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Meet the New Guys: Erik Cole, Peter Budaj

By Stevo, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC. — Pierre Gauthier and the Montreal Canadiens made two moves on opening day of the free agency period this past Friday, by acquiring the services of both Erik Cole and Peter Budaj. Cole was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998, and played there his entire career, with the exception of a short stay in Edmonton, while Peter Budaj who was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and played there his entire career.

Erik Cole (33 years of age one month into the start of the season)

  • four-year contract
  • Contract Total: $18M
  • Cap Hit: $4.5M per season.

Peter Budaj (29 years of age at the start of the season)

  • Two-year contract
  • Contract Total: $2.3M
  • Cap Hit: $1.15M per season.
Erik Cole with the Stanley Cup at Fort Ontario, in Oswego, August, 2006 / Gary Walts / The Post-Standard

In the case of Cole, I really like the signing for multiple reasons. He’s a big size forward with good vision on the ice. He’s able to score goals down low in the paint, and he’s also able to show signs of finesse when setting up plays to his line-mates.

Nobody should get carried away and think he’s a tough guy however, although he has seven career fights, only three of his fights registered enough votes at hockeyfights.com to display a result, and he lost all three of those fights. That being said, I don’t think it will prevent him from providing a much needed physical presence at the forward position.

Last season with the Carolina Hurricanes, he picked up 26 goals and the same number of assists making him both dangerous in the goal and assist columns. He was fourth amongst Hurricane players in points, and third in goals with only Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner putting up more goals than him. In 620 career games, he has tallied 184 goals and 390 assists, for a total of 574 points. (0.93 points per game)

Oh and, he’s a Stanley Cup winner.

If I were to quickly throw some lines together, I could potentially have the following at hand:

  1. Erik Cole, Tomas Plekanec, Mike Cammalleri
  2. Max Pacioretty, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta
  3. Andrei Kostitsyn, Lars Eller, David Desharnais
  4. ____________, Travis Moen, Mathieu Darche
  5. ____________ (13th forward if they choose)

If we do the same on defence, we could have the following:

  1. Markov/Spacek
  2. Subban/Gorges (RFA)
  3. Gill/Yemelin
  4. Weber

For now, I’m hoping Ryan White will end up being the guy on the fourth line of my mock scenario. His energy, competitiveness, and fiery play always provide some much needed spark, and we saw that on a few occasions last season. He just like Josh Gorges is a restricted free agent, and is still negotiating a new contract with the Canadiens.

In the case of Josh Gorges, I have no reason to believe anything other than this is a normal contract negotiating process, and I don’t believe anyone has any reason to believe this deal won’t get done. My gut is expecting the contract to get signed in and around $3M per season, for anywhere between three and four seasons.

In the case of Yemelin, many have pegged him “NHL ready” for as early as the start of next season, but should the Canadiens choose otherwise, and should he choose to go back to the KHL if that were the case, you would think Pierre Gauthier would want to have an insurance policy in place.  It would therefore not surprise me if Gauthier were to go out and get a defenseman on the free agent market, possibly one who could accept a two-contract and could easily be shipped to Hamilton if required.

Going on the assumption that Gauthier is still shopping for a defenseman, a forward, and has Josh Gorges and Ryan White to sign, I see the cap situation as follows:

Salary Cap Situation:

  • Salary Cap: $64,300,000
  • Current Payroll: $55,995,510
  • Cap Space: $8,304,490

Projected Signings:

  • Josh Gorges – $3.3M/season?
  • Ryan White – $1.0M/season?
  • 13th forward – $700K?
  • Insurance D – $700K?

Okay, granted, I’m throwing anything at the board right now but if we continue on this adventure, it would leave the Canadiens with $2.6M in cap space. Some might argue this would be best kept for a rainy, but it also begs to ask the question, could the Montreal Canadiens, for example, be trying to use this money, plus some of the other money they have left, to acquire another player that could fulfil a more prominent role on this team? Perhaps also via a trade? Many rumours have been flying but this is Montreal, what can we ever really believe when it comes to rumours? We are left to sit and wait.

Finally, let’s not forget Peter Budaj. When it comes to the signing of a backup goaltender, I often hear the phrases “who cares”, or “It’s only a backup goaltender”, or “there are more important positions than backup goaltender”. Although I might agree with the latter of the three, I strongly disagree with the first two. Maybe it has to do with the fact I played at the goaltender position for my entire minor/junior hockey career, but whatever the reason, I will dip into it and let me tell you, I am not a fan of this signing.

Although Alex Auld only played twelve games with the Canadiens last season, he was in nets for what was 14 points earned in the standings and just a few less could have meant missing the playoffs for the Habs.

As many are aware, I was one of those who strongly believed Auld had deserved the opportunity to have a new contract in Montreal, by the way he handled himself last season, both on and off the ice. Pierre Gauthier instead elected to sign Peter Budaj to a two-year contract, therefore more money and term than it would have cost to keep Auld who signed with the Ottawa Senators for one-year, $1M, the same contract he had with Montreal last season.

