Free Agent Frenzy

[HabsRuleForever]

MMW game one final 

Leafs 7 Habs 1

[Graeme-1]

1 minute ago, ChiLla said:

Since they already announced their press conference for the afternoon, it looks like MB is done shopping today.  I'm really glad he didn't do more damage by signing Bozak or Stastny.

Barring a major trade, the current roster looks absolutely brutal and we're certainly one of the worst teams in the league. It also seems we're starting the season with plenty of unused Cap space again. That's fine though, we won't be able to turn this mess into a contender via trades/free agents anyway. Let's give Poehling, Kotkaniemi and the other kids plenty of time to develop and acquire as much young talent as we possibly can. It's the only viable option we have at this point.

There's enough potentially good pieces (Price, Weber, Petry, Drouin, Pacioretty for now, etc) that I wouldn't be shocked to see this team make the playoffs, but it definitely doesn't look great and most of those big-name players are on the wrong side of 30. We have some decent young pieces, unfortunately most also have major question marks and/or questionable ceilings.

This is the worst place to be in the "cycle" - the team is expected to be bad, core is aging (yet also somehow locked up long-term), prospect pool is relatively dry, and team hasn't even publicly admitted they're rebuilding. I'll continue to follow the team, but short of some sort of Bruins-style reveral of fortunes, just not looking good.

[ChiLla]

9 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

fixed it for you. There isn't even a young superstar prospect to look forward to watching

I'd be ecstatic if we actually were the worst team in the league, but after taking a brief look at other rosters I'm afraid that's not the case. The race for Hughes is gonna be close I think, none of Ottawa, Vancouver, Arizona, or the Rangers got better today, and they'll be legit contenders for a bottom 5 finish. The Islanders might play a role as well after losing JT today. For us to be front-runners, we need Carey to have another bad year and trade both Weber and Pacioretty.

[habby67]

Honestly, after day one, FIRE the GM. Him and bargain bin acquisitions are really going to change the ATTITUDE going forward, especially with Price and what he has to look at in front of him. Always said, turn the net around so he doesn't see the giant mess.

[ChiLla]

6 minutes ago, Graeme-1 said:

There's enough potentially good pieces (Price, Weber, Petry, Drouin, Pacioretty for now, etc) that I wouldn't be shocked to see this team make the playoffs, but it definitely doesn't look great and most of those big-name players are on the wrong side of 30. We have some decent young pieces, unfortunately most also have major question marks and/or questionable ceilings.

This is the worst place to be in the "cycle" - the team is expected to be bad, core is aging (yet also somehow locked up long-term), prospect pool is relatively dry, and team hasn't even publicly admitted they're rebuilding. I'll continue to follow the team, but short of some sort of Bruins-style reveral of fortunes, just not looking good.

Agreed, we're pretty much in no-man's land right now. Not even remotely good enough to win the Cup, yet also not bad enough to be a lock for a bottom 5 finish. I'm still hoping for a proper rebuild, acquiring additional assets by trading both Pacioretty and Weber would be a good start. The current focus on developing centers is understandable, but we'll also need defencemen at some point.

[ChiLla]

Accoding to Francois Gagnon, we're not going after O'Reilly anymore.

[habby67]

News conference details;

No one available

Trades are hard to make

ATTITUDE

Cap space to be used for free ball caps during home games. 

[maas_art]

3 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

Accoding to Francois Gagnon, we're not going after O'Reilly anymore.

Thats good - does that mean we're shopping Weber and anyone else over 30? 

[maas_art]

49 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

I guess Pat Brisson being friends with MB had no influence on JT

Which i totally get - i mean why should your agent have that much control - but, it sounds like MB wasnt even made aware of the fact JT wasnt interested until a week or 2 ago.  You think your 'good buddy' could have dropped you a hint to go bark up a different tree! lol. 

[ChiLla]

MB counts on Peca to play in the NHL next season.

[Graeme-1]

15 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

Accoding to Francois Gagnon, we're not going after O'Reilly anymore.

Probably a good thing. I have a feeling it would have been a lot like the Gomez acquisition: good player, but cost was looking too high (for Gomez more salary although for some reason we also gave up a top prospect, for O'Reilly more whatever we'd need to give up) for a player who probably wasn't good enough to really be the difference maker we needed. 

[Regis22]

53 minutes ago, Graeme-1 said:

There's enough potentially good pieces (Price, Weber, Petry, Drouin, Pacioretty for now, etc) that I wouldn't be shocked to see this team make the playoffs

Those same pieces didn't make the playoffs last year

[Regis22]

17 minutes ago, ChiLla said:

MB counts on Peca to play in the NHL next season.

Its Mathew not Michael and where is he going to play . The team is stacked with 3rd and 4 liners

[jeff33]

off season summary:

1.bungle the pacioretty trade so badly we probably wont get anything for him now,  god forbid this leads to us resigning him, I could actually see that happening now

2. sign plekanec for 2.25 o_0 and for all of you saying its fine if hes on the 4th line bla bla  go look in the mirror and tell yourself that you know hes not gonna be playing 17 minutes a night under Julien and tell me if you believe it

we are seriously so pathetic right now im in physical pain, like I need to lie down for a bit

[jennifer_rocket]

Fucale got signed by Las Vegas!

