habscout

Yeah I remember Stock, and thought he was a good, effective player; he was one of the very few acquisitions from Houle that were good. I also thought he improved a little during his stay with Boston and the Rangers, especially when he played against Montreal. He was always a thorn for the Habs defencemen with his tenacious checking.

The report I read on TSN stated that he signed an entry level contract. In the past that has always meant a 2-way contract. I would be shocked if they gave Streit a 1-way contract, since they don't know for sure what kind of condition he's in to be able to handle the rigours of an 82 game schedule. I believe that 1-way contracts for any new players [eg. junior and college graduates, first time european players] are a thing of the past, as noone will want to count that money against the cap if the players don't pan out right away. It's too big of a risk.

I think your hosting provider had a DNS problem. I tried to access your website from home and work and I kept getting the same error message, indicating that habsworld.net could not be found. Someone probably messed up the host tables for their DNS, and didn't realize the problem. If this happens again in the future, who can we email to inform them of the problem?

I'd like it if the Habs could get Gagne, but for cap reasons I doubt it will happen. Sure he had a bad season a couple of seasons ago, but he was a great player for the world cup team last fall, and is still pretty young.

I'm happy for Ward, that he got another job in the NHL. The fact it didn't take too long is a good sign. I feel that Gainey indirectly indicated that his lack of speed is something that would work against Ward. He made mention of this in reference to the new rules, and how defensive players would have to be able to react quicker for dump ins.

Have a look at what TSN says about his pros and cons. I agree with the pros, but I think they're too harsh about his defensive ability. I've watched a lot of Wings games over the past 5 seasons, and he's a huge upgrade defensively over Brisebois. His skating is excellent, and his decision making and passing are very good. He usually makes the right decision with tying up players in the corners or in front of the net, but his size can work against him against the bigger forwards. His offensive ability is not the greatest, but then he's never been given the role of playing on the power play either with the Wings due to their defensive depth and 4th forward on the point style. This signing also means that Hainsey will likely start the season off as their 7th defenceman, which will keep the pressure off of him right away. http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/player_bio.asp?pla...457&hubname=DET

After today's announcement of two new signings [Kovalev & Dandenault] here is an updated list of the Habs salaries for the next season, including a mix of actual numbers, and estimates. The estimates are based on last year's salaries for the RFA's including a qualifying offer raise if necessary. As per the new CBA those raises are based on a 110% increase if the salary was <$660 K, 105% increase if the salary was > $660 K and < $1M, and 100% match of the last salary if it was > $1M. I've also included a guess on some salaries, as I believe the Habs will reward players like Ribiero & Ryder for their last outstanding breakthrough season for the Habs. Dandenault $1750000 Rivet $2280000 Souray $212800 Markov $1350000 (1) Komisarek $735000 (1) Bouillon $60000 Hainsey $570000 Kovalev $4500000 Koivu $3370000 (1) Bonk $2394000 Zednik $1824000 Ryder $1500000 (2) Ribeiro $1500000 (2) Bulis $1000000 (1) Sundstrom $988000 Begin $608000 Dagenias $450000 (1) Perezhogin $858800 Plekanec $682000 Hossa $817000 Theodore $4500000 Huet $456000 TOTAL: $34,710,800 (1) based on RFA's qualifying offer (2) based on a guess There are 22 players listed here: 2 goalies, 7 defencemen, and 13 forwards. If they wanted to get an inexpensive 4th line banger, I'd love to see them sign P.J. Stock. He would be an excellent fit to go along with Begin, as they play a similar style. He's small, but pretty quick & likes to hit. I remember the Habs defencemen always had troubles with his forechecking. His salary should be similar to Begin's too. Stock was born in Montreal, so he may have some extra incentive to play for the Habs. Those signings would put the Habs payroll around $34.4 M. Chris Higgins is also another option, but his contract would be slightly higher at $896800. I believe that the roster limit is 23, but I thought the new CBA brought it down to 22. I haven't been able to confirm that number, as the nhl.com website did not explain that issue fully. The figures drawn partly from a previous Habsworld article, and are subject to some error, but I expect they should be close to the truth. http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=806 :hlogo:

I'd be happy if the Habs signed Schneider, but I have a feeling he'll be asking for around $3M which may be more than what the Habs are looking to spend.

Aucoin is a good player, but I don't believe he's worth $4M / season, especially for 4 seasons. Chicago overpaid for him. There was a mention in the Gazette that the Habs are trying to get a defenceman in the $2-2.5 M range. To me, that sounds like Dandenault or Spacek.

I hope he never comes back to Montreal, or if he does he'll be wearing an opponents jersey.