So if the Canadiens signed a backup goaltender to more money, and a longer term, he’s better, right? Well, not necessarily. Although both Auld and Budaj both do not have fabulous career stats, Alex Auld has a better career goals against average (GAA) and save percentage (Sv%). In Budaj’s case, he had his worst career totals last season, going 15-21-4 with the Colorado Avalanche, posting a GAA of 3.20, and a Sv% of 0.895%.

Considering Alex Auld perfectly accepted his role last season (not to say Peter Budaj won’t), I question why the Canadiens, who could have kept Alex Auld, who went on record as saying he would have liked to stay in Montreal, did not bother to offer him a new contract. Especially if you consider he only lost two regular season games in his twelve starts.

Overall, I’m satisfied with the acquisitions. My liking of the Erik Cole signing far outweighs my dislike of the Peter Budaj signing, and now I’m simply left to wonder what Gauthier will do with his remaning money.

*****

Erik Cole – LW

Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 205
Shoots: Left
Born: Nov 6 1978 (Age 32)
Birthplace: Oswego, NY, United States
Drafted: CAR / 1998 NHL Entry Draft
Round: 3rd (71st overall)
Season Team League GP G A TP PIM Playoffs GP G A TP PIM
1995-1996 Oswego Admirals USHS 40 49 41 90 |
1996-1997 Des Moines Buccaneers USHL 48 30 34 64 140 | Playoffs 5 2 0 2 0
1997-1998 Clarkson Univ. NCAA 34 11 20 31 55 |
1998-1999 Clarkson Univ. NCAA 36 22 40 42 50 |
1999-2000 Clarkson Univ. NCAA 33 19 11 30 46 |
Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 9 4 3 7 2 | Playoffs 7 1 1 2 2
2000-2001 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 69 23 20 43 28 | Playoffs 5 1 0 1 2
2001-2002 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 81 16 24 40 35 | Playoffs 23 6 3 9 30
2002-2003 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 53 14 13 27 72 |
2003-2004 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 80 18 24 42 93 |
2004-2005 Eisbären Berlin DEL 39 6 21 27 76 | Playoffs 8 5 1 6 37
USA WC 7 1 5 6 6 |
2005-2006 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 60 30 29 59 54 | Playoffs 2 0 0 0 0
USA OG OG 6 1 2 3 0 |
2006-2007 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 71 29 32 61 76 |
USA WC 7 1 4 5 2 |
2007-2008 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 73 22 29 51 76 |
2008-2009 Edmonton Oilers NHL 63 16 11 27 63 |
Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 2 13 15 10 | Playoffs 18 0 5 5 22
2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 40 11 5 16 29 |
2010-2011 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 26 26 52 49 |
2011-2012 Montréal Canadiens NHL |

*****

Peter Budaj – G

Height: 6′ 1″
Weight: 200
Catches: Left
Born: Sept 18 1982 (Age 28)
Birthplace: Banska Bystrika, Slovakia
Drafted: COL / 2001 NHL Entry Draft
Round: 2nd (63rd overall)
Season Team League GP GAA SVS% Playoffs GP GAA SVS%
1999-2000 Toronto St. Michael’s Majors OHL 34 4.01 .882 |
Slovakia U18 WJC-18 5 3.13 .932 |
2000-2001 Toronto St. Michael’s Majors OHL 37 2.86 .907 | Playoffs 11 2.51
Slovakia U20 WJC-20 4 4.01 .875 |
2001-2002 Toronto St. Michael’s Majors OHL 42 2.29 .922 | Playoffs 12 3.29 .898
Slovakia U20 WJC-20 4 3.11 .919 |
2002-2003 Hershey Bears AHL 28 2.66 .911 | Playoffs 1 20.81 .333
2003-2004 Hershey Bears AHL 46 2.80 .916 |
Slovakia WCup WCup 0 |
2004-2005 Hershey Bears AHL 59 2.65 .919 |
2005-2006 Colorado Avalanche NHL 34 2.86 .900 |
Slovakia OG OG 3 2.01 .924 |
2006-2007 Colorado Avalanche NHL 57 2.68 .905 |
2007-2008 Colorado Avalanche NHL 35 2.57 .903 | Playoffs 3 3.33 .908
Slovakia WC 1 3.03 .903 |
2008-2009 Colorado Avalanche NHL 56 2.86 .899 |
2009-2010 Colorado Avalanche NHL 15 2.64 .917 | Playoffs 1 6.67 .750
Slovakia OG OG 0 |
Slovakia WC 6 2.76 .913 |
2010-2011 Colorado Avalanche NHL 45 3.20 .895 |
2011-2012 Montréal Canadiens NHL |

*****

(Player statistics © www.eliteprospects.com)
(Player information, photos: canadiens.com)
(Video: nhl.com)

 

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