hab29RETIRED

Frankly, I think Pleks should be worth more then Stewart. I just wanted to dump Moen if we can. I still think Edmonton would be a great destination for him.

One of the reasons I'd want Jagr is that I think he would be a great role model for our young kids. Philly really missed him last year. Reportedly, everyone in Dallas loved him. I think he would be a great role model for Galy squared, Tinordi, Bealieau and others. The guy is a gym rat and plays hard all the time. That' the kind of role model a young team needs. Not aging players like Briere who weren't part of the solution in Philly. Reading reports from Philly, Briere just didn't just decline, but wasn't much of a leader and overall Philly lacked leadership.

At least he was in the playoffs. we need to first get into the playoffs.

I' do that trade minus Perron and Bournival. I don't think I'd want to risk taking on two new guys who don't play hard on a regular basis. I'd definitley avoid a guy who doesn't always play hard AND has concussion issues.

Ottawa got better despite losing Alfredson. Boston in the short term is slightly better or about the same (long term losing Seguin is going to rival the Thornton trade) Leafs got better with their additions versus their deletions, but I also think that like us the short season benefited them. Detroit got a lot better with their pickups and I still think they will add to the blue line. We haven't got a replacement to start the year without Emelin which will hurt and like the leafs, I don't think we would have have finished as high as we did in the standings. Beaulieau's ability to crack the lineup and Tinordi's progression are definite wild cards. But depending on rookies or sophmores is risky - lets not forget that we have to hope gally squared won't suffer the dreaded sophmore jinx.

I honestly think he will be the first hab since Naslund to crack the 100 point mark.

Jagr got those 8 points as a 40 year old, he also scored 54 points in the regular season. He also got 35 points in the regular season this year and 10 in the playoffs. Briere was 35 years old and got 49 points in teh regular season in 11-12 and only 16 points this year and was one of the reasons the flyers missed the playoffs (main reason of course was the lack of blue line). I'd take a 41 year old Jagr over a 35 year old Briere who is declining faster then Jagr. I'd also take jagr at 35 over Briere at 35 without even thinking about it. My main reason for Jagr isn't just size though. Otherwise i'd be happy at having Parros. It's also that he is a LEGEND and still has an elite skill level and given his commitment to fitness he would be the ideal role model for Gally squared, Eller and MaxPac and any other kids who may crack the lineup. Can you say the same about Briere? Also consider that Jagr as a 41 year old has been healthier then Briere. The only hope I have for Briere is coming home and being bought out may motivate him to play harder than he has the last two years.

I thought his surgery had a 4-5 month recovery time?

I think even if he got 70 to 75 points his agent would be demanding market value and the habs would be stupid to risk a O'Reilly situation on insisting on a bridget contract, particularly, when Galchenyuk is giong to be a much better player then O'Reilly.

I'd make a move for Stewart. No interest in a concussed Perron.

Problem is we signed the wrong one's. BTW, Jagr is over 40

The issue is we have Gallagher - IMO a 05-06 Gionta in the making, playing on a top 9 that includes a broken down 13-14 Gionta, an aging, broken down and slower 13-14 Briere (who has declined drastically the last two years) and a 5'7 (probably with his skates on) Desharnais who never did have Gionta or Briere's speed. If we actually did have the Gionta from 7 years ago (an anomaly year in terms of his shooting percentage) and Briere from 6 years ago, we'd be fine - assuming we had the tough NJD and Buffalo teams they played on.

I would have no hesitation on moving Pleks. would have down it without thinking about it for Bobby Ryan. Would have also been a better use of Kristo and I'd have gladly given up a 1st rounder. My worry is that we see Pleks moving for Edler. Edler is NOT the type of dman we need unless we are moving Markov for him.

100% agree. Subban is easily going to surpass Letang, for the simple fact that Subban has his name on the Norris. A team like Philly is starving for a dman and I can see them giving Subban an offer sheet. Frankly, I think they were stupid not to last year. If Gally puts up 80+ points during his last year of his ELC, he will NOT be getting a bridge deal. He will be getting market rate. I totally agree with you. I was actually advocating 12 years $5M pre-lockout and $5.5M/8yrs post lockout.

I said it then and is still think so now. Bridging Subban was stupid. WE probably could have locked him up for $5.5M/8 years. The starting point now will be at least $7.5M. Despite all of the allocades he got, I think MB got very lucky. Imagine if someone had given an RFA offersheet to Subban for $7M or $8M. We would have been screwed if someone had given him an offer sheet like the Flames tried with O'Reilly. Considering Philly's blue line, I'm surprised they didn't do it. I think if Subban isn't signed before his next contract is up he will have an offer sheet north of $8M.

I agree with you on all except the following: -Eller - I think he is a definite #2 in the making and may surpass Pleks. - Bourque - is a 2nd liner on the rare days he feels like being a second liner. I'll also add that Desharnais was only a #1 centre because he had two GREAT wingers having GREAT years. he should have been benched for the entire second half of last year.

