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Briere Makes Gutsy Decision to Join Canadiens |
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When you go through all the tweets and all the things Canadiens fans had to say on message boards regarding the prospect of signing Daniel Briere, you have to consider the guts it took for him to put pen to paper on a contract with the team. Note, he also took less than what he was offered by some other teams to sign here.
Briere's not oblivious to how people might receive him in Montreal after electing to play for the Philadelphia Flyers when he had a chance to join their team (in his prime, no less) and turned the other cheek. He's heard the chorus of boos, especially during that first season, in 2008, after he managed 95 points for the Buffalo Sabres before moving onto the Flyers. They've echoed ever since, whenever Briere's Flyers were in town for a game against the Habs.
The Briere that comes to the Canadiens today is turning 36, coming off--for lack of better words--a brutal season in which he only managed six goals and 10 assists in 34 games with the Flyers. He missed some games due to a concussion and never really found his rhythm as his team failed to make the playoffs.
Inevitably, Briere was recently bought out for the final two years of his eight-year, 52-million dollar contract.
Does he have a message for the doubters; moreover those who continue to harbor great resentment towards him for choosing Philly over Montreal?
"Well, it's not really a message," contemplated the Gatineau, Quebec native. "For me, the Montreal Canadiens have the most passionate fans. It's an honor to play for them; in front of them."
What are his expectations?
"All I'm hoping for is that we'll all be cheering in the same direction when the season starts, and we'll all be pushing along to rack up the wins. That's what I'm looking forward to."
Does he have anything to prove?
"Yes, definitely," Briere affirms. He continued to say, "my whole career--it’s always been about finding the motivation to bounce back. Coming to Montreal makes it really easy. First of all, having the chance to play for the Canadiens; I think there is no better motivation than that."
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Instant analysis:
There's no denying that Briere's age coupled with his clear statistical decline makes his signing a gamble at best. That said, it's a low-risk gamble.
The Canadiens are not expected to compete for a Stanley Cup this season--not as they're currently composed. Marc Bergevin has attempted to supplant the scoring his team may have lost with Michael Ryder's move to free agency, more importantly, adding a player that's a proven playoff performer.
That might be understating it. Briere is one of the best playoff players of his generation, currently sixth among active players in career playoff points with 109 in 108 games.
A closer look at the numbers shows that in his last three playoff appearances, he's scored 25 goals and 27 assists in 45 games. To give you an idea of how productive that is, the last three playoff goal-scoring leaders (Patrick Sharp, Anze Kopitar and David Krejci) combined for 30 goals in 65 games.
In Briere's most recent playoffs, in 2011-12, he scored eight goals and added five assists in just 11 games. And no, it wasn't all against Marc-Andre Fleury in that tumultuous first round between the Penguins and Flyers. Briere managed three goals in five games against the eventual Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Devils. Over the playoffs, it was eight goals on 26 shots for a freakish 30.8 shooting percentage, for a guy that's only shot under 14% in two of 10 playoff appearances (not including his rookie season with the Coyotes, in which he appeared in one playoff game and was held off the scoresheet).
The word is clutch. The more important the games are, the better this guy seems to play, and that's been consistent throughout his career. You'd think that would translate well to playing under the pressure Montreal will offer on a nightly basis coupled with the pressure he's putting on himself to prove that last season's decline was an anomaly.
Does this move negatively impact Bergevin's long-term plan to continue building a team that's more suited for perennial Stanley Cup contention?
Not really.
Is Briere taking a role away from a prospect on the farm who could fill a position in the top nine?
No.
What shouldn't be ignored is the resentment Canadiens fans have for Marc Bergevin for making this move--adding 5"10, 180lb Briere to a forward lineup that includes diminutives Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta, Brendan Gallagher and David Desharnais as go-to offensive threats; the move, seemingly juxtaposed with Bergevin's admission that the Canadiens clearly need to get bigger moving forward.
If the Canadiens flop in the regular season, if Briere fails to redeem himself, we all know where the fingers will be pointed next summer. If they fulfill their promise as a playoff hopeful, there's a strong chance we're going to see the merit of Bergevin's decision to sign Briere to a two-year deal.
The four million dollar annual average is certainly digestible with the cap room the Canadiens have created by buying out Scott Gomez and Tomas Kaberle. Though things are a little tighter next summer--especially with P.K. Subban on the cusp of a blockbuster contract--the cap is expected to climb significantly. The Canadiens are also likely to move on from Gionta, Andrei Markov and Francis Bouillon once their contracts expire after this season. This will free up space to deal with pending unrestricted free agents, Alexei Emelin and Raphael Diaz should they wish to keep them.
Lastly, we're less than two hours away from the unrestricted free agent market opening. Bergevin hasn't made any proclamations that he's done putting together this year's edition of the Canadiens, who have a little bit north of five million dollars in space to play with, with 21 players committed to their roster.
Bergevin may be quieter on free agency, but don't be surprised if he's audible on the trade market. Once he's finished tinkering, that'll be a more suitable time to assess his decision to bring Briere in on this contract.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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