Contract signing

D’Agostini signs and next year’s contracts

Today it was announced that Matt D’Agostini has signed a 1 year deal with the Montreal Canadiens. D’Agostini certain came out of the gates after being called up last year flying offensively but then after a short time slowed down like the entire team.

I wonder what role D’Agostini will play this season. He seems to have a decent shot. Will Jacques Martin play him on the 2nd line? 3rd line? Time will tell.

I’m hopeful that Martin will have success in further developing these young guys just as he seemed to do in Ottawa with the Senators.

After July 1st and the few weeks that followed Gainey has signed many one year deals. That just got me thinking a bit. Here’s a list of players broken down into the length of contracts.

Players with 1 year under contract ’til 2010-2011
UFA – Tomas Plekanec
UFA – Glen Metropolit
RFA – Sergei Kostitsyn
RFA – Guillaume Latendress
RFA* – Maxim Lapierre
RFA – Matt D’Agostini
RFA* – Kyle Chipchura
UFA – Paul Mara
RFA – Carey Price
RFA* – Jaroslav Halak
* = Arbitration Eligible

Players with 2 years, ’til 2011-2012
RFA* – Andrei Kostitsyn
UFA – Georges Laraque
UFA – Andrei Markov
UFA – Roman Hamrlik
UFA – Hal Gill
RFA* – Josh Gorges
RFA* – Ryan O’Byrne

Players with 3 years, ’til 2012-2013
UFA – Travis Moen
UFA – Jaroslav Spacek

Players with 5 years, ’til 2014-2015
UFA – Scott Gomez
UFA – Mike Cammalleri
UFA – Brian Gionta

It’s just my thought but next year will probably bring some more changes. Probably not a whole lot in terms of trades but it’s likely that some of the players we have today will not likely be back.

One of the reasons is going into next year Carey Price will need to be re-signed and he will get a raise.

All trade rumors and speculation aside going into next year Gainey will once again have his work cut out for him replacing and/or re-signing the RFAs and some UFAs to fill out his roster. Some of those young guys will demand a raise next year.

At the same time it could make it alot easier for him to move them if he finds a suitable trade.

Most of the defense is locked in for 2 years. If Weber and/or Subban don’t come up this year they’ll be up next year.

The message I get from all these 1 year deals is:
It’s time to produce guys.

What do you think?

These are just some passing thoughts that I’ve got…

Tomas Plekanec signs 1 year contract for 2009-2010

Tomas Plekanec has signed a one year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Last year was a disappointment for Plekanec. Hoping that he bounces back this season. It could possibly be a make or break year for him in Montreal if he’s not able to produce points like he did 2 years ago when he showed flashes of brilliance.

Is it possible that Plekanec could still be traded? Likely. But I guess time will tell.

Here’s the press release from the Montreal Canadiens website.

Brian Gionta plays big

So by now we’ve all heard about ESPN’s predicting that the Montreal Canadiens would miss the playoffs this year. If you haven’t, All Habs have the eastern conference predictions here.

And I’m sure that many of you have heard how Gainey went out and got smaller (at least at first… since then he’s actually made the team bigger and tougher).

Well, one guy who has been mentioned as a new UFA signing and as many have said of him that his “offensive production” has been down the last 3 years… his name is Brian Gionta. I thought I would spend a little bit to get to know him a little better by numbers and try to see a bit more of him in action.

When I looked at his numbers here’s what I saw:

2005-2006 – 82 Games – 48 G | 41A | 89 P | +18
2006-2007 – 62 Games – 25 G | 20A | 45 P | – 3
2007-2008 – 82 Games – 22 G | 31A | 53 P | +1
2008-2009 – 81 Games – 20 G | 40A | 60 P | +12

As we can see, he had his big season in 05-06 where he scored 48 goals and 41 assists for 89 points. Super year.

The next year, he missed some games in an otherwise quite durable career if we were to look at previous years as well as the ones I’ve listed.

Gionta certainly has not produced as much as that super year back in 05-06. But, although his goals have gone down in the last 3 years… his assists are up the last 2 (and of course points totals) as were his +/-.

Gionta at 30 years of age still has some good years ahead. And if Jacques Martin puts him in a system that was similar to the one he played in with the New Jersey Devils along side a familiar player like Gomez… then who knows. I think with the right linemates and system, Gionta can score some goals. I have no doubt.

One thing I like about Brian Gionta is that he plays bigger then he is to. Check out these videos… Gionta will stand up for himself. And that’s important.

Gionta vs Comrie

Gionta vs Marchant

Gionta vs Chara

Winning or losing these fights are irrelevant.. the point is that he’s got a little sandpaper in him.

And here’s a few goals by Gionta:

So welcome Brian Gionta!

Guillaume Latendresse, the one year deal… here’s your chance

So Guillaume signs the 1 year deal and it’s reported to be slightly less then what he was making this last season.

He obviously didn’t have much bargaining power this year as he was not eligible for salary arbitration. So the fact that he’s making a little less then last season (it’s reported to be slightly over $800k) doesn’t surprise me but the 1 year deal did at first.

Since I’ve thought about it a little more (not a whole lot mind you) I think it makes a little sense. Maybe it does for both parties.

