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

[ReHabs]

I'm taking all calls for Evans and letting everyone know my phone won't stop ringing.
The best deal would be to a team desperate to get over the hump as opposed to real contender.

He's a UFA and we need decide if we can over pay because it will be an over payment.
Jake will cash in and it better not be here it makes no sense for us having Beck and Kapanen in the system.

This is the right approach. He’s looking to cash in, so should we.

 

[Rapala]

This is the right approach. He’s looking to cash in, so should we.

A player most people saw being traded at TDL before the season starts now needs to be signed because he's increasing his trade value.
Okay then.

 

[hardcorehabs]

Trade him at TDL.

If he loves Montreal, he will sign here in off-season. That said, offer would be 4x3M take or leave it. We can sign or trade for an aging veteran if we need.

 

[Michoulicious]

His value will not be higher than it is now.

You trade him at the deadline, I think you can get a good young prospect or late 1st for him.

You don't commit to 28 y old bottom 6ers at this stage of a rebuild.

You do that when you are in your window to contend and when your young core is locked up.

Best exemple is Colorado trading for Lehk and extending him. Perfect depth piece at the right time. Those depth UFAs often will also sign for a bit less to play with a contender.

Beck is a future #3 C IMO. He fits perfectly the core as well and will step up in the NHL as soon as next season I think.

 

[ReHabs]

A player most people saw being traded at TDL before the season starts now needs to be signed because he's increasing his trade value.
Okay then.

Last year we saw the same enthusiasm to retain Monahan, Savard and others. Mercifully the Habs traded him and the. didn’t sign Monahan to a five year contract.

Fear of the unknown, perhaps at play?

I can appreciate Evans while noting the following facts against his favour:
He’s top5 in TOI and EV-TOI and he’s top2 in Shifts/game. He simply won’t get this exposure on a good team. His Sh% is 25% too…

Is his PKing really so good to be worth 3.5ish m a year? Depends if the cap goes up but I reckon he’s gonna chase the bag and I wouldn’t want to stand in his way. Maybe we can get a valuable prospect or pick at the deadline — that would be the best outcome.

What’s more interesting is the trajectory of the cap and if, one day, 3.5ish becomes a palatable cap hit for a bottom6 30ish point guy who isn’t particularly big, fast, or physical/nasty.

I reckon there are many savvy vets out there who can do the job on the PK.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Sign Evans now and once our young Cs (Hage, Beck) can fill his shoes, you trade him. Pretty simple. Letting him walk would be throwing our young guys to the wolves. Look how that plan worked out when Allen, Monahan and Kovacevic were gone. We need to support our young guys.

Agreed. If we consider Dach and Newhook more as wingers who can play center in a pinch, the Habs have exactly one NHL centerman under contract for next season (Suzuki). Even if Beck graduates to the big club next season, the team still will have weak center depth. Unless Evans contract demands are over the top, it would be best for the team to re-sign him until some of the center prospects show they are capable of playing at an NHL level. Evans can always be traded when/if that happens.

 

[CHfan1]

I posted this in the trade proposal thread before seeing this one.

If I were Montreal I’d try to keep Evans. I’d offer 4 years at $4 million (with the salary cap set to go to at least $92 million that is 1/23 the cap).

With Dvorak leaving after this season (or at the trade deadline) and Dach being a future question mark at centre, if Evans leaves only Suzuki remains as Montreal’s veteran centre, leaving 3 spots open. Who knows if Beck, Hage, Kapanen, or Dach can fill those 3 spots. Worst case is 3 of them hit and Evans has to get moved to the wing after and Montreal has extra centres.

Not only is Evans a reliable bottom 6 centre he’s their top forward on the 10th best PK in the NHL right now.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

5x3MM final offer or trade him. I like Jake but he’s a bottom 6er and I hope our days of overpaying for depth are gone so we can afford talent in the top 6 and beware the career contract year.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Trade him at TDL.

