Price

[Chico Resch]

The Habs are an absolute dumpster fire. I can't figure out for the life of me what they're trying to do.

They're also hogtied by Price's massive salary. Does he get traded, presuming he wants to move?

Vancouver? They now have plenty of cap space, and hes a home town boy.

[butch]

thats a big contract to eat up but he could be a game changer for a team not really in a position for a total rebuild that wants to sell their soon to be UFA some hope in the immediate future (NYI).

JT & Price both making 10.5 'ish though , ouch . Habs would have to at least take back Greiss and a bad contract .

[lucafen4]

Vancouver is openly keeping the Net warm for Demko - and even said it's his for the taking next season if he shows he's ready.. CP isn't going to Van. That cap space, if they're smart (and they have no history of being smart) is better off split two ways - 1. a couple 1yr low salary deals to vets to flip at the deadline and 2. used to bring in vets on bad - but expiring contracts or 1yr left to increase their trade return (problem with #2 - they don't have any players that are going to eye open teams to part with a legit prospect - unless it's Phaneuf in LA or some kind of massive anchor and they uncover a Dahlen in return).

Boeser will need a contract at the end of the season, then they'll have a few ELC's coming up as well around him. They'll want to be able to open the bank for him.

[ericdaoust]

He's not getting traded

[PenguinHunter]

He's not getting traded

I am pretty sure they said that about Bobby Lu at one point in time as well....

But I do not think that Price will play anywhere other than Montreal for the extent of his career.

[lucafen4]

Price be paid a single day on his new contract and there's been talks of trading him since before the ink dried.

They need to stop screwing up everything around him. Three years ago, they seemed like a team that would compete moving forward.. and BOOM.. Berg's just blown hole after hole into this team and roster. Fire the clown before he melts the ice in the offensive zones of home games.

[Jouko-Pouko]

They need to stop screwing up everything around him. Three years ago, they seemed like a team that would compete moving forward.. and BOOM.. Berg's just blown hole after hole into this team and roster. Fire the clown before he melts the ice in the offensive zones of home games.

But he speaks French and that's all that matters.

[lucafen4]

But he speaks French and that's all that matters.

what about Mike Gillis? heh... I think JFJ does.

[DusterDave]

No chance at all that Price gets traded. His value is at an all-time low, couple that with his cap hit and the return would be absolutely minimal.

[bergman]

There?s no reason to think he?d be moved. You don?t sign a Vezina-winning goaltender to a max-length contract and then change your mind about him after one season. Bergevin is fine so long as the team is back on track next year. Never sure why Claude Julien doesn?t take more of the heat. His old non-playoff team is now great and his new playoff team is now awful. Maybe Julien?s system isn?t great in the modern speed and mobility era. A bad season happens, look at Tampa last year. Montreal is finally starting to get a bit of a prospect pipeline back as well, and has several good picks this draft.

[lucafen4]

There?s no reason to think he?d be moved. You don?t sign a Vezina-winning goaltender to a max-length contract and then change your mind about him after one season. Bergevin is fine so long as the team is back on track next year. Never sure why Claude Julien doesn?t take more of the heat. His old non-playoff team is now great and his new playoff team is now awful. Maybe Julien?s system isn?t great in the modern speed and mobility era. A bad season happens, look at Tampa last year. Montreal is finally starting to get a bit of a prospect pipeline back as well, and has several good picks this draft.

they've got a few decent prospects, but nothing I would tout as blue chip or first line/top pair - sure things. Hard to argue any of them are A- prospects... There's a few big differences between Montreal and TB when comparing bad seasons - Hedman, Stamkos, Kucherov, are immediate thoughts. Not to mention the explosion of Point and Gourde... also have this D prospect named Sergachev that looks like he could become a stud top 2 guy in the near, near future.

[bergman]

they've got a few decent prospects, but nothing I would tout as blue chip or first line/top pair - sure things. Hard to argue any of them are A- prospects... There's a few big differences between Montreal and TB when comparing bad seasons - Hedman, Stamkos, Kucherov, are immediate thoughts. Not to mention the explosion of Point and Gourde... also have this D prospect named Sergachev that looks like he could become a stud top 2 guy in the near, near future.

You should have selected the word ?bit? when bolding if you wanted to address my point. It?s a move in the right direction given the state of the prospect pool 5 years ago. Yes, Tampa has some great players, which further proves the point: good teams, even great teams like Tampa, can have bad years. That?s not to say they?ll bounce right back, as Bergevin somewhat alluded to in a press conference when citing Colorado. This is why I said he?ll be fine if they get back on track. The rest of your response is irrelevant. I?m not comparing the two teams beyond a year of missing the playoffs, and I think you know that...

[ericdaoust]

They've assembled good groups of prospects in the past. They've always found ways to stunt the development of most of them, either in the AHL or when they're transitioning to the NHL. Plus their current group isn't even a good one. It's filled with potential secondary players. No stars in the making.

[bergman]

Not many stars come out of the 20+ overall draft range. We want them to be contenders every year as a fanbase, yet we criticize their lack of star prospects. Drouin is the closest thing to an offensive dynamo we've had in a long time. Yet even he was acquired with a type of asset exclusive to the bottom third of the league. Scherbak, Hudon, Lehkonen, Juulsen, Mete, and now even DLR are looking like NHL players that have or will make the transition. Nobody's arguing this is a Philadelphia Flyers-level prospect group. The gap from the 2008-2011 drafts is starting to close. That's the real reason the organizational value is lacking.

[lucafen4]

You should have selected the word ?bit? when bolding if you wanted to address my point. It?s a move in the right direction given the state of the prospect pool 5 years ago. Yes, Tampa has some great players, which further proves the point: good teams, even great teams like Tampa, can have bad years. That?s not to say they?ll bounce right back, as Bergevin somewhat alluded to in a press conference when citing Colorado. This is why I said he?ll be fine if they get back on track. The rest of your response is irrelevant. I?m not comparing the two teams beyond a year of missing the playoffs, and I think you know that...

you can't compare the two teams on missing a year of playoffs without comparing the entirety of the two teams to determine the ability of said team to bounce back. 'a bit of a pipeline' will just leak out. Until Montreal starts successfully moving whatever prospects they have into the NHL without trouncing their ceilings down a couple floors... it really doesn't matter. Montreal won't bounce back, this team's defence is way to weak to do so. There's plenty of holes in the top 9 that will further prevent that. At best - next season - Price has a Vezina year and they steal a 2nd WC seed. Without a bona-fide top 6 centre on the roster (Pleks resigned or not) this team is destined for high picks. Weber, Petry, Mete, Alzner, Rielly, Benn, Schlemko, Juulsen does not scream playoff contention.

Danault & Froese are the only two actual C's listed on their roster. Chucky just doesn't cut it, he's better on the wing (when he's engaged) Patches is a huge ? for next year, leaving Drouin & Gallagher as the only top 6 forwards on the roster -- Hudon if you really want to stretch.

For a team to bounce back, the pieces need to be there to bounce back. Montreal's roster depth is so severely lacking I'd bet money today they miss the playoffs next year. There's just no way, especially when you look at Tor, TB, Bos already running away with the top 3 spots in the division. Add in Fla and and the deep metro and there's no wildcard room.

My post wasn't irrelevant, discussing Mtl's chances of the playoffs next year IS irrelevant