Confirmed with Link: Montreal Canadiens Sign Paul Byron to 4-Year Extension ($3.4M AAV)

[Cobra Commander]

Simply no way you can let go of a guy that fast in a game that is only getting faster. Great signing. Great cap hit for 20 plus goals and very very tradeable in case we do go completely off the rails again

Sure that’s great, but we could have traded him at the deadline for a 2019 2nd + 2020 3rd, then we could have just signed him to a 4 year deal next season. The 2019 and 2020 drafts are very strong and we should be collecting as many picks as possible, we need to be sneaky smart, something Bergevin will never be.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

This type of signing playing, typifies our franchise and why we won't be cup contenders. On a personal level I'm happy for Byron. He's worked hard to make himself into this player. But as a franchise when you value "company yes men" above talent and abilities to win hockey games you have to question what really matters here.

I'll compare Byron and Eller. Both are now making the same money $3.5/year. Both are the same age and put up the same points per season. Eller was brought here as a potential top 6 piece and a first rounder. I think people expected that outcome and when it didn't happen he got crapped on by everyone. But the fact is statistically both are similar players. Except one is 6'2" 210 and plays center and one is 5'8 154 and plays wing. One of those players can (as has) help win a cup and is a great piece to have on a cup contending team. The other is a nice story who tries hard and always has a good attitude (a la Desharnais).

With a better front office all of this gets smoothed over behind the scenes and guys can just focus on hockey. However we know that's not possible at present.

The general love for underdogs and hard wokers in this province is only matched by their dislike of any elitism and anyone who rises above the rest.

This paradox of personal humbleness mixed with envy and snobbishness makes a lot of people dislike this mentality in return.

 

[scrubadam]

Tatar fetches a 1,2 and 3rd and he had a bad contract. The bad part is Bergs is not rebuilding. He is keeping enough parts which will keep us from drafting high.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves, this is the same team that before the Pre season was looked at as being bottom of the league.

I know we have had some fun pre seasons games, but unless Price is Hasek/Tim Thomas levels the team is going to struggle all year long.

I don't think there are many teams out there with worse rosters than the Habs. Maybe Ottawa and Arizona. The C depth is still really weak and the D line sans Weber is a bunch of 4/5/6 guys.

Yes I am excited about hockey and have loved this pre season so far, but I have to let reality sink in and realize that when we play full NHL teams the Habs are going to struggle and struggle a lot.

 

[Talks to Goalposts]

Because both players are on another level talent wise,

Also because the club was in the same position regarding trying to compete in the next season then as they are now.

Signing a veteran star short term when you are trying to win games is a good idea.

Signing a mid-list player long term during his decline phase when you should be maximizing future assets because you have no chance of winning anything over the next 2-3 years is a completely differnt thing.

Its almost as if different factors matter in different amounts depending on context.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Sure that’s great, but we could have traded him at the deadline for a 2019 2nd + 2020 3rd, then we could have just signed him to a 4 year deal next season. The 2019 and 2020 drafts are very strong and we should be collecting as many picks as possible, we need to be sneaky smart, something Bergevin will never be.

The trade and sign back move has been done a couple of times with veterans. How many times has it been done with 29-30 yo players?

 

[Legend123]

It's truly incredible how the GM who looked like the worst gm of the nhl and prob still is is having one hell of an off season. Hes looking like a top 10 GM recently. Great signing even tho I must admit I'm one of them who wanted him traded for a first.

 

[scrubadam]

The problem was Byron, like Desharnais before him is that his numbers hide just how one-dimensional he is. He wouldn’t be a player a contender would want.

Bergevin just LOVES throwing term at Players that he perceives to have fought to stay in the league (I.e. players like him), whilst Nickle-and-diming top talent.

Byron 1 dimensional? What?

The guy can PK, play on your 1st line or 4th line, has speed to burn and can score in close, with his shot or on a break away. The guy is far from one-dimensional. And I think any contender would love to have Byron on their team.

MB just gives out contracts. He had no problem making the biggest mistake of his tenure and throwing Price a stupid dumb contract. He signed Drouin within minutes of trading him. He offered Radu the same deal he signed in Dallas. The only guy he "nickle and dimed" was PK.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Because both players are on another level talent wise,

I have a different theory. Most of the people who thought we should re-sign Radulov thought we would be competitive. And those people turned out to be wrong. In just one year, expectations went from competitive to 4th worst team, and it's not Radulov that would have made that same team a contender.

But just like people could be wrong about how good we were, over just one season (!), they could be wrong that we MUST be bad for FOUR years.

The truth is the league is full of parity and a team that plays hard and with passions like Vegas can beat almost anyone.

