HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: Off-Season Edition

[Lafleurs Guy]

The amazing Briere:

1) has a major trade that falls apart (not the first time a GM has that happen to them), but the trade ends up Hayes @ 50% retained for 3 years for only a 6th R'd pick.

2) has Cutter Gauthier turn down development camp invite and Briere says he "assumes (meaning doesnt know for sure)" it's because he played a lot of hockey this year.

3) has a DeAngelo trade with Canes. But has to wait a full year before trading him back to Carolina. That date passes. No trade. And now going to buy him out.

But hey, he took Michkov, so Habs should have hired him.

Not clamouring for Briere but that’s not all his fault…

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Preaching to the choir. I was against letting PLD to hit UFA because I knew he would command a premium. I wished we acquired him via trade and sign but evidentially, the prices were too high. LA really wanted him.

I don’t understand the drive to land a player who’s quit on two teams and has never hit 70 points. Yes, the talent is there but there are huge red flags with this guy.

 

[Kimota]

I don’t think the Habs have an internal cap but I also don’t think PLD is worth more than Suzuki or Caufield. If he was UFA sure but in a RFA sign and trade and 8 year deal, 7.8m is good compensation for him.

If you want a player, you pay the price.

 

[Archijerej]

The amazing Briere:

1) has a major trade that falls apart (not the first time a GM has that happen to them), but the trade ends up Hayes @ 50% retained for 3 years for only a 6th R'd pick.

2) has Cutter Gauthier turn down development camp invite and Briere says he "assumes (meaning doesnt know for sure)" it's because he played a lot of hockey this year.

3) has a DeAngelo trade with Canes. But has to wait a full year before trading him back to Carolina. That date passes. No trade. And now going to buy him out.

But hey, he took Michkov, so Habs should have hired him.

Three those points would send this board into a riot.

 

[Andrei79]

The amazing Briere:

1) has a major trade that falls apart (not the first time a GM has that happen to them), but the trade ends up Hayes @ 50% retained for 3 years for only a 6th R'd pick.

2) has Cutter Gauthier turn down development camp invite and Briere says he "assumes (meaning doesnt know for sure)" it's because he played a lot of hockey this year.

3) has a DeAngelo trade with Canes. But has to wait a full year before trading him back to Carolina. That date passes. No trade. And now going to buy him out.

But hey, he took Michkov, so Habs should have hired him.

It's definitely been amateur season in Philadelphia. That's not mentioning the slip up during that conference call from the PR team.

We'll see. Sakic was panned around here when he first started and turned it around completely after the Duchene trade.

 

[Andy]

Chucky is not well

 

[sampollock]

Chucky is not well

and he wonders why??? jail time

 

[The Great Weal]

Chucky is not well

Man I remember when Chucky came into the league he was seen as a lovable goofball that was incredibly timid. Guy needs help.

 

[ReHabs]

I don’t understand the drive to land a player who’s quit on two teams and has never hit 70 points. Yes, the talent is there but there are huge red flags with this guy.

I don’t think anyone would say he quit in WPG — he simply said he isn’t resigning there!

But yes he is not a super premium player but he is a clear roster upgrade for our top6 — if you want him, you pay to get him. That’s how it works.

For the record I would not have paid that contract price after paying that trade price. Hughes was right to walk away but he overpaid to get Newhook and didn’t improve the roster much at all — I’m not happy with how Hughes handled this offseason and I’m afraid there are many little signs that set off the dipshit alarm. It could be nothing, maybe it’s the alarm that is broken from blaring the last ten years.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I don’t think anyone would say he quit in WPG — he simply said he isn’t resigning there!

But yes he is not a super premium player but he is a clear roster upgrade for our top6 — if you want him, you pay to get him. That’s how it works.

For the record I would not have paid that contract price after paying that trade price. Hughes was right to walk away but he overpaid to get Newhook and didn’t improve the roster much at all.

I wouldn’t pay to get him.

