Hindsight is 20/20, but, c'mon...
Ok, ok, ok, I get it.
There is a backlash over the Halak trade.
Yea, people are peeved that Gauthier didn't let Jaro float around on the market a little longer instead of moving him only 8 days before the draft.
It's tough not to argue, yet, even so, while people clamor for Pierre Gauthier's head because Jaroslav Halak was "the real deal" and he let him get away, I simply cannot understand why the criticisms should be so harsh.
Yes, Jaro signed at a cap-friendly $3.75 million in St.Louis. But is that cap-friendly in Montreal? Likely not as the Habs current goaltender, Carey Price, is much younger than Halak and will still command a smaller salary, likely at or under the $3 million range. If that likely scenario plays out, people must remember that the Habs will have their goaltending duo locked up for around the same cost of Jaroslav Halak.
Sure, the Habs coulda, woulda, shoulda, traded Price and signed Halak. Yet, even after all of the lucid and logical explanations as to why Jaro was moved, people still don't seem to get it.
The fact is that, for the amount Jaroslav signed for, had he been offer-sheeted, the Canadiens would have recieved a 1st and a 3rd rounder as compensation in the 2011 draft.
And what did they actually get in return for Halak?
...yup, a former 1st rounder and a 3rd rounder.
Granted, had Halak still be available at the draft there would have definitely been a few more teams interested in upping the ante for the Slovak netminder, yet Gauthier and the Habs had bigger fish to fry, namely Tomas Plekanec, and much more than just next year's roster to consider.
In trading away Halak, the Habs did themselves one better than an offer sheet by landing not only the 1st and 3rd rounders that would have been compensation had Halak been offer sheeted, but ones who are clearly much more NHL ready than whatever would have come Montreal's way at the 2011 draft.
Now, the argument over Halak and Price should be over and done with now because the truth of the matter is that, now that they play on separate teams, we will finally get to see who the better 'starter' is.
My money is, and always has been, on Carey.
No slight to Jaro, who propelled himself to NHL star status from a lowly 9th round draft selection, but I believed in the choice Carey Price as the franchise goaltender and, ever since he was drafted, have been willing to wait the amount of time it takes for Carey to develop into his true potential.
Do I believe that Price has met his potential? No chance.
Carey has much more to learn and experience before he will be a mature and elite goatlender in this league, yet based on his attributes and historical penchant for being a big-time goaltender, I'm willing to bet it won't be long before he cements his status as one of the top 'tenders in the NHL.
In the case of the 25 year old Halak, I am much more inclined to decree that he is far closer to topping out on his talent levels. Not to say he won't be good, rather, he won't be getting much better.
Carey clearly can get alot better and therein lies one of the major reasons why I would rather wager the farm on the younger goatender with higher cieling.
Now, moving on from the goaltending situation which, by the way - in summary - is a cap-logical improvement(Price + Auld = [likely] $4 mil vs Halak +backup = [min] $4.25 mil) over keeping both Price and Halak(likely $7 mil +), Pierre Gauthier made another logical move.
In shipping out a locker-room disturbance, Sergei Kostitsyn, for the opportunity to sign a young center and young goaltender, Gauthier made an easily accepted deal that was worth it, no matter what, in virtually every Hab fans mind.
Sergei had run himself out of town with his antics, it was only a matter of time before he wound up elsewhere. As for the upgrade part, although Dan Ellis got away by being slightly too far out of the Canadiens budgetary reaches, the fact that the Habs locked up Dustin Boyd makes it all the more worth it.
Boyd, a product of the Calgary and Nashville systems, but more importantly, the rugged and physical Western Conference, brings a much needed element to the Habs bottom 6 and is easily an improvement over Glen Metropolit, regardless of how great Metro was during his tenure in Montreal. The fact remains that Boyd has offensive upside, is a strong, physical center and is a decade younger than Metro, thus fitting the Habs move towards getting younger.
Further to the upgrade in Boyd over Metropolit(cheaper, younger, better potential/upside), the fact that Lars Eller is pretty much NHL ready after racking up 57 points in 70 games in his professional North American debut last season in the AHL, speaks to why Dominic Moore was not retained.
Despite the Canadiens parting with a 2nd round pick for the services of Moore at last year's trade deadline, the reality is that Eller is better than Moore and will cost (more-or-less) the same thing as retaining Dominic. On top of that, the best Moore has ever accomplished in his NHL career was a 13 goal campaign and, as honorable as that is,we can all agree that Eller has alot more offense in store for Habs fans than Moore ever would.
Eller will be the Canadiens biggest wildcard, but, by the sounds of things, is prepared in every way to be a regular contributor at the NHL level.
I won't guarantee things, but I have no problem in saying that, in short time, Lars Eller will be the biggest factor(and best player) involved in that trade.
Ian Schultz will also prove many wrong. He may seem like he is further away than Eller, who is likely slated as Moore's replacement as the 3rd line center, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see Ian finding his way to Montreal sometime during this winter.
In conclusion, it's way too hot for all of these immediate hindsight debates.
The players will let us know as soon as the seasn gets under way whether or not the moves that were made this summer were worth it or not.
In the meantime, you can argue all you like, but the truth remains that the duo of Price/Auld is an upgrade(financially) over having to keep both Carey and Jaro. Plus, Carey may wind up being much better than Halak ever could be. On top of that, although the Habs lost Moore and the 2nd rounder it cost to get him, Lars Eller is easily an upgrade over the hard-working 3rd line centerman. And the same can be said of the younger replacement for Glen Metropolit, Dustin Boyd. Both Boyd and Eller cost the Habs less in salary while making the team younger and offering the Canadiens a chance to have 2 low-cost, high-impact players.
The rest of the puzzle will solve itself, but add to that mix the fact that the Canadiens retained the 2nd best centerman available on the free market, outside of Patrick Marleau who re-upeed with the Sharks, in Tomas Plekanec, and I have a very hard time in agreeing with all of the negative criticism over Montreal's moves this summer.
There will always be those who say that there were bigger and better things available, but that is always the case.
Let me just put it to you this way Habs fans, at least this Halak deal is no 'Roy & Keane to the Avs for a bunch whatchamacallits and whozits'.
When all this dust settles and training camp comes around, that is when the heat will be turned all the way up on these arguments. In the meantime though, I highly recommend that fans keep themselves cool by talking about what these new additions will bring to the team as opposed to what could have been.
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