tokyohabs

Lapierre. Two way, Quebecois, grit, fight, and now one of our most tenured players (!) Make it so lads, he is the core of the present and future.

Kovy will ride off into the LA sunset, methinks. Gomez centres the two new wingers, Gionta and Cammalleri. I'd think of a shift in A Kosts game and get him playmaking a bit more, maybe try D'agostini on the opposite wing, great release. Plex centres them, could be a disaster defensively though. Latendresse with Lapierre, afraid of putting Pacioretty on there because he and Latendresse play too similar. Maybe S Kost and Pacioretty in Hamilton, he can still be sent down. 4th line, I trust Metropolit more at ctr than Chipchura, based on his very good finish last year, but would give Chips a last shot in camp to win the job. Wingers, well, Laraque when needed, Stewart same thing, White and Maxwell on some call-ups maybe; be kind of nice to sign Dandy to a much reduced deal and have him play there...health has to be an issue though. D: Markov-Spacek-Hamrlik-Gorges top four. Hope that Gorges can undo his bad habits under Martin, he has the tools and can pass. Gill, O'Byrne, Weber / Subban...oh my.

I like Komisarek a lot - can't wish him well now of course - but there was no way Bob should have paid that much for him. No way. And anyway, Bob says that Komi's agent didn't even bother calling back about the last offer he tendered. But why why why not Beauchemin? Must be something up with that. At this point I'd re-sign Plex, then deal him and a d-man and someone else, maybe Metropolit, and turn around and make an offer for Dubinsky. Figure the cap out later.

Fanpuck's got it right, Gill is filler for the developing players. He will see very limited time and PK duty. He is crap, we'll have to cover him and try to conceal his weaknesses. Why Bob wouldn't pitch Beauchemin for a bit more I'll never know. Maybe they are sold on the kids on the farm, Weber, Subban, Emelin (ever coming?), Carle, Fischer...D is looking like a school for young players: Mr. Markov will teach skating, Mr. Hamrlik will teach zone coverage, Mr. Spacek will teach passing, Mr. Gill will teach hitting...maybe O'Byrne might learn something this year? (or package him and plex and halak for a young, two-way 2nd-line ctr???) Top line looks small but deadly. But so overpaid for so long...and if it is Gomez and Plex down the middle, wow. Who is our second line now? Latendresse-Plex-A Kost? Uh-oh. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing that top trio light it up for a couple of seasons. So much now hinges on Martin and his system. Perhaps Bob believes the cap is going up? Or that the Molson's have convinced Gary to implement the NBA luxury tax? But give Bob some credit for one thing: he wanted to change the culture of the team, and my Christ he has changed it, top to bottom.

Apologies alex, 1 am and didn't read the fine print. Was that Sather's original excuse I wonder... If Bob knew the Sedins were gong to re-sign, then that mikes things different. Not better, but different.

I was talking about the general hype around the talent available, not the specific needs of the Habs. It is about the mood swing from seeing these names in the press every moment to getting saddled with Scott Gomez and, fair or not, his contract. Btw, you know that SJ wanted Markov in a Marleau deal? Fancy that.

Hamrlik will be very tough to move with his contract...though I heard the Rags just moved Gomez and his outlandish contract, hey, strange things happen. Plex has to be a goner.

I think, CC, part of the negativity is the other talent available out there - as far as we the fans know about, not privy to insider info. For example the Sedins, maybe Marleau in a trade, maybe Lecavalier (longshot but an impact on our psyche), Hossa, Gaborik, Havlat, Cammalleri, etc. All superior talents than Scott Gomez. We are, it seems, banking very heavily on this one player, who is not in a superstar elite level by any stretch. He is a good player, a nice player, a guy you want on the second line at 4, maybe 5.5 m per. Higgins might very well have not been worth the raise he would have sought; Gomez is assuredly, from every quarter, not worth his current contract; and it isn't a contract like Dandy carried, this guy is the highest paid habs ever. I hope he rips it up with us, that he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder and is a demon, be a ppg player and a real leader. I'll cheer him as much as anyone come opening night. But guys like this are lightning rods, and the electrical storms that whip up around the Bell Centre are something else.

Beauchemin at 4 or 4.5 m Sedins somehow, probably at 14 or 15 m Sell Reisendorf that Gomez is the future of hockey in Phoenix.

Gomez is a more than decent player, fast, good vision, doesn't stop skating, excellent passer. Poor defensively, doesn't hit, doesn't or won't shoot, lives and dies by his wingers' ability to finish. In a system like the Devils, where all centres can be first or fourth line, he is a first line ctr. In nearly every other, like for example the Rags, he is clearly a second line ctr. Not to say he can't play: he can, and he is better than Koivu with more years ahead; but he is not an elite 1st-line centre. His fault or not, he carries the pricetag with him, and he just ain't worth it. So as for the trade, it looks lopsided as it was a contract the Rags dreamed of unloading...dreams come true sometimes. I have seen Kovalev take a game over and dominate it. We all have. I have never seen Gomez do the same (admittedly watched him much less). I hope he is phenomenal for us. I am 100% for culture change, having repeatedly begged for change, but never for change's sake, which is what this feels like.

