Neech

You just mentioned a bunch of goalies who are better than Huet and make 5-7 million a year, so I don't see how that makes a case for him earning that salary, if anything it shows why he should get less than that.

Good points. We probably won't need Huet 3-4 years down the line, but for next year we definitely do unless Price returns this season and takes over (in which case Huet would probably want to leave). Even then, I'd doubt that Price is ready to become a full-time NHL starter, and platooning him would definitely be a safer bet not only for the season, but for Price's future. I wouldn't want to throw him out to the dogs like Pittsburgh did with Fleury.

I think what he got was around the top end of what he would have been offered. I don't see it as a bad overpayment, or really an overpayment at all, though I think we could have had him for closer to 5 million a season. But that's not a big deal. The Hamrlik deal was an overpayment IMO, I think he would have accepted something closer to what Hannan got.

Markov didn't need to play hardball, I bet he tripped over himself trying to put ink to paper when he heard the terms of the deal.

Yeah, I was most impressed by the Koivu line. Saku himself was flying, he was creating all sorts of chances and could have easily had a three point night. Higgins was working hard and being effective. And Ryder - hell must have frozen over - Ryder had a good game. He was working and getting in good position, and could have had a goal or two. Also indicative of how well this line played, it drew four penalties. The only line that had a sort of down night was the Lapierre line, and they could have gotten a goal on that nice passing play to Latendresse. The other lines were great, Kovy and Plex strong and creative as usual, and the fourth line was creative as well, I'm glad they got that final goal, they deserved it. Huet was good again, he seems to be hitting a groove along with the team. The Isles did miss a lot of great chances, however, so it could have been closer. But our D came up huge in the clutch (aside from the Brisebois gaffe), the most memorable play was when Kovalev got his stick over to break up an easy tap in near the end of that 5 on 3. Dandenault seems to get a goal or two each time he comes back from being scratched, we should bench him every other game and we'd have a 30-goal scorer.

Hamrlik is in the core on D, seeing as how we have him for three more years. And I wouldn't be so quick to put Gorges and O'Byrne into our core; they haven't earned it yet, although I don't see us letting them go any time soon.

Yeah, I don't know who Nonis would give up, surely not a roster player seeing how handicapped they are on D already. Maybe Cooke, or just some prospects or picks.

1) - This has been my main complaint against them all season, they should really correct this. I watched the game on CBC today and the announcing was very good. Unlike the TSN guys, they seemed knowledgeable about the team. I like the duo of Hughson and that other guy.

Well they wouldn't be able to call the Bouillon hit dirty because it was clearly clean. The Lapierre spear was a dirty play, plain and simple, yeah maybe he embellished it. And Kovalev has been a selfish player in the past, they made the wrong call on that play, but so what? Every sportscaster does it once in a while. It was such a minor thing, and even the RDS announcers mentioned that he could have made the pass to Plex. It's hardly in the league of calling a good clean body check a dirty play simply because it's against Sid the Kid. I understand that lots of people have a vendetta against TSN because it's the Toronto Sports Network, but many of those (maybe including you judging by this post) dislike them to the point of paranoia. And yeah, I agree that your scenario with Laraque could have happened, I never said I didn't. But what also could happen is that Crosby gets up and plays the rest of the game hard just like Ovechkin did. I don't like his diving and whining either, but he's not the only guy who does it, and yeah he doesn't get called out on it by TSN and such, but on the flipside he gets a lot more focus on it by people like you. I too hope he matures and isn't bitching at the ref 20 minutes a game when he's 27.

Well deserved, Kovy.

Well I'd be hella pissed if bob gave him 5-6 million over 4 years, that is way overpaying him. The Ribeiro contract wasn't that unreasonable, if I remember correctly it was a one year deal. And you can't really compare Huet, who has won diddlysquat, not even one playoff series, to Theodore who won the Hart and Vezina and pushed a mediocre team through a few first rounds. Also, the Theo deal is kind of like the Thornton one, everyone saw it was a mistake so it's less likely to happen again. And seriously, there would be absolutely zero takers for Huet at 6 million a year for three more years. Goalies aren't nearly as easy to move as you seem to think. If Huet has a below par season, or even a pretty ordinary one, no one will bite on him. Look at all the goalies recently who have signed a big deal, then underperformed, and now the teams are stuck with them. Khabibulin, Raycroft, Emery, Gerber, Mason, Theodore. A hyperbolic one.

Oh of course not, we Canadians would never do something like that. We have a better upbringing than those dirty Russians, who would stab each other in the back in a heartbeat. They're all cheaters and rats, while we're strong and pure. Racially pure, that is. Boy, those Russians never won anything without cheating and dirty play, and when they lose they have no class. In conclusion, the Russian people and their culture are despicable. (sarcasm, in case I have to spell it out for you)

Whoa, you're getting out of control a bit there with your exaggerating. Had a few cups of coffee? No, not even the TSN people are blind and biased enough to call Bouillon's check a dirty hit or anything against the rules. And no one knew it was a broken nose until after the game. I've yet to see Crosby bleeding during a game, so I don't know how he'd react. I agree that the way Ovechkin responded was commendable, and I also agree that he has a much more likable personality on and off the ice. Maybe Cherry would love him if he were North American, but who really gives a shite about what that racist old loudmouth thinks? He's only one guy, and I hear plenty of positive things about Ovechkin, but it's only natural that the local media would focus on the local guy. And by the way Ovechkin's flaws are overlooked too, along with every top-tier player. And yes, I've seen on both Sportsnet and TSN, maybe RDS but I forget, that commentators bring up Alfredsson or Zetterberg etc. when talking about the best player in the league. Some even name them as such. But as I said, I have no problem with them giving that title to Lecavalier or Crosby.

