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Canadiens 2007 Free Agent Activity

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  1. #1 ed says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:11 pm

    Will there ever be light at the end of the tunnel.i try to convince myself Bob did his best to bring in ufas.They keep on saying montreal is not desirable taxes,language and media pressure.IS this the new NHL.There isn’t a level playing field money talks as we see long term cotracts with no trade clauses.these guys go the best of worlds.the nhl should look into a system like the draft to give a fair chance to all teams to get these top players. i just hope BOB does sign some players that will help till the yougsters down on the farm and drafts picks can make up to the big team.

  2. #2 LJ55 says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:23 pm

    who cares about ufa’s anyhow, you have to overpay and i haven’t seen any team have great success by builing a club with ufa’s. i don’t recall any ufa aquistions that put a team over the top. do you?

    i don’t understand why people have to act like a bunch of spoiled 5 year olds who didn’t get the toy they wanted this time of the year every year. we thought guys like Brad Richards were overpaid only 3 weeks ago, suddenly it doesn’t look that way anymore. i mean guys who have a career high of 70 points getting 7 million dollars? let these foolish gm’s spend like a bunch of drunken sailors on shore leave. if the canadian dollar starts to go down again don’t expect the cap to go up anymore. now that would be funny seeing the cap go down and all these teams try to sqirm out of these 5-8 year deals which have NMC’s.

    all that being said we better not settle for the leftovers, i’d rather starve.

  3. #3 Habsfreak says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    Selanne’s still available and he want’s to go to the habs.
    P.S. Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
    Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
    they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)

  4. #4 Habsfreak says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:35 pm

    Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
    Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
    they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)

  5. #5 Habsfan says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:36 pm

    Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
    Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
    they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)

  6. #6 Habsfan says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    Selanne still available

  7. #7 Habsfan says:
    July 2, 2007 at 5:48 pm

    Canadiens sign Roman Hamrlik

  8. #8 PACTUM SERVA says:
    July 2, 2007 at 6:02 pm

    You know what guys? Who cares if briere signed in philly he is way to small anyways and would not get more than 70 points in montreal anyways.Who cares if smyth signed with colorado his wife must wear the pants in that family its plain to see.(p u s s y wipped)Why is everyone so upset over not being able to sign these overpaid gold diggers.Just take a look at the final year of brieres,smyths contract,would you want to pay them 6.5 million at the age of 37 lol.That is just plain stupid and dont kid yourself everyear there is always a free agent BUST so one of these teams is gonna be stuck with a very big contract to deal with.As far as i am concerned if players dont want to play in montreal then we dont ******* i n g want you wearing the red,white and blue.Just have a little faith guys and be proud of our habs because one day we will be back on top and one day many players in the nhl will regret snubbing the montreal canadians. GO HABS GO p.s Gainey has somthing up his sleeve and we will all know what it is in the comming days.

  9. #9 Lucky says:
    July 2, 2007 at 6:07 pm

    I missed ya Pactum Serva words of wisdom…

  10. #10 PACTUM SERVA says:
    July 2, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    lol thanks lucky

  11. #11 Fizz says:
    July 2, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    Hamrlik, good solid signing! Maybe this is the first of good things to happen… we can hope!

  12. #12 habsfan_for_life1212 says:
    July 2, 2007 at 7:16 pm

    Read this post on habs inside/out, it opened my eyes.
    Pity the poor Habs! It’s so sad they treat prima donna Russian ice dancers so bad, word must be getting around that they run a slave ship in Montreal. Get Real!!! You want hell, try the Islanders? That’s New York brother, major market, solid tradition, loads of cash. And what do they have to show??? They traded away two top prospects and this yrs 1st for a rental player who just walked out the door, along w/ their top goal scorer, their #4 scorer, and their top defenseman. You want hell, try Buffalo a team where players had a “chance to win” then had both their co-captains walk. So much for commitment to team.How bout a 3-time Cup winner like New Jersey & their HOF goalie? They lost their top center and Top D-man. Now tell me any of those teams has the deep well of prospects that the Habs do. At worst we lose a -28 d-man. I’d hate to see him go, but…If you’d rather have $4 million in cap space tangled up in a 39 yr old Jason Blake like the Leafs will in a few yrs, go ahead and cry a river. I’m happy to be patient and wait to see what the kids do.
    I believe in Price!!!