Kovalev if Koivu isn't back. If neither back, Lapierre?

Gomez can play - as a 2nd-line ctr is best. At his money he is a colossal rip-off. Well, who knows, maybe it will all come to life for him here. Good luck to you, Scott. Surely Bob has more up his sleeve. Maybe he's done stockpiling youth, and is unleashing it all now. A d-man, another ctr (?), another high-powered winger, a vet goalie...

I see Erik Cole will go the UFA route as well. Hmm...

Sure we could - we couldn't re-sign more than half our players next year, but sure, we could run with that. 7.3 million cap hit for a 2nd-line centre, yeah... Where I live, they call what Bob has done 'hara-kiri'.

The worst. Look at the players and what they bring. Gomez is a second-line ctr. How can Bob make this work??? Flip him, go after the Sedins...does Anchorage have a team yet? They might bite. Komi officially going to try out free agency, as per TSN. Now Heatley has rejected the Oil trade, as per TSN. Wants to be traded, but wait, but, er...knob.

Unreal deal. Yes, we have a distinctly 2nd-tier #1 ctr who does not defend and can't shoot or hit. But is better than any ctr on the roster. I'm not so down on losing Higgins, his character issues and taking Price out for late nights had evidently soured the brass. I had predicted that this was going to be a major factor with him down the line. I don't care so much about the Rags cap space, they always p*ss it away. But THAT contract??? The worst contract in the league, hands-down. Hilarious when they signed him to it, now it is ours to languish under. And giving up McDonough? WTF? A bonus for Sather? Why why why didn't Bob try to swing something smaller, somehow Dubinsky for Plex plus others, then go after Havlat or even better the Sedins? Whatever the rest of the summer brings, I can't see anyone in the league getting a flipped Gomez. I can also see Bob paying big fro Cammalleri now, banking on his health over Tanguay's. Cammalleri-Gomez-Kovalev A Kost-Koivu/Lang-Latendresse Pacioretty-Lapierre-S Kost Laraque-Metropolit-D'Agostini I can only think that Martin wanted Gomez to fit into his new system, or that maybe Gomez is an exceptional character guy. Maybe they will swing a deal including Plex for a d-man. But shocking that bob would take that contract on for that player. I am 100% sure that statistically, over his whole career, Gomez is the worst 7-million dollar man in the league. Would the Sedins be much more expensive than 7-mil? Unless Bob flips Gomez for a d-man and goes and signs the twins after all... Scott Gomez ffs. Jesus wept.

Doesn't matter what the deal is, so long as one guy vetoes it. We can only guess whether it is expensive or not. My point was that, if the commish told them essentially to keep #4 or else no-one will ever take the franchise off their hands...that is what is outrageous. Everyone already knows Lawton is a zero in that organisation.

San Jose. They have to change something, just isn't working. They need more slick skating talent, game breakers with good wheels. They looked two strides behind the Ducks all series. I can see them and us making a move, including Halak. Naturally we'd be giving away a top winger for Marleau at least - A Kost for Marleau? They might shy away from a sign-and-trade for Tanguay because of his injury and poor playoff stats, which suits me fine.

Why do I have the feeling that that Edmonton report about Bettman telling TB to hold onto Vinnie, then giving the guy who doesn't want to trade him a veto, rings more and more true? If it is, Bettman is tampering, trying to run the NHL like some sort of 2-tier MLS by forcing the 'have' teams to completely support the 'have-not' teams both financially and in terms of roster make-up. F**king ridiculous. For the record, I don't think the asking price will be so outlandish, as they want the contract OFF the books. What worries me much more are the injuries and the length of the contract.

Chelios as player / coach? Looks bleak for Kostopolous. Then again, the demand might be low, maybe Bob will bring him back. He might have to sweat it a bit though.

Can't see how the draft was dismal at all, unless you are referring to lack of trades. We have all summer to trade for a ctr, doesn't have to be done with 15000 screaming fans in attendance at the Bell. We'll get the ctr in a trade, patience. I am sure we will not go for Briere - injuries on a smaller player, contract, size, etc. I am sure there will be a real effort to get Marleau, and we must have the assets they are looking for in return. At the right price I'd have Koivu back as 2nd line ctr behind Marleau, though I'd prefer a healthy Lang. Of course both Sedins are better than any of the above scenarios. As pointed out, the Ducks cap is about the same, not enough left for them to re-up Beauchemin (unless they deal Giguere to the Laffs right away, maybe?). Let's see if Bob can lure him next week.

I'd think the hole he'd leave at the back is bigger than the solution up front (there is a porn flick title somewhere in that last sentence...). The whole point would be to have Vinny as our leader on the fwds, Markov as the d-corps leader, no? I guess no Jay Bo, at least he's headed out west! Beauchemin, Marleau still possibilities? Or the Sedins, that would be bold.

Another potential habs at Michigan! GO BLUE / BLEU BLANC ROUGE!

And some rumour about Gaborik buying a house in the 'couve? One estimation put them both between 6 and 7 million each. Smell blood Bob?

Would you swap Saku and Kovalev for the Sedins? Hell yes. Depends on their salary demands, but hell yes.