Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 4 hours ago, dlbalr said: I didn't even mind that too much. Lots of players do that when they think they're seriously injured so I gave him a pass on that one. In the Washington game, it was him going out of his way to mouth off at one of the referees that was flat out unacceptable, especially from someone that's supposed to lead by example. I think that's one of the major reasons he never became captain as the refs can't stand him. They likely just tune him out because he is a complainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hab29RETIRED Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 6 hours ago, DON said: Savard in regular jersey 2nd pairing Monday, January 2Practice LW C RW 22 - Cole Caufield 14 - Nick Suzuki 77 - Kirby Dach 68 - Mike Hoffman 27 - Jonathan Drouin 17 - Josh Anderson 20 - Juraj Slafkovsky 28 - Christian Dvorak 11 - Brendan Gallagher 55 - Michael Pezzetta 71 - Jake Evans 40 - Joel Armia LF RD G 44 - Joel Edmundson 52 - Justin Barron 34 - Jake Allen 54 - Jordan Harris 58 - David Savard 35 - Sam Montembeault 72 - Arber Xhekaj 6 - Chris Wideman / 26 - Johnathan Kovacevic I wish we could get rid of that 2nd line, and 2/3 of the 3rd and 4th line for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 9 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said: I wish we could get rid of that 2nd line, and 2/3 of the 3rd and 4th line for next year. Well, Drouin will be gone at least. Thank the sainted ghost of Howie Morenz for that. That clown Dandonov will also be off the books. I understand your post as an expression of aggravation, but realistically, we can’t just ‘get rid of’ guys. Even if we could somehow find takers for Hoffman, Gallagher, and Armia, we have to replace them with something. So the question then becomes, how many NHL-ready FW do we have in Laval? I’m pretty sure it’s fewer than five. If we just throw undercooked kids to the wolves like we’re stupidly doing with Slaf, we risk f**king up their development. But if we replace some portion of Drouin, Dandonov, Hoffman, Armia (the Flatulent Four) and Gallagher with UFAs, do we risk taking on more dodgy contracts, i.e., reproducing the current problem in a new form? A gradual, ongoing purge of the deadweight over the next couple of seasons makes more sense to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Was difficult to pick 3 guys who stood out for December. https://www.habsworld.net/2023/01/vote-for-decembers-3-stars-8/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 5 minutes ago, DON said: Was difficult to pick 3 guys who stood out for December. https://www.habsworld.net/2023/01/vote-for-decembers-3-stars-8/ And not for a GOOD reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 9 minutes ago, GHT120 said: And not for a GOOD reason. Interesting to note pretty decent production from WiFi and Harris over that span, though. The former just keeps on truckin’. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Its about time Armia sits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hab29RETIRED Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 10 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Well, Drouin will be gone at least. Thank the sainted ghost of Howie Morenz for that. That clown Dandonov will also be off the books. I understand your post as an expression of aggravation, but realistically, we can’t just ‘get rid of’ guys. Even if we could somehow find takers for Hoffman, Gallagher, and Armia, we have to replace them with something. So the question then becomes, how many NHL-ready FW do we have in Laval? I’m pretty sure it’s fewer than five. If we just throw undercooked kids to the wolves like we’re stupidly doing with Slaf, we risk f**king up their development. But if we replace some portion of Drouin, Dandonov, Hoffman, Armia (the Flatulent Four) and Gallagher with UFAs, do we risk taking on more dodgy contracts, i.e., reproducing the current problem in a new form? A gradual, ongoing purge of the deadweight over the next couple of seasons makes more sense to me. I know there is no way in hell we can get rid of Gallagher, Armia, and Hoffman this year, Armia for another two years and Gallagher until he’s done. IF by some miracle we could o load them, I think picking up some cheap 4th line castoffs wouldn’t really be a downgrade over them. I whole heartedly agree about throwing kids to the wolves. But you don’t have to play them. There were plenty of cheap UFA’s to be had the past two years, that could bring as much production as these bums are bringing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 36 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said: I know there is no way in hell we can get rid of Gallagher, Armia, and Hoffman this year, Armia for another two years and Gallagher until he’s done. I think Gallagher will turn out to be the biggest contract