2007-08 NHL Thread...

[Muppetus Galacticus]

To NYR: Josh Gratton, Sjostrom and Leneveu

To PHX: Marcel Hossa and Al Montoya

[Muppetus Galacticus]

To FLA: Chad Kilger

To TOR: 3rd round pick

Not sure why Florida would bother with what they did today really

---

To DET: Brad Stuart

To LA: 2nd + 4th (2009) round picks

Stuart seems to underachieve everywhere he goes but I still feel LA could have done better out of this.

--

To ANA: MA Bergeron

To NYI: 3rd round pick

MAB can certainly shoot but I'm not sure that's enough to make up for his problems in his own end.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

To LA: 7th round pick

To ANA: JS Aubin

[ZiggyPop]

Habs today = Habs yesterday minus Huet.

Great job, Bob.

How about taking down that retired number prior to tonight's game.

Really looking forward on how players are gonna react to this one.

And fans. Oh my God, the fans. They will be chanting Hu-et Hu-et Hu-et after Atlanta goes up by 2.

Sad day in Montreal.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by ZiggyPop

Habs today = Habs yesterday minus Huet.

Great job, Bob.

How about taking down that retired number prior to tonight's game.

Really looking forward on how players are gonna react to this one.

And fans. Oh my God, the fans. They will be chanting Hu-et Hu-et Hu-et after Atlanta goes up by 2.

Sad day in Montreal.

Wow - The sky is falling and the world has just come to an end.

[ZiggyPop]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Wow - The sky is falling and the world has just come to an end.

Ever been to a game at Bell Centre?
You obviously don't know the typical Montreal Canadiens fan.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by ZiggyPop

Ever been to a game at Bell Centre?
You obviously don't know the typical Montreal Canadiens fan.

Maybe not, but I do .

I think not getting Hossa is a bigger deal than letting Huet go. Huet, so far, has been slightly better than Carey Price. Huet has played poorly recently, and the management must've thought he was a bit of a fluke. In any case, if you're not going to keep him next year, are you ready to lose him for nothing, or you'd rather get something in return? I think the Habs got too little in return, yeah, but I'd rather have a 2nd round pick than Huet on loan. I'm a bit disappointed about the Canadien not trading Ryder, given that he's also to become a UFA at the end of the year.

[darkenigma510]

Originally Posted by ZiggyPop

Habs today = Habs yesterday minus Huet.

Great job, Bob.

How about taking down that retired number prior to tonight's game.

Really looking forward on how players are gonna react to this one.

And fans. Oh my God, the fans. They will be chanting Hu-et Hu-et Hu-et after Atlanta goes up by 2.

Sad day in Montreal.

Sad day now but likely a good move for the long run.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by ZiggyPop

Ever been to a game at Bell Centre?
You obviously don't know the typical Montreal Canadiens fan.

Yes, and been to games at the Forum as well. Have been a die hard Habs fan since 58/59 season.

Trading Huet is not a bad move at all. Yes, they should have gotten more for him, but it isn't the end of the world. At least they get something for him. Their goal all along has been to make a big run next season when they celebrate their 100th anniversary. A good run this year would be nice for sure, but Gainey has his focus in the right place. He's an excellent GM who has done a tremendous job of restocking the minors with solid young prospects and he's gone about developing them properly.

To suggest that his number come down for making this trade is very far sided.

Funny how a lot of people always look at a trade and make a judgement call right away. No trade can be judged immediately, it always takes time to realize the full return on a deal, for both sides.

If Huet suffers a career ending injury next month everybody will be right on the Gainey bandwagon saying how smart he was to get something. If the 2nd round pick turns out to be a steal and winds up being a very good player, they'll say the same. If Huet goes on to become one of the best goalies ever, Gainey gets crucified. It's a no win situation being a GM, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

It's easy to criticize a GM for a move he makes when you never know what else was going on behind the scenes.

This was not a bad move at all. The sky isn't falling and the world hasn't come to an end.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Funny how a lot of people always look at a trade and make a judgement call right away. No trade can be judged immediately, it always takes time to realize the full return on a deal, for both sides.

