dlbalr

I wanted him to stay in Hamilton, wasn't worried about his chances with the Habs. As much as we can sit here and say more room for prospects, the fact of the matter is that good farm teams need veterans. This just means they'll be making a pitch for another Darche type player on the UFA market. Given the unknown vs Dawes, I'd have preferred the latter.

The Bulldogs have opted to take over control of their promotions/ticket sales from HECFI (about time) and are seeking to sign a long-term extension to stay in Hamilton. I'm happy and puzzled at the same time, I personally like the Habs in Hamilton but with that lousy attendance, why would Andlauer? Maybe they figure with some actual marketing more fans will come, a notion that HECFI failed to grasp. Still, this suggest the Habs will be staying with Hamilton for the long haul. http://www.hamiltonbulldogs.com/article/hamilton-bulldogs-hockey-club-takes-over-ticket-sales

I know all the sites are reporting a cap hit of ~630k but given the signing bonus data, it can't be accurate. His cap hit has to be $900,000 which means there are performance bonuses in there somewhere.

Thanks, wish I was wrong about it though, I wanted Dawes in particular to stick around.

I was hoping that he'd have taken less too but in a sense, with the escalation of salaries, signing a UFA to the same salary is almost like a pay cut. A little convoluted way of thinking but that's how I generally look at it.

Big Head Bob (McKenzie) from TSN has confirmed the signing. Quick write-up from our end: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2496

If this turns out to be true, my plans for the next free agent assessment article just went straight out the window.

Lots of reports out there saying Gill has signed a 1 year extension for $2.25 million which is what he made the past two seasons. Also, as I reported last week in the rumour thread, Dawes and Boyd are leaving; both have signed in the KHL with Barys Astana, a Kazakh KHL team. http://www.hcbarys.kz/news/view/naydzhel-douz-i-dastin-boyd-v-baryise

It's not often that it happens (Rolston this year is the one that comes to mind) but the same re-entry rules apply for 35+ guys.

With arbitration this year, you're probably looking at $1.75 M or so for a cap hit. For a 30 point player, that's not particularly valuable and it's not like he ended the season on a good note. Piecing things together, he is held by the coaching staff in similar regard to Sergei Kostitsyn. I just can't see the Habs bringing him back.

A lot depends on how they view Spacek. If they're thinking he's a #6 guy at this point, then it may be smarter to go the re-entry route as they could get a #6 (it'd probably be a young guy like Weber getting more time) cheaper than the ~$1.4 million difference you have listed. If they think he's worth more than that, it probably isn't worth it.

I'd take that in a heartbeat. I still expect Pouliot to be released outright so any sort of a return would be viewed as a steal in my books.

You're half right actually. For any Russian who signs and then goes back, the NHL team loses their rights at 27 (UFA year). For those who are drafted but stay there, their rights are held in perpetuity (Korneev, as well as Sidyakin/Kruchinin as we discovered during the preseason).

The list of 50 is for contracted players, you can find who's on that list in the CBA thread (2nd post), I have updated it for this offseason. The 90 is for players affiliated to the organization, including draft picks and defections (such as Trotter and Ramo). I believe that once July 1st passes and the Habs let go of Simila (June 1st), Perezhogin, and Degon, the Habs will be at 75 on their list.

Rather than weighing in too much here, I've assessed both players independently recently on the site. I still feel that it will be one or the other that re-signs (I quickly noted why in the Wisniewski piece). Markov: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2491 Wisniewski: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2494 I'm also going to put a new poll on the site to get some more input on what is probably the biggest issue facing Gauthier between now and free agency (other than the draft of course).

Perhaps now the mystery has been solved. The Habs have amended their spelling in the press release to Alexei Yemelin, which is what his agent said he preferred. I think finally now we have our answer.

His contract information is now up on the site, glad to see them get a deal done.

What I mean by that is that when they qualified him in June, that was their shot at releasing him. Trotter signed with Riga in August, after the period by which they could have let him go. Thus, saying that the Habs could have released him if they weren't happy with him isn't a correct argument. As for Degon, he signed with the Habs in 2007 after being non-qualified by the Rangers, had a pretty good year and has since gone overseas, spending the last 3 years with 4 different teams in Germany/Austria. I liked him in Hamilton too, he was a solid offensive D. As for Perezhogin and Ramo (and even Trotter), the reason that they're on the reserve list isn't necessarily because the Habs want to sign them but rather that there's no need for them not to be there. Montreal has a lot of space on the 90-man reserve list so why not keep their rights? Why let a possible asset walk for free? The Habs have known there was no way Perezhogin was going to come back but they kept him because, well, they could. It's the same with any player they hold the rights to that goes back overseas, it doesn't really give an inclination either way as to their interest or lack thereof with respect to signing/not signing a particular player.

Sanford re-signs, MacIntyre either gets an NHL job, goes overseas, or gets another 1 way AHL deal somewhere (I don't see that one happening). I'd like to see Delmas signed to an NHL entry level deal and start as the #1 in Wheeling with Mayer sticking around as a backup.

Signed for defence are Henry, Stejskal, Nash, and Diaz (if he's not with the Habs). St. Denis surely will be brought back while Carle will at least be qualified, your guess as to whether he or St. Denis get plucked off waivers. I suspect Klubertanz will be offered a deal but he may too be heading back overseas having failed to get a callup during the year. I sense the D won't have a ton of turnover unless a couple of the RFA's are dealt/go overseas.

I wouldn't expect anything to come from the exit interviews, it's not as if there will be any coverage of them. We'll find out about the status of the pending RFA's/UFA's come late June or July 1st, we've never heard before. Zanette's an interesting case but there is no deadline they have to sign him by as he is currently an NHL UFA.

Of course he's still on the Habs' reserve list. They qualified him in June, he bolted in August so technically they've had no chance to release him even if they wanted to. That's not an argument that suggests the Habs would bring him back, it's just asset management. They'll hold his rights just so he doesn't sign elsewhere like they're currently doing with Ramo, Perezhogin, and Degon (the latter two until July 1st though). That doesn't mean they were happy with his decision, they're just not going to give him away for nothing should someone else actually want him.

If something happens in Riga and he wants out, sure it's an option. Benoit went overseas with the blessing of the Habs at the time, a mutual agreement after he put in his time in Hamilton. Trotter gave them no warning whatsoever and simply bolted. Even if something were to happen and Trotter wanted back, I'm not sure the organization would be chomping at the bit to get him back, I remember reading how they weren't too impressed with the lack of good faith negotiations that ultimately resulted in his KHL deal. I suppose if he's willing to suck it up (or has a breakout year), maybe they'd bring him back but I am skeptical for sure.

Unless the Habs are willing to give him a 1-way deal, I'd say there's no shot. He got better as the year went on in Riga and is making a lot more money there than he would in Hamilton. Frankly, I think we've seen the last of him in North America as I don't think this stint is going to turn him into a full time NHL'er.

A missed glove in the crease call denies Hamilton a penalty shot with 3 seconds to go, game over, series over. 4-3 Houston. http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1008630