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We we need to stop comparing Drouin and Radulov as if this was a trade. What really happened is we traded our best, and only blue chip prospect for Drouin. I'm fine with the trade itself though, even like it. However, we straight up lost Radulov for nothing. We lost a 1st line RW for nothing. That's what sucks. I agree that there is some whining, but there is no way to avoid the fact that the talent in the organization has been watered down with the loss of Radulov. Thats why losing Sergachev hurts more now. We lose him, and only move laterally. I agree with the above posts about the lack of direction. We went all in with the Weber trade. So what we needed to do was pony up and pay Radulov while we're in our 2-3 year window. We did not do that, and now I don't know where the team is headed.

Around what time would you have been advocating for this? In January when the Habs were a first place team? At the trade deadline where the Habs were a first place team? Or around the draft when negotiating rights are worth nothing? The 'interview period' has all but killed the value of negotiating rights in recent years and it's hard to imagine that many would have been happy if the Habs dealt their second leading scorer midseason. It's easy to say after the fact that they should have dealt him but when exactly was the right time to do so?

I can't believe if MB wanted to roll the dice on a player, he would go with a useless turd like hemsky, rather than a young player like yakapov. Yakapov still has upside, hemsky is done.

Nicklas Backstrom is another NHLer who often scores about 18 goals. Is he also not worth losing sleep over? Honing in on goals alone completely forgets the many other facets of Radulovs game that we now don't have. Namely his 36 assists, his no quit energy, his physicality, his ability to control the play and create something out of nothing. We didnt just lose an 18 goal scorer, we lost a 60 point workhorse who drove half of our offense while creating a spark for the entire team. Yes, we should be sad.

I wonder if the glass is half full and not half empty? For some it all depends on how you look at things. So let me suggest a glass half full scenario with a question/suggestion at the end about the next few years. I agree that losing Radulov is a big deal. But we may have to wait a year to be fully convinced how damaging his loss is. If he continues with the same passion and energy with as good or better results, then a year from now we will all agree that losing him was in fact a bitter pill to swallow. However there have been many players who faded considerably after signing a large contract so I think we have to wait and see. I think there may be some questions about his motives in coming back to the NHL. Was it to be the best or the richest. We'll have a better idea a year from now. I'm making a few assumptions about this coming year. I understand assumptions mean nothing until the results are in but here goes: - I'm assuming Markov will return and our top 4 will not be bad and our bottom 3 will be average. Pittsburgh won without a very strong d this year, more average. - I'm assuming Alex Galchenyuk will have an outstanding bounce back year, to prove MB wrong, and everyone will be saying how fortunate we are that we didn't trade him. - I'm assuming Gallagher will also have a better year. - I'm assuming Jonathan Drouin will soar. I read one writer from Tampa Bay who said he thought Tampa made a big mistake in trading Drouin. If [assumption] Drouin is a Tyler Seguin situation we may be pleasantly surprised. - I'm assuming that Claude Julien, with a full training camp, will make a noticeable difference in how we play. So I think [assumption] that things could perhaps turn out better than what some are expecting. The Future: This is more of a question than a statement. We have some good young players....Drouin, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Lekonen, and some of the other younger 3d and 4th liners. If we don't exceed what we did last year, seeing that hockey is more of a business now that it was 30 years ago, instead of slowly sliding into mediocrity, could we not get some excellent young players back if a year from now, we decided we had to retool, and traded Max P and Carey Price and even tried to move Weber, and go all in on a youth movement? Besides the return player wise, we would save millions and be able to sign some good free agents next summer. I think the return on Max and Carey would bring back some very good young players. I think our future could still be bright. What do you think?

