it is, looks pretty freaking good. That could happen inexpensively within a 2-3 year window. Of course, can we keep Pleks/A. Kostitysn, Price & Halak, etc.? Beats me. But sorry, I don't see gutting the current core as some sort of foregone conclusion.

The pessimism is inevitable on boards like these, but - while I concede that I have no incredible expertise on the cap - it does get tiresome. None of our RFAs except Halak and of course Plekanec seem to be self-evidently in line for substantial raises. Money will be saved elsewhere by the departures of guys like Mara (and Laraque is already off the cap). Let's at least see what happens this summer before throwing up our hands and concluding that the Habs are doomed not to be able to build upon the present core from within going forward.

I've calmed now that there was no other trade. I guess we can look at the bright side:



#74 is still a Canadien

It was clear that Dago wasnt going anywhere in Montreal with Martin. Palushaj will report to Hamilton where Boucher can --hopefully-- do the same work on him he did on Trotter.

So nothing more to the Moore deal before the Olympics.....................waste of a pick IMO.

Gauthier today said Moore was brought in to fill the 3rd line center need, deal done before the Olympics in order to allow him time to fit it before play resumed after the break. He also said no need to make major moves if you have a plan. The plan calls for allowing the team time to jell together, time needed because of the major changes made during the off season. It seems his reasoning was sound.

Gauthier can be let off the hook if he retains Moore so it's OK if he does that. If not it's a fail! But I have to believe that they have coveted him and maybe for a while. It seems logical he is signed this summer.

I've had threads before about this... We're only as good as our 4th line is...I believe it was... and the game versus Boston proves Moore like players are always needed in the bottom 2 lines.
Plus even if Moore leaves us in the summer we have until this same time next year to recup that pick

With how long Moore had to wait to sign this season, and how low his point totals are I think if PG offers him a deal at about 4 year for 5 million he will sign.

I like his game so far so I don't mind him...yet. The question is how much is this Florida's fault for being a graveyard versus Moore's questionable signing and scratch time? My gut feeling is that this player got kicked around from Toronto to Buffalo and had a dumb agent. The situation seems to me to suggest he wants to settle down, make his mark and get back to playing and being a regular NHL'er. Hopefully he believes that there's no better place to do that with a Canadian based team that had so much faith in you that they spent a 2nd rounder on ya. CH

Hope I'm right.

Moore works as a third line center once Metro is gone. But we picked him up before then still confuses me a bit.

Moore is to 5 on 5 and the PK what Metro is to the PP. Metro can't do all those things, he's a luxury item. He isn't a good 5 on 5 player at all, and needs to be sheltered. The goals against Boston came against Ference-Hunwick, not against top notch d-men. Good coaching can still make Metro useful. But at 35/36, he's hitting the end of the road in the NHL.

Moore gives a solid 15 minutes and allows Metro to give a more effective 12. That's how it works. And Lapierre was awful at C this year (and none of the young 'ins were ready to jump to #3), so it gives Max a chance to play wing and have free reign to hit, forecheck, and annoy the opposition without worrying about the defensive responsibilities that he couldn't handle when playing centre.

Sounds good to me! I really lilked the way Moore played against the Ruins

Full agreement.... and no I'm not trying to lessen your respect on the board.