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Post by Boston_Habs on May 24, 2006 9:20:06 GMT -5
I think that Jay Feaster has shot himself in the foot with the signings of Richards, Lecavalier and St. Louis. He is going to be very hard pressed to ice a playoff calibre team with his available cap space. Not to mention the fact that they desperately need a goalie. So last summer we were dreaming about Lecavalier coming to Montreal... this summer it was Richards. In both cases it didn't happen. Some are saying that Feaster will trade someone from the "Tampa trio" in order to free up cap room. I'm not so sure that that's going to happen because Richards specifically said that one of the reasons that he re-signed was because he knew that Lecavalier and St. Louis were going to be with the team. If Feaster turns around and trades one of them it would be a disrespect to Richards. He may not have a choice. TB is a very top-heavy team in terms of talent in a league that appears to favor teams that have speed, depth and as much cheap talent as possible. The ultimate disrespect to Richards, the team and the fans would be to compromise the chances of winning in favor of keeping a small core of players together. I think Feaster had no choice but to sign Lecavalier and Richards. Now both guys are locked up long term and if he wants to trade either of them he can get a lot in return - as opposed to trading them in the last year before they go UFA and getting considerably less. The mistake was signing St. Louis - it's going to be very hard to move that contract if people don't think he can be a 85-90 point guy. |
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Post by HabSolute on May 24, 2006 10:24:21 GMT -5
Remember in December '04 when the players offered a 24% roll back on salaries and said this should be enough for a deal, the owners just have to make sure they manage properly ?
Bettman said NO WAY. If we do this, we are back in the same boat within two years....
Boy, was he ever right....even with the cap in place, the 7,8,9 Millions figures are already starting to surface. Without the cap, it would have been a mess next year or the following.
It will be very interesting to see the GMs work from now on. $$$ alone will not do it. They'll need to be smart and have a vision. I think we're in good shape with Gainey and Carbo.
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Post by Doc Holliday on May 25, 2006 12:00:01 GMT -5
I am 100% certain that without a cap, that 24% would have been nullified and more within a year (and IMO so did Goodenow)... Ecklund and other experts are now marvelling at how quality depth can replace high profile players... well... this is not new and our very own BadCompany has been campaigning for that exact idea for the last 3 years (or so). So if you're not reading HABSRUS... ...what the heck are you reading...!  I must admmit, I just recently warmed up to the idea myself. As a fan, the attraction of signing a big name is always present but aside from Kovalev (who arguably was not a new UFA but really a guy we were able to resign), our attemps at landing UFAs pretty much always ended up costing a lot for not too much results. Trading our depth and/or the farm for Richards or Lecavalier or for insert you favorite high profile player name here would probably not be the best idea right now. The one-player-solution to turn a team around never works, no matter the player. So you forget about your typical slots (checking line, first line, shut down line, energy line, etc...) and roll out 4 lines that can provide offense, that can forecheck and backcheck hard and you go with that. Of course with this setup you need to count on high quality drafting and player dev and be ready to let go of players once they become too expensive since normally a guy should be ready to take his spot. As an example you keep Zednik this year at 2mil but let him go to Toronto who's gonna pay him 4.5 mil next summer. By then either Perez or Kots should be able to step in. Etc... Year after year you pump in players and let go of those who get overvalued. Every now and again you snatch a player that fits your bill via trade or free agency. It's the receipe by which the Devils have built their success year after year. |
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Post by BadCompany on May 25, 2006 17:14:48 GMT -5
Ecklund and other experts are now marvelling at how quality depth can replace high profile players... well... this is not new and our very own BadCompany has been campaigning for that exact idea for the last 3 years (or so). So if you're not reading HABSRUS... ...what the heck are you reading...! Genius is always misunderstood in it's own time. |
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Post by seventeen on May 26, 2006 1:12:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure (not about BC's genius, that's a given, of course), but about whether a team can win without an elite player. Edmonton has Pronger, Buffalo has Briere playing like an elite player, Anaheim has Scott N and Selanne (where did he rediscover those wheels?!) and Carolina has .......Staal (a small stretch). I think you still need that natural scorer or great d-man. Because of the cap, it's difficult to collect more than one of those guys on your team and then its "who's got the best 2nd and third tier guys?" and goaltending, of course. Rather, I mean GOALTENDING.
