Avs and Habs

[Bob]

From Spectors

HABS SCOUTING AVS.

DENVER POST: Adrian Dater reported yesterday a scout from the Montreal Canadiens attended the Colorado Avalanche's game on Monday.

Spector's Note: My thanks to both Justin Lichterman and "Andrew" for sending this in. Both wondered if a trade might be brewing between the two struggling clubs, since the Habs don't play the Avs until January 11th. If there is a deal brewing, it probably isn't a goalie swap.



Another comment in Spectors was referred to the fact that the Avs were looking at doing something relatively drastic with their goaltending situation.

Who else would the Avs want from our roster besides Theodore?

[blny]

Bonk when he's off IR perhaps? There were rumors when Konowalchuk went down for the year that they were gonna go looking for a replacement.

[Habit]

bob said:

Another comment in Spectors was referred to the fact that the Avs were looking at doing something relatively drastic with their goaltending situation.

Who else would the Avs want from our roster besides Theodore?

Spector has posted that the Avs demoted their newest goalie back to the minors after only 7 games. They are now back to 2 goalies.

[Forum Ghost]

Even if the Avs do trade for Theodore, they wouldn't have a goalie to give back to us.

Gainey would then need to make another deal in order to acquire a no. 1 goalie.

[ForgottenRebel]

Forget dealing in goalies..... chicago needs some help at center ... dish ribs off for barnaby or lapointe and a prospect or something..... maybe try and get seabrook out of them

[Cranky]

The Avs are DESPERATE. Me thinks we need some payback frpm t he last trade we did with that snake in the grass.

Theo for Tanguay, Aebischer and Wolski. Yup, this trade would be a bending over!

[Yeti]

Well, the Denver Post is speculating that Theodore might be available and that the Avs might be interested. Sportsnets recycled that rumor on their website as well.

The Habs had a scout watching the Avs for a second game in a row.

www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_3351850

[Bob]

yeti said:

Well, the Denver Post is speculating that Theodore might be available and that the Avs might be interested. Sportsnets recycled that rumor on their website as well.

The Habs had a scout watching the Avs for a second game in a row.

The Avs are bumping up against the salary cap and would have to give us equivalent salary in return. That would mean something like Aebischer, Laperierre, Wolski (total of $4.5 million) plus we would need some kind of sweetener.

Don't see it happening.

[Cranky]

bob said:

yeti said:

Well, the Denver Post is speculating that Theodore might be available and that the Avs might be interested. Sportsnets recycled that rumor on their website as well.

The Habs had a scout watching the Avs for a second game in a row.

The Avs are bumping up against the salary cap and would have to give us equivalent salary in return. That would mean something like Aebischer, Laperierre, Wolski (total of $4.5 million) plus we would need some kind of sweetener.

Don't see it happening.

I don't know about that. They fancy themselves as contenders and they still remember the last time the screwed us. I don't have a problem trading Theo as long as we get heavily overpaid and it builds for the future. Aebischer may not be elite but he is servicable and Tanguay/Wolski will definatly move us up. It's not like we are contenders and Theo making or breaking our cup run.

[Bob]

habsaddict said:

I don't know about that. They fancy themselves as contenders and they still remember the last time the screwed us. I don't have a problem trading Theo as long as we get heavily overpaid and it builds for the future. Aebischer may not be elite but he is servicable and Tanguay/Wolski will definatly move us up. It's not like we are contenders and Theo making or breaking our cup run.

I can't disagree with any of the points you make and I like the part about getting heavily overpaid. It's our turn.

[Douper]

If we could get a 26 year old Tanguay and a great prospect like Wolski I would gladly go with either Yann Danis or Aebisher as my #1. (Oh Garon would be nice right now)

[IamCanadiens]

douper said:

Aebisher as my #1.

Now that's a scary thought.

[Bob]

According to Adrian Dater, this is the current situation with the Avs.

The goaltending situation needs to be resolved, and perhaps more than that, they need to get a second-line left winger to replace Steve Konowalchuk. They probably need another defenseman, too. The defense has not been good this season at all. Karlis Skrastins is having a bad year, as is Blake.

They need to get their top players contributing more. They don't have a lot of salary-cap space, though - about $1.7 million. So, anything big won't be easy to pull off. But I'm sure Pierre Lacroix is doing a lot of thinking about it.


