Commandant

Honestly, I don't think one of those trades is realistic. I also ask if you've watched Gorges in Buffalo, cause paying 3.9 million for that??? Cobourn would work. The problem is that Tampa doesn't want to add a contract for next year, they are still gonna make more offers to try and keep Stamkos, so moving the expiring contract for one with a year left on it doesn't work for them.

Using the analytics, helped them to know which players to acquire to build those best teams in the league. You are right though, they aren't the be all and end all, and you have to use them in conjunction with traditional scouting. Doesn't change the fact that traditional scouting shows issues in Emelin's game (mobility, pivots, positioning, etc....)

OMG we haven't sold assets yet... 5 days before the deadline we still have weise on the team..... The Leafs made a couple trades and the Sabres made a deal... thats it. Criticizing the fact that deals haven't come yet, is your typical "the sky is falling" type prediction... just like saying you are worried we'll trade Beaulieu for Rinaldo is an exceptionally reactionary and overly critical post. Its funny cause you criticize DD as being terrible and he's basically been characterized as one of the worst players in the league, but then you criticize our GM for not trading him away. WHO IS GONNA TAKE HIM? If he's as bad as you say, don't other teams know this?

You can explain the high shooting percentage in October. Everyone (including me) said that shooting at 10% was unlikely to continue. This team shot 7.8% over 82 games in 2013-14.. It shot 7.7% over 82 games in 2014-15. The forward group hasn't changed that much. So we knew that shooting 10% in October was too high. It was a run of good luck. What do we also know? Shooting 6% from December 1st to now, is also unexpected and a run of bad luck. We should be able to safely assume the numbers will go back to about 7.5-8.0% next year.

You are mis reading the stats.... they don't say Barberio is a top pairing guy at all. You have to look at the time on ice stat which shows that Barberio is sheltered. However on the whole, even taking into consideration that Barberio is a 3rd pairing guy, and Emelin is used as a borderline 2nd/3rd and facing just a touch better competition, we still can conclude a few things. 1) Barberio is a good third pairing D, who could fill in for the top 4 due to injuries. 2) Emelin doesn't belong anywhere higher than a #6, and on a contender likely isn't even that.

You know what team was first on analytics and uses them a lot.... Chicago. You know what team joined them in the analytics movement? LA. When NJ/Tor/AZ/Edm made their high profile hires, they were 6 years behind the curve, of course they haven't caught up yet. But if you want to keep believing Emelin is a good player, go ahead.... cause you know what... he's the defenceman giving up the most goals per icetime, on one of the worst teams in the NHL... and if that analytic means nothing to you, then you just don't understand the point of the game which is to score more goals than the other team.

I agree, we should have traded a whole bunch of quality prospects and first rounders in a desperate attempt to make the playoffs... knowing that there was no guarantee we would get price back. WHAT? Bergevin's job is to build a team to win the cup, not to make the playoffs this year and lose in the first round cause this team clearly showed it can't compete without price. I'm missing the point of the criticisms here. Is that what you really wanted? to give up prospects and picks for James Reimer and Mikkel Boedker and make the playoffs as a #8 seed and lose first round?

“It would require unanimous consent at any point at which the player tries to return to the League without having been out of professional hockey [anywhere in the world] for a full calendar year,” Daly told the New York Post in 2013. “Once he sits out for a full calendar year, he can only come back with the Devils’ consent.”

Sure thats another option. Pateryn can play physical. The point is that Emelin is tracking as either a #6 or #7 defenceman this year... heck in some categories he's a #8....

Being a top 4 doesn't mean you have to score goals... But yes Hamhuis is still a significantly better defenceman than Emelin and a legit top 4 option.

The team's official statement is poor performance. KHL media is saying he missed a meeting and has had a poor attitude of late. he's still been a PPG player and their top scorer, so I seem to think its attitude. (not that attitude is acceptable, just reframing the discussion).

If you want true top 4 defencemen Becoming unrestricted this summer... Dan Hamhuis and Jason Demers. I have no problem paying for a physical defenceman who prevents goals with his physicality. If you want to pay the cheap price for a bottom pair guy, Adam Pardy, Eric Gryba, Ben Lovejoy, Mike Weber, and Kevan Miller make the same mistakes as Emelin at 1/4 of the price.

