Sekac vs Smith-Pelly Trade Analysis

Earlier today, Habs general manager Marc Bergevin acquired forward Devante Smith-Pelly from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange of forward Jiri Sekac. Smith-Pelly, 22 years old, has played 129 NHL games, keeping a scoring record of 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points as well as 30 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in 12 playoff games, scoring 5 goals. As for Sekac, also 22 years old, he has started 50 NHL games, scoring 7 goals and adding 9 assists for 16 points, while spending 18 minutes in the penalty box. Was the move worth it? What does that imply for the Montreal Canadiens future? Would have it been better to keep Sekac? I personally think it is a great trade for both teams and here's why.

Anaheim is getting a talented forward who has never been able to find his niche here in Montreal. Sure he has only been with the Habs for 50 games: however, he has struggled to align two solid back-to-back performances. I admit he was used to a light schedule, having played in the KHL before; however, he should have been a little more steady. Therrien used him a couple times on a second line, as well as a third line. He gave him some chances. Maybe not enough will you say, and I'll have to agree with this to some extent. However, we must keep in mind Sekac is pretty frail (6', 174-lb) and Montreal has an over-abundance of small players. In Anaheim, he will be able to prove himself on one of the top two lines, replacing either Patrick Maroon, Emerson Etem or Kyle Palmieri, with Matt Beleskey on the shelf right now.

In Smith-Pelly (6', 222-lb), the Canadiens are getting a strong and physical forward who just loves to spend most of his game in front of the opposing goalie, just like Gallagher. In terms of bodychecks, DSP is currently leading Montreal's roster with a total of 147 bodychecks, ten short of Alexei Emelin (who is still injured, which is why I am not counting him). With the playoffs starting in about a month or so, this is a pretty good time to add some muscle, especially if the Habs were to play against Boston, Philadelphia or New York for example. Will the newly acquired player be able to play on the top two lines ? I doubt so. We never know, but I highly doubt he will. However, he will be a great addition to the 3rd or 4th line, especially with Bournival (5'11'', 196-lb) and Thomas (5'09'', 176-lb). It will also give Bergevin an option to trade the enigmatic Lars Eller, since De La Rose has pretty much acquired the 3rd line center spot. We must also not forget DSP already knows some of his new teammates, having played in the World Junior Championship with Bournival, Gallagher and Beaulieu.

It is also worth nothing Bergevin will save just a little north of $500,000 in salary. Is he planning to open up some money for a bigger trade? There is a pretty solid defenseman in Toronto named Roman Polak that would be a great addition to Montreal's defensive squad and word is there could be talks ongoing involving Bournival and Thomas. Even if it's just a rumor, things are definitely getting interesting.

All in all, I think this is a pretty fair trade for both teams. Only time will tell who will have the edge on that move, but we must keep in mind this is currently not a major trade. So what do you guys think? Would you have given Sekac more time to prove what he is worth? Do you think getting Smith-Pelly means Eller is on the move?

Follow me on twitter: @Azgarde54

Read More

Round One: Western Picks

The Western Conference has been exceptionally good this season. California teams have dominated, and every team was nervous going into their California road trips. Chicago has shown no signs of having a Stanley Cup hangover. Colorado has had a huge turnaround season under Patrick Roy. St. Louis, Minnesota, and Dallas all had exceptional years. So there is no wonder why the West holds several favourites for the Cup this year. It could literally go anywhere.

WEST Match-ups

Anaheim VS. Dallas

Anaheim finished the season with 114 points, second in the race for the Presidents Trophy. They have had stellar goaltending, and their offense has been nothing short of excellent with 266 goals for on the season. They have proven to be a dominating force, and will continue this image through the playoffs.

Dallas squeaked into the playoffs with 91 points (one of two western teams under 100), the lowest of all teams in the playoffs. I don’t think they are a true competitor or threat for the cup this season, especially considering who they have to get through. 

I am taking Anaheim in five. They are just all-around a better team, and I don’t see Dallas being a threat to them this season. But, Dallas has potential in the upcoming years.

San Jose VS. Los Angeles

Both of teams are truly superb. It’s a shame they play in the first round as it would certainly be an entertaining conference final. They both have the talent and the ability to make a deep run, but in this scenario only one will prevail. Both have the depth, elite calibre goaltending, speed, scoring, and defense to be cup contenders. 

On gut feeling I am taking San Jose in seven, because I can’t logically pick one or the other based on statistics/line-up. This could go either way. Watch this series for probably some of the best hockey these playoffs have to offer.

Colorado VS. Minnesota

Colorado has had a huge year when looking at where they were last year. With Patrick Roy (my Jack Adams nominee, hands down) at the helm, this team is as determined as ever, and are confident this is their year. They have everything it takes to win a cup.

Minnesota is the second western team to make the playoffs under 100 points. They have a good line-up, and their goaltending has been playing well. With guys like Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, it’s hard to argue that they don’t deserve to move on. They are a good team, but Colorado is simply better.

I am taking Colorado in six. They have a good team, and a great coach. They are convinced that they have what it takes, and this confidence will help carry them to the next level.

St. Louis VS. Chicago

St. Louis has a good team, and managed to bring in a great goaltender in Ryan Miller to prepare for the playoffs. They believe they have a team capable of winning a cup. Top-end talent such as TJ Oshie, and Alex Pietrangelo can carry a team very far. They are certainly going to give the defending champs a run for their money.

