Markov WILL stay

[alexstream]

1st main reason why Markov will stay with the habs is that his agent is NOT Don Meehan

2nd main reason is that he LOVES Montreal, as more thouroughly explained in the following article by Matthias Brunet (who got tired of bashing I guess jk Matthias... sorry that was a cheap shot)

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070320...5128/CPSPORTS01

Edited March 20, 2007 by simonus

[JMMR]

I will buy a Markov jersey when he signs his extension.

In an interview with the Candiens magazine Markov talks about he does not talk a lot to the media that it just is not his style.

But his english is pretty good now.

Komisarek was quoted saying something along the lines of that guy can't keep his mouth closed on the ice. That he is always yapping about something.

[JoeLassister]

Oh this is nice. When a Russian call patriotic feelings (Tretiak speech) toward a team, it always sounds good!

[CerebusClone]

We'll see this summer... many players say (and probably mean) they want to stay, but then some dumb GM offers them huge contracts, and they are gone...

And if he does stay i can't wait to see the ridiculous contrat Bob Gainey will offer him. Considering Gainey's past of awful signings, can we think somewhere 4-year and 26 millions?

Edited March 20, 2007 by CerebusClone

[alexstream]

We'll see this summer... many players say (and probably mean) they want to stay, but then some dumb GM offers them huge contracts, and they are gone...

And if he does stay i can't wait to see the ridiculous contrat Bob Gainey will offer him. Considering Gainey's past of awful signings, can we think somewhere 4-year and 26 millions?

Gainey has only offered "Market" up to now... nothing above... (which might be why we didn't get Arnott or stuff like him, b/c of BG's unwillingness to OVERpay.) Sammy was signed at Market value... He just failed to deliver. Huet actually signed UNDER market value, seeing how high Gerber and the likes got. I have no clue as to how BG achieved to convince the young RFAs to sign for so cheap (Higgins something like 600k, Plek at 450k... etc)

I'm pretty sure we'll sign Markov BEFORE July 1st and something tells me he's gonna get something along the lines of 16M for 4 years. I wouldn't mind seeing him get more... but I'm gonna speculate that he's gonna sign for an amount that's gonna be more than acceptable.

I'm still not so sure about Sheldon... his GF, which is the same as last season, the came back together... visited him in Montreal last fall and Sheldon said that if he was to sign here, that she would consider moving over!!!!

so the whole "split up family, daughter is in L.A., ex-GF doesn't cooperate" argument suddenly fell down the crappers...

Alicia or whatever her name is, might finally be willing to move over to Sheldon's mansion in Boucherville ... shocker!

[habscout]

Markov is good, but he's not $6.5M dollars worth of good. I believe that he's likely to resign with Montreal, for an amount that's close to what Koivu & Kovalev earn. The resigning of Souray will influence the final amount, as well as the increases that the Habs' own RFA's will be receiving (eg. Higgins, Ryder, Plekanec, Komisarek,Perezhogin). Resigning Bonk & Johnson will also be factors, as will their UFA replacements. The whole Samsonov mess may also affect next year's cap, as it's quite possible the Habs will buy him out and take the 2/3's of his salary as a hit against the cap. If you add the cost of Kostitsyn's salary to that 2/3's figure, assuming he will replace Sergei in the lineup next season, then it becomes more palatable. Also, this year's UFA premium defencemen will be a relatively small group, compared to the forwards, so Gainey will have more pressure to resign his own than jump into a higher than expected UFA market for a replacement.

We'll see this summer... many players say (and probably mean) they want to stay, but then some dumb GM offers them huge contracts, and they are gone...

And if he does stay i can't wait to see the ridiculous contrat Bob Gainey will offer him. Considering Gainey's past of awful signings, can we think somewhere 4-year and 26 millions?

Edited March 20, 2007 by habscout

[CerebusClone]

I understand your point, but I still think he overpaid guys like Kovalev and Samsonov above market value. There's a difference between what the market price is, and what the players ask for. Anson Carter thought his market value was hug, but ended up signing a one-year contract at the last minute with Colombus.

