Canadiens Do Well At Deadline + Pacioretty Speaks + Captain Change? (Hemsky)

Hemsky

Canadiens Do Well At Deadline + Pacioretty Speaks + Captain Change?

By Brandon Smillie

Feb 27, 2018 • 9:16 pm

0comment-bubble

The Habs did well this trade deadline in the moves they did make. The moves that didn’t happen range from “disappointing… to “oh well….

With the large fracture in the fanbase right now it was easy to find those that weren’t happy with anything that happened this trade deadline simply because it was Marc Bergevin making the moves. This should show those fans that perhaps people don’t make every decision you think should happen and that doesn’t mean the decisions are bad, or that they or you are right.

People do the best they can and someone who puts hundreds of millions of dollars into a hockey club definitely cares about his clubs direction. G Molson believes in Bergevin and the crew of managers he has selected. I think that despite not being able to find a trade partner for M Pacioretty the Canadiens had a fairly successful trade deadline.

The Habs started things early by trading Jerebek for a Washington Capital’s 5th rounder, which they subsequently flipped for promising offensive D man Mike Reilly from Minnesota (where he was buried on the depth chart.)

The 24 year old Reilly had a fantastic NCAA career with Minnesota where he had 89 points (18G) in 117 games. Take out his rookie campaign and he had 15 Goals and 60 Assists in 80 games. He has split the last 3 seasons between Iowa of the AHL and Minnesota Wild. In the AHL he has 11 G and 43 A in 103 games. At the NHL level he has 4 G and 14 A in 84 games. The left shooting defender has reached a point where he needs his shot and the Canadiens have room for him so I presume we will be seeing more of Reilly this year and next.

The Canadiens then dealt Plekanec to Toronto for a 2018 2nd round pick, K Rychel, and R Valiev. The 2nd was good enough to me, but the addition of Rychel could be a solid bottom 6 add if he can improve his speed (otherwise he’s an AHL player) and the scouting reports on Valiev indicate he is ready for his NHL shot with some saying he could be a 5-6 D right now.

So the Canadiens, who’s D clearly wasn’t that good this year with the addition Alzner (who I like), Schlemko, Davidson, Morrow, and Jerabek, added two young defensemen. One with good offensive potential who was waiting for his shot, and one who’s a defensive D who was also waiting for his shot. Good to bring in guys with potential who are motivated. I never liked the additions of Morrow and Davidson and I would argue that they were the Habs worst D man whenever they suited up. Yes, they had their moments, but they were easily looked past due to brutal defensive play and no ability to pass.

So far so good in my opinion. I don’t even know how Bergevin managed to get a 4th for Morrow, but good on him.

Not the blockbusters we all look for on deadline day, but these weren’t bad moves at all. Bergevin improved his draft position while acquiring a couple defensemen that could end up surprising us a bit.

Many people, including myself, were of the opinion that Max Pacioretty’s time in Montreal should end at the deadline. The number of 1st round picks being traded for mid-bottom lineup players was staggering, but there were no high end prospects moved at all.

The highest profile prospect to change teams happened in the Sens-Pens trade and was a goaltender, who are notoriously difficult to project. The change in NHL management culture was clear yesterday: Picks and mid level prospects only, death grip on high potential youth. That’s todays NHL, a kid can come in and play with speed and stick without having to worry about some plug who’s only job is to destroy careers with cheap hits and fights.

I love the direction, but unfortunately it meant that no teams could afford to take on a Max Pacioretty or Erik Karlsson for that matter. Considering that Karlsson is arguably the best defender in the NHL and no one stepped up to empty the wallet for him tells you something.

These players don’t go to market often but despite that GM’s were terrified to trade fair value for them. It seems the days of 2 1st round picks plus prospects for stars are gone, unless they are 23 and under. If I was a fan of a team that was in the midst of a big Cup run and my GM couldn’t deal a fist full of picks and a couple prospects to add a 70 pt D or W under 30 I would be furious.

A lot of GM’s must have been shaking in their loafers yesterday and its sad that they couldn’t do right by their teams and fanbases. Strange.

When looking at the deals happening yesterday, Pacioretty and Karlsson value must have skyrocketed. So, without a couple 1sts and a couple elite prospects then these guys stayed put until the summer. I fully expect both players to be dealt at the draft, or before, though. Both teams need to restock the cupboards a bit and both teams will likely be reluctant to give the players the contracts their agents will be able to find for them.

I don’t understand why the Senators would deal Karlsson though, but that situation is more because of Monty Burns signing the cheques in Ottawa.

