Pierre Gauthier 2010-11

[AK-1]

PIERRE GAUTHIER - GENERAL MANAGER

"Pierre Gauthier joined the Montreal Canadiens organization as Director of Professional Scouting on July 21, 2003. On February 8, 2010, he was named General Manager to replace Bob Gainey while keeping the responsibilities attached to Professional Scouting. Prior to his promotion, he held the Assistant General Manager position since June 2006.Gauthier, who was born in Montreal on May 28, 1953, worked with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim during six seasons, serving as the team’s Assistant General Manager from 1993 to 1995.Following three seasons as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators from 1995 to 1998, he returned to the Mighty Ducks’ organization as President and General Manager from 1998 to 2002.Gauthier originally came to the Anaheim organization from the Quebec Nordiques where he spent 12 seasons from 1981 to 1993, serving in all areas of scouting.Gauthier also made his mark on the international hockey scene. Along with Bob Gainey and Bobby Clarke, he was one of three NHL general managers for the Canadian National Team at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano.He was also Team Canada’s General Manager for the gold-medal winning team at the 1997 World Championships in Finland, as well as the silver-medal winning team at the 1996 World Championship in Austria."========== http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=52839

----------

Quote Library:
- "That's the objective - to get to the top tier of the league and to do that consistently" - Pierre Gauthier, after being promoted to General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens on February 8th.

[DA_Champion]

I approve of the fact that Gauthier is letting go of Mara, Moore, Metropolit and Bergeron (I might have kept Moore). More than that, I approve of the fact he's seemingly not scouring the pool of UFAs rejected by 29 other NHL GMs to bring in some overpriced veteran mediocrity on 4 -year contracts.

Apparently:

1) O'Byrne, Subban and anyone else for that matter can compete for the 6th and 7th defensive spots

2) Six spots on the lower line are being left to Lapierre, Boyd, Pyatt, Darche, Moen, Pacioretty, Eller, White and whoever else. Only Lapierre and Moen are "locks" to hold on to their spots.

[S-Bah]

I don't think that Pierre will be doing any tinkering with the club until he watches the team in the pre-season games. It should be interesting to see who he and the coaching staff keep on the Habs,I'm wondering who is going to be the new coach and staff in Hamilton. This should be the most important item on his list after signing Carey and Max, to their new contracts. It not going to be an easy task finding a replacement for Guy Boucher and his Staff. Gauthier's expertise is finding good young talent and whoever gets the Hamilton job will be able to do that job more than adequately. So the Habs will have good prospects at their beck and call, when they need them.

I don't think that Pierre will be doing any tinkering with the club until he watches the team in the pre-season games. It should be interesting to see who he and the coaching staff keep on the Habs,I'm wondering who is going to be the new coach and staff in Hamilton. This should be the most important item on his list after signing Carey and Max, to their new contracts. It not going to be an easy task finding a replacement for Guy Boucher and his Staff. Gauthier's expertise is finding good young talent and whoever gets the Hamilton job will be able to do that job more than adequately. So the Habs will have good prospects at their beck and call, when they need them.

[Win-the-cup]

PG knows that the current president has taken the position of a "lame duck" with a Molson feeling his way around the organization during the up-coming year ready to assume the presidency come July 2011. PG will be constantly looking over his shoulder this year....wondering when the axe will drop.

After spending about $575 million on this team.....the Molsons won't let PG committ their money in ways that don't get a return.

Times...they are a changing.....this year will be a test for the patience of the fans until they get high draft picks to spur a following......raise interest in a young team....sell a whole pile of new jersey's.......while they clean house.

The bottom line will be closely looked at.....dumping salary...while trying to maintain that "committed" revenue stream.......all to produce a tidy profit.

The Molson's view the team as a capital asset and will do everything to raise the value of the franchise to a prospective buyer when the day comes. That is where the new owners see this team in their portfolio of investments.

They are businessmen....they won't let PG stand in their way of making this team better & cheaper to run.

[S-Bah]

PG knows that the current president has taken the position of a "lame duck" with a Molson feeling his way around the organization during the up-coming year ready to assume the presidency come July 2011. PG will be constantly looking over his shoulder this year....wondering when the axe will drop.