  13. #13 Fizz says:
    July 2, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    … Very well said. I to am excited to see what the kids do!

  14. #14 Avatar37 says:
    July 2, 2007 at 9:52 pm

    Yes, the habs are going to have to build through the draft and development system. We’ll get there but it’s going to take longer. Go HABS Go!

  15. #15 smiler2729 says:
    July 3, 2007 at 6:36 am

    First of all, players don’t want to play in Montreal because of stu pid fans like josh and the ridiculous French media…

    Second, I’m glad Gainey’s not overspending on Briere, Smyth, Drury and Gomez, those players aren’t superstars but are being paid by idiot teams like they are.

    Hamrlik and Smolinski are fine tweaks, Lord knows we need help defensively… and maybe just maybe Saku can talk Teemu into signing here.

  16. #16 habahabahaba says:
    July 3, 2007 at 11:54 am

    I would like the Habs to sign Danny Markov. I am not comfortable with Striet playing full-time defence. (Maybe we put him on the wing for the whole season and on the point for power plays.)

    I would be okay with Johnson re-signing.

    Yashin I am not comfortable with. As someone else mentioned make him earn his contract with incentives if we absolutely can’t get along without him.

    Zubrus I am just okay with… I know and like many Russians, but they seem to only play when they want to. When they want to they are amazing. When they don’t they are shadows on skates.

    Chris Simon might also be a lotto pick if he is available on the cheap. Simon could add some size/punch/character on the fourth line.

    Question: Is Bill Guerin interested in Montreal ?

    We have some cash lets spend it on free agents and keep the prospects in the barn. Marleau is good, but at what price if these rumours are true ?

    Another that might fit for the cheap: Gelinas

    O’Neill from the Toronto Make Believes could add scoring…or even Peca to take over Bonk’s spot.

  17. #17 ziman says:
    July 3, 2007 at 1:19 pm

    I am a little disappointed that Montreal did not get Gomez, Briere, Drury or Ryan Smyth but Gainey did offer these players more money and they took less money to play elsewhere so we should not blame Gainey on this one. The Habs do have some good prospects on the way and they will win the cup in the next 3 or 4 years. They will be cup contenders before it is all said and done, just wait and see.

  18. #18 Stuart-SB77 says:
    July 3, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!

  19. #19 Stuart-SB77 says:
    July 3, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!

  20. #20 Stuart-SB77 says:
    July 3, 2007 at 1:45 pm

    sorry I didn’t mean to repeat ,lol

  21. #21 habahabahaba says:
    July 3, 2007 at 8:55 pm

    http://broadband.tsn.ca/tsn/?id=349&vid=9294

    Bob now says we only have 2-3 million left in the kitty to get players ?

    Wow that large availability of cap room is gone after 1 major signing and 1 medium signing ?

    We still can get Gelinas, Allison, or Simon for that amount.

