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Balance is the Key--in Every Area |
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10 Notes:
1) All the discussion about Jaromir Jagr in a Canadiens jersey has certainly provoked a lot of excitement around these parts, and with good reason. If you could get the 39-year old signed to a one-year deal, you're looking at an instant upgrade on both Kostitsyn and Pouliot, as well as making the acquisition of a player that would fit very nicely with Tomas Plekanec or even Scott Gomez.
The Canadiens would be foolish not to consider Jagr an option, especially given that he'd be a better grab than anyone on this year's market, especially if the price is south of 4M.
As for reports that Jagr's agent reached out to the Canadiens and Pierre Gauthier politely declined-- there's no evidence of that whatsoever.
When the rumor officially hit that there could be something going down between the Habs and Jagr, Renaud Lavoie of RDS stated it was news to Jagr's agent.
2) If Jagr were to return, I'd say Montreal's a place he'd be most likely to succeed in. Obviously he's got tremendous chemistry with Plekanec, and he's got experience playing with Gomez, and the team desperately needs a player like him.
More to the point, he wouldn't be able to come to Montreal and simply collect his earnings. He'd get the kind of attention Kovalev got from the fans, but would certainly want to avoid getting the kind of attention Kovalev got from the media. That means showing up to play every night, and he may be inclined to take it easier in another market, which would really dull the incentive for him to return and cement his legacy as one of the best players of all time.
3) A lot of people took exception to my suggestion that Markov and Yemelin's signings would effectively push Wisniewski and Hamrlik to free agency. My hypothesis is not solely based on the cap (though cap implications make it pretty obvious that there's a choice to be made between Markov and Wisniewksi), but people need to also consider the balance needed to operate a successful blue line.
I can't argue against the idea that you want to have as much talent as possible on your roster, but you do need balance, because not everyone is allotted the same ice-time and players can't all be given the same assignments.
If you have Subban, Markov and Weber why would you spend 4-5M on James Wisniewski for a minimum of four seasons? Even if you could afford to do so against this year's cap, would you not be hindering your opportunity to improve the club in other areas, both short and long-term?
If you can sign the young and talented Yemelin and add him to a mix that includes Spacek, Gorges and Gill, then it stands to reason that bringing back Hamrlik would be an excessive waste of funds.
4) People need to realize that choosing Markov and Yemelin is not an indictment of the services Wisniewski and Hamrlik offered as Canadiens. It's about the fact that the Canadiens have many options to choose from to create a well-rounded defense core.
Moving forward, Gorges, Subban, Yemelin and Weber are the core defenders, and the Canadiens would be wise to assume they'd be supported well enough by Markov, Spacek and Gill.
If those core defenders weren't ready for regular duty in the NHL then there would be merit to bringing back one of Wisniewski or Hamrlik. But we're talking about Gorges and Subban as top-4 defenders (no worries about them handling those roles) and about Yemelin and Weber filling depth positions until they're seasoned enough to force the club to make tougher decisions two years down the line. Yemelin and Weber need that experience now and they are much cheaper options with greater value than Wisniewski and Hamrlik offer you at this stage--especially when you consider that the team will have Gorges, Markov, Gill and Subban already.
5) You have Carey Price and more than ten defenders to build a great blue line with. Even if I'm completely wrong about how they intend to assemble their blue line (I'm not), defense will still be their strength.
It just so happens that the composition I believe they will go with offers them much more speed, and much more ability to generate offense from the back end without compromising their own zone.
Remember, this is Jacques Martin's team. If it were John Tortorella's, I might argue that the Canadiens should do everything possible to keep both Markov and Wisniewski.
In the end, they need players who can play great at both ends of the rink (as does every team), but they really need them to be great in their own end.
Markov, Gorges, Subban and Gill are great in their own end. Naturally, Markov and Subban have tremendous offensive upside, and Gill and Gorges are among the best defensive defensemen in the game. Spacek, Weber and Yemelin have a nice balance between both elements.
