What's the max you'd give to Evans?

[CHfan1]

It's 2 years rebuilding, unless 2 major pieces come here : a true established 1C or 2nd C.
And a true 1 or 2 goalie. And maybe a gritty 3rd line center. In 3 years Habs should resolve the problem of C depth, in 3 years Evans will be 30 and not sure if he will be the type we want when our window Cup Running will open. My envision is transition years and I think it's time to trade or sign an ufa center. Beck will soon be nhl ready.

In 3-4 years Evans is a depth option at centre in the best case scenario. He can play wing, PK, and centre in case of injuries.

But next season without Evans (and assuming Montreal moves on from Dvorak (which they should)) the only veteran full-time centre they have is Suzuki (and maybe Dach but he’s got a long ways to go). I really don’t think it’s wise to go into the off-season with that scenario. If they move on from Evans (due to too much term or AAV) I hope they make a move before July 1st. I hope the plan isn’t to have Beck and Kapanen as the 3rd and 4th line centres next season, like I’ve seen in some posters roster projections. I think it’s fine to have one but they should have a veteran as the other centre.

Also, like most years, there isn’t many good UFA options, and, like most years, teams will have to over pay on both term and AAV to get an UFA centre.

I’m also not convinced they’ll solve their problem at centre in 3 years at this point.

 

[GrandBison]

In 3-4 years Evans is a depth option at centre in the best case scenario. He can play wing, PK, and centre in case of injuries.

But next season without Evans (and assuming Montreal moves on from Dvorak (which they should)) the only veteran full-time centre they have is Suzuki (and maybe Dach but he’s got a long ways to go). I really don’t think it’s wise to go into the off-season with that scenario. If they move on from Evans (due to too much term or AAV) I hope they make a move before July 1st. I hope the plan isn’t to have Beck and Kapanen as the 3rd and 4th line centres next season, like I’ve seen in some posters roster projections. I think it’s fine to have one but they should have a veteran as the other centre.

Also, like most years, there isn’t many good UFA options, and, like most years, teams will have to over pay on both term and AAV to get an UFA centre.

I’m also not convinced they’ll solve their problem at centre in 3 years at this point.

All of you guys shit on Bergevin for long contracts to bottom liners... Newhook is a 3rd line center, Let's find some top talent before re-signing 4th liners

 

[CHfan1]

All of you guys shit on Bergevin for long contracts to bottom liners... Newhook is a 3rd line center, Let's find some top talent before re-signing 4th line

The problem with Bergevin is he signed or traded for multiple players who were going to play in the bottom 6, especially later in their careers. This included Gallagher, Anderson, Armia, Dvorak, and Hoffman, with only of those being a centre. I’m fine signing one bottom 6 centre longer term to give Montreal some more depth at an area I would consider a weakness, especially since there isn’t a long of good options out there like the UFA market. I also am not sure Newhook is the solution at centre on the 3rd/4th lines or on the PK.

Also, signing Evans to a 4 year $4 million AAV contract doesn’t preclude them from signing or trading for top line players. They have the cap space going into the next few seasons.

 

[GrandBison]

The problem with Bergevin is he signed or traded for multiple players who were going to play in the bottom 6, especially later in their careers. This included Gallagher, Anderson, Armia, Dvorak, and Hoffman, with only of those being a centre. I’m fine signing one bottom 6 centre longer term to give Montreal some more depth at an area I would consider a weakness, especially since there isn’t a long of good options out there like the UFA market. I also am not sure Newhook is the solution at centre on the 3rd/4th lines or on the PK.

Also, signing Evans to a 4 year $4 million AAV contract doesn’t preclude them from signing or trading for top line players. They have the cap space going into the next few seasons.

The problem right now is Dach, and it won't be resolved by signing Evans.

 

[CHfan1]

The problem right now is Dach, and it won't be resolved by signing Evans.

The second line centre is definitely a problem in the future. We’ll see if Dach can play better in the 2nd half of the season after recovering from an injury it takes a lot of athletes a full season to get back to playing like normal. He certainly has a long ways to go.

But signing Evans wouldn’t be to solve that position, it would be to add depth down the middle (in the bottom 6) where I believe it’s a position of weakness in the next couple of seasons, and, also, to help the PK (I think he’s been Montreal’s best forward at PK this season).

I just don’t think Montreal should go into the offseason with their bottom two centres next season being, 2 of the 3, of Newhook, Beck, and/or Kapanen. I think they need veteran help there whether that’s Evans or someone else.