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The Retool: Stage 2

Habsy

Habsy

Yes, I'm kidding people.
Since we all know the Habs aren't rebuilding and are simply retooling, this would be a good place to discuss the changes needed.

Bergevin started the retool last summer. We all know you simply cannot do it all in a year, regardless of luck. The Habs have helped their center position greatly and hopefully KK becomes that #1 center they sorely need. If there is a center available reasonably this summer MB should take a look. My concern is that he want's Duchene. He just turned 28 and is still likely good for a PPG however I don't think he should get top dollar.

Players to retain (some because they are still under contract):

(Age in parenthesis)

Forwards:

Kotkaniemi (18)
Domi (24)
Byron (29)
Tatar (28)
Gallagher (26) - (although he'd bring a ransom)
Armia (25) (RFA)
Lehkonen (23) (RFA)
Shaw (27)
Danault (26)

This gives us:

Gallagher-Danault-Tatar
Shaw-Domi-XXX
XXX-Kotkaniemi-Byron
Lehkonen-XXX-Armia


Forwards to release or trade:

Drouin (24) - He needs to be moved for help on the blue line. Yes I see the irony but Sergachev hasn't panned out yet either. I'm tired of seeing Drouin dog it and I can't help but thinking the team sees it too.
Weal (26) - UFA - bye
Thompson (34) UFA - bye
Weise (30) - 1 year left $2.3M - bury him in Laval and take the $950K credit.
Peca (25) - 1 yr left at $1.3M - same as Weise - Laval
Deslauriers (28) - 1 yr left at $950K - Laval
Hudon (24) - RFA - Bye


The Habs have a projected Cap SPace availability of $16.1M next season. If they manage to trade Drouin the space is $21.6M. There is room to add.

The 9 forwards I listed above for retention are likely to stay. Armia and Lehkonen would make up an awesome fourth line. Scorers need to be inserted into the top 9 positions they held this season.


Defense:

Retained:

Weber (33)
Petry (31)
Mete (20) - ELC

Questionable:

Kulak (25) - RFA
Reilly (25) - RFA
Folin - (28) - UFA

I can go either way on these guys however I do not think they should be main cogs on D. The left side is atrocious.

Release:

Benn (31) - UFA - BYE!


The D really needs to be fixed. I'd say it's the most important aspect of the team requiring change and the PP should be kept in mind when doing so as well.

XXX-Weber
XXX-Petry
Mete-XXX

Is where this D should be with improvements to the XXX obviously.

Goaltending:

Price (31)

Buh bye:

Niemi (35) - UFA

Still on cap:

Alzner (30) - 3 years @ $3.5M per
Mason (30) - 1 more year @ $1.36M

Pacioretty retained salary comes off this season.



All that out of the way, suggestions for logical changes?
 
Notable names available (slim pickings on D):

Bolded players are guys I'd be interested in acquiring.

FORWARDS

Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ
NHL.com rank: 18

Jeff Skinner, C/LW, BUF
NHL.com rank: 37

Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS
NHL.com rank: 39

Matt Duchene, C, CBJ
NHL.com rank: 58

Anders Lee, LW, NYI
NHL.com rank: 111

Joe Thornton, C, SJS
NHL.com rank: 127

Gustav Nyquist, LW/RW, SJS
NHL.com rank: 129

Wayne Simmonds, RW, NSH
NHL.com rank: 135

Justin Williams, RW, CAR
NHL.com rank: 141

Kevin Hayes, C, WPG
NHL.com rank: 168

Brock Nelson, C/LW, NYI
NHL.com rank: 185

Mats Zuccarello, RW, DAL
NHL.com rank: N/A (INJ.)

Marcus Johansson, LW, BOS
NHL.com rank: N/A (INJ.)

Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CAR
NHL.com rank: N/A (INJ.)

Ryan Dzingel, LW/RW, CBJ
NHL.com rank: N/A

Jordan Eberle, C/RW, NYI
NHL.com rank: N/A

Derick Brassard, C/LW, COL
NHL.com rank: N/A



DEFENSEMEN

Erik Karlsson, SJS
NHL.com rank: N/A (INJ.)

Alexander Edler, VAN
NHL.com rank: 190

Jake Gardiner, TOR
NHL.com rank: N/A (INJ.)



