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Do the finals really start sooner if both series are done early?
Putting Bob Cole on ice for the finals is wishful thinking, I'm afraid.
What's the over/under for the CBC? How bad does Bob Cole have to be before Hughson is given the job?
I'm guessing there are no cojones at the CBC for this...
Komisarek the only Canadiens player to make McGuire's Monster Team.
I know, I know, it's a slow day.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11413
I generally pride myself on being a die-hard hockey fan, for example that I could watch the NHL's two worst teams and still be happy. But, I can barely watch the playoffs. Instead, I'm looking forward to the draft and to the start of free agency. In particular, I'm thinking about how our Canadiens can improve for 2008-2009.
That said, I've put together what I think is a reasonable gameplan for our off-season moves. I realize it will be shot down by many angles, but at least it will help generate some discussion on what Mr Gainey should and should not do moving forward.
The main features of the gameplan are these: resign Streit; buy-out Dandeneault (assuming he can't be dealt); sign Shanahan to a one-year contract and Demitra to a multi-year contract; trade Begin, Bouillon, and Grabovski for Lombardi and Warrener.
Under Contract
--------------
Saku Koivu...................4,750,000
Alex Kovalev.................4,500,000
Chris Higgins................1,900,000
Tomas Plekanec...............1,800,000
Steve Begin..................1,300,000
Tom Kostopoulos................900,000
Kyle Chipchura.................860,000
Guillame Latendresse...........850,000
Sergei Kostitsyn...............550,000
Greg Stewart...................500,000
Andrei Markov................5,750,000
Roman Hamrlik................5,500,000
Mike Komisarek...............1,900,000
Francis Bouillon.............1,875,000
Mathieu Dandeneault..........1,750,000
Carey Price....................850,000
RFAs (My estimates)
-------------------
Andrei Kostitsyn.............2,200,000
Maxim Lapierre...............1,000,000
Ryan O'Byrne.................1,000,000
Josh Gorges....................800,000
Jaroslav Halak.................750,000
Buyouts (we're still on the hook for)
-------------------------------------
Jassen Cullimore...............640,000
Tony Salmelainen...............125,000
Free Agents/UFAs
----------------
Pavol Demitra................5,750,000
Brendan Shanahan.............5,000,000
Mark Streit..................2,000,000
Trades
------
Matt Lombardi................1,550,000
Rhett Warrenner..............2,500,000
Buyouts
-------
Mathieu Dandeneault............583,333
Subtractions
------------
Francis Bouillon.............1,875,000
Mathieu Dandeneault..........1,750,000
Steve Begin..................1,300,000
GRAND TOTAL.................53,508,000 (expected cap ~$55,000,000)
sidhu - you certainly brought out a lot of good discussion points with your proposal. We may not all see eye to eye, but your time and effort were appreciated. Even though the Habs are no longer playing, this kind of debate will help get us through the summer months. Thanks.
The Original 24 Cups
Thanks for your kind note, 24 Cups. I imagine things will pick up once the draft takes place and free agency starts. Until then, a proposal here or there can't hurt!
2.2 million for A.Kost is a paltry number compared to how much erat (4.5million, albeit his contract was rejected by the NHL) and kobasew (2.33million) are making. 2.2 for Akost must mean you're ready to let him go for the 4 million in Russia. Dustin Penner makes 4 million a year and he can't skate.
I know Bob likes to sign players short term deals with reasonable numbers (higgins 1.9, plekanec 1.8 million, komi 1.9million, each two years long), but Akost is way ahead of their development curves at the time of contract negotiation and is arguably a bigger talent than pleks and higgins. If BG can sign Akost to 2.2 million a year...he would have had a stroke of genius in convincing Akost not to go to Russia for 4 million and not to believe he's actually better than Kobasew cause 2.2 million would suggest he's equal to kobasew.
As much as we want small contracts, the NHL is still a business and we have to respect the numbers out there.
1 million for O'byrne and, 800k for Gorges? I think you meant those numbers to be reversed.
throw lapierre in there for lombardi so we don't get overwhelmed by 3rd/4th line centres when chipper hits the block we can't have all 3 of those boys sitting around.
