By Kristina, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC — Habs fans, do you remember 1995? The team included John Leclair, Eric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne, Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider, Craig Darby, Brian Bellows, J.J. Daigneault, Mike Keane and of course the great Patrick Roy.
Sounds like the core of a strong NHL team, doesn’t it?
Well, it was, until all those players were traded in the 1995 calendar year.
You cannot help but think how unfortunate it was 16 years ago when the Canadiens organization began to unravel beginning with the John Leclair trade who went on to score 812 points over 12 seasons, playing for the Flyers and Penguins and then culminating with the Patrick Roy trade who played in snowier pastures winning two more Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche.
Sure, you can’t ignore the circumstances surrounding those trades made at the time and of course hindsight is always 20/20. But nevertheless, that was then…history.
And now, in present day 2011, the Habs sit in seventh spot in the Eastern conference with 32 games to play. In their arsenal, the team holds an All Star goaltender, a sidelined All Star defenseman, a leading defensive defensemen gone for the rest of the year, and of course the worst goal scoring of any playoff seeded team in the league.
The penalty kill has dropped from first in the league to sixth with an 84.2 per cent effectiveness, indicative of an aging defense logging minutes beyond their means. On the offensive side of the ice, no player has hit the 20-goal mark and the team sits at 23rd in the league in goals scored per game at 2.58.
Seems that this team is poised to yet again make their fans bite off their finger nails as they watch and hope that “les glorieux” make the post-season.
It certainly doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine what the Montreal Canadiens’ needs are with over half the season in the bank and trade deadline day looming closer.
Shoring up the defensive corps and obtaining some offensive firepower are atop the shopping list. Too bad those items aren’t on sale at your local grocery store.
A blockbuster trade on deadline day seems highly unlikely given that Pierre Gauthier doesn’t fit the bill of being an aggressive GM.
“I’m not a big fan of the trade deadline as you well know, I don’t believe in giving large assets for players that play 15-20 games for you in that season, particularly that it is very tough for players to connect with the team and build some chemistry that quickly,” said Gauthier. “Having said that, you have to keep all your options open and that’s what we will do.”
Fair enough.
Expecting anything more than those comments made by Gauthier on January 6, 2011 would simply be unrealistic for the type of GM he has established himself as being so far in his tenure. This man does deserve a lot of credit for making a trade under the radar in the James Wisniewski acquisition but unfortunately, Gauthier’s work for the balance of the season seems far from over.
Two major needs, 27 days, and approximately $3.6 million in acquisition cap space to play with. The options seem clear: do nothing, focus on improving the defense or shake up the forward positions.
What would you do?
(PHOTO: ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE)
we need more fire power…talk to the oilers about penner
i would first pick up a top four defenceman i.e Phillips. Then a top six forward i.e Fischer. Leaving Ottawa a few draft picks in return. Then in a mad dash effort i would try, and i stress try, to unload the giant dead ostrich that is Gomez’s contract. If any GM is near-sighted enough to take his huge cap hit off our hands. A bigger, stronger, faster upgrade to Pyatt, Pouliot, Kostitsyn is much needed if we plan on doing any damage in the playoffs.
We need o’byrne back… 39games 6 assists and a Plus 11. he’d kill on the PK and would be a great physical element that travis moen isn’t doing!!!! Moen has to go, he’s ok but slowly getting comfortable and more and more useless as the games go by.
Montreal needs to figure out whether their need is an offensive player that can score goals and compliment Plekanec and Gomez. Or if they go after a defensive defenseman like Phillips or Regehr. I trust the Gauthier will do something in the near future and I am very excited to see what he intends to add. Interested in any other suggestions and what we could give in return for these players.
The habs are not a cup team this year, so here’s my logic: let’s get rid of the players who we know we won’t win with(kositsyn, gomez, moen, spacek, gill), pick up a key aquisition or 2, promote from within the organization, stockpile drafts, maybe even finish worse for a year or 2 to get higher more valued picks, and build a real youth speed movement(subban, weber, desharnais, paccioretty, leblanc, kristo, avtsin, palushaj, maxwell, white, conboy, dumont). We need more grit up front and more grit on the back end. forget arnott…he’s old and expensive. I’d rather have weiss or even someone tough …final note? jacques martin is not the coach to lead a youth movement. He needs to go upstairs. In the short term while he is here, he needs to STOP changing lines every other shift. It’s killing the offensive side of the team.
I AGREE WITH JON,SELL THE DEAD WEIGHT PLAYERS, PROMOTE FROM WITHIN, AND REPLACE THE COACH.
Totally disagree that anything drastic should be done right now, and with Jon’s negative assessment of the team.
The rebuilt Habs continue to improve, despite key injuries. While I agree that they probably won’t go all the way this season, they have a good chance these next couple of years with guys like Subban, Max Pac, Eller and Weber hitting their stride at discounted rates, and guys like Pleks, Price, Gio and Cam locked in.
