2011 NHL Offseason Thread (Draft, Trades, Free Agent Signings, etc...)

[Doc Holliday]

Blockbuster signing by the Habs

The Montreal Canadiens signed defenceman Josh Gorges to a one-year contract on Friday.

Gorges had a goal and six assists in 36 games last season. He had 18 penalty minutes and averaged 21:10 seconds of ice time per game.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Josh Gorges for the 2011-12 season,” said Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier in a statement. “He is a very reliable defenceman for our club.”

The 26-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., has played with Montreal for six seasons.

Gorges suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee on December 26 at Long Island.

“Josh is recovering extremely well from his knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for half of the regular season and the playoffs,” said Gauthier. “We look forward to seeing him at training camp.”

Well done, Mr. Gauthier. Well done indeed......

 

[The_Expanding_Man]

Gorges is a good signing

If he plays to his potential he will get a multi year contract at $3 mil+ next year.

We need one more signing: a center who can win face-offs and kill penalties.

Then we load up at the trade deadline and go deep in the playoffs.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Good that he will be back, but not sure about the one year term??? Why only one year? He will now be a UFA after this season and free to go to the higgest bidder. Raises many questions here.

Is his knee worse off than they think?

Does he want out of Mtl?

Did he want long term and was not offered that?

I doubt his knee is the problem, simply because markov has now had 2 major injuries and gauthier threw him a blank check so???? I think what this comes down to is subban and price are due huge raises next offseason and Georges might be the odd man out, or wants out.

If he plays to his potential he will get a multi year contract at $3 mil+ next year.

We need one more signing: a center who can win face-offs and kill penalties.

Then we load up at the trade deadline and go deep in the playoffs.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Draper retires, Red Wings rebuild underway

The long and successful NHL playing career of Kris Draper is over.

The Detroit Red Wings have called a news conference for Tuesday in Detroit where Draper will announce his retirement.

In 1157 NHL games, the 40-year-old forward scored 161 goals and added 203 assists, racking up 790 penalty minutes.

A clutch playoff performer, Draper won four Stanley Cups with the Wings. He would also claim the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2003-04 as the NHL's best defensive forward.

Draper also had a long history of representing Canada, starting with the national team from 1988 through 1990 before moving on to the NHL. He would win World Junior gold in 1990 and 1991, World Championship gold and silver in 2003 and 2005 respectively, the World Cup of Hockey in 2004 and laced them up as part of the 2006 Canadian Olympic team in Turin, Italy.

Draper is also only the fifth player after Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom to play 1,000 games in a Red Wings uniform, finishing with 1,137 games in the red and white.

He was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the third round, 62nd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He would play 20 games as a Jet before they traded him to Detroit for $1.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Good that he will be back, but not sure about the one year term??? Why only one year? He will now be a UFA after this season and free to go to the higgest bidder. Raises many questions here.

It's obvious. He wanted more money & more years, while the habs were afraid of giving him more money & a longer contract. They likely went halfways & will be going back to the drawing board next season....if there is one. That's the key. If there's no season a year from now, the habs don't have to pay Gorges since he's under contract for only one year.

It might surprise many, but i actually think Pierre Gauthier made the right move here.

 

[evillethings]

i think short contracts are better for both sides. there is little incentive to play once ur locked into a huge moneybag contract... Ovie's production dipped, remember Yashin... Carter and Richards... good but they really didnt develop more for the Flyers, anyone else...

 

[evillethings]

If he plays to his potential he will get a multi year contract at $3 mil+ next year...

was thinking more like $4m+ for Gorges if he performs well this upcoming season.
I still remember Montreal acquiring him from SJ and thinking this guy was the Sharks' 7th Dman... of course he was something like 21yo at the time... he devloped into a solid blueliner.

 

[lgna69xxx]

great trade, one of the very few grt ones for the habs in some time, unless you wanna reference the gomez trade, ummmmmmm nevermind on that :lol:

Gorges


I still remember Montreal acquiring him from SJ and thinking this guy was the Sharks' 7th Dman... of course he was something like 21yo at the time... he devloped into a solid blueliner.

 

[Doc Holliday]

was thinking more like $4m+ for Gorges if he performs well this upcoming season.
I still remember Montreal acquiring him from SJ and thinking this guy was the Sharks' 7th Dman... of course he was something like 21yo at the time... he devloped into a solid blueliner.

I figure that Josh Gorges should expect getting around $5.5 or 6 million from the habs next season. He'll be a kingpin on defence & adequate offensively. He reminds me a bit of former habs great Larry Robinson.