So now the price for Pacioretty and his one cost controlled season will likely be a mid first and a couple elite prospects this summer and that should be a palatable price for a GM looking to bring some excitement to his team heading into the next season.

On the Pacioretty subject….

PACIORETTY SPEAKS

After the Canadiens lost 1-0 to the Flyers in a Shoot Out Pacioretty had some interesting quotes. Credit to @AllHabs on Twitter for the transcription.

Pacioretty speaks to how this has been very difficult on his family and his kids. He further stated that he never requested a trade so that was added pressure from some fake news that was seeking hits and clicks.

Pacioretty seems happy to be a Canadien and took responsibility for his role in this years nightmare of a season. It is a refreshing glimpse into the mindset of a player going through one of these scenarios and not just they typical canned responses the media always gets.

It does show me though that perhaps if Pacioretty remains a Canadien next season he should likely be replaced as Captain.

Put the pitchforks down folks, I’m not slamming Patch. But he clearly is an emotional player and we have seen that come through in his game as well over the years. The Canadiens have two players capable of handling the media nonsense with a “I could care less… attitude in Gallagher and Weber and the reigns should be handed over for the betterment of Pacioretty and the Canadiens.

No one should have any issue with those two as the Canadiens Captain for the next 5+ years. They give 110% no matter what and do the tough work very effectively. Pacioretty can return to being the goal scoring winger without the added pressure. Win all around in the locker room.

DEADLINE DISAPPOINTMENTS

I would have liked to see Benn and Niemi moved out for some mid picks, but if there was no market then it is what it is. I struggle to understand how Davidson got a 3rd despite not being an NHL capable defenseman and Benn couldn’t land the same.

Niemi I thought was going to be dealt for sure. His season in MTL has been fantastic by his standards and seemed to be a good add for a team looking to go deep, but apparently I was wrong or he wasn’t for sale. With the Price injury maybe Bergevin felt it was better for Lindgren to have a Cup winner as his training partner for the remainder of the year and with the likely return on Niemi a late round pick I can understand keeping him.

I would have loved to see Pacioretty move for a combo of a 1st, 2nd, and someone like Vilardi/Thomas/Kryou/Borgstrom but it just wasn’t possible this year. In the summer it could happen or at the draft when GM’s are under some new orders from their handlers, but not yesterday.

To those disappointed I would say I share your frustration. To those losing their minds I say “Chill Out…. I would rather see no deal than a bad deal. I’ll call it the Sakic Principle. I was very vocal in my criticism of J Sakic’s handling of the Matt Duchene situation. I thought he was destroying his asset.

Well, he eventually found a GM crazy enough to make the deal and ended up getting much more than I, or many others, expected for the top 6 C who’s intensity level is “Meh… and is extremely streaky.

This could happen this summer as well. Consider that the Pacioretty is somewhat of a local boy to the New York teams. Now also consider the Rangers have 3 first round picks and a few pretty good prospects. Could they be a new trade partner for the Habs in the summer? Certainly. Would they have made sense at the deadline? Nope.

Let’s just give Pacioretty the respect he deserves in what’s likely to be his last few games as the Canadiens Captain and trust the management team is doing their best for the Club. This trade deadline was not a bad one for the Habs. It’s even better when you consider there was already rumors that Jerabek and Plekanec have plans to return to the Habs in the summer.

So quit with booing the captain at the games FFS. The season isn’t his fault and he doesn’t deserve the disrespect from the peanut gallery drunk on Molson beers.

Should he be dealt for the big picture of the Canadiens? Yes.

Should he be disrespected and mistreated by the fanbase and media on his way out? F No. Grow up a bit.

Let’s focus on seeing what the kids can do because we are already seeing a silver lining on the blue line with the play of V Mete and N Juuslen. Add a healthy Weber to that with Petry and Alzner and the blue line is virtually set for next season, and will be better than this years (yes, I said it already).

The keys now are landing an impact player in the top 5 at the draft that is possibly able to step in immediately and dealing Pacioretty for a elite C prospect and some good picks.

If you’re going to the games try to act with some class otherwise it’s another reason for elite UFA’s to not consider MTL as the awesome hockey destination it is, and there are enough deterrents already.

Oh, and don’t forget that the Habs management half of you want fired drafted the top Center on this years best NCAA team at #25 last year. He’s 19 years old (as of January 3, 2018), 6’02…, and 183 lbs with 9 G and 17 A in 28 games. If he was in this years draft he would be top 10 for sure. Timmins, Dudley, and Bergevin are known league wide for their ability to find talent and they have 5 picks in the top 60 as of today. Let them do their thing, they did pretty damn good last year.

Go Habs Go!

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article