John B
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Posts posted by John B
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23 minutes ago, JGC21 said:
Not sure if it was mentioned but who are centres in this draft that look promising after Kotkaniemi and Veleno?
Most of the centers are ranked in the mid first round and beyond. Hayton is arguably the next best center after Kotkoniemi and Veleno. Lundestrom is in the mix too.
I'm looking forward to the second round. I think there are some centers that could become very good if they are developed properly.
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The trades that have occurred in the last 3 offseasons...all of them.
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7 hours ago, JGC21 said:
Pierre Lebrun on TSN just reported the Domi trade is the first domino to fall for Montreal. I predict a few more trades will happen and we’ll get our LD at the draft.
That's what I'm afraid of. Now we are going to overpay for something else.
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A guy at work broke the news to me. My first thought was one of confusion and frustration. Every time somebody asks me "did you hear about the Montreal trade?" I cringe. The best part is the same guy at work said that he had read that this will lead to more trades involving the Habs according to TSN. YAY! I can't wait to see those gems.
This is a lateral move at best. It doesn't address any team needs. Nothing more to say about it.
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35 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:
If the CH goes with Hughes, it impacts which players they may trade (e.g. Pacioretty)
is QH pod enough to start as Montteal's 2nd LD? Or 1st LD?
if not, it does not solve the immediate need
How much better is he compared to Mete?
I don't see anybody at 3rd overall helping this team immediately (unless Svechnikov or Dahlin miraculously fall to 3rd). Zadina is good, but he's long term good. His impact next year might be similar to Nolan Patrick's in Philly or Galchenyuk in his rookie season.
Hughes is likely in the same boat as Zadina. IMO Hughes will be better than Mete at some point in his career. I'm not sure how many points Mete will get at the NHL level on a consistent basis. He's not at the same level as Hughes. That being said, it's hard to say how good Hughes will be. He certainly has the potential to be a future top pair guy, but I doubt he plays that role next season. I'm not sure Hughes would be a second pair guy next season either. That would be asking a lot out of an 18 year old. The only defenseman that I can see being top pair next year from this draft is Dahlin. I'm not even sure that anyone else from this draft stays in the NHL the whole season.
There's always the risk that a lot of these prospects do not realize their potential as well. So who knows what the right decision might be.
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6 hours ago, dlbalr said:
Among the players at Montreal's Swedish-based combine was Mathias Emilio Pettersen.
The name was familiar so I googled him. He sounds as if he was highly touted at one time and has been on the radar of scouts for quite some time. There is a thread on another site about this kid that was started in 2006 (he was only 6 years old lol). Sounds like he didn't meet expectations this year in the USHL and went from a potential 1st round candidate to a mid to late rounder.
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2 hours ago, Trizzak said:
Not much of an insider, but Paul Bissonette said on the Spittin Chiclets podcast that the Habs are in on Lucic, and Edmonton will retain half the salary and include an incentive (like a draft pick.)
I don't see how it's worth it for Edmonton to put 3 million of dead space on their cap for 5 years, but if they want to pay us a draft pick to have Lucic play for Julien at 3 million a year, I'm not hating it.
I have a feeling that the Oilers are willing to do this because of Lucic's NMC. With an expansion draft coming in the near future, he would have to be protected. I'm sure they would rather protected one of their younger more useful players than him. It's for this very reason why I'm hoping that the Habs do not acquire him. Otherwise, Lucic at $3M per year with the Habs would be OK in my books. If Lucic were to agree to remove his NMC from his contract or at least come to an agreement (preferably contractual) that he will waive it for any expansion drafts (two things that he will not do) I would also be OK with this move.
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If were choosing a center around 19 I'd rather a player with more offense. A guy like Akil Thomas has more offensive upside IMO and could/should still be there in that range. A lot of scouts seem high on Foudy, but I see him as more of a late first to early second rounder. I just think there are higher ceiling players available. As for getting a pick in the second half of the first round, I still think the Habs should look into taking Jori Lehtera off of the Flyers hands or Paul Martin off of the Sharks hands.