I somewhat agree with you, and somewhat disagree. You can't tell if a particular transaction will pay off or not right away, for sure, but a transaction can be judged on the very day it happens, quite easily. Let's take, for example, a trade that would be Tom Kostopoulos against, say, Evgeni Malkin. It is a very bad trade to make right now. If Malkin gets killed in a plane crash tomorrow, the Canadien still made a fantastic trade. It's unfair to judge a transaction using information that could not have been available at the time the transaction was made. If I trade Francis Bouillon for a 7th round pick, I'm making a bad trade - if that 7th round pick somehow pans out as a superstar, it doesn't affect how good or bad the trade was.

[ZiggyPop]

All right, just to clarify my thoughts here since I agree it was a short post.

About trading Huet, I think we got good return for him, especially since this 2009 pick will be made in Montreal, it's a good move for pleasing the fan with one more presence on the podium on draft day.

Here is what I don't like about this trade. I don't mind giving the number one status to Price, but we need a veteran backup to support the kid and eventually take over if Price gets injured or does not perform well. Price is certainly our goalie for a long time but has been shaky at times, which is normal for a 20 year old. I think not getting a backup (Hedberg, heck even Kolzig!) is a mistake by our GM. The other thing that concerned me was our fan base. Bruce, you probably know how fans can behave or act in home games. Our biggest problem is judging players game by game. I am afraid that a bad game or goal by Price will get the crowd chanting for Huet, as he is without a doubt a player that everybody loved. That's what I meant.

As for Hossa, no way should we pay that much for a rental. I'm disappointed we didn't get a third center or another sniper/forward, but if the offer was not there, good. Idem for Ryder. Better keep him and see what he can do for us

(Hey we just scored!)

As for taking Gainey's number down, I was obviously kidding.

Let's hope we win tonight (we're up 2-1) and let's look forward to our bright future!

[Long_Long_Name]

It's 5-1 now.

In the Hossa case, it's probably a good thing that it didn't happen. The price, according to Gainey, was too steep. I was glad Brière turned the club down for the same reason.

As for Huet, I don't mind the absence of a veteran presence. Halak is a much better goalie than Roloson or Kolzig.

[Kekkonen]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

In the Hossa case, it's probably a good thing that it didn't happen. The price, according to Gainey, was too steep.

Christensen, Armstrong, Esposito and a first-rounder? Hossa is good, but that's a hell of a price to pay for a few months of him. But sure, I understand why the Penguins did it, they have to win now since most of their big-time talent is already over 20 and getting older by the day...

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Just saw this over on the HF boards regarding Colorado and it made me laugh.

Fire up your old Republica records and silver silk shirts and party like it's 1999!

[Kekkonen]

Latest reports say that the phone was ringing off the hook last night at Patrick Roy's house.

[jamus23]

Originally Posted by Kekkonen

Christensen, Armstrong, Esposito and a first-rounder? Hossa is good, but that's a hell of a price to pay for a few months of him. But sure, I understand why the Penguins did it, they have to win now since most of their big-time talent is already over 20 and getting older by the day...

It's not that steep of a price. Christensen is little more than a shootout specialist. He's too soft to be a good third line center, and not talented enough to play on the either of the top two lines at wing. Armstrong is a nice grit guy, but those guys are fairly replaceable; heck, Dupuis is basically the same player. Esposito has a lot of talent, but also a lot of question marks. The draft pick hurts, but it's not like it's going to be super high or anything.

The East is up for grabs this year, and the Pens really lacked a scorer who could play with Crosby. Hossa fits that bill. Obviously, it will sting if the Pens don't go deep into the playoffs and/or can't resign Hossa, but the Pens are as good as any team in the East and Hossa can make them a real threat.

It's a bold move that could pay off in a big way.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by jamus23

It's not that steep of a price. Christensen is little more than a shootout specialist. He's too soft to be a good third line center, and not talented enough to play on the either of the top two lines at wing. Armstrong is a nice grit guy, but those guys are fairly replaceable; heck, Dupuis is basically the same player. Esposito has a lot of talent, but also a lot of question marks. The draft pick hurts, but it's not like it's going to be super high or anything.