Montreal could offer little help on defense. We need Rivet and Markov, Colorado can't fit Souray's contract into their payroll and there is little else of interest. Bouillon perhaps but that would be about it. It's an area we need to improve ourselves.

In goal, Theodore would help the Avs but there is no salary cap room unless we absorb some salary from them. Zednik would fit at left wing but once again, salary comes into play and it would leave us with a big hole on the left side. If the Avs are already concerned about depth at LW then they certainly won't be looking at dealing Tanguay.

A multiple player trade with Theodore, Zednik and Bouillon would address Colorado's problems on the ice but we would have to absorb salaries in return. That could include Aebischer, Skrastins, Laperriere.

However, the talent level is heavily in favour of Colorado unless they add more players to the mix. Wojtek Wolski would be the first name to add, Paul Stastny would be another and, of course, there are always draft choices.

Still don't think the Habs will trade Theo in a million years but if it did happen, I think it would have to be a deal along those lines.

[Yeti]

Lacroix saw Huet a lot during his days in LA. Huet actually played like a no 1 for awhile. Maybe just Huet for a draft pick? Danis sure looks ready to be at least a backup goalie.

That would be a pretty small trade...

[Bob]

yeti said:

Lacroix saw Huet a lot during his days in LA. Huet actually played like a no 1 for awhile. Maybe just Huet for a draft pick? Danis sure looks ready to be at least a backup goalie.

That would be a pretty small trade...

Hmmm... you might have something there.

[jkr]

yeti said:

Lacroix saw Huet a lot during his days in LA. Huet actually played like a no 1 for awhile. Maybe just Huet for a draft pick? Danis sure looks ready to be at least a backup goalie.

That would be a pretty small trade...

Has he seen Huet lately?

Aebischer played last night & looked awful. His numbers are terrible - 3.52 GAA - 850 SP.

ALso, Wolski cannot help right away. The Avs sent him back to Brampton before he hit 10 games this year.

[Bob]

jkr said:

Aebischer played last night & looked awful. His numbers are terrible - 3.52 GAA - 850 SP.

And that is why the Avs are interested in a starting goaltender. Aebischer doesn't add any value to the trade for Montreal but the Habs would have to take some salary back from Colorado to make the deal work.

The Avs could also decide to demote him to the minors and subject him to waivers. They would still be responsible for his salary but it wouldn't count agains the cap.

ALso, Wolski cannot help right away. The Avs sent him back to Brampton before he hit 10 games this year.

No, but a player like Laperriere could and we still have Perezhogin who is being under-used at this point.

[cigarviper]

Both teams need immediate help. I can't see a logical trade here unless there is a third team/player involved we aren't aware of at this point. I can't see a prospect for prospect, so big money will have to move but I don't see it going only two ways. Not between these two teams anyway.

[habfan74]

Just read this on hockey trade rumors:

hockeytraderumors.com/article5995.html

Hejduk for Perezhogin
or
Alex Tanguay for Perezhogin and 1st round pick

if José is trade (it won't happen) the trade will be probably like that

Theodore + Plekanec
for
Tanguay + Aebisher + 3rd round pick

Don't expect to see Rob Blake or Joe Sakic to be trade!



Its just speculation ofcourse but still interesting.

I wouldn't mind either trade involving Tanguay or Hejduk, but I'm alittle uncomfortable with trading Theo without getting a proven goalie in return.

I was chatting with another hab fan from another forum, he heard about the habs and avs rumors from someone he knows and posted it days before anyone else. I don't know his source but I pm'd him again today, he heard it was Zednik and Souray that the avs were interested in, he also mentioned that his souce said "that he was unsure what Saku's future with the habs is"

[Deleted]

iamcanadiens said:

douper said:

Aebisher as my #1.

Now that's a scary thought.

Theodore for Aebischer?

Do we need to be reminded about Roy for Thibault?

[Skilly]

I dont buy into this "don't have the salary cap room" argument.

If we were to just give away Theodore the Avs would only have to shave about $550,000 in salary. They have $1.7 million in cap room, Theo has already been paid 44% of his contract. If the trade was to be completed in the near future almost 50% of Theo 4.5 million would be paid. (I know he has a 5.333 cap hit value, but for Colorado picking up his remaining dollars this year I am not sure how that works). So Theo is right now available for 2.25 Million approximately. They have 1.7 million (1.8 million according to the Denver Post) .... that is only $450,000. They send us Tanguay or Hejduk (both make over 3.5 million) and a toss in (Lappierre, a defenseman, or Aebisher) and they most definately have the cap room.