By signing this 1 year deal this will give Guillaume a whole lot to prove this year. Next summer he’ll be eligible for salary arbitration and if he wants a raise then he’ll have to prove that he deserves one. He’s already come out and said that he wants to play a bigger role on this new team so in a sense I think the deal could be good for him. He’ll have more say (probably) in whether he gets a raise or not next year.

For Gainey I think it’s a conservative move going into next season. I think it will allow them to take stock of what they expect out of him and is he living up to the role they want him to play. Does he fit in the current/future plans of the team.

I’m cheering for Latendresse this year. I’m hoping he can find a way to put some more points up. I’m also hoping that he uses his 230 lbs 6′2 frame to play some hard checking hockey.

From what I’ve read, he’s continued to work on his skating and I’m sure he was relieved to make the playoffs last year…. and get that 2nd half of the season out of the way.

Guillaume is still a young player at 22 years old. Won’t be 23 until playoff time next season.

Hoping he fits well with the new lineup.

Welcome Paul Mara

The first of the 2 players announced as signed by the Montreal Canadiens at the end of last week was Paul Mara.

Now I’ll start of by saying that about the only thing that I know about Paul Mara is that he’s played with a few different teams, he play defense and he’s about 6′4.

I haven’t really dug around to much for any information on Paul, but I found this great little video on YouTube and I gotta tell you that after watching this video on Mara.. I’ve grown to like him a bit already.

Plus, being a Habs fan, who can resist a guy that fought Tucker.

I’m really lookin’ forward to seeing that enthusiasm in the upcoming season. He could be a solid pick up in the new Jacques Martin system which I’m sure insulating Carey Price is part of the plan.

So welcome Paul Mara!

Operation facelift – 2009 edition

Over the last several days the Montreal Canadiens have gone through enormous changes.

Going into “Free agent frenzy”… I was “super looking forward” to that date.. to see what if anything was gonna happen with my loved Montreal Canadiens.

I was floored when Gainey pulled off that trade for Scott Gomez. I was totally floored…

I didn’t like that deal at all. Gomez comes with a hefty price tag. Mind you, I do think that he comes with considerable puck moving skill… but it was obviously a commitment to take on that contract.

By noon time, July 1st…. I had a doom and gloom feeling… and couldn’t shake it… but as soon as the signings started (not montreal’s… but in general) I felt much better.

Montreal’s day started with the signing of Jaroslav Spacek, an offensive defenseman from the Buffalo Sabres. I was not thrilled at this signing…. 3 years for a 35 year old… but after checking out his numbers… he has seemed very durable… and fairly consistent… he has pretty much always been a “plus” player in +/-… except in his Columbus years…

Then later… Hal Gill… which I didn’t like at all either… essentially, I had gone through about 2 days of Mr Negativity in regards to the Habs after the draft. Then when I thought about Gill, I actually felt a bit better. He’s big…. and what sold me a bit on him, was that he made it to the cup finals 2 years in a row and won last year. And he was used in both playoff runs. He could be effective in clearing room for Price… which we need.

I was ready to step out.. and go with the family to the July 1st fireworks… when all of a sudden, I saw that the Habs signed Mike Cammalleri.. at first I thought.. “wow.. Gainey landed Mike Cammalleri!”.. all of a sudden, it was looking better. I was starting to become very optimistic.

When I got back late that night… what??? Gainey signed Brian Gionta?? Now, I was floored.. the face of the team was changed… and changed much more dramatically then anyone could have guessed.

Now, most of these guys are small…. which seems like a problem. But I gotta say… 2 years in a row… 2 puck possession teams won the cup. Some of their most important players weren’t huge in stature… (think of Crosby and Maxim Talbot)

It surely didn’t seem to be a problem when the Canadiens finished 1st in the east 2 seasons ago and all the “experts” picked them to contend for the cup.

There are many variables that come into play for a team to succeed. Is the team well disciplined? Do they really play within their coach’s plan? Are they having an injury free season (Habs 2 seasons ago)? Are they having an injury filled season (Habs last season)? Do the players get along? How is the dressing room? etc…etc.. etc..

If rough and tough teams won the cup every year… then Philly should have won several years running…

Talk was about re-signing Kovalev… which I had hoped for … some talked about Tanguay.. Koivu… Even though there has been an overwhelming consensus about changing the team’s core. But that wouldn’t really “changed” the face of the team.

I would certainly welcome back any of those guys if Gainey and Martin think they fit. I’m hoping that Martin runs a tight defensive system this year… and shots on goal go down…. Gionta and Gomez played their best years under such a system.

I love Kovalev… I love Koivu… Koivu has been one of my favorite players for years and years. I would take them back in a heartbeat.

Tanguay… if it’s true he chose not to play in a little pain in last year’s playoff… I don’t mind him going.

After a couple of days to think all this over… I’m very positive about this year’s team. Although, there are still a couple of holes to fill. Gotta have 1 more D-man.. And, get a bigger center.

I’m really lookin’ forward to the pre-season camps…. really really lookin’ forward to it.

So we have 3 new core guys locked in for 5 years….. next year, I believe there’s only 1 guy who will be UFA… so this will be the core for a few years.

I’m optimistic.

Go HABS!