McDonough was very well regarded. He had just played in a tournament where he didn't perform well, but it is an error to judge a player on a tournament.
Worst Habs trade in the last 15 years
- Thread starter Milhouse40
- Start date
This...
Of the terrible GM’s we’ve had the past 20 years, one thing was constant - all of them had this asinine inability to take advantage of other teams cap space crunch.
Gomez had one of, if not the worst contract in the league at the time that NY was desperate to unload. Instead of forcing them to give up picks and or top prospects to take that contract off their hand, we do the exact opposite and give our own top prospect
Same for Shaw, Drouin, Dvorak,Weber, hell people even forget Steve Mason and Jake Allen were contracts their teams were desperate to unload and what do we do? Give up picks for Allen( instead of it being the other way around) and take useless Armia instead of a either a first round pick or a better prospect from Winnipeg
Non Player Canadiens
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GrandBison
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- Jul 1, 2019
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ChesterNimitz
governed by the principle of calculated risk
- Jul 4, 2002
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Perhaps he wasn't as bad as many here think. I've watch this team for almost seventy years and the fan base has an unfortunate tendency of singling out players as their favourite whipping boy. I've seen this happen to: Geoffrion, Wickenheiser, Rucinsky and, of course, Drouin. It has all the aspects of a mob mentality: since everyone else says he is no good, he must be no good. Montreal, at the time needed an elite puck transporter to replace Kovalev. A role Gomez filled admirably for the following two seasons. When you trade for need, you often overpay. Such was the result in the Gomez trade. No further vilification of the player is needed.
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CapSpace
Caufield is lit
Drouin. We gave a young, cost controlled, just been drafted top 2 dman. There is no excused for this trade. What a shame.
ChesterNimitz
governed by the principle of calculated risk
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Habs
It's going to be a long year
- Feb 28, 2002
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The thing about the Drouin trade is that it didn't work out and there was risk, but there was also merit to the thought process behind it. We needed a top 6 center with offensive potential, and Bergevin thought he could fill that role. Now obviously, he didn't. But while we gave up a top D prospect, we also got a player who was more established in the NHL and still young. If Drouin pans out as a top 6 center the way Suzuki did, then everyone's talking about this deal as a win and we potentially have a top 6 center in place for 8-10 years. The major problem with the deal was that Bergevin did nothing to stockpile the LHD cupboard that he left bare, but the move in isolation was defensible, whether we agreed with it or not.
Likewise, there was considerable risk sending away McDonagh for Gomez. But again, this move is defensible. You get a potential 1C and you give away a guy who isn't proven and who might not have played for us if we had kept him. Sometimes these types of trades work out: Balej for Kovalev, for example. Or Collberg for Vanek, even though this was a rental. And at the time, Gainey wanted to reset the team, and acquiring Gomez might have been a factor in players like Gionta and Cammalleri wanting to sign here. So perhaps he viewed this more as trading McDonagh for the ability to add all three of those players. It's not to say it was a good trade, just that there is rationale for making the move.
Of the trades listed, the one I like the least was the 1st and 2nd for Dvorak. Dvorak was a player who had "middle 6 player" written all over him, and before being traded, he was already getting big minutes in Arizona. If he wasn't excelling there, the odds that he suddenly turned his career up a notch here in his mid-20s playing behind Suzuki weren't great. So to give up more in a trade than you had just received for Kotkaniemi left a bad taste and smelled of a desperation move to try and salvage something after getting snakebit by Carolina.
Likewise, there was considerable risk sending away McDonagh for Gomez. But again, this move is defensible. You get a potential 1C and you give away a guy who isn't proven and who might not have played for us if we had kept him. Sometimes these types of trades work out: Balej for Kovalev, for example. Or Collberg for Vanek, even though this was a rental. And at the time, Gainey wanted to reset the team, and acquiring Gomez might have been a factor in players like Gionta and Cammalleri wanting to sign here. So perhaps he viewed this more as trading McDonagh for the ability to add all three of those players. It's not to say it was a good trade, just that there is rationale for making the move.
Of the trades listed, the one I like the least was the 1st and 2nd for Dvorak. Dvorak was a player who had "middle 6 player" written all over him, and before being traded, he was already getting big minutes in Arizona. If he wasn't excelling there, the odds that he suddenly turned his career up a notch here in his mid-20s playing behind Suzuki weren't great. So to give up more in a trade than you had just received for Kotkaniemi left a bad taste and smelled of a desperation move to try and salvage something after getting snakebit by Carolina.