    I guess we fill up empty spots with our AHL Champs……

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  • Avatar37 : pressure playing in Montreal, since he has problems with the expectations in Washington and Montreal isn't any easier. Then again, the media were very easy on Kovalev, so maybe it's a Russian thing? No idea. Anyway, yeah, it would have to be an established star that gives us an immediate drastic upgrade at forward, that's the only way I'd trade PK, because we'd be giving up a potential QB on our blueline for the next decade.
  • Avatar37 : Goalie - Sure, the only player I'd say who is untradeable (meaning I wouldn't trade no matter what) is Carey Price. You build a winning team from the net out, and I don't think there's a better goalie for his age in the NHL than Price, so I wouldn't trade him. Otherwise, every player would be open for offers, but for PK Subban, it would take (for me) an already established star, like Carter or Crosby or Ovechkin. As much as I like Ovechkin, I'm not sure he could handle all the media pre
  • goalie : I'm not suggesting at all that we judst dump or get rid of PK. I do however believe that he is a very valued commodity in the NHL adn that the Habs will receive offers for his services. If someone ffers us young, strong, puck handling forwards who can score, I think the Habs have to look at that possible trade.
  • Avatar37 : Agreed. It would be a big mistake to trade PK just to move up 2 spots in the draft. PK, Emelin, and Gorges are the bright future of our defense.
  • Senet1 : I am with you Avatar, Subban stays, it is not often that you get a stud defenceman who can play 25+ minutes. The mistakes he makes are for the most part not that serious and people forget he is only 23 and been in the league 2 years. He has come a long way in those two years. He has offense, defence and he hits. You cannot bet much better than that. Two more years experience and he has a shot at the Norris. If Markov does anything I hope he teaches PK how to work the PP.
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Avatar37 : go.
  • Avatar37 : round exit. Heck, even the year they won the cup we almost took them out in round 1. I believe in the corps of this team, I really think we just need a few tweaks. Adding Larry Robinson to run the defense would be a BIG help, keep Cunneyworth as offensive coach, and get a head coach who can get these guys back on the right path. We need to establish an identity again, a team that won't let itself be pushed around like it was under Martin. A few scrappers on this team and we'll be good to
  • Avatar37 : Yeah, the only way I'd trade PK is if we were getting an established star in return, like Carter or Crosby. I don't think we're miles away from competing deep into the playoffs, the NHL has become so competitive because of the salary cap that really there aren't huge differences between the teams. Add into the equation the stupid scoring system (some games worth 2 points, some 3) that the standings don't truly reflect where teams should really be. Look at Boston, cup winners to first rou
  • Senet1 : It would have to be something pretty special before I would trade PK. To me he is the #1 building block of our defence. I would trade any other defenceman we have before I would trade PK.
  • Senet1 : An improvement in our offense and strengthening our defence. Personally, I do not think we are that far off, five players at best could get us there. One thing that has always been true about the playoffs, Defence wins and you need a strong 3rd and 4th line.
  • goalie : I'm more optimistic now about the Habs than I have been for the past three dreadfully long seasons!
  • goalie : 2: I think GM Bergevin will make somewhat of a 'blockbuster't rade either before or on the day of the draft adn I believe PK Subban will be in that package. WE have t rememebr we have to give away some talent to get back other talent. No one wants players like Moen to move up in the draft etc.
  • goalie : Some thoughts:The more I see the playoffs it becomes even more obvious that we're miles away from being able to 'compete' dep into the playoffs
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Senet1 : Young Subban might also be an option if the Russian goalie is not available. However, to me I would wait another year and attempt to use my draft 2nd round draft picks to improve out forward situation.
  • Senet1 : Although Rinne contact is another example of long term at the wrong time. He is 29 years old. A case could be made with Price that double his money now with bonuses if we win the cup, I think that is still allowed in contracts?
  • Senet1 : Problem is he is going to want Pekka Rinne money and term. That is closer to 7M. On the other hand, the contract could have step up clauses in it over the 7 years.
  • Avatar37 : With Price, I wouldn't blink twice about offering him a 7 year contract now, especially if he'd be willing to give up dollar value for length. 7 years at $5.5 million a year would be just fine in my book.