GOALIES

Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ
NHL.com rank: 78

Robin Lehner, NYI
NHL.com rank: 106

Semyon Varlamov, COL
NHL.com rank: 122

Curtis McElhinney, CAR
NHL.com rank: 137

Petr Mrazek, CAR
NHL.com rank: 151

Brian Elliott, PHI
NHL.com rank: 161

Mike Smith, CGY
NHL.com rank: 174

Cam Talbot, PHI
NHL.com rank: N/A
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't mind taking a run at Karlsson. He's only 28 and can still put up the points. Sure he's RD but image a right side of Weber, Karlsson and Petry? They would give teams fits.
 
Last edited:
More D

Code: 
Erik Karlsson	SJS	UFA	29	D	R	52	3	42	45				$6,500,000
Tyler Myers	WPG	UFA	29	D	R	75	9	20	29				$5,500,000
Jay Bouwmeester	STL	UFA	36	D	L	72	3	13	16				$5,400,000
Alexander Edler	VAN	UFA	33	D	L	52	10	21	31				$5,000,000
Marc Methot	DAL	UFA	34	D	L	9							$4,900,000
Niklas Kronwall	DET	UFA	38	D	L	74	3	21	24				$4,750,000
Anton Stralman	TBL	UFA	33	D	R	45	2	15	17				$4,500,000
Jake Gardiner	TOR	UFA	29	D	L	60	2	27	29				$4,050,000
Braydon Coburn	TBL	UFA	34	D	L	69	3	16	19				$3,700,000
Michael Del Zotto	STL	UFA	29	D	L	42	1	9	10				$3,000,000
Ron Hainsey	TOR	UFA	38	D	L	77	5	17	22				$3,000,000
Carl Gunnarsson	STL	UFA	32	D	L	19	3	4	7				$2,900,000
Adam McQuaid	CBJ	UFA	32	D	R	50	3	4	7				$2,750,000
Ben Lovejoy	DAL	UFA	35	D	R	68	2	7	9				$2,666,667
Patrik Nemeth	COL	UFA	27	D	L	69	1	8	9				$2,500,000
Jan Rutta	TBL	UFA	29	D	R	32	2	6	8				$2,300,000
Brooks Orpik	WAS	UFA	39	D	L	49	2	7	9				$2,500,000
Alex Petrovic	EDM	UFA	27	D	R	35		2	2				$1,950,000
Dennis Seidenberg	NYI	UFA	38	D	L	0							$1,166,666
 
Centers:

Code: 
Jason Spezza	DAL	UFA	36	C	R	72	8	19	27				$7,500,000
Matt Duchene	CBJ	UFA	28	C	L	68	30	37	67				$6,000,000
Joe Pavelski	SJS	UFA	35	C	R	72	37	26	63				$6,000,000
Dave Bolland	AZ	UFA	33	C	R								$5,500,000
Kevin Hayes	WPG	UFA	27	C	L	66	18	35	53				$5,175,000
Joe Thornton	SJS	UFA	40	C	L	68	16	31	47				$5,000,000
Derick Brassard	COL	UFA	32	C	L	65	13	9	22				$5,000,000
Jori Lehtera	PHI	UFA	31	C	L	27	1	2	3				$4,700,000
Marcus JohanssonBOSUFA	28	C	L	53	12	16	28				$4,583,334
Brock Nelson	NYI	UFA	27	C	L	78	24	26	50				$4,250,000
Colin Wilson	COL	UFA	29	C	L	60	11	13	24				$3,937,500
Anders Lee	NYI	UFA	29	C	L	78	28	21	49				$3,750,000
Marcus Kruger	CHI	UFA	29	C	L	70	4	7	11				$3,083,333
Valtteri Filppula	NYI	UFA	35	C	L	71	15	14	29				$2,750,000
Brian Boyle	NSH	UFA	34	C	L	68	18	6	24				$2,750,000
Ryan Dzingel	CBJ	UFA	27	C	L	73	25	28	53				$1,800,000
Par Lindholm	WPG	UFA	27	C	R	63	1	11	12				$925,000
Jordan Weal	MTL	UFA	27	C	R	59	6	11	17				$1,750,000
 
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Honestly guys, as nice as it was to watch meaningful regular season games this year -- us drafting 15th overall is a blip on the retool process. Most (including Berg) likely expected a better draft to help with this situation.

Maybe they will win the lottery....
 
Well you can't take your puck and go home. This is where they find themselves and more work is sorely needed.
 
