-Bury Gomez in the minors
-Re-sign Price to 6 year/36M and Subban to 5 year/20M deals.
-See what it would take to get Pacioretty locked up early. JVR deal should do it. 5 years/21.25M
-Trade Weber or keep him as #7/8 defenseman
-Sign Bryan Allen to help insulate Kaberle on the third pairing
-Take a run at Ryan Smyth or Shane Doan to play on the top two lines.
-I would like to shore up the third line so Leblanc can develop in Hamilton next season. Perhaps David Jones?
-I am on the fence with this, but split up Cole and Pacioretty. Play Bourque with Cole in hopes that he can transform the way he plays.
This is how I would build the Habs for next season.
Of course it's all hypothetical. UFA'S that I like might not want to sign for Montreal.
Buyout Gomez. He will still count for 3.3 on the cap but you don't want him in Hamilton leading the kids.
Trade Weber in the offseason for picks.
Re-Sign Moen for 2 Millions/Year. Upgraded from 1.5.
Re-Sign Staubitz for 0.6. He was solid this year for Montreal. He's the perfect tough 4th liner model. He can fight, he can throw a hit. He's seems like a good team player.
Re-Sign Darche for 0.7. I think as a 4th line winger, he can do the job. Cannot hurt that he's a local guy too.
Re-Sign R.White for 0.7. Can fight, can hit. He's built like a tank and he goes in traffic. Can score the big goal. He's worth it on the 4th line.
Re-Sign C.Price. Of course I think that he would accept a 5 millions/year contract for a couples of season then he would probably go for more.
Re-Sign Subban for 2.5/y for 2 years approx.
Re-Sign Yemelin and Diaz. Emelin for 1.250. Diaz for 0.950.
UFAS:
Signs P-A Parenteau for 3 to 3.5 millions a year. Good 2th line winger. Great passer and he'll give you approx 20 goals a year and he's french so that cannot hurt again.
Signs Bryan Allen for approx 3.5 to 4 millions a year. It's an upgrade of 0.6 millions from last season if he signs for 3.5. Big 6'5, 226 lbs defencement. He could be the answer for Montreal bad defense last season. He's steady, can hit. You make him play with Kaberle to help Kaberle defensive game.
I would draft Alex Galchenyuk with the 3rd overall pick but I would give him at least another year in juniors since he had that big injury this season.
Unless amazing pre season camp. I would let Louis Leblanc plays a leader role in Hamilton to help him develop smoother.
So here's what it looks like:
Cole - Desharnais - Pacioretty
Gionta - Plekanec - Parenteau
Bourque - Eller - Moen
Darche - White - Staubitz
Markov - Emelin
Subban - Gorges
Kaberle - Allen
Diaz
Kaberle and Diaz alterning for 6th D spot
Price
Budaj
Patrick Roy or Alain Vigneault (if he's fired) as a coach
With that line-up at the price I said... I would have approx 3 millions of cap space and yes I counted Gomez
I think that could be a realistic and competitive line-up.
What do you guys think? What would be your Habs line-up for 2012-2013?
The math doesn't add up. If you buy out Gomez then you don't have enough room for both Allen and Parenteau. That's the big reason we need to "bury" him, and it doesn't have to be in Hamilton, let him and his agent pick any team.
Weber, what picks are you getting? they should be good ones.
Parenteau, at 3-3.5 mil you're not even in the picture, he will sign from 4.5(NYI home town discount) to 5-5.5(as a UFA) over 4-5 years.
Allen should only cost 2.25-3 mil at most.
You are also low on Subban Price and Emelin, should cost about 10-11 mil combined...5.5-6/3-4/1.5-2
So...in the upper range of estimates... Parise 8M+, PAP 4.5, Price 6M+, Subban 4M ... looks like we won't be able to afford all our toys... Bah what a sick team that would make though!
