Memo to Geoff Molson
Mr. Molson:
I have written this blog to discuss my blueprint for the Habs future. Since this is a forward-looking statement, several hypotheses will be elaborated upon without any documentary evidence.
I can unequivocally state that we have had a dismal year caused by the recessionary actions of Jacques Martin and Pierre Gauthier.
Therefore, we must look to the future, and since we will be distributors of excess surplus before the trade deadline, the financial considerations of which assets we will divest and what should be the asking price is of primary importance?
However, before my exhaustive analysis of the trade possibilities let us discuss some past achievements by the company and its cup winning managers.
History
The legendary Sam Pollock did not have an unblemished record as a General Manager. He traded Red Berenson for Garry Peters and Ted Taylor. What, are you kidding? He traded Danny Grant, Claude Larose, and Bob Murdoch for Dave Gardner. Grant would score 50 goals for Detroit. He even traded Mickey Redmond a future 65 goal scorer, Chico Resch a future steady goalie, Jude Drouin and Andre Boudrias solid centers, and even Bill Plager of the Plager brothers. Maybe his worst blunder was that he drafted Mark Napier before Mike Bossy. Egad.
However, and a big however some of his trades were doozers. He traded both Redmond brothers, Mickey in a package deal with two other players and got the Big M in return, and he traded a first pick (brother Dick Redmond) to Minnesota for their first pick who happened to be Steve Shutt. Garry Monahan for Peter Mahovlich wasn't bad, the Little M was never appreciated but he was vital in the 70's Stanley Cup wins. Then there were the legendary trades, the very first trade Pollock made was Guy Allen and Paul Reid to the Bruins for some Cornell goalie egghead named Ken Dryden. I wish we had the TSN Tradecenter app music then. How about Ernie Hickie and a 1st round pick to the California Golden Seals for Francois Lacombe and a 1st round pick. Who knew the Seals would finish last?? Well Sam did trade players to the second to last team the Kings to make sure the Seals finished last. Okay so we got Guy Lafleur but the Seals got Chris Oddliefson even steven as Don Corleone or Steve Jobs would say.
What would you think of trading Rod Schutt and getting Mark Hunter in return. How about trading Rick Chartraw for Claude Lemieux? An old Guy Lapointe for Sergio Momesso? For someone who was not fondly remembered Irving Grundman did make some good trades. However, the trade that defined Grundman was the Ryan Walter and Rick Green trade for Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. This trade was not as one-sided as some believed. Green and Walter played important roles in the 86 Cup win.
Serge Savard had some ups and downs on the trade market. Some of his worst trades were Doug Wickenheiser, Gilbert Delorme and Greg Paslawski for Perry Turnbull. WTF? Of course there was the much maligned Denis Savard for Chris Chelios trade. At least the Hawks made a bad choice with the second round pick we gave up as well. Who can forget John Leclair, Eric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne for Mark Recchi. God help us. Claude Lemieux for Sylvain Turgeon no no no.
Some of Savard's better trades were Rick Wamsley a 2nd round pick (Tony Hrkac) and a 3rd round pick ( Robert Dirk) to St Louis for 1st round pick (Shayne Corson) and a 2nd round pick (Stephane Richer). Where have these scouts gone? A major trade was getting Bobby Smith even though we gave up a lot with Keith Acton and Mark Napier. For his second Cup victory Savard got Damphousse from Edmonton for Shayne Corson, and Brian Bellows from Minnesota for Russ Courtnall. Kirk Muller for Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske helped the cause in 93.
The Present Day Habs
What is our strategy to become an elite team again? Let me channel Sam Pollock and I will let you know what he thinks:
1) Unrestricted free agents
We have several key men whose value is directly related to the habs making the playoffs. Since it is clear the habs will not make it, we have to consider divesting of these assets since they will become unrestricted free agents next year.
A) Hal Gill has clearly lost a step and being that he is a valuable playoff performer, a team in need of some defensive intangibles could possibly give up a second or third round draft choice.
B) Travis Moen has had a very good year, but his lack of scoring and the fact he is slightly under the heavyweight calibre big man makes him expendable. Like Gill, Moen has shown value in the playoffs and should get us a high draft choice in the same range.
C) AK46 is now almost 27 and this is his prime. I can't see him getting better. What you see is what you get. He is a 20 goal scorer and he is inconsistent. If we have to trade him we better not get what we got for his brother. Should we sign him? Channeling Slick Sam his suggestion is if we trade him he should be packaged with an established player for something of value. Otherwise sign him now. If he refuses to sign then trade him. We do not want him to become another Michael Ryder who signed as a free agent in Boston and helped eliminate us last year.
