Johnathan Aitken

[Habfaith]

TSN's Tracker shows the Habs having signed dman Johnathan Aitken, a journeyman minor leaguer. He was the Bruin's 1st round (8th overall) pick in '96. He has had a few sniffs at the NHL with Boston and Chicago, and has reasonable stats with the Admirals and Bruins of the AHL. He played last year with the Moose.

He is listed at 6'4" 215.

I would imagine he is Bulldogs bound.

Here are his stats:
1994-95 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 53 0 5 5 71 5 0 0 0 0
1995-96 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 71 6 14 20 131 5 1 0 1 6
1996-97 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 65 4 18 22 211 6 0 0 0 4
1997-98 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 69 9 25 34 183 18 0 8 8 67
1998-99 Providence Bruins AHL 65 2 9 11 92 13 0 0 0 17
1999-00 Providence Bruins AHL 70 2 12 14 121 11 1 0 1 26
1999-00 Boston Bruins NHL 3 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
2000-01 Sparta Praha Czech 24 0 3 3 87 -- -- -- -- --
2001-02 Jackson Bandits ECHL 43 1 9 10 141 -- -- -- -- --
2001-02 Norfolk Admirals AHL 28 0 1 1 43 4 0 0 0 2
2002-03 Norfolk Admirals AHL 80 1 7 8 207 9 2 1 3 18
2003-04 Norfolk Admirals AHL 40 1 4 5 97 8 1 4 5 27
2003-04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 41 0 1 1 70 -- -- -- -- --
2004-05 Manitoba Moose AHL 46 1 6 7 101 1 0 0 0 7

I have a buddy in Winnipeg who said he was a solid stay at home Dman for the Moose this year.

[Cranky]

What the hell is this all about? Why not sign Doig? He is a Montreal native and he is a monster hitter and fighter. Occasionally, he can even play defense......

[seventeen]

Because the world is not going to the Doigs.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

This fills the void left when Traverse defarted.

I don't think Gainey will have to admonish Hab's fans for booing Jonathan the way they booed Breezeby.

6'4" 215 is a step up from Bouillion. Give him a shot in training camp and let the best man; Streit, Aitken, Bouillion, Archer, Hainsey or whoever plays best get the playing time. I believe that reputation, what you did four years ago, and potential count for less than what you show in camp fighting for a job. Let the best man win.

If Danis has a great camp and Theo floats, Yani gets the start.

[NWTHabsFan]

Hamilton depth guy.

[doncherry]

Let's say your Joey Theodor and your in for a long night against the Big Flyers.
Now,who do you want ;the undersized ankle knawing Boullion who can do next to nothing against these large imposing forwards or a Big,tough guy like Aitken :owho can actually match up physically against theFlyers?
Don't sell this guy short,he will be up with the Big club otherwise why did Gainey sign him?

[BadCompany]

habsfaninla said:

This fills the void left when Traverse defarted.

I don't think Gainey will have to admonish Hab's fans for booing Jonathan the way they booed Breezeby.

6'4" 215 is a step up from Bouillion. Give him a shot in training camp and let the best man; Streit, Aitken, Bouillion, Archer, Hainsey or whoever plays best get the playing time. I believe that reputation, what you did four years ago, and potential count for less than what you show in camp fighting for a job. Let the best man win.

If Danis has a great camp and Theo floats, Yani gets the start.

Unfortunately, it won't work that way in a salary cap world. You won't be able to afford guys like Traverse and Dykhuis and Audette and Czerkawski in the minors, while other players who "earned it" also make big-league money. Imagine how screwed the Habs would have been if we had a cap a couple of years ago - with like $8 million in the minors, and another say $4 million replacing them in the NHL. $12 million for 4 depth guys.

Wouldn't happen. Salary's and contract status are going to determine who plays where a lot more. Already people are speculating that Higgins and Perezhoghin might get sent to the AHL (and Streit too) because they have AHL contracts and don't have to clear waivers...

[mic]

badcompany said:

habsfaninla said:

This fills the void left when Traverse defarted.

I don't think Gainey will have to admonish Hab's fans for booing Jonathan the way they booed Breezeby.

6'4" 215 is a step up from Bouillion. Give him a shot in training camp and let the best man; Streit, Aitken, Bouillion, Archer, Hainsey or whoever plays best get the playing time. I believe that reputation, what you did four years ago, and potential count for less than what you show in camp fighting for a job. Let the best man win.

If Danis has a great camp and Theo floats, Yani gets the start.

Unfortunately, it won't work that way in a salary cap world. You won't be able to afford guys like Traverse and Dykhuis and Audette and Czerkawski in the minors, while other players who "earned it" also make big-league money. Imagine how screwed the Habs would have been if we had a cap a couple of years ago - with like $8 million in the minors, and another say $4 million replacing them in the NHL. $12 million for 4 depth guys.

Wouldn't happen. Salary's and contract status are going to determine who plays where a lot more. Already people are speculating that Higgins and Perezhoghin might get sent to the AHL (and Streit too) because they have AHL contracts and don't have to clear waivers...

Don't only salaries that are on the NHL roster count against the cap ?

