We have to look elsewhere and turn the page. Maybe we can bring Emelin over finally?
If we acquire Bieksa, he can re-sign and he is under 30.
It makes no sense to throw 5 mill at a guy who has had 3 major injury in the space of 12 months.
That being said, I love Markov as a player and hope for the best.
You can say 2 injuries. Don't see how him getting a tendon slashed by a skate make him fragile in any way. His knees could become fragile, we should wait for the official results to come out first.
But why would you want Bieksa?..I don't get the love for him around these boards. As a trade this year, perhaps, depending on the asking price, but next year I'm not so sure.
There's many other more interesting UFAs. Erhoff, Kaberle come to mind. Brewer, Jovo, Pitkanen could be others. The list goes on. I'd love to land Ian White as well. This guy doesn't get a lot of mention but he's solid and might come cheap if he doesn't re-sign.
You can say 2 injuries. Don't see how him getting a tendon slashed by a skate make him fragile in any way. His knees could become fragile, we should wait for the official results to come out first.
But why would you want Bieksa?..I don't get the love for him around these boards.
There's many other more interesting UFAs. Erhoff, Kaberle come to mind. Brewer, Jovo, Pitkanen could be others. The list goes on. I'd love to land Ian White as well. This guy doesn't get a lot of mention but he's solid and might come cheap if he doesn't re-sign.
I agree to wait but I think it just may be the same ACL which is devastating to markov.
If Markov misses too long, Bieksa remains the best option. Not only is he available, but the Canucks were already reportedly shopping him low enough. I guess now the fit is just perfect.
Bieksa isn't a top 4 dman, his contract is just as bad as Spacek and he is the biggest goat in vancouver. I think doing nothing would be better than Bieksa so no he isn't the best option.
I specified that bieksa was just an example, could have been other players, on other teams... I didn't want to get a debate going on him and what we'd have to trade to get him.
My point is that Obyrne is what he is, a bottom pairing Dman. It might be worth a 3rd rounder... but some teams have little to do with a 3rd rounder and would enjoy adding some depth to their D. The same way a team would rather have the 3rd rounder instead of Obyrne. my point was that upgrading our D was and still is a NEED, and that I would have appreciated trading Obyrne along with picks and prospects to get a better dman, rather than losing depth in the position where you are the most vulnerable.
I agree that we needed help on D, but before Markov went down we wouldn't have even had the cap space to accommodate any significant upgrade. The only help we could have gotten from an O'Byrne trade would have been for the future, much like Bournival.
Unless you're saying you would have preferred keeping O'Byrne to use as trade bait in the case of a significant injury like Markov's, but as I posted before I don't believe that really makes any difference. Only reason I see in keeping him would have been in case another one of our D go down, in which case I think he's a much better alternative than what we have in Hamilton.
On a tangent, if it is a worse case scenario with Markov and he is out until the playoffs or beyond, I'd spend the freed up cap space on a top 6 winger and depth at defense. You could get someone like Jamie Langenbrunner and still have space for a $3M d-man. Now, obviously that wouldn't make up for everything Markov provides and it's a lot easier to say you'd fill that cap space than to actually find willing trade partners, but I hope Gauthier doesn't stand pat. You can really soften the blow with that much room to maneuver.
You can say 2 injuries. Don't see how him getting a tendon slashed by a skate make him fragile in any way. His knees could become fragile, we should wait for the official results to come out first.
But why would you want Bieksa?..I don't get the love for him around these boards. As a trade this year, perhaps, depending on the asking price, but next year I'm not so sure.
There's many other more interesting UFAs. Erhoff, Kaberle come to mind. Brewer, Jovo, Pitkanen could be others. The list goes on. I'd love to land Ian White as well. This guy doesn't get a lot of mention but he's solid and might come cheap if he doesn't re-sign.
Nobody in their right mind would suggest Bieksa could actually fill Markov's shoes with perfection. That being said, he's a guy who can be had for cheap, he's a minute eater, and a legit top-4 d-man who can provide both a good shot on the PP and some physical presence.
