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Habs sign Erik Cole. 4 years/$18M


jmaac1

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He had a couple of disastrous seasons due to health issues. That is the only reason for ANY negativity around this signing. This guy is a PERFECT fit for our team which has needed a player of his profile literally for years. He will fit superbly into our top-6 or equally superbly on the third line. Most importantly, he removes the need to throw a plodder like Darche on the powerplay.

The more I think about this, the happier I am - not because Cole is some superstar (expect 50 points, barring injury) but because he is the ideal player to fill a very specific hole on our team. The benefits his game cam bring our club are disproportionate to his profile as a player taken in isolation.

Potentially a very, very good signing.

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I'm less than thrilled with the term, but I'm ok with the slight overpayment. He does fill a hole on our team, and should increase our goals this year. Barring any injury, I'm stoked. AND the Habs-killer is off the market! :)

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Unless there is a trade... our lineup is pretty much set.

Cammy - Pleks - Cole

Gionta - Gomez - Pax

A.kost - Eller - Darche

R.White - Desharnais - Moen

Markov Gorges

Subban Gill

Spacek Emelin

Would love to see Richards in for Gomez though...

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Damn...that's a sweet-looking top-6, especially if Gomer bounces back. Still a touch weak on the right side, in that Pacioretty hasn't really proven he can deliver over a whole season. Which perhaps expains the Kosty-for-Hemsky rumours.

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I think the team is still short one bottom three player. Expect a Metro, Halpern, Moore, Smolinski, type signing. No tough guys here.

Yeah, Gauthier will definitely sign someone for that role. Probably not today though.

My initial enthusiasm for Cole is tempered by a better awareness of his age. You never know how a player will hold up over time, but crashers and bangers sometimes do worse.

Still, a great fit and with his Cup ring and experience he only enhances one of the league's gutsiest and most savvy playoff dressing rooms. We'll likely be hating Cole four years from now, but 2-3 quality years are a reasonable expectation.

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Anything has to be better than Darche and Moen on the top 6 so I am cautiosly optimistic. I wanted a top 6er or a defenseman and got it, so other than term there are no complaints. He is under 35 so he can be buried. Fliechman just went to florida for the same contract with some pretty big health issues. Florida looks pretty improved. I will use Fliechman as Cole's measuring stick

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This is a dream come true! Finally about time we get that big forward who can score. Better than that, the ultimate Habs Killer now a Habs?! Wow. Not only will Cole help our team, we'll be good to get at least 1 or 2 more wins against Carolina this year. And those 2 extra wins alone can make the difference between making the playoffs or not. Will be interesting to see the shuffling on the top 3 lines.

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:bouncing:

Yeah, Gauthier will definitely sign someone for that role. Probably not today though.

My initial enthusiasm for Cole is tempered by a better awareness of his age. You never know how a player will hold up over time, but crashers and bangers sometimes do worse.

Still, a great fit and with his Cup ring and experience he only enhances one of the league's gutsiest and most savvy playoff dressing rooms. We'll likely be hating Cole four years from now, but 2-3 quality years are a reasonable expectation.

I HATE COLE......

er..no..I LOVE COLE!

This is so confusing... :bouncing::rolleyes:

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:bouncing:

I HATE COLE......

er..no..I LOVE COLE!

This is so confusing... :bouncing::rolleyes:

Ha ha, no, I loved the idea of Cole from the start. I was just noting my belated realization that he'll be, like, 37 at the end of this contract. But every team has some vet on the butt end of a contract, so it's not like this will put us at some huge competitive disadvantage.

I didn't like to see Wiz go, but clearly Gauthier agreed with the majority sentiment that FW was a higher priority than D, and that *was* a defensible position all along. Between Cole and Budaj,. he obvioously had a very keen sense of the specific weaknesses he wanted addressed, and he went out and addressed them with the two best players available to fill those holes. Good GMing, no question.

Yes, as the summer moves on I'd expect at least one more affordable signing at FW. I for one want veteran depth on D as well - preferably someone who can move the puck a bit.

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don't be surprise to see montreal pick up jamie langenbrunner or anthony stewart. possibly nick boynton too

Wide variety of players there, a proven vet who'll likely cost beyond what the Habs can afford, an RFA that went unqualified, and an aging d-man holding on to an NHL job by a thumbnail.

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That is definitely one missing link fixed. A solid, hard working winger with size and skill.

We are still short a bigger, tougher center. Since we can't get a top 6 big center, we need a big, tough center for the 3rd line. Eller doesn't do it for me. He either becomes a top 6 guy, or goes away, imo. We need a shutdown 3rd line so Plex doesn't have to play defense all the time.

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NHL hall of fame i agree with what you say about all these players but at the end these are just rumblings from what ive read around the web, but I have to admit that stewart would make a very intriguing addition to montreal. For 14 goals and 25 assists playing for the thrashers!!! wouldn't you take that gamble?

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I`m very happy with this signing, we arn`t the small team anymore! Kosy, Pac, Eller, Cole. We are building a bigger team my friends!

haha, I`m looking forward to seeing the other signings Gauthier makes :)

Bit sad to see Talbot signed :(

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Details are obviously not completely known on the deal, but so far no indications of a No Trade or No Movement Clause.

That certainly makes the contract better.

There will be one, of that I have no doubt. Perhaps not a full NMC but some sort of modified NTC at the very least. Any notable UFA today will get one.

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