Montreal Canadiens

[newfcollins]

Some unresolved issues:
-Bourque must go ASAP

Also Moen.

[ericdaoust]

Also Moen.

I can't ask for too much. This is pushing it.

[MarmotKing]

I can't ask for too much. This is pushing it.

Lol! yeah both need to happen. Moen had his time and it's time to go. Bourque had good playoffs but I don't see him translating that into and OK season.

Man, 3 months until the start of the season! Long summer ahead!

[niconasr]

Neither issues of Moen and Bourque are going to be resolved today, I just walked across Marc Bergevin having dinner with his family in a restaurant in the Mile-End.

It's crazy how easily I forget thesr men still have daily lives to live.

[ericdaoust]

Neither issues of Moen and Bourque are going to be resolved today, I just walked across Marc Bergevin having dinner with his family in a restaurant in the Mile-End.

It's crazy how easily I forget thesr men still have daily lives to live.

Yeah, but hopefully it gets done before everyone remembers that Bourque sucks.

[Thunder]

The way the Gorges deal was handled is very disappointing, IMO.

When you keep yapping about the importance of having character and leadership on your team, you should show more respect to a guy who by most accounts has been exemplary on both counts.

Fine if you have to deal him, but if he has submitted a list of teams to which he'd accept a trade, why in heaven's name would you go ahead and concoct a trade with a team that does not appear on the list -and a hated division rival to boot? Of course he will say no. That was the point of the darn list!!!

I really feel like they've screwed the pooch here. To make matters worse, the whole thing was leaked (like you need another reason not to trade with the Laffs) and I feel they were forced into getting subpar return.

And now, you're stuck with Gilbert on the second pairing, which, although I admittedly have not watched a whole lot of Panthers hockey last season (ok, zero Panthers hockey), does not inspire confidence as far as I'm concerned --I mean, seriously, the guy came within a hair of not having a job in the NHL a year ago.

Unless Emelin suddenly becomes a stud playing on his natural side, I really feel our D will be weaker next year --not to mention the loss of leadership in the room.

[JagrBomb]

The way the Gorges deal was handled is very disappointing, IMO.
Fine if you have to deal him, but if he has submitted a list of teams to which he'd accept a trade, why in heaven's name would you go ahead and concoct a trade with a team that does not appear on the list -and a hated division rival to boot? Of course he will say no. That was the point of the darn list!!!

leafs offered franson, which is a much better return than a 2nd round pick, also he is a RH vs gorges LH which they have excess of. so of course habs tried to get him to waive since it would make their team better, unfortunately for them it didnt pan out so they settled for the next best offer, a high 2nd round pick.

[Akkei]

From what I have read, it is not even a high 2nd round pick. The pick traded by BUF for Gorges was in fact the MIN 2nd rounder.

[MarmotKing]

Yeah, but hopefully it gets done before everyone remembers that Bourque sucks.

In MTL, that won't take long.

[ericdaoust]

Habs signed TJ Hensick (remember him?) to play in Hamilton this year. If anything he'll help some of the prospects post better numbers as he has had a lot of success down in the minors.

[Vanek! at the Disco]

Habs signed TJ Hensick (remember him?) to play in Hamilton this year. If anything he'll help some of the prospects post better numbers as he has had a lot of success down in the minors.

Why would they do that? He's a bust, why the hell waste a spot on the roster of promising prospects?

[JagrBomb]

From what I have read, it is not even a high 2nd round pick. The pick traded by BUF for Gorges was in fact the MIN 2nd rounder.

interesting, i thought it was buffalo's but i guess that makes more sense as to why the habs were pushing for the toronto deal.

[ross10019]

Don't like the way it all happened, but at the end of the day, the Habs are a better team with Parenteau, Malhotra and Gilbert than with Brière, White and Gorges. Gilbert is a better puck mover than Gorges, and is underrated on the PK. The fact that he is right handed solves a logjam on the left side. Also bigger than Gorges, which can't be overlook.

I was expecting a better D to replace Gorges, but as one reporter asked Bergevin yesterday, the extra cap space might be there jut in case an idiot GM gives PK a 11 M$ offer sheet for 7 years.

Gilbert is a bargain at $2.8M per for 2 years. It is a very positive sign that he took that deal (and Malhotra took close to league minimum), it shows that the Habs are once again a desired destination for players looking to win now, Bergevin's been huge in that regard.

Gilbert's exactly what the Habs need - putting him with Emelin is a nice 2nd pairing, puck moving skill and reasonably good defensively, although Gilbert has had a history (Oilers and then Wild) of sometimes committing bad gafffes defensively. But overall he's a quite positive Corsi player and being right-handed is huge. Now you have Subban, Gilbert, Weaver as your top 3 on the right side, and Emelin can go back to his natural side.

[ross10019]

How do Habs fans feel about the way Gorges was dissed? He was popular with the fans I know, I'm not sure why they felt they had to get rid of him, and for Gilbert nonetheless.

First off, I am a big fan, a HUGE fan, of Mr. Josh Gorges. This is a guy who came out of nowhere, smallish and without a high amount of skill, but with guts and determination turned into a very valuable top 4 dman and a major leader in the room.

I am very sad to see him go.

However, when you can sign Gilbert and Weaver for a total of $4.55 and Gorges costs you $3.9M for another FOUR YEARS, and you need to create cap space for Subban and Eller (and Galchy and Gallagher soon), make room for Beaulie and Tinordi to get ice time, and then when you take into account that Gorges style of play makes him increasingly prone to injury and loss of effectiveness, this move was a NO-BRAINER for Bergevin.

Same goes for Gionta, love that player and he will be missed, but he wanted too much term and money and in the end, for he and his family, Buffalo (near hometown of Rochester) makes perfect sense. A younger-legged Jiri Sekac now gets the opportunity to play a similar role, and he's hungry.

Our D with Gilbert and Weaver for full seasons, and with a healthy Emelin playing his natural side, and Beaulieu and Tinordi being eased in with 6th/7th pairing roles (and for Beaulieu with some PP2 time), will be in good shape this year.

[Vanek! at the Disco]

First off, I am a big fan, a HUGE fan, of Mr. Josh Gorges. This is a guy who came out of nowhere, smallish and without a high amount of skill, but with guts and determination turned into a very valuable top 4 dman and a major leader in the room.

I am very sad to see him go.

However, when you can sign Gilbert and Weaver for a total of $4.55 and Gorges costs you $3.9M for another FOUR YEARS, and you need to create cap space for Subban and Eller (and Galchy and Gallagher soon), make room for Beaulie and Tinordi to get ice time, and then when you take into account that Gorges style of play makes him increasingly prone to injury and loss of effectiveness, this move was a NO-BRAINER for Bergevin.

Same goes for Gionta, love that player and he will be missed, but he wanted too much term and money and in the end, for he and his family, Buffalo (near hometown of Rochester) makes perfect sense. A younger-legged Jiri Sekac now gets the opportunity to play a similar role, and he's hungry.

Our D with Gilbert and Weaver for full seasons, and with a healthy Emelin playing his natural side, and Beaulieu and Tinordi being eased in with 6th/7th pairing roles (and for Beaulieu with some PP2 time), will be in good shape this year.

Fair enough, that makes some good sense and I appreciate the solid argument (not much of that going on around here lately ).

I always felt that Gionta was overrated and Gorges underated on MTL but the salaries told a different story so that is why this seems like a weak move from where I am sitting. I just don't understand them keeping Markov over Gorges in this scenario