Bieksa is an interesting alternative. Much more than guys like Erhoff, Pitkanen and Kaberle, partly because they play key roles in their own teams, and these teams sure aren't ready to drop the ball just yet.
As for Brewer and Jovanovsky, considering Ed's salary and Brewer as a player, I still take Bieksa before them.
Lol, so the stats don't mean crap because they go against what you're saying ok. Oh wait, I should watch the games...nice, great counter argument.
So, the GA is only thanks to Price.
The SA is only thanks to our Forwards.
And I'm guessing our lack of production up front is because of the Defense??..That seems to be the direction you're headed in.
One thing I agree, we play better as team. That's why a team like us with an average defense on paper will come out on top of a team with a much better group on paper, like the Leafs.
No matter what you attribute our defensive prowess to is irrelevant anyways. We are not having any problems playing defense. If our team wants to have success, we don't have a choice but to buy into the system and I think Martin got the players to do that.
No matter how you hate our D, we, as a team, play good defense. That's all that's important.
Our priority remains production up front. Like I said, finding a suitable replacement for Markov will be costly. There's no need to rush into things anyways. We will see how our team evolves with him in the coming weeks. If a glaring holes becomes more apparent, then we will need to adapt accordingly.
No, stats don't mean crap because they prove nothing. My watching this defense suck for the last couple years does. Markov has been this teams lifesaver for ages and he has never gotten any help. Then he gets injured and suprise suprise no one can step in so the goalie gets pummeled worse than usual and we barely crawl into the playoffs. Same story new year.
With a faster puck moving defense our offense would be much more potent and be able to utilize their speed. The production goes up and abracadabra you don't need any more help up front. Hell if we had a shot fromt he point our offense would be much better.
Duno how credible it is. And I know some aren't too fond of CKAC and others think they're legit. But they just mentionned that Markov will be out for 6 months/rest of the season. Has same injury as last season and ripped ligaments (something like that, for the ligament). They mentionned that only two players have ever come back from having this injury twice. Apparently was looked after a Dr. that covered Kovalev and that Markov knows...
Duno how credible it is. And I know some aren't too fond of CKAC and others think they're legit. But they just mentionned that Markov will be out for 6 months/rest of the season. Has same injury as last season and ripped ligaments (something like that, for the ligament). They mentionned that only two players have ever come back from having this injury twice. Apparently was looked after a Dr. that covered Kovalev and that Markov knows...
I hope its not true...
No point crying over torn ligaments, plus we get cap relief and a chance to see if our beloved GM can solve a problem, a big one.
lol anyone actually believing Marinaro are so ****ing naive. No one knows at this point, he has yet to have full results because of the swelling. Marinaro wants listeners so he brings up another one of his stories.
Bieksa isn't a top 4 dman, his contract is just as bad as Spacek and he is the biggest goat in vancouver. I think doing nothing would be better than Bieksa so no he isn't the best option.
He isn't the best option, but they are looking to dump him, preferably to the East, and most teams in the East either have no cap room or have no room in the budget, so we could get him pretty cheap(mid round pick or "B" prospect).
Nobody in their right mind would suggest Bieksa could actually fill Markov's shoes with perfection. That being said, he's a guy who can be had for cheap, he's a minute eater, and a legit top-4 d-man who can provide both a good shot on the PP and some physical presence.
Bieksa is an interesting alternative. Much more than guys like Erhoff, Pitkanen and Kaberle, partly because they play key roles in their own teams, and these teams sure aren't ready to drop the ball just yet.
As for Brewer and Jovanovsky, considering Ed's salary and Brewer as a player, I still take Bieksa before them.
You have to play with the market and its rules.
Kaberle has been rumored to be available for a trade for a few years now, I have a hard time believing he will re-sign in Toronto.
No way to know what's gonna happen with any of these FAs anyways.