Habsy said:
Since we all know the Habs aren't rebuilding and are simply retooling, this would be a good place to discuss the changes needed.

Bergevin started the retool last summer. We all know you simply cannot do it all in a year, regardless of luck. The Habs have helped their center position greatly and hopefully KK becomes that #1 center they sorely need. If there is a center available reasonably this summer MB should take a look. My concern is that he want's Duchene. He just turned 28 and is still likely good for a PPG however I don't think he should get top dollar.

Players to retain (some because they are still under contract):

(Age in parenthesis)

Forwards:

Kotkaniemi (18)
Domi (24)
Byron (29)
Tatar (28)
Gallagher (26) - (although he'd bring a ransom)
Armia (25) (RFA)
Lehkonen (23) (RFA)
Shaw (27)
Danault (26)

This gives us:

Gallagher-Danault-Tatar
Shaw-Domi-XXX
XXX-Kotkaniemi-Byron
Lehkonen-XXX-Armia


Forwards to release or trade:

Drouin (24) - He needs to be moved for help on the blue line. Yes I see the irony but Sergachev hasn't panned out yet either. I'm tired of seeing Drouin dog it and I can't help but thinking the team sees it too.
Weal (26) - UFA - bye
Thompson (34) UFA - bye
Weise (30) - 1 year left $2.3M - bury him in Laval and take the $950K credit.
Peca (25) - 1 yr left at $1.3M - same as Weise - Laval
Deslauriers (28) - 1 yr left at $950K - Laval
Hudon (24) - RFA - Bye


The Habs have a projected Cap SPace availability of $16.1M next season. If they manage to trade Drouin the space is $21.6M. There is room to add.

The 9 forwards I listed above for retention are likely to stay. Armia and Lehkonen would make up an awesome fourth line. Scorers need to be inserted into the top 9 positions they held this season.


Defense:

Retained:

Weber (33)
Petry (31)
Mete (20) - ELC

Questionable:

Kulak (25) - RFA
Reilly (25) - RFA
Folin - (28) - UFA

I can go either way on these guys however I do not think they should be main cogs on D. The left side is atrocious.

Release:

Benn (31) - UFA - BYE!


The D really needs to be fixed. I'd say it's the most important aspect of the team requiring change and the PP should be kept in mind when doing so as well.

XXX-Weber
XXX-Petry
Mete-XXX

Is where this D should be with improvements to the XXX obviously.

Goaltending:

Price (31)

Buh bye:

Niemi (35) - UFA

Still on cap:

Alzner (30) - 3 years @ $3.5M per
Mason (30) - 1 more year @ $1.36M

Pacioretty retained salary comes off this season.



All that out of the way, suggestions for logical changes?
Click to expand...

The only player I would go after is Dzingel if I can get a decent deal for Tatar who bolts in 2 years .

I would see what Petry can fetch in the offseason

The other heavyweights arent coming and most make no sense like EK or AP on a team stuck in the middle .

Your bringing back most of the forwards who had career years , can they do it again .

None of our top prospects will start by on day 1 but NS should join us by Christmas .

My focus would be capitalizing on assets that may not be with us in 2 years .
 
GEEMAN said:
The only player I would go after is Dzingel if I can get a decent deal for Tatar who bolts in 2 years .

I would see what Petry can fetch in the offseason

The other heavyweights arent coming and most make no sense like EK or AP on a team stuck in the middle .

Your bringing back most of the forwards who had career years , can they do it again .

None of our top prospects will start by on day 1 but NS should join us by Christmas .

My focus would be capitalizing on assets that may not be with us in 2 years .
Click to expand...

*You are*
 
You know, I spent some time on this thread. I’d appreciate you not ****ing it up with nonsense.

Thanks.
 
Habsy said:
I wouldn't mind taking a run at Karlsson. He's only 28 and can still put up the points. Sure he's RD but image a right side of Weber, Karlsson and Petry? They would give teams fits.
Click to expand...

If we got Hot Karl I would look to trade Weber or Petry.
 
I would still be more on the rebuild side of the retool.

I would look to trade Tatar for sure. Trade Shaw. Explore trading Petry.

I would keep Drouin. Unless for some reason somebody gives good value.

I would sign Weal (assuming he is cheap).


I would re-sign Benn (are you paying attention?)

