Like I said, if it were up to me, I'd rather not sign any of them. However, if I had to choose, I'd pick Hannan considering we already have 3 small bottom pairing D-men already. Even if Boullion can fight, it's redundant. The same way if we brought in another top 6 forward who was 5'8, even if he fought.
I'd rather have not used that 1.5 on Boullion or anyone for that matter.
Personally, I would have taken Bouillon's 1 year 1.5 added 2 more years and given it to Carkner.
He can actually play number 5-6 minutes. He's tough as hell, too.
in terms of pure hockey skills (skating, passing, positioning), Bouillion is better than both Hannan & Carkner.
all 3 play the game with toughness, though obviously Carkner is the most effective in a purely "physical" sense.
Yes, Bouillion is small, which is not ideal, but factor in the personality intangibles, and he was a superior option to the other two, and most of the other "physical" depth dmen available.
by the end of the season I suspect that the skeptics will be singing a different tune
If I wanted what Hannan was, I'd want a top 4 d-man capable of eating minutes. As a bottom pairing D-man playing 15-18 minutes a night Hannan is as capable as Boullion and fits the team's needs much better. And I'd only want him if I had the choice between him and Boullion. If it were entirely up to me, I'd sign neither. We have enough bottom pairing Ds as it is.
That's were I'm at.
As for wanting one over the other, I see your arguement of Hanan over Boo. In a perfect world, every player would be available but that's not the case. There are plenty of players who don't want to play here or more specifically, want to play somewhere else. Boo is comfortable with the coach, the team and the system so I can see why's a better pick to be here than Hanan who likely didn't have Montreal on his radar.
Really, it's a non starter anyway as they're both bottom pairing, dime a dozen defencemen who's better years are behind them. This is a retirnement thing for Boo than anything else. I doubt he plays very much unless there are a lot of injuries.
Markov - Emelin
Gorges - PK
Kaberle - Boo/Diaz
Wow our defense is really not very good. We really need to shore it up.
As for wanting one over the other, I see your arguement of Hanan over Boo. In a perfect world, every player would be available but that's not the case. There are plenty of players who don't want to play here or more specifically, want to play somewhere else. Boo is comfortable with the coach, the team and the system so I can see why's a better pick to be here than Hanan who likely didn't have Montreal on his radar.
Really, it's a non starter anyway as they're both bottom pairing, dime a dozen defencemen who's better years are behind them. This is a retirnement thing for Boo than anything else. I doubt he plays very much unless there are a lot of injuries.
Markov - Emelin
Gorges - PK
Kaberle - Boo/Diaz
Wow our defense is really not very good. We really need to shore it up.
If Markov is healthy and Kaberle shows up in shape we'll have an above average defense. Very skilled and great puckhandling. Average defensively.
I love how people assume that Markov is the only player who can get injured.
Our defense is very vulnerable to injury. If any of Markov, Subban, or Gorges gets injured for an extended period we're in the lottery again. Losing Emelin might also hurt.
I love how people assume that Markov is the only player who can get injured.
Our defense is very vulnerable to injury. If any of Markov, Subban, or Gorges gets injured for an extended period we're in the lottery again. Losing Emelin might also hurt.
Every team in the NHL will struggle with an injury to 4-5 key players.
If the rest of our "question marks" come through Emelin Gionta Bourque Eller Kaberle then losing Markov for 6-8 weeks wouldn't kill us.
The Markov injury hurt a lot last year because Gionta was hurt, Cammy sucked and sooked then got traded away. Bourque never clicked after arriving.
Not a bad deal but makes the Patches deal even sweeter
I find it a risky move given how often he's been hurt. If he can stay healthy it could be a bargain for the 2nd half of the deal especially the 3 UFA years if he turns into a 40-40-80 player.
If Markov is healthy and Kaberle shows up in shape we'll have an above average defense. Very skilled and great puckhandling. Average defensively.
I'm glad you're so optimistic but Kaberle hasn't shown anything in more than 2 years and Markov hasn't played in 2 years. That's a lot of faith for $10M worth of defense. Hope you're right.
Besides, there isn't much difference between not very good and above average anyways. Point is we need to improve our defense if we hope to compete for the playoffs and a cup.
I find it a risky move given how often he's been hurt. If he can stay healthy it could be a bargain for the 2nd half of the deal especially the 3 UFA years if he turns into a 40-40-80 player.
Risky of course but any player in the league can get injured. They don't really have a choice in getting their franchise player signed
Risky of course but any player in the league can get injured. They don't really have a choice in getting their franchise player signed
I don't know that he's their franchise player. He's going to be a very good player, but I don't see any reason to believe that he'll be better than Yakupov or Nugent-Hopkins.
I don't know that he's their franchise player. He's going to be a very good player, but I don't see any reason to believe that he'll be better than Yakupov or Nugent-Hopkins.
Well Hugent-Hopkins was impressive, but he'll always be more of a play maker. Yakupov hasn't proven anything at this point, so who knows. 36 goal pace last season, 6 million is high based on what he's done so far, but he's got the cache of being Taylor Hall.
I'm glad you're so optimistic but Kaberle hasn't shown anything in more than 2 years and Markov hasn't played in 2 years. That's a lot of faith for $10M worth of defense. Hope you're right.
Besides, there isn't much difference between not very good and above average anyways. Point is we need to improve our defense if we hope to compete for the playoffs and a cup.
I wish we had more guys putting up 47 points while "not showing anything". Plus leading the acoring on defense for a cup winning team. Even last year after he got in better shape 3-23-26 in his last 45 games.
You also have to factor Diaz and Emelin with a year under their belt. Both guys are physically ready to be good NHL d-men but had a cultural, style and schedule adjustment. Emelin seemed to hit a wall in early Feb not being used to the length of schedule.
Markov at 80% for 70 games would be like signing a top UFA defenseman.
I wish we had more guys putting up 47 points while "not showing anything". Plus leading the acoring on defense for a cup winning team. Even last year after he got in better shape 3-23-26 in his last 45 games.
You also have to factor Diaz and Emelin with a year under their belt. Both guys are physically ready to be good NHL d-men but had a cultural, style and schedule adjustment. Emelin seemed to hit a wall in early Feb not being used to the length of schedule.
Markov at 80% for 70 games would be like signing a top UFA defenseman.
Have you ever seen Kaberle play? He's a better forward than a defenseman. Points aren't everything.
As for Diaz and Emelin I hope they progress but most players go through a soft more slump, not get better in their second year.
I'd like nothing more than for us to have everything go perfect next year but it's not likely with our current D corp.