It's stupid how much better Parise would make our team look, but yeah, not looking too likely haha
-Bury Gomez in the minors
-Re-sign Price to 6 year/36M and Subban to 5 year/20M deals.
-See what it would take to get Pacioretty locked up early. JVR deal should do it. 5 years/21.25M
-Trade Weber or keep him as #7/8 defenseman
-Sign Bryan Allen to help insulate Kaberle on the third pairing
-Take a run at Ryan Smyth or Shane Doan to play on the top two lines.
-I would like to shore up the third line so Leblanc can develop in Hamilton next season. Perhaps David Jones?
-I am on the fence with this, but split up Cole and Pacioretty. Play Bourque with Cole in hopes that he can transform the way he plays.
Probably not a cup contender but should have some good character and a shot at making the playoffs.
That's probably a more realistic expectation of what will happen. Except I doubt anything happens with Gomez this year, and we won't get Doan (he's said many times he won't leave Phoenix).
Weber's trade value is nowhere near the value he gives the team as a potentially good d-man down the road.
The only problem with that, is that for parts of this season he wasn't good enough to be in the top 6 of a weak unit. I hope Weber is with the Habs for years to come.
That's why having Kaberle sucks, because both Diaz and Weber would be assets for this team, and even though they are in fact quite different players, at the same time they have many similiarities and it may not be logical to have them both on the team.
There's going to be a serious logjam on defence in Montreal soon. Maybe Tinordi and Beaulieau will take a couple of years in Hamilton, but it wouldn't surprise me if they both had NHL playing time pedigrees very soon.
One Subban signs that's a lot of money on the "top 4" on defence for Montreal, Markov and Kaberle have just 2 years but thats a long 2 years. Hopefully Kaberle is moved. I don't see his value being as poor as most around here do. He had a short offseason and went from playing on one bad team, to playing on another. Guy's still one of the best in the league at moving the puck out of his own zone. Yes he has defensive shortcomings...and you know what? That's why he got 3 years 4.25 when he hit the open market for the first time in his life. And that was later in the signing period, indicating he wanted more/more years and no one would give it.
I'd like to see them build around their strengths which right now are goaltending and Subban.
Personally I'd build around Price and target physical defensemen (who can also play) and build an identity that Montreal is really hard to score on and that when you run Price you will pay the price.
Defense first, systematic hockey and insist on guys who are about the team and defend their teammates and don't take stupid selfish penalties. I'd like the identity of this team to be very stingy in giving up goals and very physical on defense and a smart team.
Right now, the defense is still the main problem with this team imo. Focus on building a killer D and the rest will follow.
Thanks But if you go for Parise you need to find some cash. If you don't sign Parenteau you could save approx 3.5 millions and you would have approx 1 to 3 millions more of cap space depending if you add to Subban or Price contract.
I think you would fall short for Parise unless you trade a player to free some space. I would have jump on Konopka if he was available as a UFA. Like you said, might be a good player to add if he comes at a reasonable price in a trade.
It wouldn't be easy, but Parise could fit under the cap. Especially if Gomer is riding the bus between Hamilton and Rochester. It would take some creativity, but he's worth the headache.
Konopka is actually a free agent as of July 1st. He'd be an important role player if you consider his physical play and his prowess in the face off circle.
Right. Because the top 3 FA's this off-season will want to sign with the team that finished 3rd last... and we're going to draft the #1 rated prospect with the 3rd overall pick.
Right. Because the top 3 FA's this off-season will want to sign with the team that finished 3rd last... and we're going to draft the #1 rated prospect with the 3rd overall pick.
I don't see the problem... we got a dynasty on our hands.
Right. Because the top 3 FA's this off-season will want to sign with the team that finished 3rd last... and we're going to draft the #1 rated prospect with the 3rd overall pick.
To me trading:
3rd overall + Tinordi + 4th round
for
1st overall is a reasonable trade for both EDM and MTL
MTL gets their superstar center and EDM immediately shores up defense by drafting murray/dumba.