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Post by Cranky on May 26, 2006 8:21:23 GMT -5
Ecklund and other experts are now marvelling at how quality depth can replace high profile players... well... this is not new and our very own BadCompany has been campaigning for that exact idea for the last 3 years (or so). So if you're not reading HABSRUS... ...what the heck are you reading...! Genius is always misunderstood in it's own time.  I have TWO words for you.......Traverse......Chouinard. |
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Post by sergejean on May 26, 2006 13:04:06 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.html |
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Post by ropoflu on May 26, 2006 17:51:28 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlThe picture, at first sight, I thought it was Bulis. |
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Post by Skilly on May 27, 2006 15:28:25 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlGaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. |
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Post by CentreHice on May 27, 2006 18:15:56 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlGaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. 24 years old...entering his prime...right winger 6-1, 190. We need a centre, for sure now that Koivu is questionnable. Would a guy like Gaborik compensate.....I know he's big money, but is it worth it to the Habs? He's perfect for the new NHL, skill and speed-wise. |
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Post by habmeister on May 27, 2006 18:40:28 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlGaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. too streaky and european for me. give me a canadian that we know will show up and do anything in the playoffs. even though i hate cherry, we all know who steps up when it counts and a lot of these guys just don't. |
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Post by Skilly on May 27, 2006 21:44:02 GMT -5
Gaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. too streaky and european for me. give me a canadian that we know will show up and do anything in the playoffs. even though i hate cherry, we all know who steps up when it counts and a lot of these guys just don't. Aside from Garth Murray, name one canadian on the Habs that stepped up and had a good playoffs this year ......?? Huet? European Zednik? European Kovalev? European Ryder? maybe. He shot alot and produced, but he seemed to disappear in the last 2 games when we needed some umphh. |
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Post by sergejean on May 27, 2006 22:51:54 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlGaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. I am not sold on Gaborik... he seems to be injury prone and did not yet produced the kind of numbers to justify giving away our 1st round pick for the next 5 years. Gaborik's stats according to nhl.com GP G A P +/- 2005-2006 Wild 65 38 28 66 6 2003-2004 Wild 65 18 22 40 10 2002-2003 Wild 81 30 35 65 12 2001-2002 Wild 78 30 37 67 0 2000-2001 Wild 71 18 18 36 -6 |
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Post by Skilly on May 28, 2006 8:45:52 GMT -5
Gaborik is worth any draft picks a team will have to give up to get him. I am not sold on Gaborik... he seems to be injury prone and did not yet produced the kind of numbers to justify giving away our 1st round pick for the next 5 years. Gaborik's stats according to nhl.com GP G A P +/- 2005-2006 Wild 65 38 28 66 6 2003-2004 Wild 65 18 22 40 10 2002-2003 Wild 81 30 35 65 12 2001-2002 Wild 78 30 37 67 0 2000-2001 Wild 71 18 18 36 -6 Didn't the new CBA change the compensatory draft pick rules? |
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Post by BadCompany on May 28, 2006 12:51:59 GMT -5
We can already measure the effect of Richards contract... According to RDS, Gaborik just turned away a 5 years/27.5M contract... He is looking for the same type of contract Richards got... 5 years/39M... www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/205136.htmlGaborik actually turned down that offer about a week before Richards signed, so unless he knew intimate details of the deal, I don't think the Richards deal had any effect. Gaborik is a great player, but he's always been a contract nightmare. Paired with a guy like Koivu I think he would be stellar, but the better he gets, the more he's going to want... |
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Post by IamCanadiens on Jun 1, 2006 17:36:20 GMT -5
I'd love to see what Gabby could do in a more offensive system. Too bad he is such a China doll........As for the Bolts I just can't see Vinny or Richards leaving unless they demand it. Guys with that much talent don't often come around. I could certainly see St. Louis being dealt for a decent price b/c of his contract.
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