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2 hours ago, Meller93 said:
I was pulling for Quinn Hughes when I thought we would be in the 5-7 spot. Now I’m not sure what to think.
Zadina seems like like the obvious choice, but then the Hughes, Boqvist, Whalstrom choices could pay off hugely.
I’m still hoping we swap picks with Carolina or they miraculously pass up svechnikov ??
I'd be ecstatic with Dahlin (not going to happen) or Svechnikov (doubtful to happen).
I'd be happy with any one of Zadina, Wahlstrom, Boqvist, or Hughes.
I wouldn't be terribly disappointed with Dobson or Bouchard.
As far as acquiring another 1st rounder is concerned, I would look to see what it's worth to San Jose (who could still be looking at Tavares as an option) to take Paul Martin off their hands. Or Philadelphia (who has two first rounders) with Jori Lehtera. Sharks draft 21st (which is presumably out of Kotkaniemi range), but Flyers draft 14th thanks to St. Louis' pick and have their own at 19th (which again is likely out of Kotkoniemi range). Those picks could however put us in range for Veleno, Hayton, Lundestrom, or Thomas (if you're looking strictly at centers and not BPA).
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6 hours ago, Habopotamus said:
Montreal can't afford to sign Tavares this season, then resign Pacioretty next season.
If this team was in a position where they were in contention for the Stanley cup, then I guess maybe you risk keeping Pacioretty and let him play out his contract, but the Habs are not there.
I think it depends on what else the Habs can move out. Assuming Pacioretty is getting $7 -8 mil per season on an extension and assuming that we can already sign Tavares with our current cap space, Pacioretty would only be getting 2.5 to 3.5 mil raise over his current cap hit. If you get rid of Andrew Shaw and his $3.9 mil cap hit for a pick or prospect your problem is solved.
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He's a good insurance policy for the Habs if Price gets injured as many have already said in previous comments. I also agree that he could be trade bait at the deadline if the Habs falter again or if Lindgren pushes him out. I'm guessing the means the end of Fucale in the Montreal organization. With Price and Niemi in the NHL and Lindgren and McNiven in the AHL. Unless they plan on sticking McNiven in the ECHL this year.
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It's worth noting that the team he signed with is part of the KHL. So technically he's a KHL assistant coach.
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I wouldn't touch anyone with a NMC unless they were going to be a vital part of the organization moving forward or their contract expired after this upcoming season. There is another expansion draft coming and those players will need to be protected (unless they waive they're NMC, which is unlikely). Otherwise, I would be all for acquire cap dumps with NMCs for additional assets.
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If the Habs do decide to offer a contract to Plekanec, I would want it to be towards the middle or end of free agency. Not on July 1st or the first few weeks. There are more important holes to spend cap space on than bringing back a guy for depth or nostalgic reasons. If we sign or strike out on the players that make this team better first and still have cap space left over, I wouldn't have a problem with bringing him back.
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16 hours ago, DON said:
What was Lacroix looking after?
So who replaces JJD, that Bouchard guy? Hal Gill would seem like a good coach-type, but maybe that's just me always thinking he would make a good d-coach, for no real solid reasons (Therrrien is gone and Julien coached him before I think). I think he is coaching a bit in amateur hockey somewhere.
I agree with your train of thought that Hal Gill would make a good assistant coach. I liked him when he played with the Habs and I was always hoping he would be back with the team in some coaching or advisory role. Maybe give him his start with Laval as an assistant coach if he's interested?
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1 hour ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:
Why is I so important for the team to get younger, when it’s already one of the youngest teams in the league?
For me it's not about the team getting younger. It's about asset management. If Pacioretty has an extension signed by the deadline, than I am more than happy with keeping him around. Otherwise, I would trade him rather than risk getting nothing at all for him if he decides to leave as a free agent. In hindsight I'm sure we all wish we could have gotten some form of compensation for Radulov or Markov. Picks and prospects would have been better than the sweet nothing that we have to show for them.