Step 1: Draft Alex Galchenyuk with the 3rd overall pick, he is a the Best Player Available and he also fulfills a need for a position that we've been lacking since our last Stanley Cup. If he reaches his full potential he'd be the most talented center with size we'd have since Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse. He has the talent and he's a leader, the only question mark is his knee but he's only 18 years old, his recovery doesn't worry me as much than a 10 year NHL vet injuring his knee.
Step 2: Hire a coach, now this is where it gets tricky. We hired Martin who played a tight checking system when we had a team built on speed and small forwards. I want a coach that exploit our players strenght and build an identity. Now how do we know X coach can bring this element, this is where Bergevin will have to make a wise decision. Personally, Roy is probably my favorite since we learned yesterday that Quenneville isn't available. Coaches like Hartley, Crawford, Therrien haven't had much success in the new NHL and I feel it would be a lateral move (which we did a lot in the Gainey/Gauthier era) to hire any of them.
Step 3: Send Gomez in the minors depending on if Molson truly cares for the team's success or his own revenues. Now some may say that they wouldn't want Gomez near any of our promising prospects in Hamilton, but as far as I know; at least what the media have given to us, Gomez is a great teammate. He's a funny guy and he's appreciated in the dressing room. The Rangers could have also thought the same thing when they sent Wade Redden down to play with their AHL team but I've only heard good things about him being a leader for their youngsters, take McDonagh's interview about Redden helping him with the little things to reach the NHL.
Step 4: Re-sign Carey Price and PK Subban to long-term contracts. Give Subban a 5 to 7 year contract worth an annual cap hit of 4.25 million. PK is obviously a part of our future, even if some people around here dislike him because he shows too much swagger to their liking. Look how important players like Yandle and Doughty are for their respective teams, they have the ability to control the game with their sharp breakout passes and more than respectable defensive play. Subban can be part of that group in a couple of years. As for Price, give him a 6 years contract worth 6.333 millions for annual cap hit. He is our MVP no doubt, we have no game breaker players in our organization (you could argue Pacioretty but I wouldn't he's one) so Price is always going to be the reason if we're competitive or not. And if there's one thing this year's playoffs and last year's have shown us is that you need strong goaltending to make it far. A team like Phoenix with no star power but pure depth have made it this far with solid goaltending.
Step 5: Sign Parise in offseason. Offer him 9 years at 7 million a year. We need to fill the hole that Gauthier created when he traded away Cammalleri. In my opinion, Parise and Plekanec would be a deadly duo to play against because not only can they contribute offensively but they're also speed demons and amazing two way players. With Parise on Plekanec's wing we can have a 1a 1b line. Also for those who say that a top UFA will never sign with a team that finished at the bottom of their conference, it has happened many times just think of Chara and Savard with Boston or Briere with Philly, if the money is there it doesn't matter!
Step 6: Sign Brandon Prust and Paul Gaustad for our 4th line, these two players are players that can piss you the **** off to play against but that you love to have on your team. They're gritty players who hit, play solid hockey and can chip in every now in then. I would sign Prust to a 3 year contract at 1.25 million plus I'm sure he wouldn't mind living in MTL since his GF is from here. As for Gaustad I'd offer him a 2 year contract at 1.75: he's 6'5, right-handed, plays on the PK and averages around 54% on faceoffs; a much better player than Kenopka who people were raving about last year.
Step 7: Re-sign Emelin and Diaz for cheap one way contracts. I find they deserve to play in the NHL based on their performances and can be solid assets moving forward.
Step 8: Re-sign White, Eller, Moen and Geoffrion. Sign White at about the same ammount he signed for last year. Give Geoffrion 500k on a one way contract. I'd personally keep Moen on our team because he brings toughness, contributes in the playoffs and is solid with Pleky on the PK plus he seems to be liked by the guys. 2 years at 1.850. Sign Eller to a 2 year contract at 1.25 million, give him the opportunity to play for a bigger contract and keep progressing.
