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Habsworld Official 2009 Free Agent Thread


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I'd like to propose a scenario here.

There is a name out there that has received absolutely zero attention. Ignoring the cap factor, and how many bodies we have right now, I'm wondering why no one is talking about Todd Bertuzzi. No he won't put up 98 points again, and he's not the player he was in Vancouver, but this guy can still put up some offense numbers, and more importantly, can bring size and grit to the forward unit, which, at the moment, looks a tad small.

I'm not saying it's possible, but if we could get this guy cheap, don't you think it's worth a chance. Hell, we can just park him in front of the net on a powerplay anyways.

Other issues aside, I would be quite excited if we could get this guy cheap and throw him in the roster.

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He doesn't use his size or grit anymore. He's ridiculously lazy.

The only thing he was good for in Calgary was the powerplay and even that production tailed off in the second half of the season. He was at the bottom of the barrel in plus/minus last season and went something like 20 games without more then a couple of assists. He spends more time in the box then he needs to and his reputation definitely works against him. I saw a lot of fringe stuff with Bertuzzi that refs called on him all the time.

He's useless now, any team is better off without him. Although I've heard the Flyers are interested.

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  • 2 weeks later...
:clap:

Cammon guys. Don't overreact! He's still 2/3 bleu-blanc-rouge! He just scrapped the rouge! More masculin if you put it that way!

lol

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:clap:

Cammon guys. Don't overreact! He's still 2/3 bleu-blanc-rouge! He just scrapped the rouge! More masculin if you put it that way!

WHAT?

I'll pretend you had a brain fart! and have no recollection of what you just said LOL

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/teams/vancou...x%3Fid%3D830270

The Canucks are, like Calgary, another organization that seem to be forever patching up gaping holes due to the lack of an effective development system. That's why they have Kyle Wellwood as third-line C and Alex Burrows on the first line - and why they are seriously looking at replacing Ohlund with yet another injury-prone short-term fix (as if more injuries on the blueline are what a team with Sami Salo needs). Great goaltending, strong coaching, and the Sedins make them an effective club, and if everyone is healthy - unlikely on a team that includes Schneider, Demitra and Salo in key roles - and unified, they could conceivably make a Cinderella run; but I wouldn't believe the 'Stanley Cup Contender' hype we sometimes hear around them.

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Well, the successor to Ohlund was supposed to be Bourdon, so I don't know if we can blame the lack of an effective development system for this... and it's not like we had a replacement for Streit when we lost him, either, which is why we got Schneider and now signed Spacek.

That's life for pretty much everyone.

And Alex Burrows scored more than every habs outside of Kovalev and Markov, if memory serves me correct.

Cody Hodgson is their 3rd line centre this year.

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What else can they do? Schneider is a good pick up for them.

They aren't a serious Cup contender but they are a surefire playoff team. Hodgson's one of the best prospects in the world, right now. In the next couple of years, he and Grabner will step into thos offensive roles that Vancouver's always needed filled. I don't think the team's at it's peak yet.

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What else can they do? Schneider is a good pick up for them.

They aren't a serious Cup contender but they are a surefire playoff team. Hodgson's one of the best prospects in the world, right now. In the next couple of years, he and Grabner will step into thos offensive roles that Vancouver's always needed filled. I don't think the team's at it's peak yet.

Hmmm. Well, maybe I'm too hard on them. They're kinda like the Habs in that they've had glaring weaknesses for years now and really haven't addressed them.

In our case, it's been a second rushing defenceman to back up Markov (Hamrlik, Streit, Schneider, now Spacek have all been used to plug this hole); long-term solutions at C (Gomez is at least offers some long-term solidifcation at the position; but Plek's regression last season is reason to worry); and maybe size up front (but I'm not convinced that this is as big a deal as the critics think).

In Vancouver's case, it's been secondary scoring (their whole second line is piecemeal, as is whoever plays with the Sedins - and the jury is out on whether Burrows is a long-term fit there); and at least one legitimate top-4 defenceman who doesn't get hurt all the time.

Comparing the two squads is kind of interesting. Vancouver has substantially better anchors up front (we have no two players to rival the Sedins) and in nets. They have three stars, we have only two in Markov and Cammy. I believe we have it all over them in terms of depth, especially at forward. And that's because of our development system. (It's easy to imagine that Bourdon would have been strong, but there were serious doubts about him which, of course, nobody mentions now - may he RIP). Then again, we have no prospect in Hodgson's class.

One area where they're massively ahead of us is coaching. Hopefully Martin pulls us even with Vigneault in this respect.

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Gillis has been trying to address the forward depth.