1. His history isn’t great. And the last thing we need are distractions in the clubhouse.

2.The timing isn’t right. Mod t of our vaunted D won’t even be in the league for another year.

3. We shouldn’t be giving up picks/prospects for older players.

 

[ReHabs]

I wouldn’t pay to get him.

1. His history isn’t great. And the last thing we need are distractions in the clubhouse.

2.The timing isn’t right. Mod t of our vaunted D won’t even be in the league for another year.

3. We shouldn’t be giving up picks/prospects for older players.

1. You’re entitled to your opinion but it’s a stretch to call him a locker-room distraction after calling him a twice quitter. There isn’t anything to support either claim, especially in WPG. He wasn’t disliked by WPG’s management or lockerroom or media.

2. The timing isn’t right to pay that sorta price to acquire that sorta player. I agree.

3. PLD is in the same age profile as Suzuki. Picks from 2024 onward are not going to matter to the real Suzuki-Cole competitive window and other than Hutson and Reinbacher none of our prospects are particularly good or interesting or irreplaceable (imo).

A roster upgrade would’ve been a productive move — maybe that’s Newhook but it’s awfully confident of them imo.

 

[Runner77]

Man I remember when Chucky came into the league he was seen as a lovable goofball that was incredibly timid. Guy needs help.

I remember when the goofball had an encounter with a shady lady who slapped him out at 5 AM. Or when he was so drunk that they needed two guys to get him out of a bar and his feet were dragging the whole time. Meantime, his sister flaunted expensive jewelry and fashion wear she bought with his money while his father kept calling Bergevin as he was unhappy with the goofball’s ice time and deployment. Good times.

 

[waffledave]

Man I remember when Chucky came into the league he was seen as a lovable goofball that was incredibly timid. Guy needs help.

Yeah but he was BPA and BPA can literally never ever go wrong. I'm told.

 

[The Great Weal]

I remember when the goofball had an encounter with a shady lady who slapped him out at 5 AM. Or when he was so drunk that they needed two guys to get him out of a bar and his feet were dragging the whole time. Meantime, his sister flaunted expensive jewelry and fashion wear she bought with his money while his father kept calling Bergevin as he was unhappy with the goofball’s ice time and deployment. Good times.

Which is why I said "when he came into the league". Tons of interviews back then where he said he doesn't even like going out and would just banter with Gallagher and Prust most of the time.

 

[ReHabs]

Yeah but he was BPA and BPA can literally never ever go wrong. I'm told.

The Habs didn’t take BPA with Kotkaniemi and it went wrong too. BPA was Zadina and it would’ve gone wrong too, most likely.

This is because there is no such thing as BPA.

You just have an axe to grind about Michkov even though you won and the Habs didn’t draft him. Very strange behaviour!

 

[DAChampion]

Galchenyuk came in as a character player who was compared to Jonathan Toews due to his two way play. In his first season he produced at an incredible pace at 5on5, comparable to Tavares, Stamkos, etc in their rookie seasons.

I don't know if it would have helped, but the Habs were profoundly idiotic to rush him to the NHL, which a lot of this forum knew at the time. He simply wasn't ready athletically as one of the most rushed players in the history of the sport, and clearly he needed more time to mature and develop fortitude in isolation of the celebrity status.

Instead there was something about Galchenyuk, Leblanc, and Eugenie Bouchard.

Note: The Habs didn't even have a sports psychologist on staff for the longest time.

 

[Runner77]

Which is why I said "when he came into the league". Tons of interviews back then where he said he doesn't even like going out and would just banter with Gallagher and Prust most of the time.

The biggest masquerade was how he hit the gym on draft day (I believe he said he had gone with his father).

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Chucky wasn’t the player the majority of this board thought he was. That said what a horrible way to go out. I want to say I feel bad for him but I don’t, if he’s that drunk he could’ve killed someone driving. He’s not a victim here, he’s the problem.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve help. I hope he gets it because that story is very out of line.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Chucky is not well

Chucky was always so hard on himself. Some kids never deal too well with the bubble burst of making the NHL and not dominating at competitive hockey for the first time in their lives.

