Habs approval poll: The first year of the Gauthier Era

Allowing Boucher to sign with Tampa is no blemish on Gauthier. It is standard practice among GM’s to allow any member of an organization to better themselves career wise when opportunities present themselves. It is greatly frowned upon when a GM tries to roadblock opportunity, such as what Bryan Murray attempted to do with Peter Chiarelli.

I wasn’t enthusiastic at all about the move a year ago as I wasn’t interested in continuity from the Gainey era for the next GM, but Gauthier showed his value with every move so far. The only thing that didn’t work out well is the Kostitsyn trade that netted absolutely nothing, but his hands were tied on this one.

I’m happy with his moves. I’m not privy to what exactly has gone on with the scouting department, which has changed significantly since his arrival, but I guess we’ll find out in a few years how that is turning out.

His next big test will be balancing the long term and short term needs of the team’s defensive core. It’s no secret that in order for the Habs to become a contender, the defenisve core will have to be the key: there are no Crosbys or Ovies to build around here, and our two most talented skaters are defensemen. Building depth at centre and on D seems to be his focus, and I must say that is exactly what I’d do if I were in a similar position, so I’m supportive of that.

Heh, you missed the Lapierre trade, Kev. It’s amazing you forgot the loss of such a key player like Max. lol

Gauthier doesn’t sit on his hands and the Wisniewski trade is a perfect example. Considering all the injuries this team has performed quite well.

Also considering the team’s run last spring, the only thing I can knock him for is not re-signing Moore. Sure he’s more money than Halpern, but the thing is he formed a good bond with the core of the team and had some clutch goals — something we could have built on with this year’s playoffs.

Considering the timing of his takeover, and the multitude of difficult decisions he’s had to make, it’s hard not to admire what Gauthier has done. He made a low risk, high reward move to get Dominic Moore last year, and then did the difficult, unpopular thing by trading Halak for an organizational need, and signing Price to a very reasonable contract (not to mention Plekanec which was also an excellent signing).

A hallmark of a good GM is being able to sign good players off the reclamation pile for cheap, and Gauthier did just that with Halpern and to a lesser extent (because I’m not a fan of his) Picard. He also rewarded the hardworking Darche, which I think sends a good message to the kids in Hamilton; when you work as hard as him, we’ll call you up.

The most important thing about what Gauthier has done thus far, is that he’s made the team better, shown by their record, while also boosting the talent level of our players under the age of 23. Adding Bournival and Eller may not seem that effective now, but in 2-5 years those are both going to look like steals.

I’m undecided, but looking positive

When Gauthier took over from Gainey I was disappointed, believing that the team would be heading in the same direction as they had under Gainey, but in less capable hands. In the past year Gauthier has shown himself to be as capable as Gainey, and in some areas more astute.

As you mentioned Kevin, his depth moves had been good. Trading for Moore was a decent move and signing Halpern was tremendous. This is one area where I think Gauthier might be a better GM than Gainey was. The emergence of the bottom-6 bargain didn’t really happen until the last couple of years with the salary cap squeezing them out. Nonetheless, Gauthier is taking advantage of it and hopefully he does so again this off-season if the opportunity is still there.

For me the Kostitsyn trade is the one blemish. Yes, Kostitsyn had no or little value but the trade looks like a negative-value return to me. Both players the Habs got were Unrestricted Free Agents, and Boyd in his time with the big club was abysmal. Yes, Boyd was a little unlucky with the Habs’ shooting and save percentage when he was on the ice, but the Habs were also getting killed in scoring chances when he was out there as well. It doesn’t help when you’re playing with Lapierre and Pyatt, but I think the Habs may have been better off having him go play in Europe than make that trade again. Of course, I liked the trade when it was made (because Boyd looked like an upgrade on Lapierre & Pyatt for me and Kostitsyn was a “problem child who couldn’t be fixed”), so I guess I can’t be too critical.

Going forward, how Andrei Kostitsyn is handled is going to play a significant role in my decision on where I stand on Gauthier. Kostitsyn is ridiculously undervalued by most media and the general fanbase, but he is a 2-way top-6 forward who can handle tough minutes against the opposition’s best all while on a decent contract. I believe much of the bad rap for him comes from the disruptive player Sergei was last season, yet Andrei has never been a disruptive influence around the team as far as I can recall. I cannot conceive of a trade of Kostitsyn where the Habs net equal-or-better value, so my hope is that they hold onto him at least until he hits Unrestricted Free Agency and then go from there. If the Habs aren’t interested in re-signing him when he’s an UFA, and there isn’t much of a market for him, I can’t shake the feeling that Detroit will sign him to what will be one hell of a bargain contract.