2017-18 If I Were GM

[Habberwacky]

I would try not to let the coach of a Stanley cup finalist sign a guy I put on waivers. Gallant has a say  in this signing but apparently all  the people here who wanted us to sign him appear vindicated by this. 

[maas_art]

I still wonder if we're not the team in the best position to deal with Ottawa for Karlsson.   Apparently Dorian is still trying to package Bobby Ryan with EK and would retain some salary.   Some have suggested that Erik Karlsson, as good as he is, wouldnt be the right fit for our team, which is 2-3 years away from really competing.  So what about a 3 team trade?
 

To Ottawa:
Shea Weber

To Montreal 
Bobby Ryan (1/3-1/2 salary retained by ottawa) 
Erik Karlsson
Pick or young player to offset Ryan

 

Then we turn around & trade Karlsson to a team that's in on him but balking at acquiring Ryan.    Say, Philly:

To Philly:
Erik Karlsson

To Montreal:
Shayne Gostisbehere
German Rubtsov or Pascal Laberge or similar centre prospect  
 

Ottawa gets a #1 Defensman who has a $7.7m cap him but Melnyk only has to pay $6, 3 and $1m to over the balance of the contract. They get out from under Ryan's contract

Philly gets the best defensman in the NHL still in his prime years, able to solidify their team while guys like Giroux, JVR and Simmonds are still in their primes.

Montreal gets a top quality young defensman who will be the right age for the rest of their core. Another top centre prospect from philly and another prospect from Ottawa - and a player (Ryan) who can still play in your top 9. 

 

 

[habs1952]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

I still wonder if we're not the team in the best position to deal with Ottawa for Karlsson.   Apparently Dorian is still trying to package Bobby Ryan with EK and would retain some salary.   Some have suggested that Erik Karlsson, as good as he is, wouldnt be the right fit for our team, which is 2-3 years away from really competing.  So what about a 3 team trade?
 

To Ottawa:
Shea Weber

To Montreal 
Bobby Ryan (1/3-1/2 salary retained by ottawa) 
Erik Karlsson
Pick or young player to offset Ryan

 

Then we turn around & trade Karlsson to a team that's in on him but balking at acquiring Ryan.    Say, Philly:

To Philly:
Erik Karlsson

To Montreal:
Shayne Gostisbehere
German Rubtsov or Pascal Laberge or similar centre prospect  
 

Ottawa gets a #1 Defensman who has a $7.7m cap him but Melnyk only has to pay $6, 3 and $1m to over the balance of the contract. They get out from under Ryan's contract

Philly gets the best defensman in the NHL still in his prime years, able to solidify their team while guys like Giroux, JVR and Simmonds are still in their primes.

Montreal gets a top quality young defensman who will be the right age for the rest of their core. Another top centre prospect from philly and another prospect from Ottawa - and a player (Ryan) who can still play in your top 9. 

 

 

No need to wonder any longer.

[maas_art]

18 minutes ago, habs1952 said:

No need to wonder any longer.

Ugg.  

[Regis22]

If I was the GM that created this mess , I would ass my boss to fire me  before I create more harm

 

[East_Coast_Juggalo_13]

If I were GM, I would see what the asking price would be for Eric Haula out of Vegas.  I would see if there’s any interest in Patches.  At this point, I would consider moving Gallagher.  But I think Eric Haula would really help MTL down the middle.   I’m curious to see what people think we’d have to pay to add Haula.

[Habs_Hockey_Nutz]

10 hours ago, East_Coast_Juggalo_13 said:

If I were GM, I would see what the asking price would be for Eric Haula out of Vegas.  I would see if there’s any interest in Patches.  At this point, I would consider moving Gallagher.  But I think Eric Haula would really help MTL down the middle.   I’m curious to see what people think we’d have to pay to add Haula.

