GDT Free Agent Frenzy

[Habber31]

13 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

This is sort of what I mean by ‘risk averse.’ Even when he makes a big play, he hedges. I noticed in his presser he kept talking about what he was ‘comfortable’ with. My guess is that to swing something like this, you need to be *uncomfortable.* Because that’s when you’re really out there playing for high stakes. Bergy’s favourite position seems to be a Gallic shrug: hey, I tried, the price was too high, this isn’t PlayStation, yada yada yada. And behind all that, I suspect, is an owner who accepts endless excuses so long as the dollars keep rolling in.

The offer sheet just makes ZERO sense. TSN was saying that g.m's around the league don't really understand it either. If you're going to send the sheet, you need to commit.

 

I feel like this free agent day, is this team in a nut shell. 

[Scott462]

Odd that Gardiner has not been signed yet and if MB wanted to he can still do it.

 

it might be a case where his back might have more red flags that teams are willing to take a risk on.

[Metallica]

1 hour ago, Habber31 said:

The offer sheet just makes ZERO sense. TSN was saying that g.m's around the league don't really understand it either. If you're going to send the sheet, you need to commit.

 

I feel like this free agent day, is this team in a nut shell. 

I kind of feel like Bergevin just did this to keep the fans and media off his back for not signing any big names. Its like he did it in away that Carolina would match it, then he can say look i went out and try to land a top center but the offer sheet got match theirs not much more i could of done.  I don't know something just seems off about the whole thing. I hope it works out but that's not a contract you offer a RFA its more of a contract you offer a UFA.

[REV-G]

I think this was a carefully thought out plan and they offered what they thought was reasonable for this player. If they offered more people would criticize. We'll wait to see what happens. We may still be surprised at how this could go. There are still paths to us getting Aho. 

 

Has anyone heard anything about Gardiner?? 

[illWill]

What the hell are you guys talking about? You're complaining about an offer sheet? Don't want a chance at signing an elite 21 year old on a steal of a contract? Hate that he tried? Did he kidnap your dog? Must be something I don't understand 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

13 minutes ago, illWill said:

What the hell are you guys talking about? You're complaining about an offer sheet? Don't want a chance at signing an elite 21 year old on a steal of a contract? Hate that he tried? Did he kidnap your dog? Must be something I don't understand 

 

I would be shocked if Carolina doesn't match but I give kudos to Bergevin for trying. There are a lot here who obviously are not fans of Bergevin which is fine but I think he has done an excellent job the last couple years of putting this team in a good position going forward. His early years as a GM were nothing to brag about but he seems to have his act together now.

[titanfan]

This is nothing more than smoke and mirrors by Bergevin.  He basically trades nobody (Shaw for picks).  Signs nobody (KIncaid).   And then tries to fool fans by throwing out a laughable offer sheet.  At the end of the day, once again HE DID NOTHING.

 

If by some miracle Carolina doesn't match the offer sheet we should all go out and buy lottery tickets.

 

Don't be fooled by the 'offer sheet'.  If he really wanted to make a ballsy move he would have done so.

 

Don't get me wrong, I would love to add Aho to our lineup.  I'd also like to win the lottery....

 

Now, if only Bergevin would make a REAL MOVE!   Then we'd have something to be excited about.

[Metallica]

54 minutes ago, REV-G said:

I think this was a carefully thought out plan and they offered what they thought was reasonable for this player. If they offered more people would criticize. We'll wait to see what happens. We may still be surprised at how this could go. There are still paths to us getting Aho. 

 

Has anyone heard anything about Gardiner?? 

Yeah I think GM's are worried about his back. I think TS said he was going to get it checked out again get a second opinion on it. Other wise I think he would of been signed 

[illWill]

46 minutes ago, titanfan said:

This is nothing more than smoke and mirrors by Bergevin.  He basically trades nobody (Shaw for picks).  Signs nobody (KIncaid).   And then tries to fool fans by throwing out a laughable offer sheet.  At the end of the day, once again HE DID NOTHING.