The answer is - 'obviously we do' - by all the posts on the subject and the calls for Bergevin's head after failing to sign him. But should we? Let's keep in mind he has been a problem player throughout his career, who knew the minute he signed with Montreal a year ago that he was fighting for his next contract and some big $$$. He became a fan favourite in Montreal for a few reasons. First the Habs suffered offensively last season (last decade!) and second he was a superstar in junior just a short drive down the 20 in Quebec City. But seriously - he scored 18 goals! 18 GOALS And Dallas gave him 5 years and over $30 million. And we think Plekanec's contract is bad now? Chris Nilan scored 21 goals in 1984-84, and averaged nearly 19 goals a season for the three years that included that year. Sure it was a different team and a different era, but let's put it in perspective. Heck, Paul Byron just scored 22 goals and we aren't talking about making him the NHL's next Steve Austin. So why Radulov? Seriously, why Radulov? Who cares. Good riddance. We just saved ourselves over $6 million a season – FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS! Obviously the Habs have problems…serious problems if they are to come close to competing for cup #25. And really – they WANT to find a way to do it with Carey Price. Otherwise why sign him to the historic contract they shelled out on the weekend? I think it starts with replacing Bergevin. And there are plenty of reasons, other than not signing Radulov, that make this crucial to the team’s future success. Just look at his track record and it is easy to see he has failed miserably. There is no salary cap for anyone else in the organization other than players. Identify the best there is and GO OUT AND GET THAT PERSON. I hate to say it but that is exactly what Toronto did – and the results speak for themselves. On one hand, Molson has all summer to figure that out. On the other, every day with Bergevin is another day that has the potential for a serious blunder to the team. Somehow signing Markov, or a replacement, needs to be a priority. If Bergevin hasn’t already burned that bridge – or is five minutes late with his offer again. Some more scoring is crucial as well. And that is more than Radulov’s 18 goals. I hope they get Galchenyuk extended and take a stab at Yakupov to see what the two of them can do together. And it won’t come close to costing us the $6 million dollars Radulov got. And just to add one more piece of perspective. That Galchenyuk kid, who everyone seems to want gone as quickly as possible – in his down year scored 17 goals! 17 goals – that is ONE LESS than Radulov – and he is almost a decade younger with his best days ahead of him! And I bet Galchenyuk’s extension, and a flyer on Yakupov (which is exactly what we did with Radulov last year when no one else wanted him), won’t add up to the $$$ and term that the $6 million dollar man got from Dallas! Perspective! Something we all need to think about. And to quote Oscar Goldman by replacing Radulov with Galchenyuk and Yakupov – “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him…Better than he was before. Better…stronger…faster.

RFA if qualified by the Avs https://capfriendly.com/players/nail-yakupov

Of consequence In Drouin Hemsky Alzner Schlemko Out Emelin Beaulieu Radulov Sergachev King Maybe Markov Drouin > Radulov. He's younger with a higher ceiling. I'm sure the 58 points Radulov got last year will be something Drouing brings again. Hemsky > King. Easy here. Alzner >> Emelin, Huge upgrade Schlemko > Beaulieu. Markov is the piece that has to be replaced. We either bring him back or we have 6 million to spend in a trade. Sergachev is the big loss, but its a future loss and he wasn't on the team, so in comparing last year's team vs this year's team he's a non-entity. Of course, His loss hurts for future years as there is no d to replace him... but keep in mind the Drouin vs Radulov comparison. We didn't just replace one year of radulov, we got a 23 year old who will produce effectively for many years and has not hit his prime, so consider that in any "futures analysis". Overall the off-season comes down to that $6 million. Can they use it to bring Markov back or improve at that position. if they can, then Bergevin did well. If they can't, then he didnt.

Our depth at centre is worse than Vegas. 375 days ago we had 5 mobile/puck-moving defensemen who were projected to be able to play top 4 minutes. Today we have 1. If anyone doesn't think that is a downwards trend, we need to find their time machine and send them back to the mid-90's where they came from. We are deepest at goaltending - a position with 0 trade market. So it really doesn't matter to me if the glass is half full or half empty... because the liquid it's holding is urine.