management mistake that Bergevin has made. Hoffman and Armia don't look good, sure, but they are considerably less rich and far shorter. Gallagher ... he is the kind of character that Bergevin loved. But, in retrospect, he let the wrong guy walk: we would have been off far better with Danault, even on the same contract, than Gallagher. As it is, Gallagher's contract will be hobbling the Habs for years, even as they are striving to contend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 5 minutes ago, tomh009 said: Gallagher ... he is the kind of character that Bergevin loved. But, in retrospect, he let the wrong guy walk: we would have been off far better with Danault, even on the same contract, than Gallagher. As it is, Gallagher's contract will be hobbling the Habs for years, even as they are striving to contend. Still four more years on it after this one. The only way out I see is if he takes the LTIR route like Shea and Carey, or we dump it with a huge retention for another awful contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 28 minutes ago, Neech said: Still four more years on it after this one. The only way out I see is if he takes the LTIR route like Shea and Carey, or we dump it with a huge retention for another awful contract. I think we have him until the end, unless he ends up on LTIR. I see the probability of a trade as extremely low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 What about a buyout? Does anyone know how his contract is structured - is it buyout friendly? I don’t mean a buyout right now. I’m thinking 2-3 years from now, if we need to add an impact player and his money is getting in the way. The Gallagher contract was one of those nightmares of timing, compounded by the sheer stupidity of Marc Bergevin. We all knew immediately that it wouldn’t age well. On the other hand, for the Habs of 2020 to have let Gallagher walk would have been a blow to the roster at that time. He was coming off the last good year of his career (43 points in 59 games) and was universally regarded as the team’s blood-and-guts leader, with Price and Weber. The Habs were not in “tank mode;” in fact, they were a few months away from a run to the Cup Finals. So that was the case for signing him, even to a Titanic of a contract. But as Tomh009 points out, 2021-22 was the year in which Danault *supplanted* Gally as the team’s true leader at FW (along with Perry). Had MB waited the season out, rather than rushing to re-sign Gally, he might have been in a position to make a more rational decision. But MB always had some kind of bizarre religious belief that his pretties would never age out. He cheerfully took on one of the most disastrous contracts in hockey (Weber’s) on this assumption. He had no choice but to lock up Price for the duration, but then he did the same for his beloved Gally. He got really “lucky” on Price and Weber’s LTIR situation; imagine if we still had those contracts to deal with?? The organization would be crippled for years to come. We should be thanking our lucky stars that Gally is the ONLY boat-anchor contract liable to adversely affect the rebuild. MB’s “planning” basically made a rebuild impossible short of the LTIR deus-ex-machina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Just plug in the year to see the buyout impact: Brendan Gallagher Buyout Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps Buying him out post 24/25, for example, yields dead cap space of $1.75M, $4.25M, $1.75M, and $1.75M for the following four seasons. Ideally he gets back to being a 15-18 goal scorer next season and tradeable with 50% ($3.25M) retention (less obviously IF possible). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 2 hours ago, GHT120 said: Just plug in the year to see the buyout impact: Brendan Gallagher Buyout Results - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps Buying him out post 24/25, for example, yields dead cap space of $1.75M, $4.25M, $1.75M, and $1.75M for the following four seasons. Ideally he gets back to being a 15-18 goal scorer next season and tradeable with 50% ($3.25M) retention (less obviously IF possible). It’s possible that Bergevin gets another GM job somewhere. Then we can trade Gallagher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 28 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: It’s possible that Bergevin gets another GM job somewhere. Then we can trade Gallagher. Another tear-filled press conference welcoming Gallagher to his new team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 Carolina gets to add Pacioretty to a first place squad. It finally might be their year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 A team I wonder about is Pittsburgh. Crosby, Letang and Petry are 35, Malkin is 36. That window is closing quickly. You would think they are going to try and take 1 more shot at it before these guys get too old. I see them making a