Sorry. Shanahan isn't worth $5 million. If he was too slow for the Rangers, he'd be 30 miles behind the play with the Canadiens. Besides he snubbed us one time before to go to the Rangers for less money. So if he wants to come for tryout and accept the league minimum he can..we need some veteran help...In Hamilton.
I agree. Most recently he has been far from the top line, and I read something in one of the local papers about him pondering his future.
Shanahan made $5,300,000 this past year, which includes his base salary and bonuses. $5,000,000 would represent a pay cut. Though he is getting old, he is still valuable in my opinion. Last year we signed old guys in Smolinski and Brisebois, so we will need more veteran leadership. Plus we have previously benefited from the experience of such veterans, such as Gilmour. A one-year deal doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Doubt Demitra's going anywhere. Marian Gaborik's his best friend.
So was Ovechkin and Markov.
So much help that gave us ;)
I'd try to sign Rolston before either Demitra or Shanahan. However, I would assume he'll probably resign with Minnesota. So I'd go after Marian Hossa. I'm confident, however, that Bob wouldn't overpay for him, so we may not get anyone new.
It seems that the most frequent criticism of my proposed moves is suggesting that we sign Demitra. Here's the thing - we can go after Hossa or another top-tier free agent, but that would preclude us from going after a top-tier free agent in 2009-2010. More specifically, Vinny Lecavalier will be a UFA then and if we are going to make a serious bid for this franchise player, we will need the necessary resources to do so. Signing Hossa or someone similar to a large contract will inhibit our chances of signing Vinny or another franchise player.
Demitra is a solid top-six who can score 20-30 goals and he won't cost us Hossa prices. Yes, he has been injured at times, but this will allow Mr Gainey to moderate his offer and will also permit kids in Hamilton (e.g., D'Agostini) to play in Demitra's absence. In short, the question for me is would you rather have Vinny and Demitra, or Hossa and an inexpensive center.
But that all hinges on whether Lecavalier chooses not to resign with Tampa Bay. And even if he decides to move on, do you really think there's a chance that he'd sign with Montreal?
Ah yes, Vinny may decide to stay in TB or may be swept up by another team. But at least we would have the chance to sign him - we would be taking ourselves out of the running (before it even starts) if we sign a guy like Hossa this year. I'd reserve the huge salaries for a legitimate franchise player, instead of a supporting cast player like Hossa. In the meantime, we can sign guys who will contribute and make incremental improvements over the players that are departing (e.g., Demitra would be better than Ryder).
sidhu - I'm not big on Demitra. He really runs hot and cold. He's talented, but basically a right off in his own end. I think his name is bigger than his game.
As for Dandy, if we can't trade him this summer for a mid to low pick, then maybe we could bring him to camp and then put him on show. Maybe a team would pick him up at the beginning of the schedule. Or if we run into a lot of injuries, we may want to keep him to fill a spot (forward only). We were pretty lucky this year in that department.
The Original 24 Cups
You lost me with your first paragraph.
Demitra?
Why on earth? As Injury-prone as any NHL player could be.
why are you even entertaining the idea of getting these older players? demitra 38...Shanny's gonna be 40...c'mon! this is the new NHL...even if these guys stay healthy for the playoffs, how much juice will they have left...Kovalev who's also late 30's showed how tired the older body gets and his performance was stifled in the playoffs
nice try but gotta get back to the drawing board
Shanny is a good player and what we need.
Teach - Shanahan is at or past his 'best before date'. I wonder if you're thinking of the Shanny of days gone by. It was two years ago that Gainey tried to lure him here to Montreal. That's an eternity for a guy pushing 40. Having said that, I would welcome him here for one year as long as he plays for a reduced salary as well as reduced playing time. Third line player at best. He's pretty slow these days for what Gainey is trying to do.
The Original 24 Cups
24.45-.45=24 Cups- I would keep him here because he can still pot 20. He also is a right-handed shot. He is a veteran winner, who goes into the corners and will stand in front of the net to block the goalie. I haven't seen much mention of this, but he did the same thing as Avery, except his back was to the goalie.
He will provide us with things we were sorely lacking in the playoffs this year.
We have NO ONE that does these things. You can give him 2.5-3 mil and put him anywhere in the lineup. There is no one younger who can do these things and is available at the present time.