Why is the second line piece meal? Kesler is a legitimate 2nd line centre (better than Koivu, Lang, Plekanec, Lapierre or anyone we'd have as a second line C) and Demitra still has the talent to be considered a respectable second liner. I'm not a fan of Raymond or Hansen as top 6 forwards, nor of Burrows on the first line, but these guys have done fine in these roles in the past. Samuelsson is a product of the Detroit system but he's the type of player that tends to do well with the Sedins - that could demote Burrows to a role on the second or third line that suits him better. Then, like I said, Hodgson is the man and will be given a roster spot in training camp. You can expect him to improve throughout the season and possibly be a Calder finalist.

I'm actually not sure Montreal has better forward depth anymore. Now that the excitement of having new players has worn off, I'm back to being sceptical. I do think we'll do better than we did last year, but on paper, we're surely a worse team than we were.

Habs and Nucks are two solid teams in the same range. I'd bet that Vancouver will finish higher; Luongo in a defensive system guarantees a certain amount of consistency. Price? Meh, he's "the next Luongo," but still no Roberto, not yet.

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Worse on Paper? Are speaking about the habs?

Spaecek > Komi

Gill> Bouillon

Mara> Dandy, Brisbois, O'Byrne

The D is bigger, more mobile, better at moving the puck and actually move players in front of the net.

Camallarri > Kovalev

Gomez > Koivu

Gionta > Tanguay (not skill wise but a better overall player and will score more goals and go to the net.

Moen > Kosto (bigger, ytougher and wins fights .

So how do think they are worse.

They are also younger faster, and proven WINNERS on the roster, something the guys who left knew little about.

Too many off ice issues with the old crew, year after year one problem after another.

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Comparing teams across conferences is generally a pretty fruitless endeavour... the most head-to-head action that occurs between two teams from different conferences happens in late May/June... even baseball offers more points of reference between their two leagues.

But my general opinion on the Canucks: a decent team in a division without an elite team, one that has some quality players at forward and an elite goaltender. They lack a true #1 D, but they have complimentary pieces on D that when healthy make up for that.

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Yeah, my only reason for making the comparison is that I live in Vancouver and so get to follow the travails of the Canuckleheads and their particularly idiotic fanbase on a regular basis ^_^

I tend to agree with Chris - I like this new team quite a bit, although we're obviously not anyone's first choice for Cup contender; but I don't know that our season point totals will prove his argument, because it'll take time for the team to gel and that will cost us some games early on. It will be a real test of the mettle of the Molson's, whether they will resist the inevitable screams for Gainey's head after a couple of months of .500 hockey. But I would expect that the team will gel at some point and once it does, that leadership, character, and coaching will make us a dangerous team to meet in the playoffs (assuming we survive the early storms and get in).

Having said that, last season's team ON PAPER was probably better than this one. If everyone had stayed healthy and played up to potential, I honestly think we'd have been top 5 and likely to make the Conference finals at least. But it didn't happen, and given the ages and track records of most of our UFAs, Gainey did what he had to do.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Yeah, my only reason for making the comparison is that I live in Vancouver and so get to follow the travails of the Canuckleheads and their particularly idiotic fanbase on a regular basis ^_^

Heh, for me, it's Oilers fans.

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Worse on Paper? Are speaking about the habs?

Spaecek > Komi

Gill> Bouillon

Mara> Dandy, Brisbois, O'Byrne

The D is bigger, more mobile, better at moving the puck and actually move players in front of the net.

Camallarri > Kovalev

Gomez > Koivu

Gionta > Tanguay (not skill wise but a better overall player and will score more goals and go to the net.

Moen > Kosto (bigger, ytougher and wins fights .

So how do think they are worse.

They are also younger faster, and proven WINNERS on the roster, something the guys who left knew little about.

Too many off ice issues with the old crew, year after year one problem after another.

They'll finish with a better record, but they are worse on paper.

1) Komisarek is better than any d-man we picked up. He didn't play better than Spacek last season, but on paper, he's the better player.

2) I also don't see how Gionta's a better player than Tanguay. Tangs was our best forward after Lang went down, which brings me to:

3) Lang was our best forward last season and definitely our best centre. Is Gomez better than Koivu AND Lang together? Nope.

4) Higgins. We lost him and now we'll be playing someone like D'Agostini in his place.

None of the other upgrades we got were big ones.

The biggest upgrades this year will be in players like Plekanec, Kostitsyn and Price. If Martin gives them a system they can work with, they'll be 5th-8th in the East. Not much reason for more optimism than that. Some would say that we have a team of 2nd liners.

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Done deal now, a 1 year deal with Nucks, financials not officially disclosed. ($1.55 M appears to be the magic figure here though...)

Vancouver also acquires a pair of d-men from San Jose, Ehrhoff and Lukowich for a pair of prospects in Daniel Rahimi and Patrick White.

Can't say I saw the 2nd one coming, but the Sharks just freed up a good chunk of cap space...

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