A Haul-of-a-lot

[East_Coast_Juggalo_13]

1 hour ago, Habs_Hockey_Nutz said:

A Haul-of-a-lot

You so punny lol

[maas_art]

15 hours ago, East_Coast_Juggalo_13 said:

If I were GM, I would see what the asking price would be for Eric Haula out of Vegas.  I would see if there’s any interest in Patches.  At this point, I would consider moving Gallagher.  But I think Eric Haula would really help MTL down the middle.   I’m curious to see what people think we’d have to pay to add Haula.

He's an interesting player & the type of guy who would thrive under Julien but he's already 27 so Im not sure he's the ideal fit for this roster if we assume we're going to be bad for a couple more years.

Im not opposed to grabbing guys of that age but I dont think Haula will come cheaply so there are probably better returns for our future if we give up vets like Pacioretty etc.  

The other question mark with Haula is that yes, he looked great last year & had a break-out season but was that because he'd been playing too far down the lineup in Minnesota? or just luck in Vegas?   Is it repeatable? or is he more of a 25-30 point guy like his previous seasons seemed to indicate? 

 

[Habs_Hockey_Nutz]

7 hours ago, East_Coast_Juggalo_13 said:

You so punny lol

You Haula-ton

[Noob616]

I like Haula and I think he's a good player but he's not in Pacioretty or Gallagher's class of player. I'd hope to get far more for trading either and have little interest in trading Gallagher because I think he'd be undervalued in a trade (I think Gallagher is perceived as a better version of Shaw and I think he's a legitimate 1st line RW probably somewhere around rank 15-20 among RWs), and Gallagher would be a big overpayment for Haula IMO. 

The Habs are relatively deep on the wing but Pacioretty and Gallagher are the only genuine 1st line wingers on the team and they're too good to trade for another tweener mediocre 2C/high end 3C. It's one thing if you're losing a bit of value to get O'Reilly back but Haula isn't enough for one of the two best forwards on the Habs, and I don't think it makes much sense to trade for a guy like Haula at his age. If he were a UFA I'd be fine to overpay to sign him as a stopgap and a useful middle-six player but trading for him is a stretch for me.

 

[loyalhabsfan]

I have a hard time finding a better trade proposal than Pacioretty for RNH. Makes a lot of sense for both teams. 

[jeff33]

2 hours ago, loyalhabsfan said:

I have a hard time finding a better trade proposal than Pacioretty for RNH. Makes a lot of sense for both teams. 

I was saying it all year long but I have to think at this point that if EDM was good with that it would be done by now, right? Unless MB really is that mentally deficient that he is dying on a hill of asking for more....which is possible....

[ChiLla]

My guess is we'd have to add substantially to acquire RNH in a trade for Pacioretty due to Max's expiring contract. I also think it's unlikely that Pacioretty would be willing to sign a long-term contract with the Oilers and I'm not sure they have the Cap space to give him what he wants.

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, ChiLla said:

My guess is we'd have to add substantially to acquire RNH in a trade for Pacioretty due to Max's expiring contract. I also think it's unlikely that Pacioretty would be willing to sign a long-term contract with the Oilers and I'm not sure they have the Cap space to give him what he wants.

Could you imagine Pacioretty on McDavids wing though?  Wow.  

[jennifer_rocket]

32 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Could you imagine Pacioretty on McDavids wing though?  Wow.  

Indeed.

However, I think ChiLla is right. I'm doubtful we could swap Max for RNH right now. Not that I'd even want us to attempt that.

[loyalhabsfan]

2 hours ago, ChiLla said:

My guess is we'd have to add substantially to acquire RNH in a trade for Pacioretty due to Max's expiring contract. I also think it's unlikely that Pacioretty would be willing to sign a long-term contract with the Oilers and I'm not sure they have the Cap space to give him what he wants.

Nah Nug is 6 in his own. If they can dump Lucic this is easily attainable if they wanted to make it work. 

[maas_art]

24 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

Indeed.

