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Habs sign Erik Cole. 4 years/$18M


jmaac1

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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.

Confirmed that there is some form of NTC in the contract (not an NMC though).

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Looks as if the Habs went way higher than anyone else here (similar tactic as to what they did with Gionta and to a lesser extent, Cammalleri). Carolina went up to $4 mil per year (shorter term) just before the deal with Montreal was done, highest I've seen listed as offered from the various teams who also tried to get him. Interestingly enough, the Habs' first call right at 12 was to Cole's representation.

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Looks as if the Habs went way higher than anyone else here (similar tactic as to what they did with Gionta and to a lesser extent, Cammalleri). Carolina went up to $4 mil per year (shorter term) just before the deal with Montreal was done, highest I've seen listed as offered from the various teams who also tried to get him. Interestingly enough, the Habs' first call right at 12 was to Cole's representation.

Good thinking, of all the people in available I believe he really is the best fitted.

I just never thought we would actually sign him, I`m happy I was wrong :)

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A great signing by PG. I never thought carolina would be dumm enough to let him go. No superstar but really consistant and tough on the puck. I am falling in love with PG

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I guess I'm in the minority again. Don't like the term or the dollars. But I guess in terms of dollars there was a LOT of really stupid money being thrown around today.

Cole scares me because of what I saw of him in Edmonton, his age and the fact that as far as I can remember he played a lot with Stall - don't really know anything about this past year. Don't get why the Habs wouldnt try an lock up a 27/28 yr old AK46 who will be a UFA next year now, rather then a 33 year old Cole now.

I would have much rather the habs targete ville neino from Philly

I'm also probably in the minority of the Habs giving up on a 22/23 year old Pouliot. It's going to be even more painful watching him go to the damn bruins. If he does turn it around I will really be pissed at another squandered asset.

Lastly, I also didn't like the Budaj signing. This is a guy that has not shown any sort of consistent. He's played pretty good in some of the games against Calgary I've seen, but rarely has shown any consistency - something essential for a guy who isn't going to get a lot of starts.

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I guess I'm in the minority again. Don't like the term or the dollars. But I guess in terms of dollars there was a LOT of really stupid money being thrown around today.

Cole scares me because of what I saw of him in Edmonton, his age and the fact that as far as I can remember he played a lot with Stall - don't really know anything about this past year. Don't get why the Habs wouldnt try an lock up a 27/28 yr old AK46 who will be a UFA next year now, rather then a 33 year old Cole now.

I would have much rather the habs targete ville neino from Philly

I'm also probably in the minority of the Habs giving up on a 22/23 year old Pouliot. It's going to be even more painful watching him go to the damn bruins. If he does turn it around I will really be pissed at another squandered asset.

Lastly, I also didn't like the Budaj signing. This is a guy that has not shown any sort of consistent. He's played pretty good in some of the games against Calgary I've seen, but rarely has shown any consistency - something essential for a guy who isn't going to get a lot of starts.

I'm with you on the thought of giving up on Pouliot. I think we give up on these types of guys too early. I have an awful feeling that Pouliot on the Broons top two lines could put up similar or better numbers than Cole on ours for quarter of the price. (Sure hope I'm wrong)

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I'm with you on the thought of giving up on Pouliot. I think we give up on these types of guys too early. I have an awful feeling that Pouliot on the Broons top two lines could put up similar or better numbers than Cole on ours for quarter of the price. (Sure hope I'm wrong)

Well they signed Ryder and look how good that turned out. Pouliot has tons of talent and no brain, IF he turns it around in boston good for him. But I remember when the signed Ryder for stupid money and they said Julien could turn him around. He's playing for dallas nowat a lot less money. I would not get too shook up about it, he's no Guy lafleur.

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Well they signed Ryder and look how good that turned out. Pouliot has tons of talent and no brain, IF he turns it around in boston good for him. But I remember when the signed Ryder for stupid money and they said Julien could turn him around. He's playing for dallas nowat a lot less money. I would not get too shook up about it, he's no Guy lafleur.

I hate Ryder - always hated Ryder - a guy who never used his size and always wanted to sign one year deals when in Montreal, but he did have a good playoffs this year and did burn us in the playoffs.