The East is up for grabs this year, and the Pens really lacked a scorer who could play with Crosby. Hossa fits that bill. Obviously, it will sting if the Pens don't go deep into the playoffs and/or can't resign Hossa, but the Pens are as good as any team in the East and Hossa can make them a real threat.

It's a bold move that could pay off in a big way.

For a rental like Hossa, I wouldn't give up the first rounder straight up, much less in addition to the rest.

Are the Penguins better now than they were two days ago? For sure. Does getting Hossa make them the favourite in the East? I'm not sure. Is it worth the risk? I don't think so - sure, they might win the Cup, but maybe they could've won it without him either. There's no way to know. In any case, if they can't re-sign him, they'll have paid too much. If they can re-sign him, they'll have to trade him in a year or two, and that would be great for them if they can get it to work. I wouldn't have done that deal, though, especially since it looks like Hossa really wants to test free agency.

[Operation Shutdown]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

For a rental like Hossa, I wouldn't give up the first rounder straight up, much less in addition to the rest.

Are the Penguins better now than they were two days ago? For sure. Does getting Hossa make them the favourite in the East? I'm not sure. Is it worth the risk? I don't think so - sure, they might win the Cup, but maybe they could've won it without him either. There's no way to know. In any case, if they can't re-sign him, they'll have paid too much. If they can re-sign him, they'll have to trade him in a year or two, and that would be great for them if they can get it to work. I wouldn't have done that deal, though, especially since it looks like Hossa really wants to test free agency.

Not sure I agree with you there. In the NHL today, a top 10 scorer is certainly worth a first round pick for two months of rental (even if they were guaranteed to go to free agency), especially for a team looking to make a Cup run. Armstrong and Dupuis are very similar players (in fact, I'd take Dupuis now over Armstrong now, but Armstrong will likely be a bit better in a few years) so it comes down to Esposito and Christiansen versus the odds of re-signing Hossa.

Like jamus said, Christensen was nothing more than a shoot-out specialist. He doesn't have quite enough skill to be a top two line center (or wing since center is a little clogged up in Pgh now) and doesn't have the grit/defense to be a 3rd liner. Esposito's stock was high two years ago, but he's now had two seasons of good, but not great numbers in juniors. He's a risky guy to move, but if the Penguins plan to keep Staal, Crosby and Malkin, he'd be another center trying to make it as a winger in order to crack the top two lines in Pittsburgh. With that said, I'm sad to see him go.

As for resigning Hossa, I think it's very possible the Pens could resign him and then trade him after keeping him for a year. They don't need to pay Staal and Malkin the big bucks until after next season, meaning I could see something along the lines of a 4-year $32 million deal with Hossa that's heavily front-loaded. Something along the lines of $10 million, $8 million and then $7 million the last two years. Doing something like this would make him highly valuable in a trade after the 08-09 season.

All in all, I think it's a highly risky move by the Penguins, but I like my GMs to take chances, as long as they're calculated moves. This trade filled one of the two holes that kept this team from being a lock for the Cup (the other being a top stay-at-home defender, and no Hal Gill certainly doesn't fill that void). Now I think they're a lock to make the conference championships and have a chance at making a run for the Cup, though it won't be easy.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Originally Posted by Operation Shutdown

(the other being a top stay-at-home defender, and no Hal Gill certainly doesn't fill that void).

Of course Gill is a stay-at-home defender - by the time he skates to the neutral zone the play is already coming back his way And don't forget - he was valued higher than Huet!

Seriously though, if his minutes aren't crazy and he keeps out of the box he'll do what's needed from him, especially on the PK and against the opposing star player. He has done a good job on the likes of Jagr and some others when he's matched-up.

[Tommysixfingers]

5 reasons why I think that the Huet trade is going to turn out bad for the Canadiens.

1. Dionne,Leclair, Desjardins for Recchi in 95.
2. The Patrick Roy trade.
3. Richer and Tucker for Vukota and co.
4. Lemieux for Turgeon (Sylvain that is).

And

5. Chelly for Savard (even though they won the cup with him on the team).

There are a couple of more that could fit in but I chose these as the worst. The Canadiens history of bad trades are rivalled only by the Blues in the late 80's, early 90's and Mad Mike's trades in the 90's.