2) The Overpaid Floaters or Depreciating Assets
A) Even Slick Sam has no solution for Scott Gomez, Andrei Markov, and Tomas Kaberle, we are stuck with them even though what Gomez does is underappreciated. Markov may be done and should be written off.
B) Tomas Plekanec is 29 going on 30. He is now in a downward cycle of his career. He has a rich contract. His stats and play has been steadily deteriorating. The diminutive David Desharnais has taken over Plek's role on the powerplay and as the offensive center. Slick Sam thinks this is the time to package Pleks with a few players and get a good player with stature (height) in return.
C) Brian Gionta is now 33. Unfortunately he is injured or we could try and unload him and his rich contract. I know he is the captain, but he has looked a shell of his former self in the first half of the season. It will be difficult to trade him with that inflated contract, his size , and his age.
D) Yannick Weber has some talent but what the habs don't need is another pint-sized Dman. We got the likes of Jared Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu on the scene in a few years. Slick Sam says package him with another player or trade him for a second or third round pick. After all Slick Sam traded Weber's clone John Van Boxmeer in 1973.
E) The habs should have no untouchables including the likes of PK Subban, Max Pacioretty, and Carey Price. Unfortunately, I cannot trust the present management to trade any of these players for players of equal value. PK Subban for Taylor Hall umm let me think about. Carey Price for Jonathan Quick look at their stats and you tell me.
3) Players Wanted
A) Anyone over 6 foot who can skate and score the occasional goal.
B) An elite player who speaks Swahili or any other language.
C) Players coveted include Eric Staal, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan.
D) Realistic trades Tomas Plekanec for Mikko Koivu- Koivu is taller with similar stats
E) Realistic trades Travis Moen for Dustin Penner- Only 30 Penner is having a terrible year fits right in
F) Realistic Trade Ak46 for Ales Hemsky and a draft pick if we don't sign Hemsky- both UFA's at year end. AK46 is younger and may be more consistent.
G) The mother of all trades- Plekanec, Ak46, and Carey Price for Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick.
Mr. Molson Slick Sam has decreed it.
I have written this blog to discuss my blueprint for the Habs future. Since this is a forward-looking statement, several hypotheses will be elaborated upon without any documentary evidence.
I can unequivocally state that we have had a dismal year caused by the recessionary actions of Jacques Martin and Pierre Gauthier.
Therefore, we must look to the future, and since we will be distributors of excess surplus before the trade deadline, the financial considerations of which assets we will divest and what should be the asking price is of primary importance?
However, before my exhaustive analysis of the trade possibilities let us discuss some past achievements by the company and its cup winning managers.
History
The legendary Sam Pollock did not have an unblemished record as a General Manager. He traded Red Berenson for Garry Peters and Ted Taylor. What, are you kidding? He traded Danny Grant, Claude Larose, and Bob Murdoch for Dave Gardner. Grant would score 50 goals for Detroit. He even traded Mickey Redmond a future 65 goal scorer, Chico Resch a future steady goalie, Jude Drouin and Andre Boudrias solid centers, and even Bill Plager of the Plager brothers. Maybe his worst blunder was that he drafted Mark Napier before Mike Bossy. Egad.
However, and a big however some of his trades were doozers. He traded both Redmond brothers, Mickey in a package deal with two other players and got the Big M in return, and he traded a first pick (brother Dick Redmond) to Minnesota for their first pick who happened to be Steve Shutt. Garry Monahan for Peter Mahovlich wasn't bad, the Little M was never appreciated but he was vital in the 70's Stanley Cup wins. Then there were the legendary trades, the very first trade Pollock made was Guy Allen and Paul Reid to the Bruins for some Cornell goalie egghead named Ken Dryden. I wish we had the TSN Tradecenter app music then. How about Ernie Hickie and a 1st round pick to the California Golden Seals for Francois Lacombe and a 1st round pick. Who knew the Seals would finish last?? Well Sam did trade players to the second to last team the Kings to make sure the Seals finished last. Okay so we got Guy Lafleur but the Seals got Chris Oddliefson even steven as Don Corleone or Steve Jobs would say.