  • Avatar37 : I think the goaltending void in our current system would push me to draft Vasilevski with our second pick, if he was available. He's young and has lots of potential, but is at least 5-6 years away from starting to be ready to play on an NHL roster.
  • Senet1 : Long tern contracts are a risk, but if you have a super star not as much. Luongo's contract was long term but signed too late in his career.
  • Avatar37 : Senet - Yes, you were clear in your post, my question was directed at goalie. I'm with you in that I'd be willing to sign him to a 7 year contract. I'd be nervous about anything longer, because every single long term goalie contract I can think of turned out to be a disaster for the team signing it.
  • Senet1 : I think that Budaj is a better goalie than many give him credit for, is he a Price no but with a tight defence he could be a good goalie. Many teams have average goalies but have great defence and still win. Look at Detroit, for years they have had average goaltending, but won cups. Goalies can get on a roll in the playoffs, look at Huet as an example, he was not really a good goalie but played great in the playoffs, next year he was a wash. Defence makes the goalie a winner, just ask Price.
  • Senet1 : Having a young equivalent goalie in the system right now is not important, three years from now it will be, so we have three years to make that kind of move in the draft. I think we have more pressing needs aat the moment.
  • Senet1 : Personally, I do not see this as a negative because of Price's age, you wait to draft a goalie of a Patrick Roy or Brodeur some teams wait a life time. To me we have on so why would we want to not play that out for as long as we can. Bottom line is this, regardless, right now you have a stud goalie, you are either going to pay him the money he deserves for not sign him and lose him. There is no middle of the road here.
  • goalie : Avatar made a great point. We don't have an NHL or up adn coming NHL goalies in our system. Another great move by Gauthier. Price is sitting very pretty.
  • goalie : WEll Price has us by the nads. I guess I'd have to go as far as a 7 year contract due to his play adn his age.
  • Senet1 : Luongo is now 33, he has been a good goaltender for a number of years. I would sign Price for 7 years and at age 31 then we deal with UFA at that time. Hopefully, we could provide him with another 5 years at that time. That is my opinion anyway, I would never risk losing him as a UFA at this point in his career to me that would be a very poor management decision. Even a 10 year contract would put him only at 34 years old. If you are going to sign him to long term now is the time.
  • Senet1 : If you have a young stud you have to gamble a little and give him a contract that is worthy of his abilities and his potential. It can have escalation clauses or reducing clauses like Kovalchuk's contract.
  • Senet1 : Avatar, I thought I was clear Yes I would sign him long term. My previous post said. The problem is if you have a out in the contract after 5 years then the player also has an out after 5 years. So no self respected lawyer would accept a contract that did not have equal escape clauses. So no I would not sign only for 5 years, if Price was 28 years old yes but not a 24. Seven years still only makes him 31 when the contract is over. If you have a young stud you have to gamble a little and give him
  • Avatar37 : Cammalleri trade. Given the fact that we have no NHL starting quality goaltenders in the system currently, aren't we held hostage to having to sign Price?
  • Avatar37 : There are many bad goalie contracts, just look at Huet. However, your post didn't answer my question as to what you'd do with Price. He's an RFA now, but for argument sake, if he were a UFA, what would you do? If he wanted a 7+ year contract, you know some other team would give him one. Would you risk losing him for nothing because you didn't want to sign a contract over 5 years? And if we lose Price, our goalies are Budaj and Robert Mayer, as we sent Karri Ramo to the Flames in the Cam
  • goalie : .. a 5 years contract again based upon the experience he has had AND he likes Bobby Lou!
  • goalie : Ditto for Philly, Ther goaltender 'situations' have both become the number 1 story line for both teams, and in Vancouver one could see the exaspiration on Gillis' adn to some extent Vigneault's faces when continously being bombarded by the loooong term contract that the Canucks are stuct with. (Gillis even said last February or so, thank goodness it looks like more than few other teams will be looking for a starting goaltender for 2012-13. He said he would never again do more than a 5 year c
  • goalie : I've spent the past four winters in BC thus I am very aware of the Canucks situations. I'd first say I give Gillis adn Vigneault 100% credit for being VERY supportive of Roberto L. even when Corey Schenider has vastly out played him. (I too like Bobby Lou but facts are facts).

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