HF Habs: 2020 Montreal Canadiens Off-Season Thread part 3

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Hearing all these reports about the details of how all these teams will have to get rid of players because of how bad their cap situation is. Really makes me wonder if there weren't better alternatives than using 8 million in cap space on a backup goalie and a 4/5 - especially when our biggest need is at forward...

Our biggest need is an elite PMD.

And not signing JE and Allen to keep that $ was obvious weeks ago.

 

[Lshap]

Hearing all these reports about the details of how all these teams will have to get rid of players because of how bad their cap situation is. Really makes me wonder if there weren't better alternatives than using 8 million in cap space on a backup goalie and a 4/5 - especially when our biggest need is at forward...

This might be a dumb question... but if most teams are being forced to dump players, where exactly are they supposed to go? We're kidding ourselves if we think the league will allow too many teams to lose star players and allow a handful, like Montreal, to scoop them up. Not sure what cap-workaround they'll come up with, but I don't think this cap crunch will be as dramatic as we expect.

 

[waitin425]

Push for Laine...

Domi + 2020 1st + Mete for Laine

Lehk - Suzuki - Laine ……. Lehk creates space, Suzuki the playmaker.....Laine the finisher
Tatar - Danault - Gally ………… we know what to expect
Drouin - KK - Armia …………. KK and Armia will create space and Drouin is the finisher on this line
Weal - Evans - Byron ………… Speedy defensive line

**if somehow Poehling graduates and shows he has finish, I'd put him with KK and Armia. Bump Drouin up to the 1st line and Lehk all the way down to 4th line. This is what I hope for, but it still may be a year or two away. If Poehling becomes a solid scoring threat and/or puck possession player, it makes Armia or Gally expendable when Caufield is ready to be a scoring winger.****

Romanov - Weber ………….. pair up the rookie with the veteran
Eddie - Petry ……………. solid veteran pair with Petry as the offensive PMD
Chiarot - Juulsen/Fleury …………. Juulsen or Fleury are interchangeable here. Solid 3 pair

Price
Allen

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

This might be a dumb question... but if most teams are being forced to dump players, where exactly are they supposed to go? We're kidding ourselves if we think the league will allow too many teams to lose star players and allow a handful, like Montreal, to scoop them up. Not sure what cap-workaround they'll come up with, but I don't think this cap crunch will be as dramatic as we expect.

This would already have been implemented for next season, signed by both parties months ago when the RTP plan and new cba were ratified. There might be something they'll to forestall any further dilution next summer, but if there was anything to stop this from happening this year, it would already be in place, like 1-2 buyouts without cap hits. There aren't, so there will definitely be a crunch. It's already happening with the Blues trying to shortchange Pietrangelo and then breaking off negos when AP didnt agree.

 

[Lshap]

This would already have been implemented for next season, signed by both parties months ago when the RTP plan and new cba were ratified. There might be something they'll to forestall any further dilution next summer, but if there was anything to stop this from happening this year, it would already be in place, like 1-2 buyouts without cap hits. There aren't, so there will definitely be a crunch. It's already happening with the Blues trying to shortchange Pietrangelo and then breaking off negos when AP didnt agree.

Sounds logical. But it comes down to the same dilemma -- if most teams are crunched, then where are these contracts going to go? It's neither a buyer's nor a seller's market if everyone's broke.

 

[calder candidate]

There is a cap crunch but also some budget crunch most team are able to snake their way around they will lose some depth and might now be able to make many upgrade to there lineup but but they won’t lose any star player... if STL loses AP it won’t be because they weren’t able to make the numbers work, either they aren’t willing to give him the money, he didn’t want to resign or the aren’t willing to pay to get out of other contract to make it work because pretty sure they will have to pay to get out from under the other contract because they got lucky with Allen...

 

[waffledave]

would not be a terrible idea, but i doubt there's any chance Suter would waive to come here, nor do i think the Wild would have any interest in moving him.

