Upcoming NHL Draft

[cleek]

don't want to be a wise guy but Parise is a left winger guys

RE : proposed trade, another offensive center is likely low on the Pens wish list. Staal has 1 more year before he hits UFA and Crosby is in the same boat. Desharnais is an RFA in 2013-14 and if he keeps progressing he is looking at a decent hike in salary. Pens need to free up some cap space for 2013-14 to sign Crosby so my bet is they would likely be looking to trade Staal for highly touted prospects ( young guys on entry level contracts ) or high draft picks or a combination of both. I would suspect to see them going after wingers and defence. The playoffs proved that some of Pittsburgh's high priced defence ( not including Letang ) are pretty soft ( Martin , Michalek ) . Simon Despres should help some next year.

[mberube]

Parise is listed as a center on hockeydb.com but a LW on other sites. If he is a LW I hope the Habs can try to get him. He would be a good match for Plecks. I would prefer Parise as a UFA to a Stall trade. That being said. Parise will be the most popular UFA and will sign a BIG contract. The Habs will not be able to sing him.

[cleek]

those sites can be a bit misleading re: position , lot's of guys are natural centers in minor, junior, college but move to play wing once they get to pro hockey. Jersey normally would have Zajac , Henrique as the 1-2 centers, sometimes Elias slides in there too. Not saying Parise was not a center at some point in the past but not lately.
I am not a big fan of signing UFA's either, you typically end up over paying for the higher end players. However players like Parise and Suter are top notch.

[Kak]

DD + a 1st round!!! No way. Desharnais is a perfect fit for that line plus he is French Q and he is a bargain at that price for a first center. He may be small but he has great vision and speed. A first rounder can be as good or better then Stall. Stall is big but he is injury prone the last two seasons. It would be a different situation if MTL was a cup contender but there are too many elements missing to make a move like this. I think they need a good winger and a D-man or 2, not a center.

Agree, plus if they r going to trade for players, they better make sure they want to come to MTL, look at Bourque, a good example.
Also most players are not interested coming in MTL and pay the heavy taxes. So they have to give more $$$ to get them here and still. Conclusion, the draft is the way to go.

[mberube]

They also will have to pay more $$ to PF and Price as they are looking for long-term contracts with major pay raises. That limits UFA markets especially with Gomez taking a huge chuck from the cap. It will be interesting to see the different options. DD is here to stay for more than one reason.

[cleek]

based on some of the talk I've heard it could be an exciting draft because of potential trades, I suspect some teams will be looking to unload 1st round picks for help now.

[chrosched]

DD + a 1st round!!! No way. Desharnais is a perfect fit for that line plus he is French Q and he is a bargain at that price for a first center. He may be small but he has great vision and speed. A first rounder can be as good or better then Stall. Stall is big but he is injury prone the last two seasons. It would be a different situation if MTL was a cup contender but there are too many elements missing to make a move like this. I think they need a good winger and a D-man or 2, not a center.

[golfisforfun]

I would be shocked if DD finished the year on the top line in Montreal. Starting the 2013-2014 season the Habs could have the following centres... Galchenyuk, Plekanec, Desharnais, Eller... One will have to be traded. Galchenyuk is the big centre they want, and Eller is also a big centre who is growing and improving. Plekanec is one of the best 2 way centres in the league who can play in all situations. Desharnais is a small, average skating centre with a weak shot, who is a great playmaker BUT I figure this is his last year in Montreal.

[mberube]

That’s a valid observation but if both Cole and Patch score 30 goals again this season with DD as their center, he will not be leaving MTL anytime soon. But that’s a big if. He might be a one hit wonder but I doubt it. He has been great at every level he plaid no matter the obstacle he faced. He has a similar resume and build as St-Louis and look what he has done after being ignored by the draft and then sidelined and traded by Calgary. At the moment he is a very cheap first line center. Probably the least paid first center in the NHL and gave his two wingers there best season ever on the stats side. If he has another season like the last, I bet Plecks is gone and not DD when and if Galchenyuk develops like they hope he does. Just my opinion.

[golfisforfun]

Here is how I look at it... What makes a better team... Galchenyuk-Eller-Plekanec down the middle or Galchenyuk-DD-Eller ? I think the first option is stronger.
I agree that DD is a very cheap option right now, but he is only a #1 centre in Mtl because of the lack of other options and he would be a 2 or 3 on other teams.
I also believe that Plekanec would have had the same or better stats playing with Cole and pacio all season, and DD would have struggled playing with the assortment of 3rd and 4th line wingers Plekanec had last year.
On another topic, I think Hamilton will be more fun to watch than Montreal this year!
Montreal actually has 6+ solid prospects up front with Galchenyuk-Holland-Gallagher-Bournival-Collberg-Kristo and although i don't think Leblanc will ever be more than a 3rd line player, he is still solid and getting better.
On defence, with Beaulieu-Tinordi-Ellis-St Denis-Pateryn-Nash they have more prospects there also, not including recent draft picks.

[cleek]

Eller is not destined to be a 4th line center he has more talent , Galchenyuk is a couple of years from being an impact player on the Habs ( & maybe he won't ever be better than a 2nd /3rd line player ) , Plenkanec is solid 2-way 2nd line center , Desharnais is like you guys said is #1 by default but not a bonafide #1 pivot. Habs will either have to be patient for Galchenyuk to develop or go the trade route. If a player like Getzlaf ( who is a UFA 2013 ) becomes available then the Habs ( like many other teams ) should go all out to get him. And 'yes' it will involve moving some good young prospects but that is what it takes to land these types of impact players. Right now it looks like they have three 2nd / 3rd line centers , one very good prospect. 4th line centers can be found cheap and changed out from year to year.