Pouliot has WAY more talent then Ryder and the habs should be doing whatever it takes to put a guy like that in a position to succeed. PLaying him with Darche or Moen isn't going to help Pouliot. He should have been in Hamilton last year, the same way that MaxPac should have been in Hamilton. But the habs were hoping to save pace after Lats was lighting it up in Minny and kept Pouliot up in Montreal, when he was clearly struggling and JM couldnt get him going. I said last year and still say that JM is lousy with young players. I don't buy the Subban argument on how his play improved over time. His play improved because he got more ice time and the reason he got more ice time was that JM had no choice to play Subban after injuries to Markov, Spacek and Gorges.

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Ignoring his contract, I am a happy camper. Montreal should be better now than for many years. especially if they stay healthy. If Gautier signs Konopka, I may pass out with joy. This is really a complete team. A little weak on the defensive depth, but who knows how Weber and Yemelin will do. We may be surprised. Also, Spacek on the left side playing 7 or 8 minutes will be just fine back there. Weber needs to warm up his point shot and PP skills though. He will be counted on big time. I haven't been this optmistic since before the 100 year meltdown. Hahaha. It just shows how much a strong team on paper and reality can differ. Who knows. Gomez and Kosty could be the team's best players next year.

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I for one am very happy with this signing we desperately needed someone with good size that can both score goals and isn't afraid to toss his body around. As for the terms of the contract I think they are perfectly fine especially if you go by what teams are paying free agents this year. Not to mention he fills a significant hole we needed and every team knows it so he's more valuable to us then he was to other teams.

This could also help the development of Max Pacioretty since he now gets to see someone game in and game out of who he can somewhat model his game after. Not to mention Erik Cole has experience coming back from a Neck Injury something that can possibly help Pacioretty next season.

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I hate Ryder - always hated Ryder - a guy who never used his size and always wanted to sign one year deals when in Montreal, but he did have a good playoffs this year and did burn us in the playoffs.

Pouliot has WAY more talent then Ryder and the habs should be doing whatever it takes to put a guy like that in a position to succeed. PLaying him with Darche or Moen isn't going to help Pouliot. He should have been in Hamilton last year, the same way that MaxPac should have been in Hamilton. But the habs were hoping to save pace after Lats was lighting it up in Minny and kept Pouliot up in Montreal, when he was clearly struggling and JM couldnt get him going. I said last year and still say that JM is lousy with young players. I don't buy the Subban argument on how his play improved over time. His play improved because he got more ice time and the reason he got more ice time was that JM had no choice to play Subban after injuries to Markov, Spacek and Gorges.

Man last year it was Carey Price on every second post, this year it is Gomez and JM.

The Pouliot experiment was a failure and he is gone. He had his chances. As did Ryder, Higgins, Dagostini, Sergei Kostitsyn, Latendresse... etc... The loss of these guys is not a big deal to me. They are all fringe 2nd liner, third line depth forwards, of which there are hundreds in the league. I don't miss any of them. Maybe Lats a little. I always liked him, but he wasn't fast enough and wouldn't play hard power forward hockey.

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I hate Ryder - always hated Ryder - a guy who never used his size and always wanted to sign one year deals when in Montreal, but he did have a good playoffs this year and did burn us in the playoffs.

Pouliot has WAY more talent then Ryder and the habs should be doing whatever it takes to put a guy like that in a position to succeed. PLaying him with Darche or Moen isn't going to help Pouliot. He should have been in Hamilton last year, the same way that MaxPac should have been in Hamilton. But the habs were hoping to save pace after Lats was lighting it up in Minny and kept Pouliot up in Montreal, when he was clearly struggling and JM couldnt get him going. I said last year and still say that JM is lousy with young players. I don't buy the Subban argument on how his play improved over time. His play improved because he got more ice time and the reason he got more ice time was that JM had no choice to play Subban after injuries to Markov, Spacek and Gorges.

Ryder was and is a very streaky scorer, I was not sad to see him go. Pouliot I agree has more talent,,, THAT HE DOESN'T USE. I can't blame jm for giving him every opportunity to prove he could play with the big boys. He shot the bed not jm. as to sending him down we would have lost him on waivers and the long knives would have been out for PG. No win situation when a player will not respond. JM is not the first guy who tried to get him to play. Also Max pac was in Hamilton and worked his way out, well actually injuries dictated he come up. But he did a great job when he came up for the final time cause he goin to be a while now methinks.