After spending about $575 million on this team.....the Molsons won't let PG committ their money in ways that don't get a return.

Times...they are a changing.....this year will be a test for the patience of the fans until they get high draft picks to spur a following......raise interest in a young team....sell a whole pile of new jersey's.......while they clean house.

The bottom line will be closely looked at.....dumping salary...while trying to maintain that "committed" revenue stream.......all to produce a tidy profit.

The Molson's view the team as a capital asset and will do everything to raise the value of the franchise to a prospective buyer when the day comes. That is where the new owners see this team in their portfolio of investments.

They are businessmen....they won't let PG stand in their way of making this team better & cheaper to run.

This is a very disturbing viewpoint for fans, when you look back on Molson's ownership it was usually when the Habs were in the middle of Cup runs and sold as the team were in decline. The Habs are just starting to get back to their former glory, let's hope that this time they are part of the return to glory. When the team succeeds they will succeed.

[Win-the-cup]

This is a very disturbing viewpoint for fans, when you look back on Molson's ownership it was usually when the Habs were in the middle of Cup runs and sold as the team were in decline. The Habs are just starting to get back to their former glory, let's hope that this time they are part of the return to glory. When the team succeeds they will succeed.

This time....the Molson's bought low.....to sell high.......they are making sure they are not absentee owners like Gillette was.......I'm sure PG has been called "on the carpet" to pull the trigger on trades the owners called for.

If the Habs managed to land a top draft pick who reaches the potential of a LaFleur.....that in itself raises the value of the Franchise.

Burke has been trying to do that in Toronto. He's been shedding salary & fattening the bottom-line. He may have blundered on the Kessel trade....because the draft pick Boston picked up will likely increase the overall price of the Franchise if it were sold on the market next Fall. Time will tell.

I believe the Molson's know what the overall value of cheap new talent can do if they ever needed or wanted to sell the team at a nice profit.

[RSD]

well right now he's set himself up to to have one hell of an offseason next year ... 10 rfa's (nothing to really worry about) and only 4 ufa's and a bunch of money to play with ... i like it so far i guess

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

well right now he's set himself up to to have one hell of an offseason next year ... 10 rfa's (nothing to really worry about) and only 4 ufa's and a bunch of money to play with ... i like it so far i guess

Not too worried though. The core of our team will remain intact (Tomas, Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri) and the only two RFA contracts to really "worry" about are Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot. I feel only one will be back in a Habs' uniform next season, so perhaps 2010-2011 is an important audition for them both to get a raise next summer. We really can't afford to offer them both raises, so... Other than that we need to re-up Andrei Markov unless we want to hobble back to the stone-ages when it comes to puck-moving. Hamrlik, Darche, and Gill can be let go. Lapierre, Boyd, Pyatt, Gorges, and O'Byrne are not core members of the club so losing them would not feel too bad, IMO.

[Manatee-X]

Not too worried though. The core of our team will remain intact (Tomas, Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri) and the only two RFA contracts to really "worry" about are Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot. I feel only one will be back in a Habs' uniform next season, so perhaps 2010-2011 is an important audition for them both to get a raise next summer. We really can't afford to offer them both raises, so... Other than that we need to re-up Andrei Markov unless we want to hobble back to the stone-ages when it comes to puck-moving. Hamrlik, Darche, and Gill can be let go. Lapierre, Boyd, Pyatt, Gorges, and O'Byrne are not core members of the club so losing them would not feel too bad, IMO.

+1 all around.

And I know it's been said before, but I'm still loving all the low-$ contracts that we've been giving to those non-core players. I actually liked a lot of what Gainey did until the day he stepped down, but my one huge criticism throughout was how much money/term he kept giving to the lower-line guys. Good on you, Pierre

[billy-piton]

+1 all around.