Unlike Weber, he's maintained near peak level of performance... seems more likely to follow the niedemayer/lidstrom path of only minimal decline through his late 30's. Would be a great asset, just don't see him being available or accepting Mtl as a destination if he was.

Can't do much about getting him to waive his NTC but I don't see how he fits in to what Minny is trying to do with their youth movement, and the upcoming expansion draft. Plus they need a young center, and I can't imagine the franchise really wants to eat his contract after covid impacts.

Suter would make sense in Montreal given his history with Weber, organizational needs and Price expressing his desire and hunger to win now.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

Can't do much about getting him to waive his NTC but I don't see how he fits in to what Minny is trying to do with their youth movement, and the upcoming expansion draft. Plus they need a young center, and I can't imagine the franchise really wants to eat his contract after covid impacts.

Suter would make sense in Montreal given his history with Weber, organizational needs and Price expressing his desire and hunger to win now.

History with past teammates don't mean much. Suter's old and he wants the Cup.


Suter had enough of Nashville's forever journey through the forward doldrums. Their core corps was in a miserable state, with Legwand as a 1C and Radulov bailing out. There was also family matters, as he would be closer to his dad. His gamble was not without merit, as Minnesota's rosters in the future would turn out better than Nashville's, buuuut Mike Yeo happened.

Suter is going to size up the roster here, and he's going to have alarm sirens wailing "worse than Nashville".

Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if Bergy offers him 7.7 million, while saying with a straight face, "Ryan, you're not as good as Shea Weber, therefore, you need to be paid less than him".

Marc: "You also will have Kotkaniemi and Suzuki as your centers, but they need to earn their stripes as they are too young to be firmly established"
Ryan Suter: "Soooo, I have to wait 2 more years for one them to oust Danault, who reminds of Legwand"
Marc: "You are mistaken, we will never oust Danault. He's our David Krejci"
Ryan Suter's thoughts: 8.4 million, weird 1C deployment....ugh nope, saw it in Nashville.

 

[waffledave]

History with past teammates don't mean much. Suter's old and he wants the Cup.


Suter had enough of Nashville's forever journey through the forward doldrums. Their core corps was in a miserable state, with Legwand as a 1C and Radulov bailing out. There was also family matters, as he would be closer to his dad. His gamble was not without merit, as Minnesota's rosters in the future would turn out better than Nashville's, buuuut Mike Yeo happened.

Suter is going to size up the roster here, and he's going to have alarm sirens wailing "worse than Nashville".

Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if Bergy offers him 7.7 million, while saying with a straight face, "Ryan, you're not as good as Shea Weber, therefore, you need to be paid less than him".

Marc: "You also will have Kotkaniemi and Suzuki as your centers, but they need to earn their stripes as they are too young to be firmly established"
Ryan Suter: "Soooo, I have to wait 2 more years for one them to oust Danault, who reminds of Legwand"
Marc: "You are mistaken, we will never oust Danault. He's our David Krejci"
Ryan Suter's thoughts: 8.4 million, weird 1C deployment....ugh nope, saw it in Nashville.

Suter is signed another 4 years, this is just a trade and he would only need to agree to waive.

He can choose to continue in Minny where the top 3 centers are Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Nick Bjudstad. That's worse than anything Nashville put out, ever, and shockingly also worse than Montreal even in the Desharnais dark days.

I mean jeez, Johansson is 30 years old and has gotten over 50 points one time in his whole career. I don't even remember this guy playing center, he's always been better at wing from what I recall.

 

[Deebs]

Acquiring Suter would be a step back for the franchise. He's still solid but he's not what we need to move forward as a team.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Sounds logical. But it comes down to the same dilemma -- if most teams are crunched, then where are these contracts going to go? It's neither a buyer's nor a seller's market if everyone's broke.

Not everyone

 

[26Mats]

Byron is just not a 3rd liner.