The key thing now is to give the youth movement experience. Add another strong defenceman or forward and kids get demoted = less high quality ice time = bad idea.
The only thing I can see is a trade involving AK for another top 6 forward. But his value is low right now, despite the fact that he has more points than Gionta. I’d be patient with AK – he may blossom yet…
I think that in general, people fail to realize just what a difficult position Gauthier is in right now, whether you like him or not.
Fact of the matter remains that any NHL hockey team that makes the playoffs, has a chance of going all the way. Based on that alone, Gauthier has to show (Because he has a boss to report to as well) that he’s willing to help his team, or at least give them every possible chance of achieving that goal.
This is where the acquisition of a rental player can be justified.
On the other hand, it would cost draft picks. Already, the Canadiens are without their 2nd round pick in the next draft, plus they also gave up an additional second round pick they had received when they gave up David Fisher.
The Canadiens have nothing to trade away that would receive something decent in return “one for one”. AK keeps coming up in trade rumours but as mentioned above, Habs would not receive a better player in return, unless they stacked the trade with picks which i don’t feel they can afford to do.
All of this said, personally, i would stick with status quo, unless Gauthier can pull a rabbit out of his hat of course, but the closer to trade deadline it gets, the less likely we are to see any surprises happen i would think.
Only move i’d make right now is to call back Ryan White, his energy alone would be more beneficial to this team than for example, Tom Pyatt.
Great article Kristina!
I’m in total agreement with Steve.
While a rental can be justified, the Canadiens are able, as they are formed today, and as they were last April to go on a run. On the other hand, if you want to have a contender on paper going in to the post-season, then even more mortgaging of future assets would be required. I wouldn’t do that.
The cost to acquire the defenseman that they need, as well as the added offensive punch in the top 6 would cost far too much to justify. Nevertheless, no matter what Gauthier does (or doesn’t do) prior to the trade deadline, there will be massive numbers of fans who will moan and groan about it.
The fact is that the Canadiens are competitive enough that they can “over achieve” as they are, but they’re not stocked well enough with tradeable assets to make them a legitimate cup contender.
Unless Gauthier can move roster players for roster players, I’d be more inclined to stand pat. But I suspect he will make a middling depth move to bolster the blue line…which would further hightlight the goofyness of the O’Byrne trade.
Let Gauthier do his job and stop whining. The habs are not a stanley cup team. Enjoy them for who they are. I’m sick of hearing habs fan whine. Start appreciating the team you have and bring out the best in the players we have.
Some creative GM skills would be required to pull off some much needed move at the trade deadline.
While Chris Philips would definitely be a breath of fress air, he would command a high level draft pick. That being said, a provision in a trade that if the Canadiens can’t get him under contract would lessen the blow of giving up a 1st or 2nd round pick for him.
Given that there will be a lot of decisions to be made as far as our current defensive players that will be UFAs, I wouldn’t do a thing. The Habs won’t make a Cup run, but can be further evaluated for moves at season’s end.
Up front, their lack of production is a direct result of Scott Gomez’s crappy season thus far. If the coaching staff would put more emphasis on getting him back to basics and simplifying his game, they may be able to get the offensive boost they’re looking for, without giving up any assets.
In my mind, it’s quite simple. The salary cap world has impacted trade deadline day in way that makes the day almost forgettable…nothing really happens. I don’t think Pierre Gauthier is in a position where he really needs to do anything. The Habs sit 6th in the Eastern conference, one point behind 5th place and a mere two points back of claiming first place in the North East division. The Canadiens are neither on the brink of making a the post-season nor on the verge of being a legitimate cup contender. They are a team that is built to make the post-season and see what happens.If anything, the Canadiens magical run in the 2010 playoffs provides more evidence that just about anything can happen once a team makes the big dance.
I don’t expect Gauthier to give up future youth and draft picks to obtain an affordable and cap-friendly player. It would cost too much to get a solid defenceman like Regher and the cost of acquiring a legitimate top 6 forward at this time of the year would be astronomical. If anything, Gauthier will make a move within the next 10 days if he does end up making one, but I believe he is confident in the way in which the team has played without the likes of Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges and Mike Cammalleri for a fair amount of time.
Gauthier understands the team’s needs on defence and with goal scoring, but it seems to me the logical thing he will do is stand pat and put the confidence in his team that they have the capabilities of being as successful in post-season as they were last year.
The habs have so many assetts in hamilton as well as Pyatt and Eller with whom we should use to bolster the offense. Our D has been through hell and back and are holding together just fine, even maturing quicker in the process, we need to get some more offensive 3rd and 4th liners to compliment halpern and Price and Auld do what there doing, Gomez quarterbacking, Gionta being an amazing captain, maybe add a tough big offensive touch in Arnott for some youngsters and a later draft pick and bring us home the cup baby, GO HABS GO
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