Gauthier Has Options
The Montreal Canadiens ended their 2010-11 season on a sour note, losing out to their arch-rivals, the Boston Bruins, in overtime of Game 7 of the first round, but all is not lost as with the end of each season comes renewed hope for the next.
And in the Habs case, there is much to be hopeful for.
The 2010-11 season offered fans and management a new perspective, one that finally included breakthrough performances from home-grown draft picks.
Led by Carey Price, PK Subban and Max Pacioretty, Montreal's management witnessed the emergence of young stars in tandem, something this franchise has been longing for for more than a few seasons.
Adding to the trio of standout performers was a strong mix of support from other youngsters such as Lars Eller(although not a Habs pick), Yannick Weber, David Desharnais(undrafted, signed by Habs) and Ryan White, and for the first time in what seems like ages, Montreal actually appears to have a solid core of young players with which to build the future of their team around.
Enthused by the progression of their in-house talent, Pierre Gauthier is now charged with the task of following up Bob Gainey’s successful rebuild in the summer of ’09 with one of his own in the summer of 2011.
Although Gainey cleaned house two summers ago, he did not financially handcuff the team long into the future. Many will turn to the Gomez(or Spacek) contracts to rebuke that, yet the truth is the Canadiens, with 18 unsigned players, are not in a dire situation whatsoever. Rather, the Habs are actually looking at another opportunity to make themselves better this summer.
Habs Turnover
Due to injuries incurred over the course of the 2010-11 season, the Canadiens actually wound up with 27 players on the roster by seasons end(not including players who wound up in the AHL).
The main cause of the added contracts was due to the team’s need to replace both Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges. Although other injuries to the blue line further complicated matters, forcing Pierre Gauthier into focusing strictly on adding solely to Montreal’s defense, it was the loss of those two key defenders which prompted the Habs GM to keep an eye out for defensemen.
Forced to seek out help on the blue line, the Canadiens added James Wisniewski, Paul Mara and Brent Sopel to a defense corps that included Roman Hamrlik, Jaroslav Spacek, PK Subban, Hal Gill, Yannick Weber and Alex Picard. Although replacing injured blue liners was the reason for all of the defensive acquisitions, the reality is that the result of having so many defensemen in the mix at the end of the year, coupled with what is expected to be a very mild-to-weak free agent market, is actually turning out to be a blessing in disguise.
Having the exclusive negotiation rights to nine defensemen, with the need to fill five spots for next season, has Pierre Gauthier in the best possible position. (And that was before the signing of Rafael Diaz and the rumoured crossing of Alexei Emelin.)
Truthfully, with the amount of talent at their disposal and exclusive negotiation rights with so many defensemen, there’s little to no reason for the Habs to look outside the franchise for defenders in 2011-12.
As far as the offense is concerned though, that’s where the options begin to open up.
Looking ahead to next season, the Habs have but 9 players signed(not including Diaz or Emelin).
They are:
F - Gomez, Cammalleri, Plekanec, Gionta, Moen. Eller
D - Subban, Spacek
G - Price
Having but a third of the roster locked up certainly dictates that Gauthier will be busy this summer, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be spending on free agents in the manner that Gainey did back in 2009.
Instead, Gauthier, who has five (UFA) forwards (four of the top six forwards), one (UFA) defenseman(Spacek), one (RFA) forward(Eller), one (RFA) defender(Subban) and his franchise netminder(Price) locked up, will more than likely look at bringing back most of the players up for contract renewals.
Of course, which of those players is the most important question?
Before including possible players from the AHL or free agents on next season’s roster, it’s key to evaluate which of the 18 remaining free agents(9 UFA, 9 RFA) merit a return to Montreal in 2011-12.
They are:
F - Halpern, Darche(UFA), Kostitsyn, Pouliot, Pacioretty, White, Desharnais, Pyatt(RFA)
D - Markov, Hamrlik, Wisniewski, Sopel, Gill, Mara(UFA), Gorges, Weber, Picard(RFA)
G – Auld(UFA)
Realistically, Gauthier could easily fill out his 2011-12 roster with the players up for new contracts, but with a logjam on defense and a clear need to tinker with the offense, it’s safe to say not everyone will be back.
(All figures provided by Capgeek.com, *except Cap Inflation)
While processing all of the players in the mix for next season, it’s also key to examine the possible budget for 2011-12.
First and foremost, there is the matter of cap space. But even before that, there is the matter of setting the salary cap for 2011-12.
Having reached $59.4 Million in 2010-11, the salary cap ceiling appears ready for another dramatic increase. That probable increase will come courtesy of the NHL’s recently signed TV deal, and $2 Billion in guaranteed revenue coming in over the next 10 years. As a result, that new deal, it would seem, is now hinting at a possible cap increase of almost $5 Million dollars.
If that’s the case, Montreal’s current cap space of $25,313,690 could possibly rise as high as $30,313,690 for next season. (But that is only if the ceiling does indeed hit as high as $64.4 Million.)
While an increase, of whatever amount, will be gladly welcomed by Habs management and ownership, the truth is that they must focus on "what is" and not "what could be."
So, with that in mind, it should be noted that Montreal is still on the hook for another year of salary($500,000 worth) thanks to the buyout of Georges Laraque, and another $68,710 in compromised cap space due to the carryover of certain bonuses.
In total, Montreal will begin with $25.3M in cap space heading into signing season and the need to fill 14 roster spots.
The breakdown is as follows:
The Canadiens
already have:
F - 1C, 1RW, 2C, 2RW, 3C, 3LW
D - 2D, 6D
G - 1G
The Canadiens
will need:
F - 1LW, 2LW, 3RW, 4LW, 4C, 4RW, X
D - 1D, 3D, 4D, 5D, 7D, X
G – 2G
Before getting into the UFA and RFA possibilities on the market, who of the 18 Habs restricted and unrestricted free agents would you resign(you can vote for multiple players)?
With so much at stake this summer, it's evident how important this off-season will be for Pierre Gauthier.
It's his first opportunity as Habs GM to really put his stamp on the team, but also his first opportunity to prove he's up to the task of taking the half-rebuilt roster Gainey handed him in 2009 and turning it into the full blown contender it was expected to be.
Can he do it?
We're about to find out...
***Next up I will provide a full breakdown of the players I think Montreal should resign, including detailed salary projections on the players I feel they should keep, followed by my take on the free agent market and who, if anyone at all, the Canadiens should be targeting.
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