Why not? RFA are free agents too, so why not go for them to make your team better.
i see no reason why not to get PMB. He's a solid Winger or centre, and constantly gets 50-60 points a year. A very good set up man, he should boost you guys up.
Difference in Perry and Pierre-MarcBouchard is that Perry is a RW and Pierre is a Centre...what we are seeking.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard is only 24 and has averaged about 60 points per season in a very defensive minded system. With players like Tanguay on his wing he could be a point per game guy, I don't know if Perry will be that. Getzlaf yes, but Perry I am not too sure about.
I think Pierre-Marc Bouchard maybe worth the risk of some picks, prospects or whatever. We are deep in players and prospects, with that depth such signings allow you to do things like this.
Would any of you object Gainey making an offer sheet to one of the up and coming centre's in the NHL in Pierre-Marc Bouchard?
He is very young, very skilled and is a Quebecor.
Think it could happen, would you mind if it did?
But we'd have to sign him to a contract that Minnesota wouldn't match, so on top of throwing off the teams salary structure by making him a 6 million dollar player on a long term deal, we'd also have to give up 2 1st's, a 2nd, and a 3rd, not to mention how much of this team is up for new contracts after next season. You think Gainey will blow up his plan and effort and years of finally getting some talent back in this team for him? I don't think he even really plays center either. If we're gonna sacrifice that much to get a player, we should go for one that has size and plays with an edge too. I think he's a good player, but a 5'10, 175lb winger is not what's needed.
If PMB wasn't a quebecer hardly anyone would know him. The OP is saying we should get rid of Koivu to make room for guys like Naslund and Demitra?? Maybe we can get rid of Plekanec and Komisarek and replace them with Mini-me and Wee-Man as well if going small and soft is the trend
I don't think Bouchard is an upgrade to Koivu. And it's what we want, right? Somebody that can do things that Saku cannot do so we can have a a first line with a big center. Given that PM doesn't fullfill those criterias I would pass. I would rather give an offer sheet to Steve Bernier instead.
Doesn't seem like Gainey's style, and I am glad, I'd be pissed if the Habs tried to sign an RFA. So far it doesn't look like it's worked out too well. That Vanek deal, yikes.
Also I wouldn't have any interest in Bouchard, skilled player for sure but not what we need imo. We have playmakers to boot on this team, we need more finishers and I'd love to see us get more grit. Come playoff time, Bouchard imo is not really the kind of player the Habs should target.
If PMB wasn't a quebecer hardly anyone would know him. The OP is saying we should get rid of Koivu to make room for guys like Naslund and Demitra?? Maybe we can get rid of Plekanec and Komisarek and replace them with Mini-me and Wee-Man as well if going small and soft is the trend
Evidently if PMB wasn't a quebecer, that type of comment would not have been made.....Only 3 seasons of around 60ish points in a great offensive system that runs Jacques Lemaire.....Just bench the guy.....
Having said that, I would want to be much bigger at center but since nobody will trade us what EVERYBODY wants, we need to draft them...Hope it will be addressed in the future drafts......like real soon.....let's addressed it like we addressed the d-men depth problem....
Evidently if PMB wasn't a quebecer, that type of comment would not have been made.....Only 3 seasons of around 60ish points in a great offensive system that runs Jacques Lemaire.....Just bench the guy.....
Having said that, I would want to be much bigger at center but since nobody will trade us what EVERYBODY wants, we need to draft them...Hope it will be addressed in the future drafts......like real soon.....let's addressed it like we addressed the d-men depth problem....
Exactly and the 2008 draft wasnt the year to do that in terms of talent(barely any top 6 players). What we need are top 6 centers with size(and good skating), since we do have plenty of bottom 6 options with size in the system.(Fortier, White, Chipchura, Lapierre)
@next year draft: Lookout!
And lets not forget Maxwell is a size upgrade over the 3 guys in front of him. (Koivu, Turtlenec and Grabovski)
I don't think Bouchard is an upgrade to Koivu. And it's what we want, right? Somebody that can do things that Saku cannot do so we can have a a first line with a big center. Given that PM doesn't fullfill those criterias I would pass. I would rather give an offer sheet to Steve Bernier instead.
I actually think that we are ok at no1 and no2 center with Plekanek and Koivu... Its number 3 that we need now. Yes if we had an upgrade over these two it would be good but the have an equally good version of these two at number 3 would put us in a very hard to beat situation....
I would certainly send an offersheet for Antoine Vermette 5Y 22M Offer. Yes its a lot but this guy would be a perfect fit for our team. He is fast, he wins face offs, he has tons of post season experience for his age and would look pretty good IMO with Higgins on his wing.
It would give us three very good lines:
A.Kostsitsyn, Plekaneks, Kovalev
A.Tanguay, Koivu, G.Latendresse
Higgins, Vermette, S.Kostsitsyn
Begin, Chipchura, Lapierre
In Montreal's position, it's a bad idea to make offers to RFAs. First, you need to overpay for any chance of a return. This will have an effect on your own RFA negotiations, eating away at cap space. This in turn will make it harder to sign our own RFAs and make them ripe candidates for offers from other teams. Since we have a young team with plenty of good RFAs, this would be a terrible situation to be in. Let's not go there.
Having said that, I would want to be much bigger at center but since nobody will trade us what EVERYBODY wants, we need to draft them...Hope it will be addressed in the future drafts......like real soon.....let's addressed it like we addressed the d-men depth problem....
Well , we could have drafted Jimmy Hayes this year and it probably would have helped addressing the situation but we picked Danny Kristo instead. Same thing happened last year when we picked Subban over Veilleux. Not saying that those are bad picks but it seems that Gainey and Timmins are not exactly in hurry of fixing the situation. I think we should clearly target a big center with size and some skill in the 2009 draft even if he's not the BPA.
As for PM Bouchard , no thanks. If we have to make an offer sheet to someone it should be for a true elite player or for a player that would fill a need. PM Bouchard is a decent small player but he does not meet these criterias and would be redundant on this team.
So what are the real chances of an offer sheet? The two players I'd likely target are Bouwmeester (who wants out of Florida) and PM Bouchard. Bouwmeester would be my preference. He oozes talent, is still quite young, blazingly fast, and would elevate us to having one of the two best defences in the league. Perhaps a five or six year deals at 5 or 6 mill a year? Anyone?
Why are you so desperate to get someone that you would give up 4 first round picks for an offer sheet? We are in good shape, Sundin would just be the icing on the cake, no need to do any drastic move.
Offer sheets are a bad idea, especially for a team like us who is full of young up and coming players on the verge of RFA. I realize that offer sheets are perfectly legal within the CBA but GMs do not like it when other GMs sign their players to offer sheets. I was watching Sportsnet on July 1 and they said the Blues were extremely pissed when the Canucks signed Backes to an offer sheet. I know it's a way to do business but I don't think it would be the best approach for us.
Maybe we can get rid of Plekanec and Komisarek and replace them with Mini-me and Wee-Man as well if going small and soft is the trend