Which brings me to another point, multi-year contracts. I doubt Samsonov was getting big offers at that point of the summer, and he obviously wasn't the Habs number one choice. With that in mind, if Gainey really wanted a UFA to fill a void in the lineup, he should have just offered Samsonov a one-year deal; you don't offer you "Plan D" a multi-year contract, especially not for that kind of money. As for Kovalev, he sure wasn't the top UFA in the market, and his options were limited. There was no reason to sign him for so many years.

Multi-year deals to marginal players like Begin, Bouillon, Dandeneault, and Murray will prevent us from giving chances to the many youngs players that we have in the system. There was no reason to offer Steve Begin a 3-year when had have Maxim Lapierre who's 5 times better ready this year, as well as Chipchura, and to some extent Stewart and Ferland who could probably fill-in as reserve players. If it weren't for Begin and Murray, Duncan Milroy might have had a better chance, and he might have become a quality 4th liner for us this year.

Basically, I think we've sealed too many openings with marginal players, and that will cost us the chance to "discover" some young talents.

[habscout]

If by "GF" you mean his ex-wife, then that's a positive sign he may stay in Montreal. By the way, I have not seen an official statement anywhere that indicates Souray and his wife are officially divorced. I believe they are separated, and given the fact that she's pregnant and due to have their 2nd child in May, there may be some hope that they two will fully reconcile their marriage.

I'm still not so sure about Sheldon... his GF, which is the same as last season, the came back together... visited him in Montreal last fall and Sheldon said that if he was to sign here, that she would consider moving over!!!!

so the whole "split up family, daughter is in L.A., ex-GF doesn't cooperate" argument suddenly fell down the crappers...

Alicia or whatever her name is, might finally be willing to move over to Sheldon's mansion in Boucherville ... shocker!

[CerebusClone]

Markov is good, but he's not $6.5M dollars worth of good.

I agree with you, I just hope Gainey does to. Ideally, since Koivu is already making 4.75M, I hope Markov will resign for a little less than that, which would be fair to both sides I think. In his case, I won't mind 3-4 year contract either since we know him, and he's been very good to us, unlike a guy like who was known to be a "gutless wonder" before we signed him.

[CerebusClone]

which might be why we didn't get Arnott or stuff like him, b/c of BG's unwillingness to OVERpay.

Personally, I'd rather "overpay" Jason Arnott at 4.5 millions than pay Kovalev his "market value" of 4.5 millions... if we had Arnott instead of Kovalev in the lineup, I don't think we'd be fighting for a playoff spot right now, but rather with Ottawa and Pittsburg for the 4th place.

If you think Nashville overpaid Arnott, who was one of the top UFAs this summer, how can you say that Gainey only pays market value considering Kovalev has an identical contract, and was coming off some pretty ordinary seasons in New York?

[alexstream]

I agree with you, I just hope Gainey does to. Ideally, since Koivu is already making 4.75M, I hope Markov will resign for a little less than that, which would be fair to both sides I think. In his case, I won't mind 3-4 year contract either since we know him, and he's been very good to us, unlike a guy like who was known to be a "gutless wonder" before we signed him.

yup, but the "gutless wonder" still got 65 pts in 69 games last season (7 pts in 6 playoffs games)

and 10 pts in 11 playoffs games the previous season. I agree though that he should give us more. but again, I blame Kovalev for that. He CAN deliver... he's just lazy.

[CerebusClone]

yup, but the "gutless wonder" still got 65 pts in 69 games last season (7 pts in 6 playoffs games)

and 10 pts in 11 playoffs games the previous season. I agree though that he should give us more. but again, I blame Kovalev for that. He CAN deliver... he's just lazy.

That's where we differ I guess. I don't blame Kovalev for being Kovalev... I blame Bob Gainey for giving him too much money over too many years, but more importantly for giving too many responsibilities to guy who's played many years in the NHL, and is known to be reliable.

I don't mind having a Kovalev-type player in the lineup, howver not in a key/core role. Building around Kovalev is like building over quicksand. Bob Gainey should have known that...