However, I think ChiLla is right. I'm doubtful we could swap Max for RNH right now. Not that I'd even want us to attempt that.

Yeah, I think its highly unlikely for a few reasons:

- Chiarelli singled out RNH at his year end presser saying he was "not going anywhere"  - now, obviously GMs lie or change their mind but its something

- Chiarelli has shown a reluctance to make big trades since the hall backfire. The fact TH just won the hart is going to compound that.  

- While I do think Edmonton would have interest in Pacioretty for a couple of years, i dont think they would have interest in him long term.

- I dont think Pacioretty would have any interest in signing long term with Edmonton

 

[rocketbelifleur]

Didn't RNH get injured in mid-season (maybe not long before the trade deadline)?

 

[maas_art]

1 minute ago, rocketbelifleur said:

Didn't RNH get injured in mid-season (maybe not long before the trade deadline)?

 

Yes. And he's been a walking injury most of his career. Thats always been my biggest concern with him, although id still take a chance on him.  Missed 20 games last year. Missed 30 two years before that... he's had his share of injuries. 

 

 

[rocketbelifleur]

Guess my point was that,  just because he wasn't available then doesn't mean he isn't now.

(There may be other reasons he's not available now - except that everyone is available for the right price.)

[maas_art]

3 minutes ago, rocketbelifleur said:

Guess my point was that,  just because he wasn't available then doesn't mean he isn't now.

(There may be other reasons he's not available now - except that everyone is available for the right price.)

Gotcha. But in that case, it was after his injury that Chiarelli said he wasnt going anywhere... which is sort of silly - since obviously if someone offered more than than FMV for him then they would move him but i think it was PC's way of trying to get rid of the trade rumors that have plagued RNH for the last several years. 

I dont think they are actively looking to move him but i do think they would if the fit of the return was right. 

[jennifer_rocket]

I would continue to look around the league at acquiring a bad contract from a team that needs cap space. Something similar to the Steve Mason deal. We cannot take on too much term (perhaps two years maximum), but there must be something else out there. We've got space. We're not going to use to better our team. So... we might as well try to acquire another prospect or pick.

[jwlk]

4 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

I would continue to look around the league at acquiring a bad contract from a team that needs cap space. Something similar to the Steve Mason deal. We cannot take on too much term (perhaps two years maximum), but there must be something else out there. We've got space. We're not going to use to better our team. So... we might as well try to acquire another prospect or pick.

I'd want more than a few low end picks and character player, i did not like the mason deal' thought we could have gotten more, If we are gonna take on crap contracts we need to get a better return

[maas_art]

4 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

I would continue to look around the league at acquiring a bad contract from a team that needs cap space. Something similar to the Steve Mason deal. We cannot take on too much term (perhaps two years maximum), but there must be something else out there. We've got space. We're not going to use to better our team. So... we might as well try to acquire another prospect or pick.

I would also explore this for sure.  I would be more interested in picks at this point (unless there was a prospect we felt was being mishandled) because I dont think you're going to get much high end talent for taking on bad contracts.  Armia is a dark horse because there's an outside chance he's a top 6 RW.  He's at worst a 3rd liner but some of his stats seem to imply he could be a legit #2 RW.  

Right now we have a huge surplus of bottom six and bottom pairing guys.   Im not really interested in taking on more of those but would be happy to add picks or good prospects who are a year or 2 away. 

 

13 minutes ago, jwlk said:

I'd want more than a few low end picks and character player, i did not like the mason deal' thought we could have gotten more, If we are gonna take on crap contracts we need to get a better return

I agree that the goal should be higher end players but I dont think any team is giving you really great talent for taking on cap space.  Usually they are trying to sell off cap space to keep those players. Otherwise, they'd just trade them for better assets. 

Thats not to say you couldnt find a quality player buried in a system but i think if you're looking for quality, you're more likely to get it in 2nd rounders or prospects who are a couple of years away.