 

If by some miracle Carolina doesn't match the offer sheet we should all go out and buy lottery tickets.

 

Don't be fooled by the 'offer sheet'.  If he really wanted to make a ballsy move he would have done so.

 

Don't get me wrong, I would love to add Aho to our lineup.  I'd also like to win the lottery....

 

Now, if only Bergevin would make a REAL MOVE!   Then we'd have something to be excited about.

 

Please tell us what you would do if you were Bergevin

[hab29RETIRED]

1 hour ago, illWill said:

 

Please tell us what you would do if you were Bergevin

Appoint you as the president of the world’s one and only official MB fan club.

[BCHabnut]

15 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Appoint you as the president of the world’s one and only official MB fan club.

And you as the troll. The  only time you come on the site is to scream about trades or offers. You took an entire year off from posting during a surprisingly descent season. As soon as something negative happens for you to focus on, you're right back. Nothing personal.  I enjoy your grumpiness. But as much as illwill is a cheerleader, you are the reciprocal boo bird.

[Habber31]

29 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

And you as the troll. The  only time you come on the site is to scream about trades or offers. You took an entire year off from posting during a surprisingly descent season. As soon as something negative happens for you to focus on, you're right back. Nothing personal.  I enjoy your grumpiness. But as much as illwill is a cheerleader, you are the reciprocal boo bird.

This team has missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years and the Atlantic has only gotten stronger.  

[hab29RETIRED]

57 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

And you as the troll. The  only time you come on the site is to scream about trades or offers. You took an entire year off from posting during a surprisingly descent season. As soon as something negative happens for you to focus on, you're right back. Nothing personal.  I enjoy your grumpiness. But as much as illwill is a cheerleader, you are the reciprocal boo bird.

I didn’t consider the usual just missing the playoffs a decent season.  I didn’t really follow the habs or hockey all that much until Columbus went all in, St.louis turned things around and Poehling’s season ending performance.  Created some hope that we might actually have a prospect who may amount to something. With the way the all of the top team’s got knocked out, got me to interested in hickey again - even if the habs were out.

 

i also was actually very happy with the Caufield pick and some of the moves - dumping Shaw and Deslauriers for picks and not re-upping Benn (which turned out more Benn picking Vancouver is), as MB finally moving in the right direction.  The duschane and Offer sheet rumours were also positives.  I just think in the way MB executed the offer sheet was pretty much screwing the pooch.  Good plan, just bad execution.  He needed to go all in.

 

i hasn’t been on the site, because I pretty much stopped following hockey because I’d was sick of what MB had done to a team that had some potential.  Got hope - still have some hope with the Caufield gift, and potential of KK, Suzuki and Poehling, but think MB messed up on an opportunity to ensure we actually do get Aho.

[Trizzak]

I'm not much of a fan of trading away Shaw for picks if the cap space is going to be used on an unlikely offer sheet. If Carolina matches the offer in 7 days, then the Habs just got worse for no reason with all the top UFAs gone. LD is still a mess with or without Aho. 

 

The past 48 hours have been exciting, but what has actually been accomplished?

[tomh009]

15 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

I'm not much of a fan of trading away Shaw for picks if the cap space is going to be used on an unlikely offer sheet. If Carolina matches the offer in 7 days, then the Habs just got worse for no reason with all the top UFAs gone. LD is still a mess with or without Aho. 

 

Gardiner isn’t gone yet, though. Doesn’t that make you say hmmmmmmm?

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

27 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

I'm not much of a fan of trading away Shaw for picks if the cap space is going to be used on an unlikely offer sheet. If Carolina matches the offer in 7 days, then the Habs just got worse for no reason with all the top UFAs gone. LD is still a mess with or without Aho. 

 

The past 48 hours have been exciting, but what has actually been accomplished?

 

I liked the Shaw trade even though I love the way Shaw plays. They pretty much got back what they gave up for him while getting his services for 3 years. Guys that play his style don't generally have really long careers and he has had injury/concussion issues. The picks will be useful.

[Trizzak]

17 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

 

Gardiner isn’t gone yet, though. Doesn’t that make you say hmmmmmmm?