I'm hoping they can resign Pacioretty and sign Tavares (all the while finding some miraculous way to fit them both under the cap long term), but that might be asking a lot.
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If the Habs are holding down a playoff spot, wild card spot, or are close, Pacioretty is going nowhere. I can't remember the last time the Habs were in a playoff race and traded a player of Pacioretty's caliber. I have a feeling that the Habs will make the playoffs next year or will be darn close.
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On 4/8/2018 at 1:11 PM, Trizzak said:
Habs UFAs:
Antti Niemi - $700 000
Ales Hemsky - $1 000 000
Adam Cracknell - $675 000
Chris Terry - $650 000
Habs RFAs:
Philip Danault - $912 500 (A)
Kerby Rychel - $863 333
Michael McCarron - $863 333
Daniel Carr - $725 000 (A)
Jacob De La Rose - $725 000 (A)
Logan Shaw - $650 000 (A)
Rinat Valiev - $778 333
Tom Parisi - $717 500 (A)
Zachary Fucale - $714 167
Markus Eisenschmid - $642 500 (A)
Jeremy Gregoire - $633 333
(A) denotes arbitration eligibility.
I'd like to see Niemi, Cracknell, and Terry retained from the UFA list, but I doubt they all resign. Lindgren just signed a 3 year extension earlier this season, so I doubt Niemi stays unless he re-signs for the same amount of money or if the Habs are looking ahead to the next expansion draft. Cracknell and Terry would be good for Laval, but I have a feeling that Terry will look for greener pastures. Cracknell I'm not sure of. Hemsky is gone for sure. Not much use for him this season and I don't see much use for a player like him (always injured) in the future.
Out of the RFAs, Parisi is the only one that I think will be let go for sure. Gregoire, Eisenschmid, Fucale, and Shaw are question marks. Danault gets resigned for around $3M is my guess. I think the rest get re-signed mainly because they are young and probably have some value to both the team and in potential deals.
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I'm glad we got the 4th back. I'm liking this draft. Good depth with some good/solid sleeper picks sprinkled through out. It also gives the Habs some options.
Would there be any consideration in trading one of the 4th rounders for a guy like Adam Mascherin who seems to want to spurn the Panthers and re-enter the draft. I mean Panthers have no leverage here. A couple years ago we saw Jimmy Vesey get dealt to Buffalo for a 3rd when he spurned Nashville. Vesey was more NHL ready and a better prospect at the time than Mascherin. So a 4th should do it for Mascherin? I'm guessing he gets re-drafted in the 2nd/3rd round this year.
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39 minutes ago, Meller93 said:
If we lose tomorrow, I think the highest we can possibly place is 27th because Vancouver and Arizona play each other.
Coming down to the wire looking like a decent chance at top 5 pick.
Detroit just needs 1 more victory and they are out of reach for the Habs. If Detroit beats Montreal tommorow night in regulation, Habs can't catch them in the standings. This combined with two Arizona victories in their last two games and Habs will finish below them as well. Vancouver also needs 2 victories in their last 2 games to guarantee a finish above Habs. Ottawa needs 5 points in their last 3 games to pass the Habs that would need to get 0 points in their last 2 games. Buffalo can't pass Habs in the standings no matter what. So the lowest the Habs can finish is second last as of right now. The highest they can finish is 6th last.
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4 hours ago, Habopotamus said:
We're in a rebuild and trying to develop players. Signing Neimi is the exact opposite direction this team is heading. Especially with the amount of depth this organization has with goalie prospects.
I'm not so sure we are in a rebuild. It seems as though Bergevin believes in the bones of this team and he's seems to be doing another retool. Kind of like he did a couple years ago when the Habs had their last terrible season.