If he loves Montreal, he will sign here in off-season. That said, offer would be 4x3M take or leave it. We can sign or trade for an aging veteran if we need.

There is no way that Evans will sign for $3M per year.

 

[Habs13]

2 years at $2.75M per.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

We will regret signing him.

You guys all hate Newhook and his contract... you think you won't hate Evans in a year??

Save the money and pay the top guys first.... then worry about building around them

We don't even have a nucleus established yet...

Great 4th liner. Not a top sixer. Owen Beck is coming.

Someone mentioned 4 mil. That is a LOT for a guy who's going to play on your fourth line. I think Evans is a really solid player at his position. Said so for a long time now - even back when people were crapping on him - but we can't give him 4 mil and that might be what he needs to sign here. So sure, I'd love to sign him but it has to be at a good price. I'd think 3 mil might work. If it doesn't, deal him and get what you can. We have Beck and Dach, not sure if Demidov can play center but if so, that would set us up well. If not, spend the money on a 2nd line center rather than a 4th.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

2 years at $2.75M per.

That would be what I'd hope we could do. He's not a 4 mil dollar player. 3 at the very most. I'd even give him 3 years.

 

[overlords]

That would be what I'd hope we could do. He's not a 4 mil dollar player. 3 at the very most. I'd even give him 3 years.

We've only got one center we can be confident in going into next season. I'm not against moving Evans for a haul but we'd need to see what Beck can do at the NHL level first.

 

[Archijerej]

I think the safest route would be to first assume Evans is not what we see in a contract year, but instead a 30-point player he's been the last several years.

He brings a lot to the table and can fill the 3C role, but when this team is hopefully ready to contend, Evans should ideally be the 4th center and his contract shouldn't prevent us from trading him at some point in the future, to make room for a cheaper option.

He has leverage and he should expect some extra coin for this year's performance, but the above-mentioned factors should set the limits on what we can offer. I think $3,5M for 4-5 years would be the furthest I'd be willing to go.

Like I mentioned in another thread, restructuring the center line is one of the most important and difficult tasks facing Hugo in the near future.

 

[ChikN]

Homegrown 7th round pick, would be nice if we could keep him. Just as an exemple that with hard work and dedication you can make it, no matter your pedigree. But it has to be reasonable of course.

 

[Archijerej]

Great 4th liner. Not a top sixer. Owen Beck is coming.

Just like Cayden Primeau, Justin Barron, Oliver Kapanen and Joshua Roy were coming before this season?

Sorry, you can't plan like that and then go "oh well, I guess we're just gonna suck for another year".

 

[Habs13]

A lot of the arguments here are PTSD triggers. Only one center and all that stuff... that's how we got lumbered with Christian f***ing Dvorak. Not having faith in the kids coming up in case they fail, is how we got terrible vets on longterm, unmoveable contracts.

Let's learn from prior mistakes.

 

[CanadienShark]

$3.25-3.5 for 4 years.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

We've only got one center we can be confident in going into next season. I'm not against moving Evans for a haul but we'd need to see what Beck can do at the NHL level first.

Yeah, it’s the worst time for Evans’ deal to expire. I’d like to keep him, but not at something like 4 mil.

 

[The Great Weal]

We've only got one center we can be confident in going into next season. I'm not against moving Evans for a haul but we'd need to see what Beck can do at the NHL level first.

I love Evans but he's not someone we should cave in for. Prior to this season, he would have gotten somewhere in the 2-2.5x3 range, but now he can rightfully ask for 4x4. That's almost double the cap hit with an extra year for someone who's been a 4C most of his career.

I do think he wants to stay here and will sign for something like 3.25x3, but if he isn't willing to accept a discount, we need to sell high.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

Big tonka toys.

 

[overlords]

Yeah, it’s the worst time for Evans’ deal to expire. I’d like to keep him, but not at something like 4 mil.

