they already have about 8m of space this year and with ARMIA SAVARD and DVORAK coming off the books next summer and PETRY and ALLEN retentions too.. with price on LTIR and adding SLAFs new deal habs will still be at about 19m of cap space next summer.
That's all irrelevant if he can't stay healthy. No one should be question his production. He's capable of being an 80pt+ player. His production in Columbus went up on a worse team.
Laine is 26 years old, so he's still in his prime years. If he can remain healthy, he's a top6 forward. If not, the Habs still were able to relieve a logjam they had at LD by trading Harris for an early 2nd round pick, which is a very good return for Harris. There is almost no risk to Montreal with this trade, with a big upside if Laine returns to any semblance of his old self.
I wouldn't read too much into it. He's saying all the clichés he's expected to say. Jeff Carter is probably the only player in league history to not say that he's excited about his new team.
If he works out and signs a cheaper deal, he could well be a 3d liner on a team that goes deep, like Kessel in PIT. Even if he doesn't carry a team, he has the kind of talent that will make opponents look bad when he's given opportunities.
A good comparison for Jordan Harris might be Jon Merrill. Not a guy who wows anyone, but useful in all kinds of situations and now at 612 games played.
Keep in mind, it's easy to win deals when you're selling off pieces and under no pressure to win, with an owner without budget constraints. Let's wait and see if Hughes manages to do well when he has specific gaps to fill, hard cap constraints, and everyone knows it.
Despite playing a lot with Bonino and Hagelin, Kessel still got as much ice time as Malkin, second only to Crosby.
The Habs got a big hole in top 6 and he just fill the gap with Laine so I am not sure what you are talking about. On top he had done wonder managing capspace and turn available capspace to asset.
Since I highly doubt Laine will move one of Caufield or Slafkofsky off line 1, how exactly is laine's talent around him improving?
This is fair. Health really is the main question mark. Other issues attached to Laine are less relevant or no longer applicable. He's recently made the right choices in his personal life and, at 26, is at the age when young men start getting their heads on straight.
Not really. Askarov at this point is no better or worse than what they have already. They have Fowler coming up who by all accounts is going to be very good. There is also Russian goalie Yevgeni Volohkin in the system who is having a terrific junior career so far. Goaltending depth is not a weakness.
The reason they are in the position they are is because of the good deals Hughes made to get here. Signing players on the cheap and trading for undervalued players who could turn it around. The core of the team is already locked up long term to very friendly deals.
Yes, but he had capspace to spare for both Monahan and Laine, and no pressure to win, and no pressure to limit spending.
Also important to note money in a market like MTL.
As a MTL fan, I like the trade, go big or go home, not much to lose given limited need for cap space in the next two years.
That being said, if you look at the price of dumping salary right now, if Laine produces at a 0.5PPG and is useless defensively, this will be a major victory for CBJ to dump 8.7m for two years at no cost.
It s all on Laine now to prove if Hughes or Wadell wins that tradeand to CBJ fans who don t know Harris, I think you re going to like him, he is the kind of guy who makes very few mistakes on the back end and has a good transition game.
two of these things are not like the other.