MasterD
Giggidy Giggidy Goo
- Jul 1, 2004
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Voted Drouin, but I think Subban's was the worst.
I know he declined tons after leaving Montreal, but I think could have been different had he stayed because he loved the spotlights that much.
More than the trade itself, I hated that the Habs' prioritized pleasing whiners like Pacioretty, Plekanec and Gallagher over the most raw talented and exciting player we've had in decades, except maybe Kovalev.
I know he declined tons after leaving Montreal, but I think could have been different had he stayed because he loved the spotlights that much.
More than the trade itself, I hated that the Habs' prioritized pleasing whiners like Pacioretty, Plekanec and Gallagher over the most raw talented and exciting player we've had in decades, except maybe Kovalev.
I couldn't quite remember so I looked it up, the Drouin trade was before we knew Radulov and Markov weren't coming back. It was an exciting addition of a young offensive talent with high upside to a team that had had an exciting postseason marred by offensive woes.
Then we ended up trading Beaulieu shortly after, having Emelin exposed in the Vegas draft a day or two later, had Markov and the infamous "get a dog" statement, capped by Radulov leaving for the Stars. At least Mete was ready as a 4th round pick in his D+2 year to be our #1 LHD....
That said, went with the Gomez trade because I'm evaluating it solely based on the trade at the time it was made. Drouin trade made sense for about a month, the Gomez trade was dookie the moment it was made. Forgot Gomez had such an outrageous cap hit
.
Then we ended up trading Beaulieu shortly after, having Emelin exposed in the Vegas draft a day or two later, had Markov and the infamous "get a dog" statement, capped by Radulov leaving for the Stars. At least Mete was ready as a 4th round pick in his D+2 year to be our #1 LHD....
That said, went with the Gomez trade because I'm evaluating it solely based on the trade at the time it was made. Drouin trade made sense for about a month, the Gomez trade was dookie the moment it was made. Forgot Gomez had such an outrageous cap hit
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Darz
Registered User
Gomez trade was the worst….if for no other reason than the % of cap he ate up at the time, and the term left on the deal. We should have been able to keep McDonagh AND got at least one, if not two first round picks in the deal.
Higgins for Gomez and a 1st at the time, would of been a horrible horrible trade
Higgins for Gomez and a 1st at the time, would of been a horrible horrible trade
sergejean
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- Dec 11, 2007
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Voted Gomez. The trade was terrible. NYR had to shed salary and instead of taking advantage of the situation, Gainey paid full price for a veteran who had already showed signs of being over the hill.
As with many players it’s more what he was paid and what they gave up than his performance. If the Rangers had taken Plekanec instead of Balej habs fans would remember Kovalev differently. Gomez would have been fine if he’d had a reasonable salary and if the habs had traded a bust for him as Gainey intended.
Similarly Bergevin’s moves didn’t look that bad individually, it was the combination of moves that made it clear he had no clue what he was doing. Expecting Drouin to succeed in putting up points on a line with other players to do the heavy lifting would be reasonable. Expecting Drouin to play center and to succeed with other players who also needed play drivers, not to mention doing better than Sergachev, was clueless.
LaP
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EV TOI Sergachev :
2017-2018 : 13:30 (7th among dmen)
2018-2019 : 16:12 (5th among dmen)
2019-2020 : 17:20 (2nd among dmen)
2020-2021 : 18:10 (3rd among dmen)
2021-2022 : 18:51 (2nd among dmen)
2022-2023 : 19:00 (2nd among dmen)
PK TOI Sergachev :
2017-2018 : 0:01 (9th among dmen)
2018-2019 : 0:13 (10th among dmen)
2019-2020 : 1:10 (7th among dmen)
2020-2021 : 1:44 (5th among dmen)
2021-2022 : 2:06 (3rd among dmen)
2022-2023 : 2:15 (3rd among dmen)
Realistically Sergachev has been used as a 3rd pairing dmen only two years in TB. Not sure i'd count that as "3rd pairing guy for years". For me when you say "for years" it implies at least 3 years. He was sheltered for many years in PK but at EV he has been one of the 3 most used dmen in TB for the last 4 years.
Not sure Drouin would have been much better elsewhere. He had attitude problems all along. He was on the trading block pretty much since day 1 in TB after refusing to report to the AH.
