Commandant

The big movers and shakers of free agency was the Northwest division, with 7 of the biggest names in Free Agency going there. A look at the changes in that division. http://lastwordonsports.com/2012/07/06/go-west-go-northwest-the-powerbrokers-of-nhl-free-agency/

Bourque wants 17 (always was his number) and Gally wants 94

http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=637297 Prust gets 8 Bouillion 55 Armstrong 20 and Bourque switches from 27 to 17.

When your market has 1) the highest taxes 2) the most media and fan pressure in the NHL 3) you can't go out in public without being recognized. 4) some of the worst weather in the NHL and 5) has not won the cup in a long time. You need to provide these type of enticements or watch players not sign with you... like Briere, Smyth, Shannahan, Elias, Hossa, Rafalski, and numerous others we've gone after.

In Gionta's two healthy seasons, he led the Habs in goals both years. We keep complaining we don't have a 2nd line winger who can score goals, and thats true we need another one to play LW... but why do we want to throw away one of the goal scorers we do have?

Thats probably the way they go, but we really don't know right now. Either way you are paying for the skills he brings, and he brings the skill of a 45 pt dman if given the PP time. I think they are keeping him until they know more about Markov's knee.

I read the article and it seemed to state a lot of very obvious points.

So does Kaberle. Someone is gonna have to learn to play the other side. I think Markov can do it. Yes we tried him there before and it didn't work, but two things with that 1) he needed to be on the LH side, to set up Kovalev on the RH side, and when we moved him to the right it took that away. We'll be looking at a different PP now, and don't need that same setup without Kovalev or Cammalleri taking the shot on the RH boards. 2) when he was moved, Tanguay was made the passer and Markov the shooter, changing not only his position, but his role. If he moves there and sets up PK it might work (of course this changes if its Kaberle on the other point, which is why I think PK-Markov is more likely, as I stated).

Kaberle is capable of bigger numbers We have yet to see what they will do this year Is Markov healthy? Is it Markov - Subban or Markov - Kaberle? while the first is more likely I wouldnt be 100% sure either

Got it thanks

What do the teams that lost out on Parise and Suter do now? http://lastwordonsports.com/2012/07/05/left-scrambling-teams-that-feel-the-pain-of-the-parisesuter-decision/

The Habs have invited Brendan Ranford to training camp. (Bill's nephew) He’s a young LW/C who was drafted in the 7th round in 2010 by the Flyers, but unsigned. At 5’10″ he has some size issues… and he’s not the best skater in the league, but he plays a gritty game and has put up a ton of points for Kamloops in the WHL. 86 points in 68 games in 2011 92 points in 69 games this year. Definite low risk/high reward type of move here. Ranford has some skils, he works hard, goes to the net, has a decent shot, and good playmaking working off the cycle game. He does have the deficiencies stated above though. We’ll see how he does in camp.

going rate... see wideman and wiz Another reason why Kaberle's 4.25 is not excessive for a 40 assist 45 point guy

Doan and Semin for legit top 6 talent Sykora for a guy with a nice 21 goal 44 point season in Jersey Wolski, Mueller, Kostitsyn, Huselius, if you want to go for a reclaimation project.

Sounds like Matt Carle is going back to Tampa.

I don't think any team will worry about the cap floor until after the CBA is signed.

These owners are smart business men because they've made hard decisions. If the cap drops and teams with long contracts get screwed, the teams without them will look like geniuses. Just because its common doesnt mean every team has to do them

Saying it in the media, and putting pen to paper are two different things.

The freaking Minnesota Wild signed these guys... .The WILD F.F.S! Its a situation of parity today, and if this doesn't confirm it, I don't know what will.

A) How? b) No one puts a gun to anyone's head and asks them to sign the deal. c) Escrow ensures players get 57% of revenue, no more, no matter what the deals do. All these deals do is raise escrow around the league.

And is Kosty taking a 3million 1 year offer? If he is, then its a completely different story.

Why does the CBA need fixing? Why do we need to handcuff the owners and prevent them from making mistakes? If they made a mistake, oh well, they are only hurting their own team. These guys are billionaires because they made their money doing business deals (some of them risky) in the real world, without being handcuffed. if they can't operate in the NHL, too bad, screw em. As for the NHL Owners... when a small market team like Minnesota can afford to spend 196 million on two players in 1 day, I feel no sympathy when the owners cry poor in CBA negotiations.

For as great a year as he had under Carbo... his second season under Carbo was not near as good and that happened long before the scandal. At some point, he's failed under 5 different coaches and 2 different organizations. It becomes time to stop blaming everything on the coach, and look at the player.

I'd look at Mueller and Wolski if we want to go dumpster diving.

AK 46 had 4 different coaches in Montreal, and a 5th in Nashville. Its hard to blame it all on JM.