Recrutes: Hockey scouting from a professional perspective from Grant McCagg and Habs coverage from a 33 year veteran covering the NHL from Brian Wilde.
March 2, 2018
By Brian Wilde
The Habs started a two week road trip tonight in Brooklyn. Here’s the COTW…
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Unfortuntely, that’s NHL free agency in the cap era in a nutshell. Tavares will get a max deal for max dollars, but the GM who signs him is already well aware that he’s probably only going to get full value for the front half the contract. C’est la vie.
Meanwhile, call up an NHL GM and see what they say when you try to make a deal for a Necas, Thomas, Valardi or a Borgstrom. If they’re real polite, they won’t hang up on you right away…
Excellent as usual Brian. I have a question though. What do you think of Henrik Borgstrom? A 6’3 center prospect who was drafted by the Panthers organization in the first round in 2016. Does he seem like a good trade target? Maybe Pacioretty heading back the other way? Thanks in advance.
Apparently, Dale Tallon was too polite to hang up on Bergevin when he made that call earlier in the season.
From what I’ve been reading, Borgstrom may already be pencilled into the Pantehrs starting lineup for next season. If he want to leave school yet and they can sign him, obviously.
I love your work Brian but just by reading this and not watching the game I would’ve guest the Habs lost 6-3. Not a perfect game by any means but it was fun to watch the skill of the young kids on this team. There’s a lot of promise and potential and Poehling hasn’t even signed yet or used their 5 top 62 picks in the next draft.
You’re right for Tavares…doesn’t look good. Reilly will probably have to be better at timing his spot to join the rush. But on the breakaway, I think it was Shaw who was the last man and he went to the bench. And Froese froze 🙂
Im watching the game i pvrd now at 4:40 am,a meaningless game,hows that for a diehard fan eh,lol
This nightmare can be turned around easily with one bold move.trade price for a 1c and a top prospect and a 1st round pick this june. Keep patch if he can be resigned at a reasonable rate,if not patch for a 1d .
Price is thee most over rated goalie now.everyone kisses his ass still,greatest goalie NO,NO NO. After ten yrs he has become complacent.hoh humm im at the top level,making the big bux soon,signed the monster contract,lifes set,easy street,hes lost that laser,hungry eye of the tigar got something to prove attitude.hes an over rated fat cat now. I compare price to tigar woods,been around for a decade ya he was the best at one time,not now. So pull a subban move,trade 31 before that crazy insane contract kicks in july1st. Plus a history of injurys. I agree brian tavares at 15 mill is insane,pass on that.
Better give money to tavares and attempt to make the team better than to keep 8 mil of cap space or whatever it was and charge fans extra to print their tickets.
Wow!! I love the Tavares take… you pay for the years ahead not behind a player… I guess you really mean that!! I heard his season ain’t great and he’s starting to slow down. What if he gets a second wind wherever he may land, a la Phil Kessel? I honestly do not believe he will end up here. I just have a feeling…
Great read Brian. For the life of me, I can’t see how Tavares is even an option for MB unless he trades for the negotiation rights prior to July 1. If MB goes all-in after July 1 and loses out, then the Habs are probably going into next season down the middle as this they did this year.
Agreed, anywhere in and around 15 mil for Taveres would be insanity. I’m hoping McDavid’s 12.5 mil sets the bar however the Habs would likely have to overpay a bit so perhaps 14-15 mil isn’t that farfetched.
As an armchair GM I’m keeping an eye on the Sabres centre situation. They have a top 3 of Eichel, O’Reilly and Reinhart and drafted a kid named Mittelstadt 8th overall last year. Eichel isn’t going anywhere, Reinhart has started playing a lot better over the last few weeks and not too sure when Mittelstadt will be ready, seems highly touted though, MVP of the World Juniors, pair of goals for the Gophers last night as well. Maybe O’Reilly and his 7.5 mil contract turns into an asset they flip to shore up other weaknesses?
I agree with you on being careful what Habs should offer Tavares. He is a genuine 1C in my view but, like Duchesne, the best years are unfortunately in the past. I would take him, but I would definitely lose the bidding war!
On the young players doing well, a refreshing look at Habs games right now. It is possible they play well because the Habs are out of playoff run but I cannot help but think they are doing well because they are not playing while afraid of sitting out a full period because of a mistake, or sitting out a game or two for not “playing well without the puck”. I find the coaching has changed and coincidently, players are less stressed and perform better.
Not one of your better ones, Brian. It reads like you were dissecting Reilly’s game just to fill column space rather than truly reading and reacting to his on-ice shifts over the past couple of games, which I don’t think have been nearly so horrifying in the defensive end as you describe here.
And you keep riding that Galchenyuk-is-really-a-scoring-line-centre pony like there’s no tomorrow, when our budding superstar has given plenty of evidence already that you are likely beating a dead horse here.
You’re right about the foolishness of putting together a big-money offer for Tavares, but it’s not about his game, which I doubt is going to collapse in a stinking heap anytime soon. As much many of us are drooling over the thought of finally having an elite centre like Tavares in the lineup, I can’t see any reason why he would even consider playing for the Habs in pressure-cooker Montreal, no matter how many millions of dollars Bergevin throws at him.
I can see this easy-going hockey player either re-signing with his comfort-zone Islanders or taking a sweet deal from one of the NHL’s premier golfing destinations, a la Joe Thornton.
There’s no reason at all for him to subject himself to Montreal’s often hysterical press on a daily (hourly?) basis. Many of the more obscure American markets are so much warmer and friendlier destinations for a talented Canadian hockey player, and some of them are even Stanley Cup contenders already.
Jumbo Joe has had a great life in San Jose since leaving Boston, and once Doug Wilson starts selling Johhny Boy on being Thornton’s replacement, a deal might come together pretty quickly on July 1, if the Islanders haven’t nailed him down for eight years already.
That Petry that shows up and makes mind-numbing mistakes? That’s Oiler Petry.
Right on, Brian.
I don’t want to see Tavares on the Habs for 7 seasons either. It’s funny, but he reminds me of Pacioretty, even though he is a center:
Talented. Streaky.
Not a forceful enough personality to be an effective captain.
Fades under pressure.
Just my impression but I completely agree that the cap space can be used in much more effective ways than dumping it all on an already diminishing player.
I completely agree with you on Tavares. You don’t want to pay for the years behind (sound familiar?). There has to be other, younger center options out there, but it’ll cost you (trade wise) more than expected