 

No. 

 

If Aho ends up coming here the Habs don't have the money for Gardiner. If Aho doesn't end up here and Gardiner is still available in 7 days then something is very wrong with him. 

[hab29RETIRED]

37 minutes ago, Trizzak said:

 

No. 

 

If Aho ends up coming here the Habs don't have the money for Gardiner. If Aho doesn't end up here and Gardiner is still available in 7 days then something is very wrong with him. 

I’d like to get a Gardiner - just not at $7m.  That’s not quite as bad as Hayes for $7m/7 yr, (Gardiner for $6m/5yr sure), but we already have big money tied up to two other players in their golden years, don’t need to make sure we are screwed from 2023-26.

 

if the canes have a mental meltdown and don’t match, I think if we can move a couple more players to make money for a left D.

 

i think the leafs have moved out money, somewhat addressed their D, so they can probably sign Marner, so Marner is no longer an option as another RFA play.  

 

If we don’t get Aho, I’d rather take the rangers approach and move more veterans and try and get the lottery pick for the draft in Montreal next year.  The rangers pretty much did a great job of rebuilding on the fly. It helps when you have a competent GM.  Otherwise we are in danger of becoming the Minnesota wild.

 

 

 

 

[Commandant]

Two things 

 

Lebrun on TSN TV said that the Habs were thinking of offer sheeting Brayden Point, but then went to Aho.  Don't be surprised if the Canes match, Bergevin could go after Point next week.

 

Lebrun on the Jay and Dan podcast said that the Habs make the most sense for Jake Gardiner and that they can do the deal even with the Aho outstanding.

[Habber31]

Gardiner had all of 5 power play points last year, all assists. He's not a top pairing d-man and will be garnering that kind of money(which is why he's still available). You have said it before too, he doesn't want to be in this kind of market. He shits the bed under pressure. 

 

 

[DON]

47 minutes ago, Habber31 said:

Gardiner had all of 5 power play points last year, all assists. He's not a top pairing d-man and will be garnering that kind of money(which is why he's still available). You have said it before too, he doesn't want to be in this kind of market. He shits the bed under pressure.

Averaged 45pts/82gms in last 3 years, has been paired with chumps on the Leafs. Is that the shit the bed you mean?

We all know his defense isnt his strong suit, he is the #1 UFA d=man this year, is only 28, so will be overpaid.

[tomh009]

58 minutes ago, Habber31 said:

Gardiner had all of 5 power play points last year, all assists. He's not a top pairing d-man and will be garnering that kind of money(which is why he's still available). You have said it before too, he doesn't want to be in this kind of market. He shits the bed under pressure.

 

So ... who do you suggest that Bergevin should have signed for our LD gap? I don't think there are any better choices on the UFA market. And beyond that, it's a question of whom another GM is willing to trade, and on what terms.

[mineral]

1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

 

So ... who do you suggest that Bergevin should have signed for our LD gap? I don't think there are any better choices on the UFA market. And beyond that, it's a question of whom another GM is willing to trade, and on what terms.

 

There are infinite possibilities for trades out there. Dumping the contracts of Shaw and ND will provide added flexibility to getting a #1 or #2 LD. Toronto was weak on D and they they pulled off something for Barrie that no one really saw coming.  I'm equally sure MB has the ability to also explore these types of options.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

22 minutes ago, mineral said:

 

There are infinite possibilities for trades out there. Dumping the contracts of Shaw and ND will provide added flexibility to getting a #1 or #2 LD. Toronto was weak on D and they they pulled off something for Barrie that no one really saw coming.  I'm equally sure MB has the ability to also explore these types of options.

 

We know he has the proven ability to explore, fail, shrug, and then say ‘it’s tough. The price was too high.’ Other than that, all bets are off. 

[tomh009]

Some of the prices are indeed too high. And many teams will not want to trade a top-notch defenceman. It looks like there are a few options (Gostisbehere!) but how many there are in total or how much we would need to pay, is something we don't know at the moment.