Brendan Shanahan 73 23 23 46 -2 35 11 0 3 265 8.7
His shooting % was very low. He was not terrible 5 on 5.
He had 5 points in 10 playoff games and was EVEN.
Thanks Teach!
Fun post. . .
I think your price for Akots is fair but there's likelihood someone will try to swipe him and we'll have to pay more, assuming there's no truth to the Russian rumors.
I think Gorges is probably in the 1.2M range now.
There's no way Mark Streit would sign a one year $2M deal. He may have had a tough playoffs but I think he gets a 3 year deal from someone and that it averages $2.3-2.5M.
Look at the deal the Nashville guy with Streit's ballpark numbers (albeit all forward all the time and younger) just got. It looks like the insanity will continue until GMs run out of money in a few years with some of these crazy long-term expensive deals. Guys like Briere, Souray (actually already) will be a huge pill to swallow in later years. Some fool will pay restricted free agents 7 years based on minimal NHL experience. It's gonna be interesting what your money will buy you in three years.
The lineup would look something like this:
Shanahan-Koivu-Demitra
A.Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev
Higgins-Lombardi-S.Kostitsyn
Latendresse-Lapierre-Kostopoulos
Markov-Komisarek
Hamrlik-O'Byrne
Streit-Gorges
Price
Halak
Press box: Stewart, Chipchura, Warrener
Rationale for the proposed moves:
- Streit loves playing for Montreal, he's key to the power play, and is versatile. I don't think much needs to be said on his contributions to the team. I do think his poor playoff performance will allow Mr Gainey to sign him for relatively cheap, around $2,000,000. I would, however, only sign him to a one-year deal, allowing him to demonstrate to the team that he wasn't a one-hit wonder and that he's capable of better play in the post-season, which would justify a higher salary.
- It's clear that Dandeneault doesn't fit into our plans anymore. We will buy him out if we can't move him via trade.
- We need grit and veteran leadership with the departure of Smolinski and Brisebois - enter Brendan Shanahan, who may not be resigned by the Rangers and who seemingly expressed genuine interest in playing for the Habs. Plus, Mr Gainey wanted him when he ultimately signed with New York.
- We need a scoring winger for Saku - enter Demitra, a sniper who plays on the PK, is a gentleman on the ice which is good for our franchise.
- I think our present lineup consists of two second lines and two fourth lines. A Shanahan, Koivu, Demitra line would be a legitimate #1 line, and the Plekanec line would be a formidable second. What we would then need the ability to roll a good third line that can score and play well defensively. Some argue that Lapierre would be a good third line center, but he presents no real scoring threat - the same may be said of Chipchura, who is slower on his skates. Begin is a true warrior, but he's injured often and thus isn't as reliable. Bouillon has plenty of heart as well, but with an undersized Gorges, we have two small defensemen on the third pair, which hurts us especially in the more fast-paced playoffs. Begin and Bouillon are players who would be loved by Iron Mike Keenan, Calgary's GM. By contrast, Keenan is not too fond of Matt Lombardi, a finesse player, or Rhett Warrener, whom Keenan frequently benched. But, I think Lombardi and Warrener would be good fits here - a Higgins-Lombardi-S.Kostitsyn line would be very dangerous on both ends of the ice. Plus Mr Gainey said we would continue to be a speed, skill team, which Lombardi adds. He also kills penalties. Warrener is a capable 7th defenseman who played with Hamrlik at times (of course Hamrlik's primary partner was Phaneuf). Throw in Grabovski into the mix (who won't land a spot with us) and I think we have a fair deal, particularly because Calgary wants to get rid of Warrener contract (one more year at $2,500,000).
- Note that Shanahan, Demitra, and Warrener are/were assistant captains with their respective clubs. Their leadership will only help our youngsters, especially in the playoffs. It will also take some of load off of other veterans, such as Koivu and Kovalev.
Sidhu, your rationale is sound. However, I don't think Shanahan can help us. He looked old and slow against the Pens.
This is the last season for Kovalev (who may be signed to an extension) and Koivu, as well. In one more season, or two, the youth movement will be complete.
Gilbert
We still need veteran leadership, and I think Mr Gainey acknowledged as much after the season finished.
You know, a fan is short for 'a fanatic.'
Just a thought...
What can I say, this psych ward offers free WiFi.