The most sensible poster in this thread. To the people who think we can sign Huet for 1 year: YOU ARE ON CRACK. He's 32, finally become a UFA with a few years of starting under his belt, this is payoff time. The careers of these guys aren't too long and nothing is guaranteed, so when the money's on the table they go for it. I seriously doubt he'd go for a 2 year contract, that's what he signed last time after half a season of starting. It's very plausible that there would be people willing to offer him a 4 year contract at 18 million or even more. Now I agree that this is too much and too long, and he surely wouldn't take under three years. I think having him on the payroll for an extra year IF (and this is still an if, people) Price has established himself as the no. 1 by then is worth keeping him around next year or and the year after when the job's still his to lose. So maybe a three year 14 mil deal paying him 5.5, 5, then 3.5 could keep him for when we need him and leaves him easier to unload. Wamsley brought up a 2-year deal worth 10-12 million. He might go for this rather than the guaranteed extra money if he feels good about his health and career (although I doubt he would), but this brings an added cap problem for the year after next when we'll be giving a whole bunch of raises out to people and probably trying to get a big name or the right pieces to make us a serious contender. But it still bugs me that Huet is actually not WORTH this kind of money (4-5 million per year). He's just not a big athletic number one guy, and this year he's had shaky stretches along with good stretches. The thing is that his good stretches have coincided with the team playing well, keeping the shots to the outside, and getting good offense. When the team's been bad he hasn't bailed them out. He hasn't been stealing games for us. Price may be ready as soon as next season (which I think is unlikely, the year after could happen) to be that guy who steals games for us. So it's a tough question, but judging by what's going on this year it looks like Bob will be trying to keep Huet, so I just hope it's under 4 years for something reasonable (under 5 million per). And maybe some of us can pray that Huet will pass up his payday to fit in perfectly with our plans.

So any word on where you heard these rumours? Or were they just speculation on your part or someone you know?

Well no shite he was annointed by the local hockey media, that's pretty obvious. And I hear Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Alfredsson, and Zetterberg mentioned very often in the conversation about the best player in the league, but I agree with the assessment that right now it's between Lecavalier and Crosby (with Ovechkin making a strong push in the last few weeks). And by the way, Don Cherry is hardly the fanboy of Sid, you can look to Pierre McGuire for that. Yeah, people tend to refrain from criticizing Crosby, or we don't hear it when they do, and TSN has devoted itself to showing 3 replays of each play he makes, but whenever they talk about Ovechkin they always compliment his passion, attitude and scoring ability. It's not Sidney's fault that he was hailed as the 'next one', but it's not like he doesn't deserve it and he's handled it pretty well.

Well you just have personal grudge so I'll attribute your dumb comments to that. Crosby is hardly light on his skates, he has remarkably strong legs that make him hard to knock off the puck. And it's definitely debatable, although it's hard to tell right now. But last season it wasn't hard to tell, as Crosby was clearly superior, the best in the league even.

Where did you hear these rumours? Yeah but the stats don't tell the story. It looks good on paper but bad on the ice, there have been many weak games. 50 points isn't as impressive this year on a team that can score. You're right about all the missed chances, but Higgins isn't a finesse guy so he has to work that much harder to get results. The partying rumour (if true) is kinda worrying, but it doesn't surprise me that much, just as long as he tones it down a bit and gets his head in the game. I wouldn't say that the past few weeks have been GOOD for Koivu, but he's made steady improvements. Last night was his best game of 2008, he was creating all sorts of stuff and outworking and outwitting the opponents, it's a shame that he was alone there with Higgins playing so badly and Ryder being his useless self. Never count Koivu out, I think he's going to be here for the stretch drive in a big way.

Yeah, it's easy to say Ovechkin is better right after he has a four goal game and Crosby is injured. But 120 points at the age of 19?

Haha, it was a comment of your tendency to end each sentence with an exclamation mark. Don't stop it though, it's fun!

Well we're NOT going to trade Huet at this point, he's our number one guy and we're in a playoff spot. He'll at least finish the season here. Ideally, we'd sign him to a 2 year deal, but I really doubt he'd go for that. He'd want a minimum of 3 years, and maybe he'd hold out for 4 and test the market if we don't want to give it to him. I don't want to give him 4 years, that's too much, and 3 is probably too much as well but it's more manageable. So I guess what I'd be going for is 3 years for 10-14 million. If we give him more than 4.5 per season we're overpaying him, he isn't really worth 4 million but that's the amount he'd command given the Bryzgalov contract. But knowing Bob Gainey I wouldn't be surprised if we give him 5-5.5 a year, he has a tendency to overpay. I wouldn't be surprised but I'd be pissed. But the main thing is I hope we sign him for three years or less, four is too many considering that Price will be breathing down his neck as soon as next season.

Ovechkin has some good teammates. Semin, and now Backstrom and Green are elite players. I don't think there will be much of a debate if they both stay healthy and Crosby continues on the insane pace he's set. But Ovechkin is more than capable of turning it up a few notches, and I'm sure both of them will be holding a few Hart trophies by the end of their careers.

I don't hate Crosby. I think he's a better player overall than Ovechkin, and he will be for the rest of his career (not that it's cut and dry, but at this point I give it to him). He's also the biggest superstar hockey has seen in quite a while, and he's been annointed as the poster boy of the league, all of which he handles pretty well IMO. But from day one I've liked Ovechkin more, he's more entertaining and likeable. And I would love to have Crosby on our team, we would win the Cup.

I'm starting to feel more and more like we should trade Ryder no matter how minimal the return is. I still haven't given up the idea of riding him for the stretch run and playoffs, but if he continues to play like this he doesn't deserve to be in the lineup. He hasn't most of the season. So even if we got a 2nd or 3rd rounder for him it would be better than nothing.