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…

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.

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.