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Ignoring his contract, I am a happy camper. Montreal should be better now than for many years. especially if they stay healthy. If Gautier signs Konopka, I may pass out with joy. This is really a complete team. A little weak on the defensive depth, but who knows how Weber and Yemelin will do. We may be surprised. Also, Spacek on the left side playing 7 or 8 minutes will be just fine back there. Weber needs to warm up his point shot and PP skills though. He will be counted on big time. I haven't been this optmistic since before the 100 year meltdown. Hahaha. It just shows how much a strong team on paper and reality can differ. Who knows. Gomez and Kosty could be the team's best players next year.

I'm really excited about the possibility if Subban takes the next step and doesn't suffer from the sophmore jinx. I also am happy we FINALLY got Yemelin over and hope the habs give Weber a real chance on Defense, but I was really hoping we would find a way to dump Spacek. If all the ifs on D work out, we can be pretty solid IF Markov, Subban, Yemelin, Gorges and Weber outplay and get the chance to outplay Gill and Spacek from JM.

I also really hope that MaxPac will come back strong and confident - by the sound of it the kids got a great attitude. I also am hoping big things from AK46, Desharnais and Eller when he his back. But again for thiese kids to succeed, they need to able to play with guys with skill and hope that they get that chance.

I really like Cole and hope that he is a 25-30 goal scorer, but the term and $ scare me and it also scares me seeing how ineffective he was in Montreal. YOur right that there is a lot of reason for optimism for next year, but there are a lot of ifs that need to go our way.

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Ryder was and is a very streaky scorer, I was not sad to see him go. Pouliot I agree has more talent,,, THAT HE DOESN'T USE. I can't blame jm for giving him every opportunity to prove he could play with the big boys. He shot the bed not jm. as to sending him down we would have lost him on waivers and the long knives would have been out for PG. No win situation when a player will not respond. JM is not the first guy who tried to get him to play. Also Max pac was in Hamilton and worked his way out, well actually injuries dictated he come up. But he did a great job when he came up for the final time cause he goin to be a while now methinks.

I'm talking about the 2009-2010 season. I know he had a strong start, but even back then, I thought he should have been in the minors. The habs have a habit of rushing young players - I think the comments from MaxPac last year were pretty telling on how JM is with kids. Or the fact that O'Byrne had success immidiately after leaving Montreal.

I have no issue with streaky scorers - most are streaky, which is why i don't have an issue with AK46. The issue I had with Ryder was his size and how he rarely ever used it and just seemed lazy. I He also was nothing more then a one trick pony who had a wrist shot and not much else. Lastly, I thought it was ridiculous that a guy with as little experience in the nhl insisted on 1 year deals every year. He just didn't really seem to be committed to the team or be a team guy. At least in this year's playoffs, he proved me wrong and showed he is capable of being more of a complete player when he puts forth the effort.

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I'm talking about the 2009-2010 season. I know he had a strong start, but even back then, I thought he should have been in the minors. The habs have a habit of rushing young players - I think the comments from MaxPac last year were pretty telling on how JM is with kids. Or the fact that O'Byrne had success immidiately after leaving Montreal.

I have no issue with streaky scorers - most are streaky, which is why i don't have an issue with AK46. The issue I had with Ryder was his size and how he rarely ever used it and just seemed lazy. I He also was nothing more then a one trick pony who had a wrist shot and not much else. Lastly, I thought it was ridiculous that a guy with as little experience in the nhl insisted on 1 year deals every year. He just didn't really seem to be committed to the team or be a team guy. At least in this year's playoffs, he proved me wrong and showed he is capable of being more of a complete player when he puts forth the effort.