LaP
Registered User
Caufield did poorly in his first U20. He was not that great in his 2nd u20 either. So yeah i mean it's a great tournament and you can get info from it but it's dangerous to conclude anything from it.
LaP
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We have effectively been very good at helping other teams while at the same time giving them quality assets for it.
NYR wanted to trade Gomez to sign Gaborik. It was known by everyone. Gomez contract was awful and i'm pretty sure teams were not lining up to add this contract to their cap. His contract was pretty much the equivalent of McDavid money today. Yes he was still considered a good player back then but certainly not one worthy of being paid like McDavid. There's absolutely no way the other offers were even close to our offer.
When TB traded Drouin they were missing protection slots for the draft. They were about to lose a good player for nothing like Anaheim. It was not a secret that Drouin had been on the trading block for a while. For sure Tampa Bay did not want to waste a slot on him and leave another player open unless they had to. It's no coincidence Drouin was traded for a player not needing to be protected. Considering the amount of time there was rumors about Drouin being traded for sure the offers were not that great.
Same for Shaw. Chicago did not have the cap space to sign him. They had to trade him or someone else. Shaw had already back then a concussion history. Usually when a team can't sign a player because of cap problems they receive nothing for said player. We paid them more than what is usually paid for a quality 3rd line players.
At least KH did not give anything for Monahan
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Exactly.We have effectively been very good at helping other teams while at the same time giving them quality assets for it.
NYR wanted to trade Gomez to sign Gaborik. It was known by everyone. Gomez contract was awful and i'm pretty sure teams were not lining up to add this contract to their cap. His contract was pretty much the equivalent of McDavid money today. Yes he was still considered a good player back then but certainly not one worthy of being paid like McDavid. There's absolutely no way the other offers were even close to our offer.
When TB traded Drouin they were missing protection slots for the draft. They were about to lose a good player for nothing like Anaheim. It was not a secret that Drouin had been on the trading block for a while. For sure Tampa Bay did not want to waste a slot on him and leave another player open unless they had to. It's no coincidence Drouin was traded for a player not needing to be protected. Considering the amount of time there was rumors about Drouin being traded for sure the offers were not that great.
Same for Shaw. Chicago did not have the cap space to sign him. They had to trade him or someone else. Shaw had already back then a concussion history. Usually when a team can't sign a player because of cap problems they receive nothing for said player. We paid them more than what is usually paid for a quality 3rd line players.
At least KH did not give anything for get Monahan
I honestly believe we’ve had the dumbest GM’s in the league (although the oilers can possibly make a claim for that as well)
Spring in Fialta
A malign star kept him
NORiculous
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LaP
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3rd pair guy while being the 2nd most used at EV doesn't compute in my brain. Not sure how it's even possible.
BargainBin got a haul to take on Steve Mason's contract and gave up Simon Bourque, a longshot prospect. Armia was part of that deal, including a fourth and seventh. I think the Jets got fleeced here and this trade shouldn't be part of this discussion. Where BargainBin did a blunder was when he retained Armia by offering him a long term deal.
The Habs had very little leverage on the other deals though. McDonaugh was seen as a project at the time. I remember also the alleged rumours about the difficulties the Habs had trying to get this guy to sign his first entry level contract. I always suspected, he never wanted to play for the habs and all parties wanted to avoid any leaks to the media.
Gainey had a clear objective: make the playoffs!! BargainBin also operated under these circumstances. It was never about building a contender, but rather sell more tickets in April and/or May. They expected a goalie to take them there and now they are looking for his replacement. BargainBin took advantage of the pandemic and started acquiring NHL players on the decline. He didn't give up much and the Toffoli signing is probably his best move to date. At least, he didn't screw up the Pacces deal. The strategy worked because they reached the stanley cup finals. BargainBin learned on the job and Gainey didn't have much to play with when he took over as GM. Unfortunately, he let so many UFAs walk and signed a bunch of midgets. Again, the strategy worked because they reached the eastern conference finals. However, letting so many UFAs walk for free set back the team for years.
HuGo on the other hand arrived with a clean slate. It was no longer about making the playoffs, but to build a competitive team. He maximized the value on several players. BargainBin already realized that scouting and drafting were majour issues and that's where he failed the most, ultimately losing his job. It was a little too late. It became a country club. Timmins should have been fired but wasn't. Gainey, on the other hand, resigned because he couldn't address it.
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