splash before the deadline. I would love to have their 1st round pick around 2026-27. I think their future looks bleak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 3 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: A team I wonder about is Pittsburgh. Crosby, Letang and Petry are 35, Malkin is 36. That window is closing quickly. You would think they are going to try and take 1 more shot at it before these guys get too old. I see them making a splash before the deadline. I would love to have their 1st round pick around 2026-27. I think their future looks bleak. They are locked in with their Big 3 for several more years, so they might look beyond simple rentals ... might they want to reunite Petry and Edmundson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 2 hours ago, GHT120 said: They are locked in with their Big 3 for several more years, so they might look beyond simple rentals ... might they want to reunite Petry and Edmundson? Perhaps. At some point Pittsburgh has a decision to make; either go for it or rebuild. They can't waste the last 2-3 years of their Big 3 being just good enough to barely make the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: Perhaps. At some point Pittsburgh has a decision to make; either go for it or rebuild. They can't waste the last 2-3 years of their Big 3 being just good enough to barely make the playoffs. But their Big 3 are too old for it to be reasonable to expect them to be useful on the other side of a rebuild ... Letang is 35 with 6 yrs @ $6.1M AAV on his contract, 35 with 3 yrs @$8.1 and Malkin 36 with 4 yrs @ $6.1M ... I can't see them stepping away from "win now" (or at least MB's playoffs and pray mode) until Sid's contract is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, GHT120 said: But their Big 3 are too old for it to be reasonable to expect them to be useful on the other side of a rebuild ... Letang is 35 with 6 yrs @ $6.1M AAV on his contract, 35 with 3 yrs @$8.1 and Malkin 36 with 4 yrs @ $6.1M ... I can't see them stepping away from "win now" (or at least MB's playoffs and pray mode) until Sid's contract is up. I don't see them stepping away from a "win now" mode either. I also don't expect the big 3 to be on the other side of a rebuild. When I mention rebuild regarding Pittsburgh I wonder if at some point they will decide they are not good enough to win a cup with their big 3 and maximize the return they could get for them. That would be a tough decision to make but good organizations make tough decisions. I think Letang's contract makes it very difficult to trade him. They have the lowest rating for farm system rankings so the future doesn't look good if they continue in "win now" mode. https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-farm-system-rankings/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 The certifiably insane Letang contract was basically a declaration that they are going to ride this core until it drops. That does indeed make PITS a promising trade partner in theory, but if they have the worst talent pool in the league, then that also limits what they have to offer in return, apart from draft picks. Nothing wrong with draft picks, of course, but when Hugo went shopping last year, they typically secured prospects in return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 35 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: The certifiably insane Letang contract was basically a declaration that they are going to ride this core until it drops. That does indeed make PITS a promising trade partner in theory, but if they have the worst talent pool in the league, then that also limits what they have to offer in return, apart from draft picks. Nothing wrong with draft picks, of course, but when Hugo went shopping last year, they typically secured prospects in return. Agreed, they will ride the core and I think they have to go for it. At least if you win a cup it buys you some time with the fan base when you go through the inevitable rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hab29RETIRED Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 5 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: The certifiably insane Letang contract was basically a declaration that they are going to ride this core until it drops. That does indeed make PITS a promising trade partner in theory, but if they have the worst talent pool in the league, then that also limits what they have to offer in return, apart from draft picks. Nothing wrong with draft picks, of course, but when Hugo went shopping last year, they typically secured prospects in return. I’d love to get a 2026, or 2027 first rounder from the Pens. They will probably be what Chicago is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 Caufield 39 games 0 penalty minutes so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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