I don't disagree that Gionta is a great player. But when he is one of TWO players on the team that goes to the net to screen the goalie with any sort of regularity, doesn't help us. Most goalies are at least a full head taller then Gionta and can easily see over him. We can't have a PP where the first unit has Gionta screen the goalie and the second unit has Galleghar - and i love gallagher. Both guys have speed and skill but spend a lot of time guys getting knocked down.

Actually I think Galchenyuk and Eller were top sixers last year. Unfortunately, MT didn't think so. I shudder at how much he may play Parros and who he will play Parros with next year.

The issue we have is that the only move to date MB has made is to bring in a goon. We need to move one of Gionta or DD - IMO both should be moved. The rumour I'm seeing most is Pleks. I think it would be idiotic to move a guy like Pleks for a guy like Edler like is being rumoured. I also wonder if we could try and package Desharnais, Gorges and Moen for Gagner and Paajarvi from Edmonton. Edmonton is looking for leaderhship, help on defence and grit which Moen and Gorges would provide. Desharnais is signed for 4 years which MIGHT be attractive to Edmonton, given their challenge in attracting free agents (Schultz not withstanding).

We had a good first half and could easily have missed the playoffs had this been a full season, considering how we fell apart in as aspects, (scoring, defense, goal), once Emelin went down. I think had this been a full season, at best we would have been battling for a 6 to 8 spot in the East. Next year we are in tougher. A lot of teams have improved more then we have. I think in the east, the playoffs locks are: Division C: -Boston -Detroit -Ottawa Division D: -Pittsburgh -NYR -NYI -CBJ That leaves us, toronto, Washington and Philly all fighting for a playoff spot.

We may have some size, but its where we lack size that is the issue. Our top 9 from last year included Gionta, Desharnais and Gallegher. Now we just added Briere to that. Three of these guys are not just under 6 feet, but are all around 5'7" and I have a tough time believing Briere is actually 5'10". At least Gionta and Gallehger go hard to the net and play tough. However, when you consider that they are two of the few players that actually regularly screen the goalie, it hurts that most goalies are usually looking over them. This brings us to our size players. Three young players - MaxPac, Eller and Galchenyuk are the only ones who are over 6 feet. Gally still needs to fill out to be a physical force, while Eller and MaxPac still need to learn to use their size more effectively. This brings us to the balance of size. White and Prust are the only ones who I'd want playing regular minutes. Parros at best will play 50 games and is a 4th liner for about 4 to 5 minutes a night. Moen may as well be 5'9", as I think Gallegher plays tougher game then him. Bourque has size, but you don't know what you will get. will he be the guy who looked like he actually wanted to play hockey (when healthy) this year, or the guy who looked like he just wanted to cash a cheque, like he did the previous 2 years??? Of our defencemen, the only truly physical dman we have are Tinordi (still learning the ropes), Emelin (injured for the first couple of months) and Subban are the only ones who are physical. Of these only Tinordi and Emelin are really net clearers. The cube has a big heart, but doesn't have the frame to deal with Lucic, Iginla, Clarkson, Ryan, who are all going to be players that we will see a lot of in our division. IMO he is also now at best a 7th dman. We really needed some size up front and at least one other big net clearing bruiser in the top 3 on the defence. Up front, our top 6 could really have used some size, which is why, I'd rather have paid Vinny $4.5M/5 years, then Briere $4m/2 years - despite not really being a Vinny fan. What I would have killed for is a bold move like bringing in Bobby Ryan.

I'd sign him for $3M, but not to play with Plex. Play him with the kids and hope that he can help them along long he did with Giroux in Philly and gets them dedicated to fitness the way Jagr is. They also need someone with his size. He may fizzle out by the playoffs, but we need to make the playoffs first - not easy with the new conference setup. I think our conferernce standing will be as follows: 1 Boston 2 Detroit 3 Ottawa That leaves Montreal & Toronto fighting for the 4th spot or a wild card spot.

I just got back from a week in the mountains without any Internet or TV. I get back and find out we signe Briere, trade for Thomas and trade for Parros - another marginal 4th liner who averages 4 minutes a game with one of the worst teams in the league. Is this how we are addressing the size issue ??? Ottawa loses Alfredsson and STILL gets better, and this is all MB does??? This is a terrible flashback to my trip a few years back when we i got back to find wetraded away McDonough for the worst contract in hockey. Toronto also dumped that weasel Grabovski, gets Clarkson, bolland, bernier.

How have you been proven right??? We're those that thought McDonough was another lousy "American college" pick proven right by the idiotic trade made by Gainey???

Exactly if Kane was a hab he would have been shipped out for a 5th rounder - after all we don't want to tarnish the franchise reputation.