I was not aware that obyrne was such a success. He is one big tough sob who can't fight and gets beat on the outside all the time. The fact he can play reasonable minutes on a team that does not have Montreal's talent or system is not really success. Imho. I cannot disagree with anything else you said except that when push came to shove and we had most of the bulldogs playing in montreal jm was the coach and we were winning so I think JM is ok with young guys. But he does get a bad rep cause of lil #### etc. As to what Max pac said good on em . He wanted to come and play not watch. I applaud him. :habslogo:

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I recall being as moses and I used to pal around together that when we traded for Frank (#27) Mahovolich the headline was "well now we don't have to check him" I wonder if that shouldn't be the headline now? :rolleyes:

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I guess I'm in the minority again. Don't like the term or the dollars. But I guess in terms of dollars there was a LOT of really stupid money being thrown around today.

Cole scares me because of what I saw of him in Edmonton, his age and the fact that as far as I can remember he played a lot with Stall - don't really know anything about this past year. Don't get why the Habs wouldnt try an lock up a 27/28 yr old AK46 who will be a UFA next year now, rather then a 33 year old Cole now.

I would have much rather the habs targete ville neino from Philly

I'm also probably in the minority of the Habs giving up on a 22/23 year old Pouliot. It's going to be even more painful watching him go to the damn bruins. If he does turn it around I will really be pissed at another squandered asset.

Lastly, I also didn't like the Budaj signing. This is a guy that has not shown any sort of consistent. He's played pretty good in some of the games against Calgary I've seen, but rarely has shown any consistency - something essential for a guy who isn't going to get a lot of starts.

1clap.gif1clap.gif1clap.gif1clap.gif1clap.gif BANG ON !

But I like that we added Cole. But I'd just too much loved to see AK inked for 4-5 as well...

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Hmm, with big rewards comes big risk.

I gagged when I 1st heard this. Now hours later I realize it could work out perfectly, but it could also be an expensive disaster because of his age and previous injuries. Cole is generally good for 50 pts/yr when healthy and he can and does play both ways and is fairly physical, though I dont go as far as calling him a power forward. Cole will drop the gloves and stick up for his teamates too, always good, especially if he's playing with Gio and Gomez.

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I also think that Pouliout on the Habs for 1.1 mil would be a lot better than him on the Bruins...oh, well... he could be another Dionne. (Gilbert, I hope and not Marcel :-) )

I'm with you on the thought of giving up on Pouliot. I think we give up on these types of guys too early. I have an awful feeling that Pouliot on the Broons top two lines could put up similar or better numbers than Cole on ours for quarter of the price. (Sure hope I'm wrong)

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This is the first big winger that actually uses his size that we have had in a long time. We need Cole regardless of his contract. He will also undoubtedly be helpful to Max's development and possibly Kostitsyn's too. With Cole here we have three solid lines.

As for Pouliot, I think that there is more to the story than just his play. Being in the press-box for most of the playoffs says there is something wrong.

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I like this signing! Cole was a Habs killer every time he played against us. He put points up nearly every game, and he played extra hard. The Gazette article says he was a Habs fan when he was young, which is something I have always suspected.

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Interesting coda to the Cole signing - in interviews he cited the desire, given his age, to avoid being part of a rebuild and to win NOW, and the Habs give him a chance to do that.

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110702/mtl_habshub_habit_110701/20110702/?hub=MontrealSports

This shows that the reputation of our team has fundamentally changed from being losers (which is how we were perceived prior to the Great Gainey Rebuild of 2009) to being a good, competitive team with a real shot.

Other than the freak event of 2008, last season was the first season in ages where I really began to feel the Habs were something close to genuine contenders. Very nice to see that the players themselves increasingly see the Habs this way too - it's the key factor in attracting UFAs.

That link is also interesting because it contains evidence about the Quebec tax situation, which is a major reason why the Habs generally have to pay a bit too much for UFAs.

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someone on Mathias Brunet's blog made me laugh this morning about Cole's signing.

Roughly translated : " I think it's an excellent acquisition. He has a friendly face and more, it's not even my money."

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This is a great signing by PG. Yes, the term might be 1 year too long, and yes, he may have overpaid a little too, but that's what it takes to get guys to come here(high taxes). The great thing about this deal is that it ads another big guy on the top 2 lines, somethning we desperately needed.

Now, lets hope that Yemelin turns out to be the stud everyone thinks he can be, that Gomez has a good bounce back season(60+points) and AK46 breaks out of his shell.

I like the direction the Habs are taking!

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