I love Evans but he's not someone we should cave in for. Prior to this season, he would have gotten somewhere in the 2-2.5x3 range, but now he can rightfully ask for 4x4. That's almost double the cap hit with an extra year for someone who's been a 4C most of his career.

I do think he wants to stay here and will sign for something like 3.25x3, but if he isn't willing to accept a discount, we need to sell high.

Yeah totally agree that going too high on Evans is less than ideal, I'm just wondering if the uncertainty of depending on UFAs/kids to take on all bottom 6 center duties isn't worse than overpaying Evans by 0.5m/year. I'm pretty confident in Beck, but throwing him directly into PK1 duties would be harsh, especially with Armia being likely gone as well.

A retained Evans in 2 years could also return something when Hage/Beck/Desnoyers/Kapanen are fully ready to take over. The return wouldn't be as much as today, mind you, but my larger point is that getting around the negatives of an overpaid Evans is likely not as difficult as overcoming the potential downsides of not having a veteran bottom 6 C like him next year.

 

[Trabdy2]

We gotta find a way to keep him.

There's gotta be some mutual desire to keep the relationship going between club and player here. Late round draft pick who was continually given chances and opportunities by the club and the player continued to make the most of them and demonstrated excellent growth.

Hopefully there can be a team friendly deal made here.

 

[The Great Weal]

Yeah totally agree that going too high on Evans is less than ideal, I'm just wondering if the uncertainty of depending on UFAs/kids to take on all bottom 6 center duties isn't worse than overpaying Evans by 0.5m/year. I'm pretty confident in Beck, but throwing him directly into PK1 duties would be harsh, especially with Armia being likely gone as well.

A retained Evans in 2 years could also return something when Hage/Beck/Desnoyers/Kapanen are fully ready to take over. The return wouldn't be as much as today, mind you, but my larger point is that getting around the negatives of an overpaid Evans is likely not as difficult as overcoming the potential downsides of not having a veteran bottom 6 C like him next year.

I guess it would be banking on Newhook as the 3C since I'm not really sure where he will fit otherwise. But yes, overpaying by 0.5m/year to keep arguably the best PKer in the league is tolerable when we have ample cap space, but at the end of the day, it's still 4x4 for a 4C which is unprecedented. Banking on using a retention slot down the line to get a 2nd/3rd still gives us 2 million of dead cap space.

 

[LaP]

I posted this in the trade proposal thread before seeing this one.

If I were Montreal I’d try to keep Evans. I’d offer 4 years at $4 million (with the salary cap set to go to at least $92 million that is 1/23 the cap).

With Dvorak leaving after this season (or at the trade deadline) and Dach being a future question mark at centre, if Evans leaves only Suzuki remains as Montreal’s veteran centre, leaving 3 spots open. Who knows if Beck, Hage, Kapanen, or Dach can fill those 3 spots. Worst case is 3 of them hit and Evans has to get moved to the wing after and Montreal has extra centres.

Not only is Evans a reliable bottom 6 centre he’s their top forward on the 10th best PK in the NHL right now.

Technically if you sign Evans long term you leave no spot open. You don't want Kapanen, Beck or Hage to start straight on a 2nd line you want them to start in the bottom 6. Evans ain't a 2nd line center which means if Dach continues to play like that you have to find a vet 2nd line center which will leave only the 4th line center spot open. If Evans' contract is 3 years or less not really an issue Beck can spend a 2nd year in the AHL and then play on the 4th for a year and Hage can stay in school for 1 more year or two and then play in the AHL for 1 year or 2. But if Evans' contract is 4-5 years you lock jam Beck/Hage on a 4th line. I personally don't think it makes any sense to sign Evans for more than 3 years. Evans will more than likely be a flash in the pan i don't see him remaining good enough to warrant 4 millions into his mid 30ies. Focus should be high end skills. If Evans wants to sign 3 years fine if not bye bye imo.