And I know it's been said before, but I'm still loving all the low-$ contracts that we've been giving to those non-core players. I actually liked a lot of what Gainey did until the day he stepped down, but my one huge criticism throughout was how much money/term he kept giving to the lower-line guys. Good on you, Pierre

yep, pierre did a great job this summer. i never thought that we would be able to keep our defence intact and resign pleky. obviously, cap raise helped a lot, but still... plus, he managed to acquire a couple of very nice prospects. it's funny cos now we have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd st.louis' picks in 2007 draft. it costed us former 6th and 9th rounder, so hat tip to timmins as well.

[billy-piton]

yep, pierre did a great job this summer. i never thought that we would be able to keep our defence intact and resign pleky. obviously, cap raise helped a lot, but still... plus, he managed to acquire a couple of very nice prospects. it's funny cos now we have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd st.louis' picks in 2007 draft. it costed us former 6th and 9th rounder, so hat tip to timmins as well.

oooops, my bad, shultz is selected in 2008.

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

+1 all around.

And I know it's been said before, but I'm still loving all the low-$ contracts that we've been giving to those non-core players. I actually liked a lot of what Gainey did until the day he stepped down, but my one huge criticism throughout was how much money/term he kept giving to the lower-line guys. Good on you, Pierre

And the moment the Max Lapierres and Tom Pyatts of the world start asking P.G. for too much cash while on RFA contracts I hope he let's them go without any hesitation. There's no reason to overpay on the fourth line when guys like Mathieu Darche are a dime a dozen.

[S-Bah]

I know a lot of people think that the Habs were lucky to make the playoffs.I would contradict that by saying they made the playoffs by hard work and through good coaching and depth in the system. If not for the effort put forth at the beginning of the season,( when most experts claimed they were finished without Markov) bringing in an influx of new players and losing their star, most teams would have been in disarray. Instead the Habs went about their business and went on to have one of the best seasons in recent memory. Congratulations are in order for the Montreal Canadiens for an exemplary season under extremely trying circumstances as far as I am concerned.

[RSD]

Not too worried though. The core of our team will remain intact (Tomas, Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri) and the only two RFA contracts to really "worry" about are Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot. I feel only one will be back in a Habs' uniform next season, so perhaps 2010-2011 is an important audition for them both to get a raise next summer. We really can't afford to offer them both raises, so... Other than that we need to re-up Andrei Markov unless we want to hobble back to the stone-ages when it comes to puck-moving. Hamrlik, Darche, and Gill can be let go. Lapierre, Boyd, Pyatt, Gorges, and O'Byrne are not core members of the club so losing them would not feel too bad, IMO.

thats what i like about how he went about this years offseason ... low dollar contracts for short terms to our 3rd/4th line players ... he locked up pleks for 5 years ... and now we've got so much money to play with going into next offseason, i dont us losing too many of our rfa's really ... sign markov to a 3-4 year extension ... re-up georges and obyrne ... replace gill ... we're good ... he's dont a great job so far ... lets see what he does with pricer

[Fanpuck33]

Julien Brisebois is leaving Montreal for Tampa Bay and has been replaced by Larry Carrière. That's fine with me. It's my understanding that Brisebois was the team's capologist and he wasn't doing a very good job with that.

[DA_Champion]

And the moment the Max Lapierres and Tom Pyatts of the world start asking P.G. for too much cash while on RFA contracts I hope he let's them go without any hesitation. There's no reason to overpay on the fourth line when guys like Mathieu Darche are a dime a dozen.

There's a value premium -- Lapierre and Pyatt give you more production than Darche.

Killing penalties, drawing penalties, secondary scoring, standing up for your teammates by fighting, and shutting down the opponents during the 15-20 minutes a game where the bottom-6 play E/V are extremely important.

[flames4eva]

There's a value premium -- Lapierre and Pyatt give you more production than Darche.

Killing penalties, drawing penalties, secondary scoring, standing up for your teammates by fighting, and shutting down the opponents during the 15-20 minutes a game where the bottom-6 play E/V are extremely important.

Lapierre and Pyatt fighting...

[fourtrax]

There's a value premium -- Lapierre and Pyatt give you more production than Darche.

Killing penalties, drawing penalties, secondary scoring, standing up for your teammates by fighting, and shutting down the opponents during the 15-20 minutes a game where the bottom-6 play E/V are extremely important.

