Morning Habs Talk
by Kevin van Steendelaar on Jan 17, 2012 4:00 AM EST
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The latest Carey Price contract rumors have him turning down a seven-year $49 million deal, in favor of a longer term. Won't happen folks, but we'll put it to a poll as to what you think his deal should be.
The Habs will be back at practice this morning. In the meantime the EOTP crew will be assembling for a podcast later this evening, to discuss the past week's events and where the team is going forward.
In the meantime, a couple quick pieces to mull over your morning coffee.
Jacques Martin speaks, a month after his firing. In the story, by the same guy who opened the can of Mike Cammalleri worms, the former Canadiens coach remains confident that he had the respect of his players.
Oh so this is why he wanted out, the tax break. Oh and his Montreal condo is for sale.
Chris Boucher gives a one game report on a couple guys the Habs could pick up on draft day, and also gives his depth chart grades.
From Les Glourieux to Les Mediocres
Brian LaRose gives his review of the Canadiens past week
The Habs first cars. P.K. Subban was not included, but his car apparently, umm sputtered from time to time
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Carey Price
It stuns me that, with regard to Price and the Canadiens’ future, the only question is 7 years or 10. I like him, and he had a wonderful year last year. One wonderful year. This year, by all accounts, he has been less special; a fair number of opposing goalies have, from what I have read, stolen games from the Canadiens. There have been few games, if any, which Price has stolen for them.
The Canadiens already have a serious salary cap problem; it has hamstrung their dealings ever since Gainey did what he did in the summer of 2009, and Gauthier has only made it worse. Too many long-term contracts for too much money. Untradeable players.
Only the very biggest stars get contracts like the one Price apparently is talking about after one good year. If the Canadiens are listening, it is only because they convinced themselves, when Price was still a baby, that he was the greatest hockey player who had ever lived. Maybe he will be. But he isn’t yet. Moreover, at least some of his success last year may be due to the fact that Martin devised a system that was all about protecting him.
I would offer him 4 or 5 million for 2 or 3 years, and tell him this time is to prove himself. If he does, then he gets the really big money. If he is not amenable, trade him. Lots of teams might give quite a lot for him; I’d bet the Flyers would happily have given Giroux for him last year, when they did not have a goalie. Then the Canadiens could go with a goalie for millions less who probably would be perfectly adequate, especially if the money is used to begin to develop an offense.
If Price cares about the team, and is realistic about just what he has—and hasn’t—done to date, he will not hurt the team’s chances to improve to the extent that the contract he apparently wants will.
There are plenty leaps in here with no real factual support, the biggest of which is believing an unsubstantiated rumour that doesn’t really make much sense.
If you want 30 tweets a day, don't follow me. @ChrisBoyle33
by Chris Boyle on Jan 17, 2012 10:25 AM EST up reply actions
Lines in practice this morning are the same as last game, with Gomez as the fourth-line center, Plekanec on the third line with Blunden (and Bourque). 67-51-72 and 32-81-46.
Should we pencil in another +10 fenwick?
If you want 30 tweets a day, don't follow me. @ChrisBoyle33
by Chris Boyle on Jan 17, 2012 12:26 PM EST up reply actions
Rule #1 of goalie contracts in a salary-capped League: unless that guy’s a future Hall of Famer and consistently posting above-average numbers, don’t give him big term AND dollars. Has Price got enough of an NHL track record to say that? So far I’m only seeing two years of above-average overall SV%, and in looking at it situationally, those two years are also the only ones where he’s in the top 20 of EV SV%, too. So, to me, there’s no reason to think he’s an elite goalie yet: a great rookie year now four years ago, and last season’s MVP performance, are just not enough to warrant a Rinne-level deal. (Rinne’s track record also isn’t enough, and he carries much greater risk due to his age, but I’ve already explored that elsewhere. At least Price is still young enough that he might be that goalie in a couple of years.)
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