It's all about BALANCE.
6) The team lacks balance at forward. The team has weaknesses at forward. The team needs to free up money in order to bridge the gap at forward. More money spent on the blue line means less money to spend at forward and less flexibility on the trade market if you deem the UFA market to be sub-standard.
Cammalleri, Gomez, Plekanec and Gionta are all locked in for the next three years, taking up 24M/year against the cap.
Elller, Pacioretty, Desharnais and White are young assets the team would certainly like to hold onto and fill out the roster with.
Kostitsyn doesn't have a long-term future with the club, if he has a future with them at all. The same could be said for Pouliot, and chances are stronger that he's already worn out his welcome in Montreal.
The group lacks size, physicality, and a winger that can offer the top six a balance it hasn't had in many, many years.
7) If the Canadiens lock up the blue line I suggested, they can get their business done at forward and still save some money to make changes throughout the season. If they opt for a Jagr to fill the top six for one season, they'll have some money freed up in the summer to spend on Carey Price's next contract.
If they add some depth components from the UFA market that offer size and physicality--guys that don't command a long-term commitment, then they'll have money freed up to spend on Lars Eller and P.K. Subban after their contracts expire in the off-season.
They'd be maintaining a pretty excellent blue line no matter what. They'd have their goaltender locked up long-term. And once they'd have secured all of that, then they could begin to consider options many would like to see them consider right now with Scott Gomez.
8) For all the talk of what to do with Scott Gomez, the Canadiens are going to exercise the most logical option. That means giving him another chance to prove he can be a part of making them an upper-echelon team. Good Gomez unquestionably helps them establish themselves as one of the best teams in the East. Bad Gomez has them moving sideways or south.
Gauthier intimated it's up to management and the coaching staff to get the best out of a player like Gomez, even if he's well-established and should be able to manage himself given his earnings and his experience.
What that essentially means for Gomez is that the party is over. He won't be trusted to do his own thing and show up to camp ready to go. His situation will have to be monitored and regimented based on how the Canadiens feel it should be going.
If Gomez fails next season, it won't be because he wasn't in good enough shape, or that he didn't maintain his conditioning throughout the season.
He has plenty of incentive to make the adjustments on his own, but if the Canadiens don't intervene, they're surrendering control to someone that hasn't yet earned their trust. They can't afford to give him another chance and not ensure that he is more than prepared to take advantage of it.
9) Before Game Six of the Montreal-Boston series I was sitting with Canadiens PR Director and RDS analyst/former coach Bob Hartley, discussing goaltending for both clubs. Hartley pointed out the obvious--that up until that game, Tim Thomas had done very little to inspire confidence for the Bruins.
We all agreed that Carey Price had essentially done the opposite for his Canadiens.
Beauchamps segued the conversation towards coaching, to suggest that Price's success this season is largely due to Jacques Martin's original commitment to helping the young netminder.
He reminded that Martin's biggest mandate when he was hired was to get Price back on track. One of the first things Martin did after being introduced to Montreal in the off-season of 2009-10 was visit Carey Price on the West Coast.
Under Martin and the core of experienced leaders hired by the Canadiens, Price rededicated himself to working beyond hard, and he proved to everyone that he was more worth the investment in Montreal than Jaroslav Halak was.
For all the talk about Martin and how he handles the young players on his teams, this was quite a year for Price, Subban and Eller--in terms of their progress.
And those who can't stand his tough-love approach should consider that he didn't treat those kids as kids, he treated them as professionals in a man's world. At times when they may have struggled with having to be grown up, at times when they may have needed a father's console they could pick up the phone or turn to Kirk Muller.
10) It's all about balance. Martin doesn't have to coddle anyone when he has Muller and Pearn to soothe bruised egos.
The loss of Muller in that role will certainly be felt, but the Canadiens will find someone with the same skillset and have them apply it in that formula.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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