In two years, we will probably have a new GM and a new coach. Anything can happen in two years and no good professional sports organization plays to lose for years.

 

[HuGort]

So we take a team that finished bottom 5 last year, trade Galchenyuk and Pacioretty for downgrades and futures. Now suddenly we aren't going to be drafting high because we added Peca and resigned Byron? LMFAO

Never had Price last year. Price and Weber weren't there. We won't draft top 5 unless Price goes down again

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

BargainBin strikes back. For every good move he makes, he does another that leaves us scratching our heads.

I don't see why they chose to resign Byron. They picked him up for nothing and he outperformed for the last 2 years. He absolutely deserves the contract.

But, he is 29 years old and the signing proves MB has no sense of direction once more. He's an expendable asset that can be flipped to another team for a high pick. There's an abundance of wingers on the team that are much younger to build around. The team is trying to become younger right now and get talented players through drafting.

I highly doubt they trade him now. If they do, it proves MB has no class. Let's just hope Byron lives up to his potential 5 years from now if he stays on the team.

Next move, Niemi is extended once again.

To me, this signing means MB is still in win mode. He believes he can win with the current roster. He clearly still has poor evaluation of his players. It clearly shows that the organisation doesn't like what they see in some youngsters and Byron is perfect for the role.

 

[LaP]

This type of signing playing, typifies our franchise and why we won't be cup contenders. On a personal level I'm happy for Byron. He's worked hard to make himself into this player. But as a franchise when you value "company yes men" above talent and abilities to win hockey games you have to question what really matters here.

I'll compare Byron and Eller. Both are now making the same money $3.5/year. Both are the same age and put up the same points per season. Eller was brought here as a potential top 6 piece and a first rounder. I think people expected that outcome and when it didn't happen he got crapped on by everyone. But the fact is statistically both are similar players. Except one is 6'2" 210 and plays center and one is 5'8 154 and plays wing. One of those players can (as has) help win a cup and is a great piece to have on a cup contending team. The other is a nice story who tries hard and always has a good attitude (a la Desharnais).

With a better front office all of this gets smoothed over behind the scenes and guys can just focus on hockey. However we know that's not possible at present.

I could not agree more. Usually i would only like this post but this post is so true it deserves to be quoted over and over.

 

[HuGort]

Lets not get ahead of ourselves, this is the same team that before the Pre season was looked at as being bottom of the league.

I know we have had some fun pre seasons games, but unless Price is Hasek/Tim Thomas levels the team is going to struggle all year long.

I don't think there are many teams out there with worse rosters than the Habs. Maybe Ottawa and Arizona. The C depth is still really weak and the D line sans Weber is a bunch of 4/5/6 guys.

Yes I am excited about hockey and have loved this pre season so far, but I have to let reality sink in and realize that when we play full NHL teams the Habs are going to struggle and struggle a lot.

There are many teams weaker than us.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Byron 1 dimensional? What?

The guy can PK, play on your 1st line or 4th line, has speed to burn and can score in close, with his shot or on a break away. The guy is far from one-dimensional. And I think any contender would love to have Byron on their team.

MB just gives out contracts. He had no problem making the biggest mistake of his tenure and throwing Price a stupid dumb contract. He signed Drouin within minutes of trading him. He offered Radu the same deal he signed in Dallas. The only guy he "nickle and dimed" was PK.

Not just PK. Also Max Pacioretty, twice.

 

[HuGort]

Oh Bergevin. Terrible contract. Trade him at the deadline.

I got no problem with the contract. The problem I have is it signifies we are not rebuilding. Why keep a 29 year old instead of more draft picks in an exceptional deep draft? They must be planning to be the best they can be this year.

 

[LaP]

There are many teams weaker than us.

Which ones? Our center line is Danault, Peca, Plekanec. Which teams have a worse center line? 50% of our defense is made of Benn, Schlemko and Alzner. Which teams have a worse defense?

 

[Adam Michaels]

Which ones? Our center line is Danault, Peca, Plekanec. Which teams have a worse center line? 50% of our defense is made of Benn, Schlemko and Alzner. Which teams have a worse defense?

The Alouettes.

 

[scrubadam]

Not just PK. Also Max Pacioretty, twice.

Didn't Gauthier sign Max to his 4.5 deal? And this time around he just didn't negotiat with Max which I agree with. Most people on this board did not want Max signed again and wanted him traded so I am glad he didn't throw Max a 8x8 deal last season when he gave Price his 10.5 deal.

 

[scrubadam]

The Alouettes.