That's why I've never like Mike Ribeiro. Sure, his stats look decent on paper, and he'll give you the occasional big game. However, in a critical situation, you just can't count on him.

[JMMR]

I was suprised Gainey did not get Arnott but oh well, I am not sure who I would rather have Arnott or Kovalev honestly it would be a tough decision.

As for him over paying for Samsonov he really didn't Edmonton offerd him more money repotdely and the Wings offered him the same money. Samsonov really wanted to play in the north east division.

[revin5]

Multi-year deals to marginal players like Begin, Bouillon, Dandeneault, and Murray will prevent us from giving chances to the many youngs players that we have in the system. There was no reason to offer Steve Begin a 3-year when had have Maxim Lapierre who's 5 times better ready this year, as well as Chipchura, and to some extent Stewart and Ferland who could probably fill-in as reserve players. If it weren't for Begin and Murray, Duncan Milroy might have had a better chance, and he might have become a quality 4th liner for us this year.

Begin is a leader on the ice.. Lapierre, Ferland.. none of them have that right now. He can also play wing.. so when Bonk leaves (I'm guessing on this at the end of the year), Chipchura will be able to fill his role.. although they are big shoes to fill... I wish I could find a stats page that includes hits, then you would see what Begin brings to the team.

[JMMR]

Begin is more important to the team than many believe. I hate to admit it sometimes but when he blocks 2 or 3 shots in one shit and sacrifices himself over and over again the team seems to play harder. Sure 1 million is a lot for a player like him but he does lift the spirits of this team on a regular basis.

[saskhab]

A couple of points:

1. Both Markov and Souray are worth $5m+/season on the open market.

2. This team, as far as I can tell, does not have a "no one makes more than the captain" rule, like Ottawa did with Alfie (and why they immediately dealt Hossa after he signed his huge contract). Koivu makes more because of a) his quality; B) his intangibles; c) when he signed (Kovalev signed with a lower cap figure, by the time Saku signed we knew it would be much higher in coming years); d) his age. In fact, when he signed the deal, Theodore was still making over $1m/season more than him on average. So Koivu's deal isn't a measuring stick for the organization at all.

3. Markov is our best player, and is underappreciated. Not many d-men in the league can play in every situation as well as he can. He's been our best puckmoving blueliner for 4 seasons now, and our best defensive blueliner for just as long. He should be priority #1, and there's no reason we can't go long on this deal. 5 years is fine by me.

4. Souray gets trickier. I still think this is the year we have to commit to a couple of our younger players and get them signed long term (3-5 years). I'm specifically thinking of Komisarek and Higgins. If it were up to me I'd sign both Markov and Komi to 5 year deals and say that I have my top D pairing locked up for the next half-decade at a fixed rate. Souray, therefore, would be a short term deal, if he were still interested. I couldn't commit long term to Sheldon. 2 years, $10m. I could live with that. But we'd have to make room.

5. These are estimates, and obviously I'd want the deals to be lower value.

We need to identify our core. This off-season is crucial. And Markov better be a part of it.

Edited March 20, 2007 by saskhab

[CerebusClone]

I agree about Markov.

As for Souray, although he'll probably worth more on the open market, I wouldn't give him more than 3.5M to 4M, and for no longer than 2 years. If that's not enough to keep him, than too bad, and good luck to him elsewhere where he might be next year's UFA bust. He completely forgot how to play defense (he actually used to be a decent defensive defenseman), and all he's got offensively is a big shot.

[ShortHanded]

A couple of points:

1. Both Markov and Souray are worth $5m+/season on the open market.

2. This team, as far as I can tell, does not have a "no one makes more than the captain" rule, like Ottawa did with Alfie (and why they immediately dealt Hossa after he signed his huge contract). Koivu makes more because of a) his quality; B) his intangibles; c) when he signed (Kovalev signed with a lower cap figure, by the time Saku signed we knew it would be much higher in coming years); d) his age. In fact, when he signed the deal, Theodore was still making over $1m/season more than him on average. So Koivu's deal isn't a measuring stick for the organization at all.