 

[Doc Holliday]

From Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun:

" I don’t know why this amuses me, but it does: The Nashville Predators are buying out the final year of Brett Lebda’s contract. And if it wasn’t absolutely clear before, it’s clear now. The Preds basically gave defenceman Cody Franson to Toronto in exchange for the Leafs relieving them of Matthew Lombardi’s contract ... "

"A match made in hockey heaven: The dislikeable Owen Nolan signing on for a tryout with the rather hateable Vancouver Canucks ..."

 

[lgna69xxx]

What will be even funnier is if Lombardi recovers from his concussion, enuf to play and contribute within the next 2 seasons. That means Burke stole 2 very good players for free! or actually we got rid of a guy who did nothing for us for Franson/Lombardi, thats worse than stealing! Burke, OH how do you do what you do! How many fleecings is that now by Burke? .......A LOT!

From Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun:

" I don’t know why this amuses me, but it does: The Nashville Predators are buying out the final year of Brett Lebda’s contract. And if it wasn’t absolutely clear before, it’s clear now. The Preds basically gave defenceman Cody Franson to Toronto in exchange for the Leafs relieving them of Matthew Lombardi’s contract

 

[joelcairo]

What will be even funnier is if Lombardi recovers from his concussion, enuf to play and contribute within the next 2 seasons. That means Burke stole 2 very good players for free! or actually we got rid of a guy who did nothing for us for Franson/Lombardi, thats worse than stealing! Burke, OH how do you do what you do! How many fleecings is that now by Burke? .......A LOT!

And don't forget Burkie's greatest fleecing: suckering the Leafs into paying him millions to ice a team that has finished near the bottom of the standings every year that he's been GM!

EDIT: Did I miss where it says 'Free For All' in the title of this thread? If you want to go on the attack against Leaf fans, there are two threads to do it in and this is not one of them. KEEP THIS THREAD CLEAN FROM BULLSHIT! If you must post such comments, do it in the Free For All thread.

Anyone else who makes a similar post in this thread or any other Official thread that does not have FREE FOR ALL in the title will not be posting again until the season has started.

Mod 8

 

[lgna69xxx]

Hey hey, welcome back cairo. I see your picking up where you left off. How about trying to make posts about hockey in general and not just about the Leafs, as we all know it is notihng more than S**T Disturbing when you do. Seriously, i would rather have you here contributing positively and not see you on the sidelines looking in all the time.

When all is said and done in the Burke Era in Toronto, the Leafs will have grossly underpaid the man for what he has, is and will have done for this franchise. Bank on it! :thumb:

And don't forget Burkie's greatest fleecing: suckering the Leafs into paying him millions to ice a team that has finished near the bottom of the standings every year that he's been GM!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Police investigation on Chara hit finally complete

(Now we can all relax!)

MONTREAL—A police investigation into Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara has been completed and the file has been transferred, as per standard procedure, to criminal prosecutors.

Now that the investigation’s over Crown lawyers must decide whether to lay charges over Chara’s devastating hit against Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty.

Montreal police had held off interviewing Chara during the spring, while his Bruins were on their Stanley Cup-winning run; investigators finally questioned him last month.

Authorities in Quebec got involved in the file last March, amid a public outcry after the NHL said it would not suspend Chara for smashing his opponent into a stanchion.

Pacioretty has recovered from a cracked vertebra and concussion, and is expected to return to action next season.

Before the hit, the Habs forward had been involved in a series of skirmishes with Chara in an increasingly bitter rivalry.

Pacioretty later said he was disgusted by the league’s failure to suspend him, but also added that he disagreed with decision for law-enforcement to get involved.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/1037480--police-investigation-into-chara-s-hit-on-pacioretty-complete

 

[gohabsgo]

When all is said and done in the Burke Era in Toronto, the Leafs will have grossly underpaid the man for what he has, is and will have done for this franchise. Bank on it! :thumb:

Obviously Blowhard Brian Burke has our two village idiots completely fooled (not hard to do).

Burke inherited a Leaf team that finished with 91 points in 2007 - missing the playoffs by a single point. In the last three years Burke has not been able to improve on that result - despite playing in a weak and wide open eastern conference and spending up to the cap maximum.

Blowhard Burke's [lack of] moves have been a bust - even though this pompous windbag proclaimed: "July 1st is our draft day." Burke is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit - i.e., signing a bunch of fourth line guys (Crabb, Brent, Orr, Boyce, Zigomanis, Brown, Roseweed), undrafted NCAA scrubs (Bozak, Hanson) and Swedish beer league players (Rickard Wallin) in the hopes they become top 6 forwards on a lousy Leaf team.

The sum of all of Burke’s moves (dubious free agent signings and questionable trades) has not improved the on ice product as the bottom-feeding Leafs head toward another season (their SEVENTH straight) out of the playoffs and no hope of getting better in the future.