Probably coddled his entire life, fell face first on concrete.

I hope the next time I hear about him will be positive, for good.

 

[DAChampion]

The Habs didn’t take BPA with Kotkaniemi and it went wrong too.

Impossible to prove, but I suspect that Kotkaniemi could have had the best career. Like Galchenyuk, he was one of the most rushed players in NHL history, did extremely well in his first season and then the shit hit the fan.

 

[waffledave]

The Habs didn’t take BPA with Kotkaniemi and it went wrong too. BPA was Zadina and it would’ve gone wrong too, most likely.

This is because there is no such thing as BPA.

You just have an axe to grind about Michkov even though you won and the Habs didn’t draft him. Very strange behaviour!

I wanted Michkov or Leonard at 5, I didn't get what I wanted. I just f***ing can't stand the fallout since the draft, all these people whining and crying because we didn't take him. If you ask me THAT is the strange behavior.

 

[Shred]

It would be especially hilarious after the Mickey Mouse Philadelphia Flyers organization leaked out that they were moving Hayes and DeAngelo in separate trades to St Louis and Carolina a couple of weeks ago.

Hayes was supposed to go in a big trade with Travis Sanheim that was returning Krug and futures. Krug then vetoed the trade. I'm sure Sanheim really appreciates that his name got leaked out as part of it.

This seems to have blown up in the Flyers faces. All they're getting collectively now for Hayes and DeAngelo is a 6th round pick from St Louis.

Looks good on them. Gritty could run a better organization.

Wonder if it is those disgruntled "senior advisors" they cannot seem to get rid of - Clarke, Holmgren, Lombardi - who are leaking everything. They did get rid of Hextall already.

 

[Habs]

Chucky is not well

Remember Bergy telling the media how Montreal had a special formula for spotting Karakter in prospects and the drafting accordingly? Good times

 

[JoelWarlord]

But hey, he took Michkov, so Habs should have hired him.

Semi-related, I found this earlier today from a cranky Ducks fan.



Grass is always greener eh

 

[ReHabs]

I wanted Michkov or Leonard at 5, I didn't get what I wanted. I just f***ing can't stand the fallout since the draft, all these people whining and crying because we didn't take him. If you ask me THAT is the strange behavior.

As stated elsewhere by @Twisted Sinister, the fallout (if there is such a thing) isn’t because of Michkov himself. As we all know, next to nobody had seen Michkov play. If there is a significant bit of grumbling left over it’s about the direction of the Habs and the philosophy of how the franchise is run.

Sadly, there are loser teams that seem to never get out of being loser teams no matter what. Tottenham Hotspur, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, etc. After 30 years it’s starting to feel like the Habs are a loser team. We have no aura, no juice, no ghosts of the forum. Just grind it out hockey, no stars, no flash, awful special teams, etc. MSL freewheeling without any pressure doesn’t convince everybody that the Habs have changed, sorry. Not yet anyway.

If you’d allow me this bit (feel free to disagree): it wasn’t fair to expect the new GM to work miracles but he’s not worked miracles. Some don’t think we have the exit velocity to get out of Loser Team territory and the Michkov/Reinbacher situation became a lightening rod for a lot of that pent up energy.

We aren’t used to tanking — and sure as hell we aren’t used to tanking and having to be told to be patient for Juraj F’n Slafkovsky to appear after all the busts of the last many years.

I admit it isn’t fair to Hughes but some have lower thresholds and are more impatient and prone to burst out. I’ve been very down on how they mangled (erm, handled) Slafkovsky but otherwise it’s more or less ambivalence — even with the Reinbacher pick. Look it up if you don’t believe me. I think they should be more aggressive in building the team but they’re not doing that so let’s see how it plays out.

Thank you for indulging me in this micro-rant