Johnny Football or Andrew Shaw hmmmm both are concusion magnets.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Never had Price last year. Price and Weber weren't there. We won't draft top 5 unless Price goes down again

Price played 49 games last year. Weber is out till nov-december.

 

[HuGort]

Price played 49 games last year. Weber is out till nov-december.

Price wasn't healthy all year. Habs will be better with him this year.

 

[HuGort]

Which ones? Our center line is Danault, Peca, Plekanec. Which teams have a worse center line? 50% of our defense is made of Benn, Schlemko and Alzner. Which teams have a worse defense?

Got to be pretty bad to get worse than Ottawa

 

[scrubadam]

BargainBin strikes back. For every good move he makes, he does another that leaves us scratching our heads.

I don't see why they chose to resign Byron. They picked him up for nothing and he outperformed for the last 2 years. He absolutely deserves the contract.

But, he is 29 years old and the signing proves MB has no sense of direction once more. He's an expendable asset that can be flipped to another team for a high pick. There's an abundance of wingers on the team that are much younger to build around. The team is trying to become younger right now and get talented players through drafting.

I highly doubt they trade him now. If they do, it proves MB has no class. Let's just hope Byron lives up to his potential 5 years from now if he stays on the team.

Next move, Niemi is extended once again.

To me, this signing means MB is still in win mode. He believes he can win with the current roster. He clearly still has poor evaluation of his players. It clearly shows that the organisation doesn't like what they see in some youngsters and Byron is perfect for the role.

I wanted Byron traded but you need players on your team you can't go all rookies or bought out vets/PTO's.

And we have already been bad for 2 of the past 3 years, this year will be 3 out of 4. At some point the team has to turn it around we can't be the Oilers/Sabers/ARZ finishing bottom every year until every position is filled with a top 5 pick. The 4 year contract fits into the window of this team being competative and Byron can provide good depth and flexability during that competitve period.

We should look at TOR, bad 1 year, bottomed out the next(Matthews) and then started to turn it around. Hopefully with Kotka(marner) and this year(Hughes) we can turn it around the following season and start looking at playoffs.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Price wasn't healthy all year. Habs will be better with him this year.

Price will be better but he doesn't score goals. I fail to see how the habs are going to have an outburst in goal scoring this year given we traded away our 2 best snipers in the summer off a team that scored 1 or less goals in historic fashion last year.

 

[BaseballCoach]

BargainBin strikes back. For every good move he makes, he does another that leaves us scratching our heads.

I don't see why they chose to resign Byron. They picked him up for nothing and he outperformed for the last 2 years. He absolutely deserves the contract.

But, he is 29 years old and the signing proves MB has no sense of direction once more. He's an expendable asset that can be flipped to another team for a high pick. There's an abundance of wingers on the team that are much younger to build around. The team is trying to become younger right now and get talented players through drafting.

I highly doubt they trade him now. If they do, it proves MB has no class. Let's just hope Byron lives up to his potential 5 years from now if he stays on the team.

Next move, Niemi is extended once again.

To me, this signing means MB is still in win mode. He believes he can win with the current roster. He clearly still has poor evaluation of his players. It clearly shows that the organisation doesn't like what they see in some youngsters and Byron is perfect for the role.

If Byron got traded to a contender for a 2nd rounder, that would be a late second round pick, which statistically would give us a 20% chance AT BEST of getting a 20 goal scorer with speed. Maybe 10-15%.

If you think Byron is in the same category as Niemi, you are badly mistaken.

And it's not POOR evaluation to see Byron ahead of Hudon, McCarron and Scherbak, it's GOOD evaluation. He has speed, work ethic and a pretty good wrist shot. AND he' ll go to dirty areas. AND he'll kill penalties.

Byron did not block Lehkonen from scoring 18 as a rookie, and he won't block Hudon or Scherbak from displaying their talent, if they have it in them. Especially not now, with Chucky and Patches and Rads gone since Lehk's rookie year.

If there is anyone here (not necessarily you BargainBinSpecial) who is a fanatical Scherbak supporter and wanted Byron gone so his favourite player could have a job handed to him, try to get over it.

 

[scrubadam]

Got to be pretty bad to get worse than Ottawa

Ottawa and maybe ARZ are the only 2 teams on paper you could say are worse. And even with Price he still needs to bounce back and prove he is the same goalie of 2014. Since then he has put up a 2.5+ GAA and .915 save % which isn't exactly elite numbers across the league. Nieme gave us a .929 last year and we still sucked. As good as price is we saw during his 1st game that if the D plays bad he won't be able to stop the puck.

It was always going to come down to lottery luck anyways. Even if we were the worst team we still had to worry about the bouncing balls.