Welcome to Montreal Eric Cole

Pierre Gauthier made a splash on the UFA market yesterday as he signed Eric Cole to a 4 year deal. For Habs fans who have been lobbying for the addition of a power forward to compliment the Plekanec, Cammilleri duo, the news should be received very warmly. Cole has been a target for some fans at various times over the last few years, and should be a very good, physical presence on the top line. Cole, who grew up a Habs fan in New York state, was pleased to be joining the Candiens, and told Montreal media that he thought he could provide some much needed grit on the top line.

I like the signing and although it is clear that Montreal was forced into probably paying an extra Million dollars and an extra year than they may have during normal negotiations – these were anything but normal July 1st circumstances. Given the overpayment that went on throughout the league I think the Canadiens did very well to address a key need.

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5 Comments

#1 Senet1 says:
July 2, 2011 at 10:21 am

I agree Mats it was a good signing. Now we need to get a good defensive centreman who can win important faceoffs and of course get Gorges signed. We actually still hve 8.3M of cap space left so after we give Gorges 3M that leaves us with almost 5M. So we have some room to find a couple of players who can play third fourth line positions with the possibility of moving up to the top to lines to fill in for injuries.

#2 Mats Naslund says:
July 4, 2011 at 11:14 am

I agree Senet – I have to believe that Gauthier’s focus (after Gorges and White that is) is going to be finding a gritty bottom 6 guy to play between White and Moen. If he can find a guy who is competent defensively, we could end up with a very good fourth line. I expect that once everyone is healthy that Eller will line up beside Kostitsyn and Desharnais for the 3rd line.

#3 habknot says:
July 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

Hey Guys. Cole was number one on my free agent list and I’m glad PG got him. No guarantees except I will have a great summer thinking of this team. We will miss Hamrlik, I’m thinking the brain trust is hoping Yemelin will be the next Hammer. I feel OK going into next season with Engqvist getting a shot until Eller is back.

#4 Avatar37 says:
July 5, 2011 at 12:36 am

Cole filled what was identified as our biggest need, and he was the best player available to do so. I agree with Senet, we need that centerman for the fourth line, and I agree with the suggestion that Konopka is the type of player we’re looking for to fill that role.

I think with $8 mil left under the cap, PG would be foolish to let Mara walk. Sopel might also be worth considering, if the salary demands aren’t too high, somewhere around $1 mil, $1.5 mil a year would be a good number, unless he can find more from another team. Otherwise, I think Scott Hannan on two or three year contract might also be a good choice, the longer he goes without signing the better odds of being able to sign him to a reasonable contract become. Shane O’Brien is another option, although I think he’s overpaid for what he brings to the table. Mara only had one less fighting major than O’Brien did last year, and would probably cost much less.

#5 habknot says:
July 5, 2011 at 8:41 am

I like Soppel a lot. Quiet, workmanlike D, much like Gorges, who gives everything every shift. Konopka is too big a liability with the puck, and gets too many penalties. We need more discipline, not less. The Sabres, Phillies, Bruins and Leafs may intimidate us, we just have to pressure their Ds and score on the PP.

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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.