I think we're being dramatic in the vein of entitled fans looking at an also-ran, second round max team. But there's no doubt this team isn't capable of winning a Stanley Cup, and isn't a few moves away from being a contender. However, as early as 2-3 years ago, the team was well on track to that goal, and that's where the angst lies.

You can't pick and choose to ignore the cap savings in your Rad/Sergachev for Drouin/Hemsky scenario. I'd take Drouin over Radulov in the line-up and for the future. I'd take Alzner over Emelin in the line-up and for the future. Those are both immediate and long term upgrades albeit incremental ones. Sure, we lost a very good prospect but we also saved $6M/year against our cap and have only used $1M of it (this year only) on Hemsky. That cap savings IS worth something. The FA pool may not be deep this year but this team is, effectively, about as good as last year with a bunch more cap room for the deadline OR to make a run at a big name FA next year (damn, I really wish we'd sign Tavares but I know that's wishful thinking). In general: The whining and crying is so over done by all the cry babies on here that's it's ridiculous. I was not a fan of Bergevin from the beginning but I don't see this off-season being all that bad. These are the same guys that would be crying about re-signing Radulov during his first slump and screaming to fire Bergevin. I don't hate the Leafs but I sure hate their fans...a bunch of people around here are starting to sound eerily like Leaf fans.

My thoughts exactly. I don't understand where Bergevin is heading. At all. Edit : It seems to me that Dark Fearie had more logic behind his/her team building than Bergevin has right now.

Radulov has a bad deal, sure, but overpaying in term shouldn't matter if the team is in "win now." With Marc Bergevin's moves, who knows if that's a direction, or if there's a direction? Hemsky is a joke. Yet another washed up journeyman clogging up the pipes for young players.

This is the mindset that bothers me. Radulov wasn't "let go". He was offered a contract, one that was the same that he accepted elsewhere. There is a difference

For one year? Lol come on now, we wanted Radulov back but it had to make sense. If you think the Pleks contract is bad wait until you see Radulovs in a couple years.

That guy was also good friends with Tavares.

When they were able to draft a Norris winner that was a fan of the habs and wanted to be a hab for life, they traded him

So the Habs will open a cloning center next July and JT will be here one way or another.... maybe plan b can be Mario when he was eating a lot of Chunky soup

I have been saying the same thing on that observation from the start, even put up a what if we didn't line up in a different thread that is likely an even further downgrade than the one we have now. If we re-sign Markov, and don't have Drouin its.. Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Drouin Lehkonen - Danault - Hemsky Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher Byron - Plekanec - Shaw Byron - Plekanec - Hemsky Hudon - McCaron - Martinsen/Mitchell VS. Hudon - McCaron - Shaw Markov - Weber Markov - Weber Alzner - Petry Alzner - Petry Sergachev - Benn Schlemko - Benn Drouin adds more impact from the top line for the next couple years than Sergachev would from the bottom pair, therefore from that impact alone, Drouin helps make us better next year than Sergachev would have.

We're probably better off arguing about what it would take to get Tavares...

Actually my point about not taking a step back was if it looked like this Out: Radulov, Sergachev In: Drouin, Markov, Hemsky, Alzner I mentioned in my post not having Markov back would mean we downgraded, but if we did, then it looks like the above, and that is not a downgraded roster from last season, but at least on par, with a possibility of a slight upgrade if Drouin out produces Radulov's last season. If we make any other additions, as I mentioned in my previous post, then it would be taking a step forward, and depending on the addition, would determine if it was a big or small step forward.