The twitter account reached 1 million followers Habs planned a celebration where if you tweeted them with a hastag #canadiensMTL1M they would send you a message. Some of them were photoshops of your twitter handle on a habs jersey Some were videos from a player saying "I heard you were a big fan, thanks for following the Habs" The bot had no filters on it (or ineffective filters) So it was making tweets to twitter names that were racist, vulgar, etc... putting those names on the jersey picture, etc..

You can't compare 2.5 million over three years with 1.16 million. One can be buried in the minors and the cap hit is basically gone. The other can't.

I think you could get a better defenceman for 1.5 million, yes. I think he has no ability to make a breakout pass, he hits but gets caught running around to do it and gets out of position, he doesnt have good positioning, and his pivots and skating are bad. In short, I think he's crap and needs to be replaced. there are plenty of D who can be physical and be more effective at doing other things too.

If it was just $1 million he was overpaid, that might make sense. I'm seeing it as closer to 2.5. As for being able to knock guys on their ass... thats only useful if doing it prevents goals. In Emelin's case, its pretty clear from the stats that he's the worst of our regular defencemen at leaking goals, so his hitting doesn't seem to matter much. I'm all for a physical dman, but that physicality has to lead to actual goal prevention. Cause that is the name of the game, put the puck in their net and keep it out of yours. His hits aren't keeping it out of ours.

Bartley is up with the big club

Hes a 6/7 defenceman at best so id shit on him at 3.5 million too. Physicality is good only if it prevents goals from going in the net. Plenty of physical d who prevent goals and scoring chances and that is fine. But the stats show that emelin isnt preventing goals and isnt preventing scoring chances... in fact hes bleeding them more than any other dman on our team. Yes teams need physicality on defence but it needs to be the type of physical play that clears the crease... that changes possession... and that doesnt get caught out of position in making the hit. Thats not what emelin is bringing. Hes a liability instead.

We are not signing him for his goals but for his ability to penalty kill and to play shifts without being a liability. That's fine at the bottom of the roster. Rather pay 1 million fot his 6 goals than 2 million for 10 goals. You get better returns saving that money for top 6 talent. As for length... hes 27 so im not too worried about signing til hes 30. On top of that the majority of his salary can be buried if worst comes to worst

no he isn't. Thats not worth 4.1 million.

We play the bruins 4 or 5 times a year depending on the schedule.... We need money to pay for players to score in the other games.

This is a great deal. Its exactly what I'm talking about when I've been talking about team building. Get rid of the third and fourth liners making 3 million plus. Get third and fourth liners, and 3rd pairing D and pay them all 1.0 - 1.5 million. Fill the bottom of the team super cheap. Then you can afford luxuries in Price's next deal, Stamkos, Subban, etc.... Thats how you do it in the cap world. Pay for elite talent... save money on the places where the upgrades to higher priced players only provide very marginal returns. I want the guy who scores 40 goals instead of 25 in my top 6 and I'll pay for that. I don't want to pay to have the guy who scores 8 goals instead of 6.

Here is the difference... Lucic is a physical player where the physicality of his forecheck actually leads to puck possession, scoring chances and goals. Emelin's physicality is shown, and you can see it in the chart, to have little effect at either generating possesion, or preventing goals against. I'm not against physicality, but that physicality has to lead to goals, or to preventing goals.. cause ultimately thats the point of hockey, to put the puck in their net and keep it out of yours. Emelin when he gets running around looking for hits isn't helping the team.

Bickell = 0 goals 5 assists in 18 playoff games, and his coach made him a healthy scratch for a number of games including most of the finals... yeah thats not a good playoff, no matter how you spin it. Bryan Bickell did not "step" up in the playoffs. As for Bickell vs Pacioretty... Pacioretty has played about half as many games and has more than half as many points, his PPG is actually better. But thats besides the point and a small sample size. Ask any GM what player they would want on their team tomorrow... since Bickell makes less money than Pacioretty and actually cleared waivers recently, I think i know the answer. As for replies, whether people agree or disagree doesn't effect whether Quick belongs in the top 5 goalies in the NHL, just means those people disagree with me. As for elimination games... Winning games is the function of a team.. not one person.

His usage is in the top bar, he's getting pretty easy minutes. So no, he's not top pair worthy when we increase the minutes and the opposition... that said the point here is that he gets paid way less than Emelin, and is way better. We should keep him around as a third pair defenceman who can fill in on the second pair if injuries hit, and probably retain him pretty cheap. He isn't going to be great, and he's gonna mess up, but he's good value on the third pair. Due to age and his cheapness, we should keep him unless we get a really good offer. Emelin, i'd trade if i could. .