What would you think of trading Rod Schutt and getting Mark Hunter in return. How about trading Rick Chartraw for Claude Lemieux? An old Guy Lapointe for Sergio Momesso? For someone who was not fondly remembered Irving Grundman did make some good trades. However, the trade that defined Grundman was the Ryan Walter and Rick Green trade for Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. This trade was not as one-sided as some believed. Green and Walter played important roles in the 86 Cup win.
Serge Savard had some ups and downs on the trade market. Some of his worst trades were Doug Wickenheiser, Gilbert Delorme and Greg Paslawski for Perry Turnbull. WTF? Of course there was the much maligned Denis Savard for Chris Chelios trade. At least the Hawks made a bad choice with the second round pick we gave up as well. Who can forget John Leclair, Eric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne for Mark Recchi. God help us. Claude Lemieux for Sylvain Turgeon no no no.
Some of Savard's better trades were Rick Wamsley a 2nd round pick (Tony Hrkac) and a 3rd round pick ( Robert Dirk) to St Louis for 1st round pick (Shayne Corson) and a 2nd round pick (Stephane Richer). Where have these scouts gone? A major trade was getting Bobby Smith even though we gave up a lot with Keith Acton and Mark Napier. For his second Cup victory Savard got Damphousse from Edmonton for Shayne Corson, and Brian Bellows from Minnesota for Russ Courtnall. Kirk Muller for Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske helped the cause in 93.
The Present Day Habs
What is our strategy to become an elite team again? Let me channel Sam Pollock and I will let you know what he thinks:
1) Unrestricted free agents
We have several key men whose value is directly related to the habs making the playoffs. Since it is clear the habs will not make it, we have to consider divesting of these assets since they will become unrestricted free agents next year.
A) Hal Gill has clearly lost a step and being that he is a valuable playoff performer, a team in need of some defensive intangibles could possibly give up a second or third round draft choice.
B) Travis Moen has had a very good year, but his lack of scoring and the fact he is slightly under the heavyweight calibre big man makes him expendable. Like Gill, Moen has shown value in the playoffs and should get us a high draft choice in the same range.
C) AK46 is now almost 27 and this is his prime. I can't see him getting better. What you see is what you get. He is a 20 goal scorer and he is inconsistent. If we have to trade him we better not get what we got for his brother. Should we sign him? Channeling Slick Sam his suggestion is if we trade him he should be packaged with an established player for something of value. Otherwise sign him now. If he refuses to sign then trade him. We do not want him to become another Michael Ryder who signed as a free agent in Boston and helped eliminate us last year.
2) The Overpaid Floaters or Depreciating Assets
A) Even Slick Sam has no solution for Scott Gomez, Andrei Markov, and Tomas Kaberle, we are stuck with them even though what Gomez does is underappreciated. Markov may be done and should be written off.
B) Tomas Plekanec is 29 going on 30. He is now in a downward cycle of his career. He has a rich contract. His stats and play has been steadily deteriorating. The diminutive David Desharnais has taken over Plek's role on the powerplay and as the offensive center. Slick Sam thinks this is the time to package Pleks with a few players and get a good player with stature (height) in return.
C) Brian Gionta is now 33. Unfortunately he is injured or we could try and unload him and his rich contract. I know he is the captain, but he has looked a shell of his former self in the first half of the season. It will be difficult to trade him with that inflated contract, his size , and his age.
D) Yannick Weber has some talent but what the habs don't need is another pint-sized Dman. We got the likes of Jared Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu on the scene in a few years. Slick Sam says package him with another player or trade him for a second or third round pick. After all Slick Sam traded Weber's clone John Van Boxmeer in 1973.
E) The habs should have no untouchables including the likes of PK Subban, Max Pacioretty, and Carey Price. Unfortunately, I cannot trust the present management to trade any of these players for players of equal value. PK Subban for Taylor Hall umm let me think about. Carey Price for Jonathan Quick look at their stats and you tell me.
3) Players Wanted
A) Anyone over 6 foot who can skate and score the occasional goal.
B) An elite player who speaks Swahili or any other language.
C) Players coveted include Eric Staal, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan.
D) Realistic trades Tomas Plekanec for Mikko Koivu- Koivu is taller with similar stats
E) Realistic trades Travis Moen for Dustin Penner- Only 30 Penner is having a terrible year fits right in
F) Realistic Trade Ak46 for Ales Hemsky and a draft pick if we don't sign Hemsky- both UFA's at year end. AK46 is younger and may be more consistent.
G) The mother of all trades- Plekanec, Ak46, and Carey Price for Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick.
Mr. Molson Slick Sam has decreed it.
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