Keep only one of Kulak/Reilly
 
CURRENT TEAM
Drouin won't get dealt. Realistically you should include his cap hit. I also see the Habs trying to keep Weal.

Alzner, Weise and Deslauriers get their full salary in the AHL, not sure the cap hit is any less as a result? Either way, MB needs to bust his balls trying to unload all of them.

Romanov may be coming, Brook a possibility, Juulsen is also supposed to be back, those are 3 D that MAY crack the lineup. Then you also have Markov who wants to return and you have to assume that MTL is his preference.

Up front Suzuki will be into his 2nd Habs camp, he has an outside shot to make the team but I think likely AHL. Ryan Poehling will be in a similar position but is a year older. 2 intriguing forwards next year.Then you have Jacob Olofsson , Ylonen and Evans as well.

D FREE AGENTS

As for free agency, I go big or go home. With the players listed above expected to be in the lineup within 2 years, I wouldn't waste my time with any mid level place holders. The issue with free ageny when addressing the D is that we need LHD and there are no decent LHD UFA's. You COULD offer sheet (Provorov, Butcher, Werenski, Murray) The issue is that PHI, NJ, and CBJ have about $30m in projected cap space, so that seems unlikely.

FORWARD FREE AGENTS

With forwards, I definitely prepare an offer sheet. RFA TARGETS:
Toronto is primed to lose talent with Kapanen/Marner/Johnsson all RFA
Brayden Point in TB should be a target as well.

I would say the following but their teams have the space to retain for sure: Rantanen, Tkachuk, Aho, Connor.

UFA TARGETS
The only UFA forwards I would chase is Duchene. And I would go hard if the offer sheet route doesn't work out or if MB doesn't have the constitution for it.
 
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If MB were to go offer sheet route, have to....absolutely have to offer sheet Rantanen he’s top of the list: elite, fast & big.
 
Habs4Life said:
CURRENT TEAM
Drouin won't get dealt. Realistically you should include his cap hit. I also see the Habs trying to keep Weal.

Alzner, Weise and Deslauriers get their full salary in the AHL, not sure the cap hit is any less as a result? Either way, MB needs to bust his balls trying to unload all of them.

Romanov may be coming, Brook a possibility, Juulsen is also supposed to be back, those are 3 D that MAY crack the lineup. Then you also have Markov who wants to return and you have to assume that MTL is his preference.

Up front Suzuki will be into his 2nd Habs camp, he has an outside shot to make the team but I think likely AHL. Ryan Poehling will be in a similar position but is a year older. 2 intriguing forwards next year.Then you have Jacob Olofsson , Ylonen and Evans as well.

D FREE AGENTS

As for free agency, I go big or go home. With the players listed above expected to be in the lineup within 2 years, I wouldn't waste my time with any mid level place holders. The issue with free ageny when addressing the D is that we need LHD and there are no decent LHD UFA's. You COULD offer sheet (Provorov, Butcher, Werenski, Murray) The issue is that PHI, NJ, and CBJ have about $30m in projected cap space, so that seems unlikely.

FORWARD FREE AGENTS

With forwards, I definitely prepare an offer sheet. RFA TARGETS:
Toronto is primed to lose talent with Kapanen/Marner/Johnsson all RFA
Brayden Point in TB should be a target as well.

I would say the following but their teams have the space to retain for sure: Rantanen, Tkachuk, Aho, Connor.

UFA TARGETS
The only UFA forwards I would chase is Duchene. And I would go hard if the offer sheet route doesn't work out or if MB doesn't have the constitution for it.
Click to expand...

I just cannot see an offer sheet happening.

Duchene would be a massive gamble. If we are paying him as a 60 point centre. okay. if we are paying him as a PPG centre...no thanks.

As for sending players to the AHL - you get 900k off the cap (but then you also have to replace them for probably a similar amount anyway.
 
Sal_Butera said:
If MB were to go offer sheet route, have to....absolutely have to offer sheet Rantanen he’s top of the list: elite, fast & big.
Click to expand...

while it is nice to dream we know it wont happen

i would entertain trading 4 first rounders though
 
Sal_Butera said:
If MB were to go offer sheet route, have to....absolutely have to offer sheet Rantanen he’s top of the list: elite, fast & big.
Click to expand...

They have 30 million in cap space and a player from OTT that can likely play in the NHL right away at an entry level contract. They would just match.
 
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