LOL @ the pathetic fools who actually support this farce of a failed franchise! :lol:

 

[lgna69xxx]

You keep telling yourself that as we pass the habs this season and many more coming. PS, if you can't respect the title of this thread without insults, take it to the anything goes thread, please and ty.

Obviously Blowhard Brian Burke has our two village idiots completely fooled (not hard to do).

Burke inherited a Leaf team that finished with 91 points in 2007 - missing the playoffs by a single point. In the last three years Burke has not been able to improve on that result - despite playing in a weak and wide open eastern conference and spending up to the cap maximum.

Blowhard Burke's [lack of] moves have been a bust - even though this pompous windbag proclaimed: "July 1st is our draft day." Burke is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit - i.e., signing a bunch of fourth line guys (Crabb, Brent, Orr, Boyce, Zigomanis, Brown, Roseweed), undrafted NCAA scrubs (Bozak, Hanson) and Swedish beer league players (Rickard Wallin) in the hopes they become top 6 forwards on a lousy Leaf team.

The sum of all of Burke’s moves (dubious free agent signings and questionable trades) has not improved the on ice product as the bottom-feeding Leafs head toward another season (their SEVENTH straight) out of the playoffs and no hope of getting better in the future.

LOL @ the pathetic fools who actually support this farce of a failed franchise! :lol:

 

[Doc Holliday]

Andrei Kostitsyn hates playing for Jacques Martin

Another Kostitsyn brother could be falling out of favour with the Montreal Canadiens.

Or vice versa.

"I do not have a good relationship with my coach (Jacques Martin)," Andrei Kostitsyn has told the Belarusian website Goals.by.

The 26-year-old burst into prominence with 26 goals and 27 assists in 2007-08, but has production has slipped in the following three seasons.

That decline, it seems, is Martin's fault.

Kostitsyn complained of being pushed into a secondary role, with occasional duty on the fourth line.

The right winger said he tried several times to discuss his issues with Martin, but was told the coach "did not care."

Asked about his prospects for the coming season, Kostitsyn said: "It's hard for me to guess."

He signed a one-year, $3,25 million contract with Montreal in June.

Kostitsyn's brother, Sergei, 24, also had issues with the Canadiens, which led to him spending part of the 2009-10 season in the AHL before being dealt to Nashville last year.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Montreal/2011/08/11/18541386-qmi.html

 

[lgna69xxx]

Rick Rypien found dead

CTV Vancouver reported on Monday night that former Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien has been found dead in his home.

Rypien was 27.

The six-year NHL veteran played in only nine games with the Canucks last season before leaving the team for personal reasons and eventually being put on injured reserve.

Rypien was loaned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL late in the season for conditioning, and signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Winnipeg Jets this off-season.

The Coleman, Alberta native had 16 points and 226 penalty minutes in 119 career regular season games, all with the Canucks.

This is the second death of an NHL player in the last three months. Former Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers tough guy Derek Boogaard died in May because of a fatal mix of alcohol and oxycodone.


http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=373855

 

[Doc Holliday]

Habs sign defensive stalwart

MONTREAL - It’s bargain-hunting time in the National Hockey League, and the Canadiens added some depth Monday with the signing of veteran defenceman Jeff Woywitka.

This is the time of year when free agents are running out of options and are willing to accept deals that wouldn’t have seemed attractive in July. In Woywitka’s case, he’s betting he can come into training camp and win a job with the Canadiens because he has agreed to a two-way contract after playing with a one-way deal the past two seasons in Dallas.

If Woywitka plays in the NHL this season, he’ll earn $650,000, which was his cap hit with the Stars. He’ll earn $105,000 if he plays with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.

Woywitka is an insurance policy for the Canadiens, who have two defencemen coming back from knee surgery in Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges.

The Canadiens have four returning defencemen in P.K. Subban, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek and Yannick Weber, as well as newcomers Alexei Yemelin and Rafael Diaz. The newcomers have impressive European credentials, but it remains to be seen how quickly they will adjust to the North American game.

A native of Vermilion, Alta., Woywitka was selected in the first round (27th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2001 NHL entry draft. He has played 251 NHL games with the Stars and the St. Louis Blues, scoring eight goals and adding 41 assists. He is a plus-1 for his career.

Last season, the 6-foot-3, 227-pounder appeared in 63 games, scoring two goals and adding nine assists with a plus-5 rating. He averaged a shade under 18 minutes of ice time per game and blocked 97 shots.

Great signing by the Habs!

 

[Doc Holliday]

NHL 12 due out in September

Guess who's interviewing JR in regards to the new NHL 12 videogame?

http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip520345#clip520345