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I made a comment in a different thread about the possibility of a turnaround next season. Basically it went something like this:
1) Win draft lottery and draft Dahlin. This gives the Habs a cost controlled player for the next 3 years who becomes an RFA and then he can be signed to an 8 year deal (or make the mistake of another bridge deal). Regardless, you would be looking at him being part of the team for at least 11 years barring any trade and it's the best 11 years of his career. Trading for or signing a guy like Karlsson or Ekman-Larsson is likely to be more expensive and might not look all that good when they hit their early to mid 30s and you're still paying them out the a** for their declining years.
2) Sign John Tavares. Obviously this fills the slot at 1C for the team. Unfortunately he will need over $10M a season, which could be difficult to manage long term with Price's $10.5M, and Weber making just under $8M. You can pretty much kiss Pacioretty good bye, and extending Dahlin (if step 1 happens) among others will be nearly impossible. This is where some creative cap management needs to come into play. Some useful players will need to be shipped out. My solution would be to ship out the lower rung guys. Which brings me to step 3.
I'm adding these
3) Create cap space for now and the future. I have nothing against Andrew Shaw, but his cap hit for what he provides is too much. There were some rumors at the deadline that there was some interest in him, but Bergevin was reluctant to trade him. Winnipeg was one team I heard, another was Carolina. I deal Shaw to Carolina for Kruger and a pick. I'd push for Carolina's 1st rounder in 2018. It's likely to be in the 10-15 range of the draft. Obviously this a deal that occurs after the draft lottery (Carolina's not trading a lottery pick to the Habs for Shaw and to get rid of Kruger's contract). In that range you should be able to get one of Lundestrom, Kotkoniemi, Veleno, or Hayton (all centers with top 6 upside). Kruger's contract expires in 2019 clearing a full $3.9M in cap space for the remainder of the Shaw deal. Pacioretty will also need to be resigned in the summer of 2019 and $3M to $3.5M should be enough to keep him long term (especially if step 1 and step 2 happen). Other deals will have to be made as well, but I'm not sure what other ones make sense. Trade Alzner obviously, but who's going to take that? I don't have all the answers (maybe I don't have any).
4) Improvement to scouting and development. Lets start with scouting. I'd like to see more quality scouts hired at both the amateur and pro levels. The more viewings of players, the better reads they should be able to get. On the amateur side it should allow our scouts to better identify strengths and weaknesses to better project players (in theory anyway) so that better selections can be made (not that I think there have been a lot of bad selections, just looking to improve it). On the pro side, it may help us do a better job seeing trends for players. Guys on the team who are will be trending down (so it's time to sell before they lose all value or become a cap anchor) or guys who are trending up (so we know who to trade for/sign and get the best bang for our buck). As for development, they might already be on there way to improvement. If the rumors about Joel Bouchard are true the Habs might have their new AHL head coach. I wouldn't mind adding new assistants as well.
5) Better asset/cap management. This one is self explanatory and will be necessary if the Habs sign Tavares and want to have long term success. It's about creating a longer "Cup window". Most GMs in the league (including Bergevin) seem to try to build these short 3-4 year windows. I'd rather have 6-7 (or longer) year window. You can't build that kind of window if you don't properly manage your assets and cap.
I'm sure I'm probably overlooking something or might be asking for a bit much, but I think that all of these things are possible (long shot, but possible).
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Nice. A good hockey guy to add to the organization.
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I would chose Lindgren over Niemi. Ideally Lindgren would be able to go to the minors for one more season to work on his game and come back as the backup 19-20 season, but waivers will prevent that from happening. Long term I think Lindgren has the potential to be better than what Niemi is right now. I also believe he has the potential to have better trade value in a year or two than Niemi has right now or will have in the future. As long as Price is in a Habs uniform, he will be the starter and play the vast majority of the games regardless of who the backup is. Perhaps Lindgren shows the same potential as Cam Talbot did with the Rangers and the Habs can get a similar return (3 picks - 2nd, 3rd, 7th rounders) if they trade him in a year or two. Perhaps even as good of return as Boston got for Martin Jones (1st rounder and prospect Kuraly).
2018 NHL Offseason Thread
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Former Habs pick Matt Bradley signs with the AHL champs Toronto Marlies.