Game 54: Habs/Panthers

The Habs play the Florida Panthers in what has become a broken record cliche – another incredibly important inter-conference matchup. With half of the conference locked within 3 points and the NHL season set up the way it is, the odds of playing a direct competitor for a playoff spot is about 1 in 1. The Panthers are without leading scorer Nathan Horton which is a tough break for a team that generally struggles to score goals. The Habs will be hoping for a lift from new call up Ben Maxwell, although where he will play remains somewhat unclear given the return of Sergei.

I want to pose another question to the group. Sheldon Souray has reportedly given his GM a list of teams that he would consider a trade to. Clearly whether or not Montreal is on that list would be an important factor in determining whether or not the Habs could land Sheldon. That fact aside, would you trade for a guy who has all kinds of physical presence and a blast of a shot from the point? What would you give up?

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6 Comments

#1 wolfbiscuit says:
January 25, 2010 at 10:53 pm

Personally I am not keen on the idea of landing Sheldon Souray. Between Markov and Bergeron I believe we have scoring defensemen. I would rather see the Habs bring in a defensive center.

#2 Senet1 says:
January 26, 2010 at 12:34 am

I for one would not want Souray back, beside I do not think we can afford his salary so he would be a rental player at $5.4M.

I would rather see a power forward if possible to fill in on the PLEK line. That line needs a physical presence.

I am not at all against landing a defensive centre but he would have to be someone who wins a high percentage of faceoffs.

#3 Senet1 says:
January 26, 2010 at 12:39 am

Although the Oilers have marked Justin Penner as not being on their for sale list, now is the time to trade the Kost boys for Penner and a draft pick. I do not like the thought of trading the Kost boys, but AK will be out most of the balance of the season and probably will be slow to come back to his playing status before the playoffs. Sergie has played well since coming back but at this point he has not shown us his offensive side and I think he would be one player that the Oilers could work into their building plan. AK would also be helpful to the Oilers.

#4 Senet1 says:
January 26, 2010 at 12:40 am

Oh between the two we give up $4M in salary cap space. We need to make room to sign Plek and our two goalies.

#5 Mats Naslund says:
January 26, 2010 at 3:52 pm

I’m going to throw a few names out – yea or nea and why you would or wouldn’t pursue them as a trade from the struggling teams out of the playoff picture.

Steve Ott: F. ufa – 1.42 mil – tonnes of sandpaper for a playoff run. On pace for 30 points.

Raffi Torres: LW Grit, UFA skill and determination 2.25 mil – On pace for 40 points.

Milan Jurcina: D, UFA A huge stay at home guy who is one of only a couple players who are not – players for the Blue Jackets. 1.375 mil.

Alex Tanguay: LW , UFA I know it seems silly, but at 2.5 mil dont you like him a whole lot more?

#6 Senet1 says:
January 28, 2010 at 11:47 pm

I like Torres because of his size and his ability to score 20 goals and I think if he were on our like with cammy and Plek he could score 30. I like his size and and his age is in his favour.

I liked Tanguay last year and I wished he had not got injuried becuase I think he could have help us, but I think we have too many of this type of player on our team now so I would not pursue him. His salary is much better now than last year. Too bad he had to be asking so much last year or he would probably still be a hab.

Milan Jurcina, I am not familiar with this buy, but I like his age, size and his plus minus even on a bad team. So yes I would consider him in a trade. Oh and a RH shot which is something we need.

Steve Ott: Age ok don’t like his size even though he plays big. Not what I am looking for in a power forward.

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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.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year