[BadCompany]

mic said:

badcompany said:

Unfortunately, it won't work that way in a salary cap world. You won't be able to afford guys like Traverse and Dykhuis and Audette and Czerkawski in the minors, while other players who "earned it" also make big-league money. Imagine how screwed the Habs would have been if we had a cap a couple of years ago - with like $8 million in the minors, and another say $4 million replacing them in the NHL. $12 million for 4 depth guys.

Wouldn't happen. Salary's and contract status are going to determine who plays where a lot more. Already people are speculating that Higgins and Perezhoghin might get sent to the AHL (and Streit too) because they have AHL contracts and don't have to clear waivers...

Don't only salaries that are on the NHL roster count against the cap ?

I believe its any one-way contract *cough Dagenais cough*.

That stops teams from "hiding" salary in the minors.

[mic]

badcompany said:

mic said:

Don't only salaries that are on the NHL roster count against the cap ?

I believe its any one-way contract *cough Dagenais cough*.

That stops teams from "hiding" salary in the minors.

Yeah, I'm more and more wondering about a few moves by Gainey. First the Bonk three-year contract, then the Kovalev 4 year contract, and finally the Dagenais one-way contract. Concerning the latter : concurrence is nice and all but the new CBA isn't really made for having too many players. Some players are becoming "unmovable". And that's not good. At least, he didn't gave him a multi-year deal...

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

badcompany said:

mic said:

Don't only salaries that are on the NHL roster count against the cap ?

I believe its any one-way contract *cough Dagenais cough*.

That stops teams from "hiding" salary in the minors.

May your nights be spent counting Dagenais jumping over your bed instead of sheep. Slow, ugly, ineligant jumps, hitting his head on the ceiling, tripping over the footboard.

Dagenais will have a very good year, score 22+ goals, and not leave the hab's to go to the Ice Capades.

Dagenais is filling the void left by the departure of Traverse and Brisebois. Habs Fans need a whipping boy. He produces, defensively aware as evidenced by his +/-, not expensive, not a holdout problem, big and young. Still, we need a whipping boy?

[PTH]

mic said:

Yeah, I'm more and more wondering about a few moves by Gainey. First the Bonk three-year contract, then the Kovalev 4 year contract, and finally the Dagenais one-way contract.

I agree, all 3 moves seem a bit iffy. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for Bonk (the deal was before the new CBA and all), but Kovalev for 4 years has me a tad worried, and a 1-way deal for Dagenais reeks of the AS days when contracts (and justifying why theyr were given) explained the lineup better than on-ice performance.

[stjrandy]

Well I don't have a problem with Dagenais' contract. It's only 1 year he has shown he can score goals and he really doesn't slack out there. I have problems with paying players a lot more money who haven't scored 17 goals in a career let alone in a season.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

randyhansen said:

Well I don't have a problem with Dagenais' contract. It's only 1 year he has shown he can score goals and he really doesn't slack out there. I have problems with paying players a lot more money who haven't scored 17 goals in a career let alone in a season.

Precisely.

mrbozo said:

Ah, jeez, I'm getting all misty-eyed now. THe Habs paid Audette and Czerkawski $8.6M to score 20 goals in 133 games—and I'm not even including the buy-out amounts.

Dagenais bent the twine 17 times in 50 games for $500K.

But let's not drag the coaches into this...

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

pth said:

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for Bonk (the deal was before the new CBA and all)...

Gainey did what he could to ameliorate that situation.

mrbozo said:

...One item I would add is the signing of Radek Bonk to a three year contract ($3.15M per year), which was a reduction of 10% from his previous contract ($3.5M).

Bonk signs three-year deal with Habs

(07/30/2004)

PRESS RELEASE

MONTREAL – Canadiens GM Bob Gainey announced Friday the signing of center Radek Bonk to a three-year contract. As per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

- tinyurl.com/8huh2

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Let's say (yeah, I know hypothetically) Locke has an amazing camp, leads the team in scoring and works harder than anybody else.

Gainey has a problem. He can return Locke to Hamilton without any problems, or he can send Bonk to Hamilton (for conditioning after a sub-par camp). If he sends Bonk down, Radek can be picked up by one of the other 29 teams, (if they can absorb his contract). If we lose Bonk because we have better players, no problem. Locke would be a better cheaper upgrade. If Bonk is in Hamilton he will either a) sulk b) work to earn a shot with other teams c) work to win back a spot on the Habs d) seek a release to play in Russia.

I'm not saying cut Bonk and bring on Locke, but I am saying that if somebody in camp earns a spot, they should get it, for the good of the player and the good of the team. The team needs the best 20 guys out there.

[PTH]

habsfaninla said:

I'm not saying cut Bonk and bring on Locke, but I am saying that if somebody in camp earns a spot, they should get it, for the good of the player and the good of the team.

Won't happen; the cap is the cap is the cap. We'll see more and more strange moves. When AS kept Audette and Czerkawski around for too long it was just pride, but now for plain old money concerns it'll happen more and more. If you have an unproductive player and no one wants him around the league, sending him down is a last resort, you play him so as to not spend more cap room than needed on that one roster slot, and you pray to high heaven that he scores a handful so someone else will be stupid enough to get him for a back of pucks and half his salary paid. (whereas in the minors you'd have full salary and full cap usage)