Yes, and this is where we need to make distinctions between third and fourth-line players. Darche is not a third-line player. At best, he can play limited minutes on the fourth line, providing energy, and if you're really lucky, the occasional goal. Guys like Lapierre and Pyatt are easily more valuable than Darche. However, the question then becomes how much you pay them for their services when neither player is that much of a standout at his position. To put it another way, we need to categorize based on position and performance at position:

Good third-line player:

Average third-line player: Lapierre, Boyd, Moen, Pyatt

Good fourth-line player

Average fourth-line player: Darche

So where do guys like Pacioretty, White, and Eller fit into this schematic? We'll have to see.

[DA_Champion]

Lapierre and Pyatt fighting...

I didn't say they fight ...

[Bean-Counting-Hab]

Yes, and this is where we need to make distinctions between third and fourth-line players. Darche is not a third-line player. At best, he can play limited minutes on the fourth line, providing energy, and if you're really lucky, the occasional goal. Guys like Lapierre and Pyatt are easily more valuable than Darche. However, the question then becomes how much you pay them for their services when neither player is that much of a standout at his position. To put it another way, we need to categorize based on position and performance at position:

Good third-line player:

Average third-line player: Lapierre, Boyd, Moen, Pyatt

Good fourth-line player

Average fourth-line player: Darche

So where do guys like Pacioretty, White, and Eller fit into this schematic? We'll have to see.

My feeling and hope is that Eller can be a good third line center. If we can pair him with say Pyatt and an offensive young winger (maybe Patches, maybe another bulldog), then we can have Lapierre, Boyd and Moen to make a "good" fourth line. The third line would be a bit more of two-way secondary scoring line vs a traditional checking line. I think this can work because we'll have an above average fourth line, and the fact our top 2 centers are strong defensively so we shouldn't be too scared to match power on power (ie: Pleks work vs Crosby and Malking in the playoffs).

[DA_Champion]

The Simon Gagne trade should be seen as a straw in the wind -- a sign that cap space is being incorporated as an asset into the trade market, just like draft picks, prospects and roster players. We had previously indirectly seen this in all the trades that didn't happen.... but now we see it in a trade that did happen. Gagne is traded for lesser value in players because of his cap hit. It's much more clear cut than the Gomez trade, as a strong defensive forward and a former 12th overall could be argued to be almost equal to a strong second line center.

We are fortunate to have a cautious general manager in Gauthier. Gainey made the mistake of overpaying for Gionta, Spacek and Moen. I doubt Gauthier will show such mismanagement in the 2001 summer, a transaction period which will be almost as important as the 2009 summer.

[RSD]

I doubt Gauthier will show such mismanagement in the 2001 summer, a transaction period which will be almost as important as the 2009 summer.

I knew PG had a time machine!

[fourtrax]

I knew PG had a time machine!

"Well, I'm glad we were able to work out a fair deal for both sides, André."

"Me too, Patrice. Just sign on the dotted line and that'll be $5 million per--"

"DON'T DO IT!!!!!!"

*PG hurtles through the space-time continuum, grabs the contract, and rips it to shreds.*

[RSD]

"Well, I'm glad we were able to work out a fair deal for both sides, André."

"Me too, Patrice. Just sign on the dotted line and that'll be $5 million per--"

"DON'T DO IT!!!!!!"

*PG hurtles through the space-time continuum, grabs the contract, and rips it to shreds.*

... now if only he would use that time machine ...

[flames4eva]

Does anyone get the feeling that PG is under pressure from above to find ways to cut spending and that it may be the reason why the offseason has gone the way it has so far? One could argue that there has been a significant house cleaning of sorts since the sale to the Molson's.

Don't get me wrong... some of the moves (mostly via trades at this point) may actually improve the team. But in terms of the UFA market, little of major impact has happened with the Habs that has changed the team positively.

I guess we could say that signing Plekanec could qualify as a major UFA signing... but it wasn't really new blood being added now was it? Adding Auld... was most likely an after thought on the cheap because Dan Ellis didn't work out.