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Habs acquire D Davis Drewiske from Kings

I’m a little late to the party as I’ve been focusing some attention elsewhere today but I wanted to comment on the Davis Drewiske pickup before I switch my brain permanently over to tonight’s season opener for the Blue Jays. Drewiske may seem like a bargain bin pickup to some (and lets muddy the waters a little by agreeing on some level), but there is some upside to Drewiske that makes this pickup a little bit of a sleeper for me. The Habs send the Kings a 5th round pick. In exchange they get a guy who has good size to go along with 126 NHL games to add a little insurance for a D crops that has featured rookies as the 6th defenseman for the last month or so. Drewiske isn`t the type of player you`re going to count on to give you offensive jump or to lead your team, but there is value in having a guy with size and work ethic on your club. This town loves Josh Gorges for his heart, and while Drewiske certainly has never had the natural talent to earn a huge paycheck in the NHL, he`s got a little bit of Gorges in his game. He`s a high effort guy who couldn`t crack the King`s deep top 6. The trade gives Montreal a guy who will fight for an opportunity to stick in a role which is exactly what they need once the games get physical. I like this trade a lot because it cost the Habs almost nothing in terms of future prospects, and could pay off real value once the games get more violent.

Go Habs Go!!
Game 35: Habs/Hurricanes

You woke up today with your Montreal Canadiens sitting in 1st place in the North East Division, 2nd only to the suddenly-Crosby-less Pittsburgh Pengiuns this morning. How good it feels to not follow up that statement with the qualifier “April Fools”.

Montreal gets set today to face the Carolina Hurricanes as we inch towards the trade deadline on Wednesday. While the team has been generally excellent for the entire season, there are still some areas in which the club could certainly improve. A big forward or defensive acquisition would go a long way to making this team set for a deep playoff run. The question is whether or not Marc Bergevin feels as though it is worth it to risk giving up prospects or picks to gain a valuable player? Personally I waffle between thinking it makes better sense to simply stand pat, and the idea that you only get so many chances to have a highly ranked team.

Look at the New York Rangers as case #1 for why teams who have a shot at a cup should take a chance. Everyone thought that team would be better this season, and yet.. they are in real danger of missing the post-season altogether. Should they have made more of an effort to win last season? Its hard to say in retrospect.

You’d like to think that if you won, you would stand a good chance of coming back the next year. Boston is a good example of a team that has been able to turn success into a long-term condition. Still, they traded away Joe Colborne, a 1st rd pick, as well as a 2nd rd pick for Tomas Kaberle. He’s a guy that can’t even be trusted to crack an NHL lineup now.. how did that deal help them? And how much better would their future look now if they had kept Joe Colborne and their picks?

A deadline pickup doesn’t always solve the problem you intend to – and can have real consequences down the line should you all of a sudden start to get thin in terms of prospects in the system. Montreal seems to have an abundance right now in terms of defense prospects and picks, but one has to imagine that the long-term success of the team would be increased by hanging on to these assets.

What do you guys think?

Go Habs Go!!

~Mats

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Senet1 : I want the Bruins to win anyway so that we pick ahead of them in the Draft.
Senet1 : Muller you got your wish NYR won game 4. So the Bruins will have to play another game at least.
Senet1 : He may just bring all three of the kids up.
muller93 : MB is forced to go out and get a big D-man. Missing Emelin for almost half the season is the last thing we needed to hear. Now going out and getting a big D-man is a MUST!!!
muller93 : Now for the Fu**en Bruins who have no business even being in the second round are going to get a nice rest. Yes the same goons who took out one of best D-man for 6 more months. There is NO Fu**en justice. Just venting--Ok i feel better now.
muller93 : So pissed to see the Rangers lay down and play like total crap. How did the Rangers beat the Caps? This team is playing with no heart--a must win and can only muster 23 shots...PATHETIC !!!
muller93 : Senet I did see Galchenyuks goal--Made a great move for the game winner. You can see the kid has so much confidence.
goalie : If Rangers get swept I wonder if Tortorella will get his walking papers? Or Glen Sather? They have tons of 'talent' but zero wins in this series.
goalie : It's really too bad we lost to the Sens as we would have played the Rangers and the way NYR are playing we would have beat them too. If only. If only!
Senet1 : Actually I agree it was a good move for them to play a shorter season and get the experience. He could not have played in the minors this year he would have had to play junior or the NHL. However, he now has a year under him and knows what to expect next year and hopefully take a bigger responsibility on the team. Did you see those two goals in the bronze game? Wow.
muller93 : Good move by the Habs not having Galchenyuk play in the minors. Now Galchenyuk has 1 year in the NHL and playoff experience this is going to pay off big time come next year.
Senet1 : Galchenyuk scores to back to back goals in shoot out to help USA win Bronze metal. I did not see the second goal but the first was a beauty.
Senet1 : So we could pick anywhere from 25th to 23rd depending on who wins these quarter final series.
Senet1 : First, is the 14 teams in the lottery. Then there are 12 teams that did not make the semi finals in the order of the seasonal finish, Then there are the four teams in the semi final the first two eliminated pick in the order of the regular season points total and the last two based on who wins and who loses the cup. So as it stand now if say Detroit beats Chicago then Detroit moves up to pick after us. Boston or NYR will move up and pick after us. LA or San Jose will move up and pick after us
Senet1 : Basically, I was wrong about the draft pick situation. There are three groups of drafting teams within the 30 teams.
Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.