Step 9: Sign a solid bottom pairing defenseman à la Jim Vandermeer or Matt Carkner to play with Emelin and act as mentor. Vandermeer and Carkner would also be an upgrade over Crapoli.
Step 10: Sign a solid AHL vet like Giroux and a ok NHL back-up/good AHL goalie like Sabourin or Caron. I find success in the AHL is always important to have to build some experience for your prospects that will be usefull later on. Look at the team Hamilton had in 2007 when they won the Calder Cup, they had many players who at the time were in the AHL who play in the NHL now. Those teams had solid veterans like Manlow, Locke, etc.
Step 11: Trade Weber for a mid round pick or with a pick to move up at the upcoming draft, I find with Diaz there and Kaberle who are both better puck-moving defensemen (that tend to play on the small side), Weber has become redundant.
I upgraded PK's contract from 2.5 to 3.5 millions/season for 4 or 5 years. Same as Letang so I guess that's a fair deal.
Upgraded Price too at 6 millions/season for 5 years.
Replacing the 3.5 millions Bryan Allen by Francis Bouillon at 1.3 to make up some cash for Subban and Price pay raises
As of P-A Parenteau at 3.5 a year. I could go up to 4 millions a year but not a lot more than that. He had 1.250 last season so at 3.5 a year, I feel it's already a good upgrade for him. Like i said 4.0 is the max I would go for him.
I think it's safe to say we aren't getting parise.. lol
I actually think we should have 2 threads for this.
One realistic thread of something we think is reasonable and could actually occur..
and one wishful thinking fun thread
It's a longshot...but maybe Bergevin is a great salesman and Molson wants to maker a splash. Not all big markets have the cap room to offer him big bucks and the small markets can't afford a big front loaded deal.
We'd still be a longshot, but we have more of a chance that some think.
Gomez, Bork and Kabs make a combined 14 million. Dump Gionta and replace with cheaper alternative if necessary.
Presumably there will be salaries back, all the UFA's salaries, and higher salaries for the RFAs and other players to lock up. Still way over the cap.
Too bad Kovalchuk's term is so bad. I'd happily trade Gionta (play with his brother), a secondary player, a prospect and a good pick otherwise. I recall hearing the Devils need to dump salary and I presume they'd rather re-sign Parise if they can't keep both.
I wouldn't go for it this year, I'd shore up the lineup, see what happens, and then go from there. The free agent market next summer looks much better. We'd have to get rid of too many contracts to really build a contender this summer imo. Plus one of Bealieu, Ellis, or Tinordi will be able to make the jump 2013-2014.
Bury Gomez, try and get rid of Kaberle, but it's no big deal if we have to hold onto him.
Re-sign Price to a contract worth about $5.75m a season, Subban on a two-three year contract with $3.5m a season. Re-sign Eller to a two-three year contract worth $1.5m. Re-sign Ryan White, 700k a year. Re-sign Staubitz to a dirt cheap contract.
Sign Jay McClement to centre the fourth line, two years at $1.5 a season. Sign Brandon Prust to a three year contract worth $1.5-2m a season. Sign Brad Boyes to a cheap contract to play on the third line, something like $2-2.5m a season, hope he can bounce back and put up ~15 goals. If I could, I'd sign Chris Kelly to a contract worth about $3.5m a season, but I have a feeling he'll get a big contract like Leino. Sign Aaron Rome to be a depth defenceman, 850k a year. If Chris Stewart becomes available I'd target him too, perfect third liner.
I think that he would accept a 5 millions/year contract for a couples of season then he would probably go for more. 
Bah what a sick team that would make though! 
But if you go for Parise you need to find some cash. If you don't sign Parenteau you could save approx 3.5 millions and you would have approx 1 to 3 millions more of cap space depending if you add to Subban or Price contract.