We signed a bunch of dudes I've never heard of before. Kenny Agostino, Michael Chaput, Matthew Peca, and Xavier Ouellet. And who the heck is this Tomas Plekanec guy? Probably for the best. We don't need to be signing anyone to term right now.

[Graeme-1]

50 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

Those same pieces didn't make the playoffs last year

And in 2017 similar players (replace Drouin with Radulov) they won the division. Or just look at Colorado this year.

 I'm not saying Montreal will make the playoffs this year, I think it's more likely they don't. But anyone thinking it's impossible or even extremely unlikely hasn't been paying attention to the league lately. A healthy Weber and Price alone could be enough to push them over the edge.

[jennifer_rocket]

Just now, Graeme-1 said:

And the team with a similar core didn't in 2016, yet in 2017 they won the division. Look at Colorado this year.

 I'm not saying Montreal will make the playoffs this year, I think it's more likely they don't. But anyone thinking it's impossible or even extremely unlikely hasn't been paying attention to the league lately. A healthy Weber and Price alone could be enough to push them over the edge.

Very true. I think we'll be heading into the season saying, "Well... draft lottery, here we come!!!" However, we could somehow sneak into the post-season, certainly. Stranger things have happened... like Vegas making the Finals.

[jwlk]

19 minutes ago, Graeme-1 said:

And in 2017 similar players (replace Drouin with Radulov) they won the division. Or just look at Colorado this year.

 I'm not saying Montreal will make the playoffs this year, I think it's more likely they don't. But anyone thinking it's impossible or even extremely unlikely hasn't been paying attention to the league lately. A healthy Weber and Price alone could be enough to push them over the edge.

Who's scoring. You can't win games with no scoring. Weber and price will not help this mess

[Graeme-1]

17 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

Very true. I think we'll be heading into the season saying, "Well... draft lottery, here we come!!!" However, we could somehow sneak into the post-season, certainly. Stranger things have happened... like Vegas making the Finals.

I don't even think it would be that strange (like Colorado or Vegas this year was shocking, I don't think Montreal getting in would be shocking).

With that said, if we get into the playoffs without Price being at least a top-ten goaltender, then I'd be shocked.

[Habs=stanleycup]

45 minutes ago, jeff33 said:

off season summary:

1.bungle the pacioretty trade so badly we probably wont get anything for him now,  god forbid this leads to us resigning him, I could actually see that happening now

2. sign plekanec for 2.25 o_0 and for all of you saying its fine if hes on the 4th line bla bla  go look in the mirror and tell yourself that you know hes not gonna be playing 17 minutes a night under Julien and tell me if you believe it

we are seriously so pathetic right now im in physical pain, like I need to lie down for a bit

Agreed.

Is it any wonder that high profile skilled players like Tavares want to stay away from the Habs. We have management and ownership who, over and over support throwing players under the bus and trading our best assets for nobodies, and then publicly blaming them for our team's misfortunes. Complete incompetence and lack of accountability. These are indeed the darkest days of our team's history.

Yeah sure trades are hard Bergevin, because YOU created this mess, skilled players will stay away until you're fired.

[Habs=stanleycup]

1 minute ago, jwlk said:

Who's scoring. You can't win games with no scoring. Weber and price will not help this mess

100 % Agreed.

[Graeme-1]

Just now, jwlk said:

Who's scoring. You can't win games with no scoring. Weber and price will not help this mess

We've had scoring issues pretty much since I've started following the team, we've made the playoffs plenty of times and even won a few rounds. That 2016 team didn't exactly have Alex Ovechkin. And at this point, we still have Pacioretty who is one of the more consistent snipers in the league. Point is, if you can keep the puck out of your own net, scoring by committee can get you into the playoffs (getting far once you're there may be another story).

And remember this is the NHL, not the NFL or MLB. Over 50% of the league makes the playoffs, you don't have to be all that good.

[Regis22]

Did the Habs get better or are we banking on a lot of the guys who had sub par seasons to bounce back  and come back with the right attitude

and

Did any of the teams who made the playoffs last year get worse >?

This is a bad hockey club that has become progressively worse each year under MB .

There is nothing , except hope, to suggest , next year will  be better .

[habby67]

My guess is MB's successor will encourage Price to change his mind on his no trade clause to blow this team up. Any chance of getting a good return for Patches is gone. All ownership did was give MB more of an opportunity to mess things up beyond no return.

[MALMACIAN_CRUNCH]

10 minutes ago, habby67 said:

 

My guess is MB's successor will encourage Price to change his mind on his no trade clause to blow this team up. Any chance of getting a good return for Patches is gone. All ownership did was give MB more of an opportunity to mess things up beyond no return.

 

Why is any chance of getting a good return for Pacioretty gone?