Lekhonen and Armia should be the third liners. Kovalchuk has no spot to play on this team. Let's move on , he's wasted money even at 1m. Id rather have a younger kid on the 4th line than having Kovalchuk

We'll agree to disagree about Kovalchuk.

Kk and Suzuki need better offensive wingers than Armia and Lehkonen. Armia can be on Suzuki's wing if there's another offensive winger on the other side. But no Byron or Lehkonen under any circumstances.

 

[26Mats]

Our biggest need is an elite PMD.

And not signing JE and Allen to keep that $ was obvious weeks ago.

We'll see what players actually come available in the coming weeks.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

We'll agree to disagree about Kovalchuk.

Kk and Suzuki need better offensive wingers than Armia and Lehkonen. Armia can be on Suzuki's wing if there's another offensive winger on the other side. But no Byron or Lehkonen under any circumstances.

Still don't agree with Armia. Unless of injuries , Armia should be out of the top 6 of any teams.

 

[OB5]

I'm bored. Bergevin got me accustomed to this playoffs trades lifestyle and now I'm starved for more.

 

[Zorba]

If Bergevin signs Kovalchuk , Hes a bigger idiot than I ever thought. Kovalchuk is useless

 

[BLONG7]

If Bergevin signs Kovalchuk , Hes a bigger idiot than I ever thought. Kovalchuk is useless

Never challenge worse....MB has been disappointing us for years now.......would love to think the end is near, but...............

 

[26Mats]

If Bergevin signs Kovalchuk , Hes a bigger idiot than I ever thought. Kovalchuk is useless

He's better than Byron and Lehkonen for KK and Suzuki.

 

[Odie Cleghorn]

If Bergevin signs Kovalchuk , Hes a bigger idiot than I ever thought. Kovalchuk is useless

He's still better thn Armia and Lehkonen so that makes them worse than useless.

 

[Zorba]

He's still better thn Armia and Lehkonen so that makes them worse than useless.

Lol. He’s not even close to either of those guys.

 

[Zorba]

He's better than Byron and Lehkonen for KK and Suzuki.

No he’s not. He can’t skate. Look at at his production in the last 20 games including playoffs

he’s useless

 

[Le Barron de HF]

I find MB dropped the ball in maximizing the return on Byron but can anybody explain to me why people want to dump ti Paul at all costs all of a sudden? The dude is good enough depth and seems to be back to his old self. Byron brings more to a team in 2020 than a washed up Kovy.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I find MB dropped the ball in maximizing the return on Byron but can anybody explain to me why people want to dump ti Paul at all costs all of a sudden? The dude is good enough depth and seems to be back to his old self. Byron brings more to a team in 2020 than a washed up Kovy.

Money vs. health & production.

Frankly, you want to move him before all of his value is gone. He has another injury riddled season, at his age and history? You won't get anything for him, at all, and his cap hit isn't really good for a bottom 6 guy.

 

[The Great Weal]

I find MB dropped the ball in maximizing the return on Byron but can anybody explain to me why people want to dump ti Paul at all costs all of a sudden? The dude is good enough depth and seems to be back to his old self. Byron brings more to a team in 2020 than a washed up Kovy.

The guy had a tough injury at the end of last season and started the year with a different injury. He was producing the same as he was for the past 3 seasons in his 20 games since he's been healthy. Extending him was dumb, but not trading him last year was even dumber. I have more faith that he bounces back to his old self rather than him breaking down and getting injured more.

 

[26Mats]

No he’s not. He can’t skate. Look at at his production in the last 20 games including playoffs

he’s useless

Ah another "look at the production" and draw conclusions.

He had 4 points in 7 games with WASH in the regular season. That's the production you'd expect from a secondary scorer.

He then had 1 point in 8 games in the playoffs. You know who else had 1 point in the playoffs for Washington, OR ZERO POINTS? Eller, Backstrom, Vrana, Panick.

So by your genius logic, they're all useless? Or do you just apply your double standard to Kovalchuk??