I want us to make 2 moves, get rid of Pyatt for a Chris Neil type of player, someone who can play a regular shift but drop the gloves when needed. Then get rid of AK47 for a gritty, tough, 20-25 goal scorer who is the first in a scrum to defend his mates, something AK has never done in his life.
The 4th line would be punishing, but where is Halpern? He is our best faceoff man, and is great on the PK. He seems to go overlooked on many of peoples rosters.
I seriously doubt that Ladd is available, and if he is, the asking price is probably double what he was traded for last offseason (we royally missed the boat on that one)...
that said, I think he'd be a PERFECT addition to this roster.
otherwise, I don't know that I want to see the team rush into any deals right now.
Unless it's a deal with long-term implications (i.e acquiring a guy that is signed beyond this year, or that the team is committed to signing long-term), I don't want to see anything.
As frustrating as A.Kost is, he is giving us a pretty solid season by his standards, and as an RFA, we could do a lot worse than to go into next season with him earning ~3.5-3.75 in our top 6.
without any additions, we'd have:
Cammalleri- Pleks- A.Kost
MaxPac- DD- Gionta
Pouliot- Eller -
(I'm holding out hope that they get rid of Gomez, one way or another).
not ideal, but I'd call it an upgrade over what we went into this year with. If we did jettison Gomez, it would free up a ton of space to go after another solid top-9 winger...
on defense, again, I don't want to see us moving any assets for a "quick fix"... if we add a depth guy for a late pick or a prospect the team is done with, fine, but no high picks/prospects for a rental... now is not the time for that.
if we could go out and get a player like Regher during the offseason, GREAT, but otherwise it may just be a matter of hoping Markov re-signs and comes back close to his former self, Subban/Weber continue to improve, and whichever UFA we sign/re-sign plays up to the level we expect from him/pay him for... be it Wiz/Hamrlik or someone else.
don't see Gill coming back unless either Spacek gets moved, or he's willing to take a pay cut and accept a 6-7 role. His leadership is good, but his physical limitations are only getting worse with time.
We've always needed a legit number one center and a power forward. Unfortunately neither is in great supply these days.
On the plus side, we're set for goaltending. Also, our D looks pretty good for next year when Gorges comes back provided that we can keep Wiz. Subban, Wiz and Gorges is great. A healthy Markov would be a bonus.
The 4th line would be punishing, but where is Halpern? He is our best faceoff man, and is great on the PK. He seems to go overlooked on many of peoples rosters.
Believe it or not Konopka is one of the best face off guys in the league!
How do you figure that emelin has no NHL experience and isn't exactly the best shutdown guy in the khl would like to see him join the Habs but over a proven veteran guy...your theory sounds more like wishful thinking than actual analysis to me.
Don't want Neil. David Clarkson and Konopka would be nice but it would depend on the cost. Teams around the league know Montreal needs to get bigger and tougher, it wouldn't surprise me to see them try to sell their 3rd and 4th liners at a high price.
I hope emelin does come over, and earns a role with the team, but to think he'd be as effective as a guy like Regher, right off the bat, is a bit of a stretch.
EDIT: wtf, why is Dallas Dave blocked? Yet Eklund's garbage is allowed.
Not sure I would send Kostitsyn to TML only to watch him explode over there. Kaberle is definitely interesting but we could wait and grab him as a ufa. Burke already hinted hes not resigning him.
Ahhhh, Emelin, the HFBoards Habs prospect star! This guy pops up once in a while on this board, while he's never stepped foot on a pro-hockey rink in North America.
This guy is the equivalent of the Ryder + 2nd pick joke that was running around here a couple of years ago.
I want us to make 2 moves, get rid of Pyatt for a Chris Neil type of player, someone who can play a regular shift but drop the gloves when needed. Then get rid of AK47 for a gritty, tough, 20-25 goal scorer who is the first in a scrum to defend his mates, something AK has never done in his life.
I would also like to see a couple of moves like that. Then, if they wish, they can get a cheap stay at home veteran defenseman like Steve Staios or someone like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pam19
Regher at 5M or Emelin at 2.5M??????
With Emelin we don't need the Wiz.
Emelin doesn't have the offensive abilities that Wisniewski has. While I was hoping to see him give the NHL a try at some point, I certainly wouldn't be holding my breath on that. I have a feeling that he'll never cross the pond.
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Wait... Kovalchuk. How many captains in Montreal were traded again? Oh yeah...
Careful now. I've listed the names and/or teams that have been mentioned in rumours. Not all of them are as equal in their chances of being traded, just as the asking price would also vary.
There's a big difference between the two scenarios. Kovalchuk was an impending UFA that had all but confirmed he wasn't going to re-sign. Also, don't mention the Canadiens trading their captains. Pretty much all those trades were resounding failures.
Ladd is a young standup captain. He plays a powerforward game and he's been on two cup winning teams. Atlanta is not trading Ladd.
Have you actually seen him play or are you just basing your arguments on scouting reports and stat sheets? The kid has never played in North America and you would take him over one of the best shutdown defencemen in the league?
If there was nothing left to get, I would also take a chance on Kovalev. He loved it here, and when he's happy he is a force. They could always walk away at the end of the year.
Penner: adds size to ur top 6 for a package that includes Kostitsyn, draft picks and prospects (maybe a 2nd + Maxwell).
Konopka: according to someone on Twitter (The_Creasy), Gauthier inquired about Konopka on Friday.
Winchester: also on Twitter (don't remember where), St. Louis wants Halpern for Winchester.
Phillips: draft pick
Pyatt: down to AHL too small for 4th line
Eller: down to AHL for seasoning
Pouliot - Desharnais - White: played great together. If White could PK like Pyatt, Pyatt would become expendable.
Grit: Moen, Konopka and Winchester would be a really tough line to play against. White and Penner would beef up our top 9. We'd still be a top 4 defenseman away, someone like a young Komisarek (target a guy like Bogosian?).
Penner: adds size to ur top 6 for a package that includes Kostitsyn, draft picks and prospects (maybe a 2nd + Maxwell).
Konopka: according to someone on Twitter (The_Creasy), Gauthier inquired about Konopka on Friday.
Winchester: also on Twitter (don't remember where), St. Louis wants Halpern for Winchester.
Phillips: draft pick
Pyatt: down to AHL too small for 4th line
Eller: down to AHL for seasoning
Pouliot - Desharnais - White: played great together. If White could PK like Pyatt, Pyatt would become expendable.
Grit: Moen, Konopka and Winchester would be a really tough line to play against. White and Penner would beef up our top 9. We'd still be a top 4 defenseman away, someone like a young Komisarek (target a guy like Bogosian?).
I'm on the same page here as you as far as personnel changes, except that I don't think Konopka is an upgrade on Halpern. Mainly because the Habs would lose a RH faceoff specialist, and that can make a difference in a game. According to McGuire, Neil would probably cost a 3rd or 4th rd pick to get, so I can't imagine Winchester costing more than a 4th or a 5th b/c he is UFA, so he could be had without trading Halpern. Spacek, IMO, is immovable because of his cap hit, age, and being a 35+ contract that doesn't come off a team's cap hit no matter what, but you'd have to move him to get enough cap for Brewer. And yeah, Eller should go down, play 1st line minutes as a freakin' center, and come back next year exactly the way they did with MaxPac.
I'd really push for Penner if he's available, as AK has now gone 9 straight games without a goal for the 3rd time this season. I'd even overpay a little for Penner with picks because if it doesn't work out, you could easily recoup that payment if next season doesn't pan out as planned.