EDIT: Even if it was Hejduk for Theo.

Theo = 2.25 million ...... Hejduk = 1.85 million

The difference is $400,000, they have 1.8 million ..... it even gives them 1.4 million to save for the trade deadline. The cap room is there.

[Bob]

Judging from the last two games, the price for Theo went through the roof. There is no way the Habs will trade him now... not that they would have earlier.

[duster]

Agreed. It would be sheer folly for Gainey to do so and he doesn't strike me as the foolish type.

I think if something occurs between both teams, it will be minor. As someone else stated earlier, there doesn't seem to be a good fit. The team the Habs should be scouting is Chicago, imo. That being said, Lacroix has proved in the past that he is not afraid of trading high draft picks or young players to get who he wants.

[Cranky]

The point is to screw the snake, not make him a contender by gving him Theo for only Tanguay or Hedjuk. I seriously doubt that Gainey cares how it fits or what happens to the Av's lineup in a trade. As far as Gainey is concerned, his job is to extract the maximum value out of the snake.

As for Aebischer, the only reason he comes back is for salary relief, he is NOT the main piece of the puzzle and he is no better then Denis. Tanguay and Wolski are the real price for Theo. As for what it does to the Av's left wing, who cares. Does he want a real number one goaltender? Then that's the price.

Of course. if it was me, for a little extra, like a first round draft choice, I would throw in Dag's and Boink to help them out.

Hey, nobody said skinning a snake should look pretty. ;D

[Habit]

www.thefourthperiod.com/news/mtl051231.html

Canadiens debating change
TheFourthPeriod.com

As the Montreal Canadiens battle through what seems to be countless injuries, the team has not yet received the support needed from key members of their roster.
Wingers Alexei Kovalev and Michael Ryder appear to be doing all they can, and while the Canadiens have sold out every one of their home games to date, fans are getting irritated with the team's inconsistent play.

The Habs are 4-5-2 in the month of December, with one game to go – tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes – and rumors are starting to run wild that general manager Bob Gainey is contemplating a change or two.

Reports out of both Denver and Montreal claim the Canadiens have been sending their scouts to Avalanche games, but the Habs are not in the process of trying to deal goaltender Jose Theodore.
Speculation suggests that Montreal is in the market for help on the blueline and in the scoring department, and it is believed that the likes of Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis could be used as trade bait.

It should also be noted that center Mike Ribeiro could be on the "trade block" if the Habs can find a tougher replacement.

------------------------------

Take it for what's it worth, it's the 4thperiod.com.....

[Deleted]

Who could Zednik/Bulis and Ribeiro get us from Colorado?

[franko]

mattdhf said:

Who could Zednik/Bulis and Ribeiro get us from Colorado?

A bag of pucks and a half-used roll of tape. Have you seen Ribs play lately? I've tried to stay in his corner but . . . sheesh! And Bulis? Even Zednik is letting me down.

A better question might be . . . what could we do to get the Avs to take them off our hands? Wouldn't really matter -- CJ still wouldn't play the rooks.

[jkr]

habit said:

Canadiens debating change
TheFourthPeriod.com

As the Montreal Canadiens battle through what seems to be countless injuries, the team has not yet received the support needed from key members of their roster.
Wingers Alexei Kovalev and Michael Ryder appear to be doing all they can,
Take it for what's it worth, it's the 4thperiod.com.....

This just shows you how unreliable the 4th period is.

Have they even looked at Ryders numbers? They scratch the surface & see 16 goals but don't bother to dig deeper. They would see a minus 7 and only nine even strength points in 36 games:

sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?statsId=2499&out

[Doc Holliday]

We're playing them this month so really I don't see anything extraordinary with the fact that we're scouting them. In fact I would find it odd if we weren't...

We need scoring help and a second line LW and they do as well.

We need help on D and they do as well.

I don't see much fit between our teams. Laperriere is a good player that would add toughness to our lower lines but somehow I don,t see this being a priority right now.

Tanguay would become an instant scapegoat around here as he is solely a finess player.

[habfan74]

I have been reading on other sites and some people are saying Ribiero, Souray, Hejduk, and Liles