And I really don't know why you'd take Bieksa over Brewer. Brewer is top 2 on any NHL team. Only issue with him is injuries, but we'll see how he does this year.
Bieksa isn't that good of an option. I'd re-sign Hammer before getting him.
lol anyone actually believing Marinaro are so ****ing naive. No one knows at this point, he has yet to have full results because of the swelling. Marinaro wants listeners so he brings up another one of his stories.
Some believe, others don't. I'm just reporting what he said. I'm not saying its true, just relaying the message. You don't want to believe it fine, nor am I asking you to. But you don't need to say I'm ****ing naive... I'm the most skeptical person you can ever meet, trust me. You may say I'm influencing people to believe it. But I warned people that it may not be accurate.
On a side note. Markov out for the season would give us cap space. I'd say wait to see how Picard plays. If Picard plays well, get a top 6 O or something to help our PP. Who? I can't say for now, haven't really looked.
Kaberle has been rumored to be available for a trade for a few years now, I have a hard time believing he will re-sign in Toronto.
No way to know what's gonna happen with any of these FAs anyways.
And I really don't know why you'd take Bieksa over Brewer. Brewer is top 2 on any NHL team. Only issue with him is injuries, but we'll see how he does this year.
Bieksa isn't that good of an option. I'd re-sign Hammer before getting him.
lol anyone actually believing Marinaro are so ****ing naive. No one knows at this point, he has yet to have full results because of the swelling. Marinaro wants listeners so he brings up another one of his stories.
Marinaro didnt even know what he was talking about...
he used big words and wrong words to describe a charley horse and a swollen knee...
only thing i worry about is that whoever reconstructed his ACL last time messed up and caused this to happen
Guys, Marinaro wouldn't report it if he wasn't at least fairly certain this was accurate. I too prefer to wait for official word, but come on now...He's not speculating, he's stating it as fact. The guy wouldn't risk his reputation for nothing. Not like he's the type to just make things up either. Can you think of the last time he's said something definate that was wrong?
It's really hard to get any decent players in the NHL without giving up good young players. I doubt any Habs fan would be happy giving up a good prospect for an older, highly paid established player.
What about Wideman? I know he's a solid defenseman, not sure how he'll fair for us. But Florida is in reconstruction... Probably will be expensive though. Still, he's a good D. And if we can resign him.
Guys, Marinaro wouldn't report it if he wasn't at least fairly certain this was accurate. I too prefer to wait for official word, but come on now...He's not speculating, he's stating it as fact. The guy wouldn't risk his reputation for nothing. Not like he's the type to just make things up either. Can you think of the last time he's said something definate that was wrong?
"I am hearing Andrei Markov will definitely sign a longterm contract extension with The Montreal Canadiens. Expect a 5 to 6 year deal. 2:26 PM Oct 19th via web "
"According to my sources expect Montreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov to return to Habs lineup this Saturday, Oct 16 vs Ottawa."
You won't find that last tweet because he deleted it.
Marc-Edouard Vlacik would be a good pick up. He has ZERO points this year in SJ, but he has been productive enough in the past and could rebound in his hometown.
Guys, Marinaro wouldn't report it if he wasn't at least fairly certain this was accurate. I too prefer to wait for official word, but come on now...He's not speculating, he's stating it as fact. The guy wouldn't risk his reputation for nothing. Not like he's the type to just make things up either. Can you think of the last time he's said something definate that was wrong?
"Souray pulled off the ice and traded to San Jose" was a personal favorite. Anyway I don't doubt that Marinaro has some insiders but he has really very little credibility. He's not exactly risking his reputation either - he's "reporting" something that anyone could have predicted without a source, and as Kingbobert said, his medical terms weren't exactly bang on or descriptive of anything either.
Anyway it seems to be general knowledge that Markov hasn't even met with his doctor/specialist yet (Thursday I believe) so how is Marinaro scooping everybody on results that don't even exist yet?