I'd like it if the habs sign him, but I don't feel he's worth $4M/season. He's probably in the 3.25-3.5 M range. I'd also consider Kovalev a better fit, as he has more offensive ability.

Between him, Ivanans and Bonneau, the Habs have enough goons now. :ghg:

http://www.canada.com/sports/hockey/canadi...bd-d398ecdd63c3 The Gazette has an interesting article about Julian Brisebois, a lawyer who was hired by the Habs to work with Gainey on the player contracts and interpret the collective bargaining agreement.

That's ok with me. I would have welcomed him if he signed with Montreal, but I didn't expect it as I knew he would be very highly coveted around the league. The Habs are not in the best position to pay "top" dollar. Look at Columbus, a team with very little money tied up to existing players now because most of their team is so young. They just signed Foote to around $4.5 M / season, which is very smart signing. He's a good leader and will play a big role on their team, and their younger defenceman will all have a chance to learn from him.

I hope this is not just wishful thinking on the RDS's staff, as I would welcome Dandenault to the Habs. I've watched a lot of him in Detroit the past 5 seasons, and I think he's a good defenceman. He's not a great offensive or defensive player, but he's steady defensively, making very few mistakes. On offence, he's never been given the power play role, since the Wings have always been stacked on defence. He has the ability to play on the wing, since it was what he did in junior, and he's done it a few times in the pros too, so that gives him so flexibility. If his salary demands are not too much, then I'd have no trouble with the Habs signing him.

I just hope that the "fans" don't start booing Rivet the moment he touches the puck. Some of the French media have picked Rivet as the new whipping boy now that Brisebois is no longer with the team, and I don't believe he's as bad a defenceman as Brisebois.

Dagenais [Peter/Pierre] is likely to only get another 2-way contract with the Habs, one that is close to the league minimum, maybe a little above it. He showed some offensive flash at times for the Habs, and I recall even seeing a check or two from him, but his defensive committment is pretty poor. All the younger forwards behind him in the depth charts have been schooled at paying attention to defence, and the ones that learn that the quickest are likely to take his place in the pros.

Good for Higgins! It's tough to predict if he has a chance at making it yet, as I haven't seen the list of the experienced players that have also been invited. If somone has that list, please post the URL.

Aucoin is going to be in pretty high demand, just behind Niedermayer [depending on how high his salary demands truly are] and up there with Rafalski. I'd like to see the Habs pick him up if his salary demands are not too high. If that plan fails, then look for the Habs to sign an experienced defenceman like Jason Marshall or Montreal native Jason Doig[both right handed shooters] to bolster the defence.

That is a hilarious rumour! I can't see Gainey wasting his time on a move like this, as every prospect [even Crosby] has a chance of never playing in the NHL. What Gainey said to the TSN announcer after the Price pick was made is what I believe was the truth, that they picked the best player available. With the new CBA in place, it's even more important to have as many good prospects, not just players drafted based on the team's current needs, around as possible.

I have a theory about the Habs not qualifying Ward. I believe that they didn't qualify him because doing so would force them them to continue his 1-way contract. I'm speculating that the Habs may eventually resign him to a 2-way contract one that has a pro structure at the league minimum, because the Habs braintrust are not sure about Ward as an NHL pro player yet. My other theory is that the Habs have evaluated Ward, and they feel his role appears to be a 4th line player at best. Gainey may feel that he'd rather have a younger player, one that may stand a better chance at a top 2 line position [eg. Higgins, Perezhogin] at the 4th line position to start the season, since the CBA affords them less time to evaluate their players before potentially losing them to unrestricted free agency.

I really like Lapierre as a 3rd or 4th line player. He has the reputation as being a "super-pest", the kind of player that everyone hates to play against, because he's yappy & tenacious, maybe even a little dirty. I remember that when he was drafted 2 years ago, he was listed at 6'0" & 180, and now he's grown 2 inches and added 25 pounds. That will serve him well when he spends next season in the AHL [hopefully]. I envision a Begin & Lapierre line working beautifully together in the NHL.

Based on Brisebois' rants in this RDS article [below], it sounds like he's bitter over the Habs not picking up his option. At least Gainey's comments about it left a door open to possibly resigning him, but now I'm glad to hear that Breezy doesn't want to stay in Montreal. This was a defenceman that was supposed to have offensive skills, but any season he excelled in that respect, his defence suffered badly. When he concentrated on defence, his offence suffered badly. There's no way in the new NHL cap environment that he was worth the kind of money his option year would have given him. He'll be fortunate to be picked up by another NHL team for $1M/season. I can guarantee two teams that won't pick him up are NJ & Minn. since both have hockey execs that know how bad Breezy is. http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/184278.html