3. Markov is our best player, and is underappreciated. Not many d-men in the league can play in every situation as well as he can. He's been our best puckmoving blueliner for 4 seasons now, and our best defensive blueliner for just as long. He should be priority #1, and there's no reason we can't go long on this deal. 5 years is fine by me.

4. Souray gets trickier. I still think this is the year we have to commit to a couple of our younger players and get them signed long term (3-5 years). I'm specifically thinking of Komisarek and Higgins. If it were up to me I'd sign both Markov and Komi to 5 year deals and say that I have my top D pairing locked up for the next half-decade at a fixed rate. Souray, therefore, would be a short term deal, if he were still interested. I couldn't commit long term to Sheldon. 2 years, $10m. I could live with that. But we'd have to make room.

5. These are estimates, and obviously I'd want the deals to be lower value.

We need to identify our core. This off-season is crucial. And Markov better be a part of it.

pretty much agree with most of the concepts here. Don't know if I agree with the numbers you're putting out. I'd need to give it more thought.

[JoeLassister]

Begin is a leader on the ice.. Lapierre, Ferland.. none of them have that right now. He can also play wing.. so when Bonk leaves (I'm guessing on this at the end of the year), Chipchura will be able to fill his role.. although they are big shoes to fill... I wish I could find a stats page that includes hits, then you would see what Begin brings to the team.

I agree. Some guys who post on HW don't understand the importance of Steve Bégin in the locker room, on the team's morale, on the fans morale and, specially, on the PK. This man is an untouchable for next year.

[JMMR]

I agree. Some guys who post on HW don't understand the importance of Steve Bégin in the locker room, on the team's morale, on the fans morale and, specially, on the PK. This man is an untouchable for next year.

That is why Gainey sigend him for 3 years. 1$ mill is the problem some people have if it would have been 750-850 a lot more people would be happy. But he did have a wicked offensive year last season which for sure is a reason why he got a few hundred thou more.

[saskhab]

pretty much agree with most of the concepts here. Don't know if I agree with the numbers you're putting out. I'd need to give it more thought.

I hope I'm on the high end, and hope we can get them for lower, that's for sure. But judging on the supply/demand rule, and what rates were in 2005, how they went up in 2006, and now... Only a handful (and I mean one hand, not two) of d-men could be considered more valuable than these two. Timmonen might be the #1 choice, Markov and Souray are right behind with Rafalski, Hannan, and maybe Stuart and Salo. Given the choice between signing a top 4 blueliner or a top 6 forward, a team will almost always choose the blueliner, so they get more money.

What may help, though, is that the forward pool is much larger and of higher quality than the d-men. Because the star attractions are at a different position, then less money goes to the d-men, evening the playing field a bit. Last summer was all about d-men.

Edited March 20, 2007 by saskhab

[BTH]

I think Markov will re-sign for 5 years at 4.5M but I believe he is worth as much as 5.5M. Souray can make 6.5 x 4 on the open market, but I expect him to re-sign in Montreal somehow, for some strange reason.

[CerebusClone]

I think Markov will re-sign for 5 years at 4.5M but I believe he is worth as much as 5.5M. Souray can make 6.5 x 4 on the open market, but I expect him to re-sign in Montreal somehow, for some strange reason.

I think I agree with Pierre McGuire when he mentionned the other day that Souray will be very dispointed with the quality of the offers he will get. He's probably salivating when looking at Bryan McCabe's contract, but I also doubt he'll get anywhere near that.

[brboo]

I think I agree with Pierre McGuire when he mentionned the other day that Souray will be very dispointed with the quality of the offers he will get. He's probably salivating when looking at Bryan McCabe's contract, but I also doubt he'll get anywhere near that.

Well here's a look at the goal totals of the most offensive d men over the last 3 yrs.

Souray 51

McCabe 46

Gonchar 36

Lidstrom 39

Pronger 37

Niedermayer 39

Boyle 40

Boucher 42

I would love to have Sheldon stay here but it's gonna take a lot of cash to sign him. I think McGuire is delusional if he thinks there won't be a huge bidding war over him.

[Bullsmith]

If the team makes the playoffs, both Souray and Markov stay.

Just putting my bet down early.