Montreal Canadiens

[Chicleteur]

According to Bob McKenzie, Hal Gill has re-signed for one year with a salary of 2.25 million. In my opinion this is an excellent signing as he is very good defensively and is a good mentor for the young guys, namely PK Subban. These days you don't get much for 2 million so to get a solid player at that price is money well spent.

Totally agree with you! He's good for PK and in the locker room.

[ross10019]

It speaks volumes that Gill was the first vet Dman re-signed, even before Markov, proves his worh to this team and is not suprising. Next is Markov, then Gorges.

[ross10019]

An absolutely GREAT piece by Arpon Basu on the Gill re-signing and what he means to the team, I could not agree more with his premise and conclusions, kudos to him: http://bit.ly/lMjJ42

[Chicleteur]

An absolutely GREAT piece by Arpon Basu on the Gill re-signing and what he means to the team, I could not agree more with his premise and conclusions, kudos to him: http://bit.ly/lMjJ42

Great find Ross!

[ericdaoust]

Here is a good piece written by user pharling (http://www.dobberhockey.com/index.ph...sion&Itemid=93) where he describes some of the things to come this summer for the Habs.

[sparrowtrini]

Eric, my friend, Didnt get a chance to read thru the plethora of pages. Thus I'm just wondering about your thoughts on a couple of names. I know uve talked about Eller. But what do think(or have heard) about his ultimate fantasy value?

Also anything on Brendan Nash? Thoughts on his future?

[ericdaoust]

Eric, my friend, Didnt get a chance to read thru the plethora of pages. Thus I'm just wondering about your thoughts on a couple of names. I know uve talked about Eller. But what do think(or have heard) about his ultimate fantasy value?

In fantasy Eller is going to be more of a depth player. He does a lot of things well which makes him reliable in a lot of situations but I don't see him becoming a top offensive player. If he can ever secure a 2nd line spot in Montreal I can see him posting 50-55 points pretty regularly. The problem right now is that the Habs also have Gomez and Desharnais down the middle which may muddy things in the near future for Eller.

All in all, if you have farm space stash Eller there for as long as you can. If you need a return on investment right away you might be disappointed. He'll get there eventually but you'll probably be waiting for a while.

Also anything on Brendan Nash? Thoughts on his future?

Nash is an interesting case. I still don't know a lot about him. He played in college for 4 years and posted decent numbers (67 points in 120 games) and then started red-hot in Hamilton before slowing down the rest of the way. I can't see him being anything more than a #4/5 dman with modest numbers (20-30 points). From what I've read he's offensive-minded with some limitations in his own end but the size makes him appealing. Could be solid in roto leagues.

[Akkei]

Hey,

Out of all the Habs RFAs, I'm mostly curious as to what will happen with AK46. I do not see his name anywhere in the Montreal newspapers. Although he has underachieved until now, I still think he has 1st line potential especially when he plays a more physical game. But at this point however, it would not make much sense to offer him a long term contract and take the risk to be stuck with a perennial underachiever. Since he earned $3.25M this year, I would suspect that he is expecting more for a short term contract. The logical course of action would be for Gauthier to trade him, but I doubt he has much market value. What do you think will happen with him?

[ericdaoust]

Hey,

Out of all the Habs RFAs, I'm mostly curious as to what will happen with AK46. I do not see his name anywhere in the Montreal newspapers. Although he has underachieved until now, I still think he has 1st line potential especially when he plays a more physical game. But at this point however, it would not make much sense to offer him a long term contract and take the risk to be stuck with a perennial underachiever. Since he earned $3.25M this year, I would suspect that he is expecting more for a short term contract. The logical course of action would be for Gauthier to trade him, but I doubt he has much market value. What do you think will happen with him?

My thoughts:

-75% chance this goes to July 1st and the Habs make the qualifying offer, whatever it is (not sure if there is a mandatory raise). It would be in AK's best interest to sign the QO after such a poor season.
-20% chance the team does not qualify him and he walks as a UFA. This would help the team address other roster spots as that cap hit is pretty significant. I think he is committed to North America and would no doubt have offers around the league but the KHL would probably offer the most immediate money. Huge question marks if we make it to this point.
-5% chance they find a trade partner willing to take him at the QO salary. I put the odds low because unlike his brother his cap hit is so damn high. It's not an easy sell with so many UFAs available that can be signed without giving away assets.

[LeTrefle]

Eric,
I would like to know what you think about Pouliot, who's also RFA.
Do they let him walk?
If they sign him, do he still has a place on Martin's roster?
Can we call it a major flop?

[ericdaoust]

Eric,
I would like to know what you think about Pouliot, who's also RFA.
Do they let him walk?
If they sign him, do he still has a place on Martin's roster?
Can we call it a major flop?

If I recall he no-showed the media session during the final day where the team cleaned out its lockers. To me this is telling that he may not want to play for this team and/or this coach. To me it looks bad that his work ethic was topped by Andrei Kostitsyn which led to Pouliot being left out of the top six.

Here is what I see:
-Pouliot has terrible hockey sense so he relies solely on his speed, skill and (sometimes) work to get by.
-The duo of Plekanec and Cammalleri needs a grinder-type who does the dirty work due to their lack of size, strength and grit. Pouliot is a terrible fit next to those two.
-Same goes for the Gomez/Gionta duo. Gomez just doesn't try hard and Gionta is too small to win battles. This explains why Pacioretty was such a great fit next to these two, as Patches will go in the corners and go to the net.

So in essence I don't see Pouliot ever being a top-6 guy on this team. Kostitsyn fits this role better even though he himself isn't a great fit. Personally I think he could be brought back on a qualifying offer and be a 3rd/4th line depth scorer or simply let go. I think the odds are 50/50 there. Pouliot would find work elsewhere though.

IMO the trade is far from a bust because Latendresse is far from a sure thing and he has major health problems at the moment.

[JagrBomb]

that pouliot/latendresse trade went from a win-win (when they were both on fire once joining their new teams) to a lose-lose (when they both started sucking due to suckitis/injuries)

[ericdaoust]

that pouliot/latendresse trade went from a win-win (when they were both on fire once joining their new teams) to a lose-lose (when they both started sucking due to suckitis/injuries)

In the end though I think Latendresse would make a better bottom-six player in the long run due to his size and ability to throw checks. He could become a guy like Taylor Pyatt. So in the end (five years from now) he may be the last man standing.

[Chicleteur]

AK just re-signed with the Habs 1 year 3.25M.

Like I said on another seperate post, one year is ok, but I would have given him less money. I'm really on the fence with AK. When he's on, he's on and he's good, but that's not happening as much as I would like.

[JagrBomb]

i guess it was either one year with 3+/year, or multiple years with 2+/year. guessing the habs are willing to give him one more shot before they consider signing him longterm.