Rocket:
For days now, the message to Bob Gainey from many Canadiens fans and media has been ‘just do SOMETHING’. They got their wish as Gainey did something…although the jury is out on whether this is a good move for the Habs.
Certainly Mathieu Schneider was “thrilled”. He said that the Canadiens were his “first choice” of the teams rumored to be interested.
This deal has all the markings of a Plan ‘C’ move that Gainey had pre-arranged. Pressure mounted after the debacle of the past week on the ice. The final straw was when fans and main stream media alike began calling for the firing of Guy Carbonneau. Bob stepped in to protect his friend by focusing attention on the trade.
Mathieu Schneider is a power-play specialist. His arrival should have an immediate impact. If not, all attention returns to Guy Carbonneau and his inability to address the long list of problems that are plaguing the Canadiens.
For his part, Schneider must be much more disciplined and abandon the pond hockey style that he has got away with in Atlanta. In a weak hockey market with less accountability, Schneider has allowed some bad habits to creep into his game, basically acting as a rover. That’s not going to fly with a team who has struggled defensively.
So was this a panic move? Perhaps. But, this trade also looks like a set-up to a much bigger deal. I think I’ll withhold judgement until the next piece of the puzzle is revealed. I am concerned that this move opens the door for one of the top two defensemen to leave Montreal.
Quick facts:
– price is high in terms of assets: 2nd & 3rd round pick (with a conditional pick coming back) for a 39 year old rental
– no roster players or prospects were given up leaving assets in place for a bigger deal
Salary is high: $5.75 million
– contract status: UFA as of July 1st
– Ryan O’Byrne demoted to Hamilton to create cap space..O’Byrne & Hamrlik have been a solid pairing
– Schneider’s salary higher than Kaberle, Bouwmeester, Morris
– Kaberle is now off Gainey’s shopping list. compared to Schneider, Kaberle is a better all-round player, a decade younger, under contract, much cheaper (by $1.5 million in salary), although would have cost more in terms of assets: 1st round pick or prospect.
Rocket! Nice read per usual. Curious to know though if you feel that picking up someone like a Pronger or a Lecavalier solves the Habs problems or if like in my opinion a coaching change is needed as much if not more than just adding new parts regardless of the talent level?
Hey Rocket,
Let’s do our homework here…….LOL!!!
You say: “although would have cost more in terms of assets: 1st round pick or prospect”
A defenseman in the mold of Kaberle would command a lot more than a simple first rounder or prospect.
The Canadiens would have to give up a roster player (Higgins), a good prospect and a first or second round pick.
Burke will certainly drive up the value for Kaberle who still has another year left on his contract and has averaged 59 points the last three seasons.
The rumor out there which has been confirmed by Pierre McGuire is that Jay Bouwmeester will command a Marian Hossa type of deal to get him out of Florida.
Totally inflated but driven by the market place.
This year’s trade deadline market place is presently geared towards a sellers market, with so many teams still in the playoff hunt.
It’s probably why Gainey made the Schneider deal well in advance of the March 4th deadline.
Is he the best option for the Habs? Not a chance, but he will help the transition game and hopefully the powerplay.
He also didn’t cost Gainey a roster player
My homework is done Habster. I’ll wait for you to finish yours.
The price that I quoted for Kaberle was reported by Daren Dreger who, as you know, usually works from some inside information.
I really don’t believe that Gainey had determined that Schneider was the best value and best fit for the team. Schneider was simply the guy who was available to be traded yesterday so that Gainey could deflect negative attention away from Carbonneau.
Good to hear from you Krej. If the Canadiens were playing to their potential but still needed one player to get over the top, then maybe a big name player would help. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be Lecavalier just because of his contract mess.
But this team is underachieving and has been all season. There is far too much talent on the Canadiens for them to be playing so poorly. And there are so many fixable problems that haven’t been addressed by the coaching staff.
So I would say that your comment is very astute Krej. A coaching change would have the most impact of any move that Gainey could make.
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