There's a lot of what ifs with MB -what if he didn't hire MT -what if he hired Robinson as an assistant -what if he signed jagr to mentor galchenyuk, instead of signing a washed up Briere, or wasted my money on prust -what if he didn't sign Douglas friggin Murray instead of giving time to young dmen -what if he didn't go the bridge route with Subban -what if he didn't take Subban to arbitration -what if he made a priority to develop galchenyuk as a centre instead of having him play wing for the most of 3 years and than expect him to magically master being a #1 centre -what if he got a real goalie instead of Ben friggin scrivens when Price went down in 2015-16 -what if he fired MT and hired Boucher instead of trading subban -what if he traded pleks instead of extending him in 2015-16 -what if he hired a competent coach for the AHL team instead of his childhood chum -what if he actually did try and build and develop though the draft like he said he would when he was hired

No. But there are unintriguing players who will be signed.

That's a fun idea, but in purely hockey terms the best thing we could do for our impotent offence is re-sign Markov. That should at least ensure that the team is able to maintain the unstoppable offensive powerhouse levels of last season

This is really childish.

McNivan, Lindgren and Fucale must view extension in a different light.

$10.5m against the cap for 8 years is a hard pill to swallow. Although there wasn't much else that could be done except to trade him. I just personally don't like having that much cap spent on a goalie. It just seems that any goalie can catch fire in the playoffs and that nullifies our Price advantage. I'd rather have a 10 million dollar center than goalie, especially because the Habs have a few intriguing goalie prospects in the system.

There wouldn't be many posts to read if I did that. There are some rational posts that I enjoy reading that can objectively look at a transaction and give an opinion one way or the other. And then there are those frothing at the mouth at anything Bergevin does, which dilutes any intelligent conversation.

Obviously it wasn't clear we couldn't afford him, otherwise his rights would have been traded. I know you think MB is a moron but come on You mean we replaced Radulov with a younger player making less money and has a higher ceiling? What the hell are we complaining about here?

Radulov should never been allowed to become a UFA. If it was clear that we couldn't afford him, his rights should have been traded. MB's focus should be on securing the key players essential for our success - price, radulov, Markov, galchenyuk, before he even thinks about signing or trading for grunts like schlemko. Price was the only player that couldn't be signed until July 1, the others should have been done. With Markov, you tell him that he wants him a hab for life and that we'll do 1 yr d also like lidstrom did. Offer him the $6m or $6.5m for one year. Once you get your key guys locked up you go shopping. You don't sign a bum like hemsky until you have your essential players signed. On the flip side he over committed to the guy (pleks), who he should have traded last year. I've been saying for the past 2 1/2 years we needed to trade pleks

Difficult no, he simply let his agent get him the best contract he could for him. Was said Habs would need to ante up $7.1 m/yr to match value of Dallas offer, so you think Habs should of been "focused" on paying whatever was required to lock up Radulov? So $7.25m/yr would of been fine with you?

DON downvotes any post he doesn't agree with. That's ok. I down voted 15 of his posts today, the max. I'll fix his wagon.

That's some serious liberal snowflake type stuff right there...I wonder how old he is?

As a player in this life, we all have to do dirt. But I never turned my guns on somebody that wasn't in the game. Only God can judge me.

Why don't you Google? He's got an August birthday, and the season starts in October, last I checked.

We've already taken a step back from where we would have been, don't see how you see us taking a step back. Not counting the expansion draft fallout moves (ie Beaulieu,emelin, schlemko), or the UFA signings that probably don't effect the big club (holland, et el). out: -radulov -markov -Sergechev (would probably been a great mid-season and playoff boon) in: -Drouin -hemsky -alzner Dont see how we take a step forward with these moves.

I also think that in addition to just making a lateral move on offence (which will still only happen if galchenyuk is signed and retained), we are discounting the potential impact Sergechev could have had. While Sergechev probably would not have had an immediate impact at the start of his he season, he may have been a great mid-season/playoff addition. For those old enough to remember the impact Chelios had as a late season/playoff addition, it's hard not to imagine the impact that Sergechev could also have had.

Please don't lump all 'we' in with the two you quoted!

Actually haven't heard any talking heads who said Habs should of outbid and offered more than Dallas did for Radulov...actually just the opposite, in that Dallas overpaid seems to be all that I have heard.