I am willing to wait for Tinordi. Diaz, Emelin and Bouillon are doing a fine job in the current top 6.
Price is Price.
I really like (so does Therrien apparently) Prust on the top 3 lines; it does spread the toughness.
So a hockey trade, right now, would imply a forward in return but we have no room (assuming Eller keeps it up and Prust on 3rd) for another top 3 line player... maybe adding a guy like Lapierre (not necessarily him) on 4th?
4. Moen – Lapierre – White!
That said... unless Cole really wants out (he did hint at it during the lock out), his NTC is a major factor.
The way I got it, Cole did not wanted out of Montreal as much as he wanted out of the NHL.
If he is genuinely disgruntled @ the labor dispute, I doubt changing team will change that.
cole's lockout commentary and his play to start the season dont' give the greatest confidence that he's as committed as he needs to be to deliver on the 2 years remaining on his big contract.
Not sure that we'll find a taker, though the bigger issue might end up being the NTC.
I could see a deal with SJ working out for both teams...
To SJ
Cole
Kaberle
To Mtl
Havlat
Murray
cole/havlat are a wash, with Havlat being 500K more/season... I think he'd do very well on Plekanec's wing, finally giving him a player with the vision/style to complement him skill-wise.
Murray would be 7th dman for us, but a nice insurance policy if injuries pop up (and perhaps making it easier for MT to give Markov the occasional game off to help rest his knee?)
SJ would probably scoff at the idea of taking back two contracts that will be on the books next year, so maybe we add a late pick or a depth prospect?
I don't see any reason why San Jose would want Kaberle.
I actually would trust Eklund more, that's how bad I think Garrioch is
As much as I can't stand Garrioch, Eklund is the lowest form of life in professional sports.
At least Garrioch potentially knows someone who once met the Aunt of a janitor who once had to clean a clogged toilet at the Bell center that was previously used by Erik Cole.
Cole has not been as bad a people say. He's going to bounce back. He always does
There is some truth to that as he isn't actually a liability on the ice but he has two things going for him and that is size and speed and he is choosing not to use either of these assets to their respective potential.
The problem with Cole is he isn't really very skilled so his offensive contributions rely on him putting in the effort to outskate and overpower opponents. The fact that he can't be bothered to do either is what is particularily frustrating at this point in the season.
I actually like Cole. I didn't like the signing because of his age but I like Cole. If we are going to deal him (and he'd have to waive his NTC) then it should only be on the prospect side. I don't see much point in dealing him for another vet. I'd prefer we just stay patient with him and let him come out of his slump. He might not be as good as his career year from last season but he's a lot better than we've seen so far this year.
Play him with Galchenyuk and Eller and he'll break out of it.
Thats bad....I wouldn't trust Eklund for anything!