Chicago has not slowed down at all coming off of their Stanley Cup championship one year ago.  They have continued their winning ways this season and proved they are ready to take it again. They are looking to continue their trend by winning a third cup in a span of four years which is quite remarkable.

I am taking Chicago in seven. St. Louis will leave everything on the ice and this one will go right down to the wire. Chicago will ultimately take it as they have the experience and knowledge on what it takes to win a cup in today’s NHL.

Summary

The West is just as wide open as the East in the sense that there are so many elite hockey teams in this bunch. Any team that is determined enough, and showcases their talent can go all the way this year. There are some excellent match-ups on this side of the league, so get ready for some great hockey, and some surprises en route to a Stanley cup final.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to give your input below.

Follow me @darrinharmy

Read More

Montreal Canadiens' Bob Gainey Made Mistakes: Will Pierre Gauthier Be Better?

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of talk in the city of Montreal about Bob Gainey's failings as a GM. Not about him as a person, mind you, as Gainey is a classy, respectful individual through and through. No, talk has been more of an indictment of his professional skills. So yesterday, when news broke that he was stepping aside, the Canadiens fan base was energized with the thought of heading in a new direction.

It had become clear, over the last few years, that Gainey was a man who's management style was more in line with the pre-lockout NHL than the current version of the game.

In the pre-lockout days, if your owner's pockets were deep enough and his mind was willing enough, you could pretty much buy a contending team. Now, money doesn't guarantee success—as the New York Rangers have seen year after year—but it does give a lot more flexibility to the management team.

In the old days, a GM could throw as much money as possible at top players in an effort to acquire a great collection of talent. If the player didn't work out with the team, the GM could just buy them out at the end of the season without blinking an eye.

As such, GM's were able to walk away from erroneous player acquisitions and just go fishing for new ones in the free agent or trade markets. If the owner had the means, money wasn't an obstacle to success.

In Montreal, however, Gainey's old strategies have not worked out as well. In the post-lockout, salary capped-NHL, you can't just throw money at a problem and hope it works out. Free agent mistakes can severely handicap a team, as they can be stuck with an albatross of a contract for years.

The Scott Gomez contract, for example, is the perfect illustration of this problem. Gomez, who is a talented player, is not worth anywhere near his $7.357 million cap hit. In reality, he is likely worth about half of that. The problem now is that unless they can convince some other sucker GM to take him off of their hands, the Habs are stuck with his contract for the next four years.

In the old NHL, GMs could just buyout his contract without having to worry about any salary cap ramifications. Now, however, buying out his contract will result in a substantial cap hit for the next eight years—double his remaining term—and as such, Gomez is largely untradeable.

A second glaring mistake that Gainey has made year after year, was to let valuable assets walk away from the team without getting anything in return.

Komisarek, Souray, Streit, Koivu, Tanguay, Kovalev just to name a few players, could have netted the Canadiens a bunch of draft picks and/or prospects and/or roster players. Instead, one-by-one, Gainey chose to let them walk away with no compensation. This is a strategy that can cripple a team and has done major damage to the depth of the Montreal Canadiens organization.

Another mistake that Gainey made was to thrust Price into the spotlight too soon and then keep him there despite his struggles. While I, personally, feel that Price does have the potential to become an elite goaltender in this league, I think that Gainey should have shown more patience with him.

Rather than keeping Price with the team when he was struggling early on, they should have sent him back to Hamilton to get his game up to speed. Conversely, if Gainey was hell-bent on keeping Price in Montreal, he should have better insulated his star prodigy. The best way to do that would have been to go out and get a veteran backup to help guide and mold Price.

Gainey's best chance to insulate Price was when he traded Huet. It was at that time that he should have brought in a veteran backup to help Price. Unfortunately, Gainey did not do this and Price, and the team, have suffered for it ever since.

Another huge failing of the Bob Gainey era is that his professional scouting department has been weak. This is the department that was headed up by now Habs GM, Pierre Gauthier. Gauthier, so you know, is the man under who's watch both Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya left the team, when he was in Anaheim. He was also the guy who told Gainey that Gill and Mara would make excellent additions to the Habs roster. Gauthier convinced Gainey that Spacek was still at the top of his game, when he signed him this summer as well as telling him that Streit was a one-hit wonder.

All of this to say that it is a generally accepted notion that Gauthier's track record for pro scouting is poor, to say the least. Despite this undeniable truth, Gainey chose to make Gauthier the head of that very important hockey department and this move too, has caused the Habs a lot of problems.

With Gainey's announcement that he was stepping aside, the Habs had a great opportunity to make a departure from the management group that has led them for the last seven years. Given that the Habs have never made it past the second round of the playoffs during Gainey's tenure, you would think that they would want to try something different.

Perhaps with the timing of Gainey's resignation—just before the two week Olympic break—the Canadiens brass would slap an "interim" tag at the front of Pierre Gauthier's GM title, and do an exhaustive search to determine who would be best suited to the position.

Who knows, maybe after the search they would have determined that Gauthier was still the best candidate for the job. But to outright name him THE guy, without considering any other candidates makes me scratch my head and wonder why.

Judging from the largely negative reaction of people on Twitter and fan boards across the city, it seems like the Habs fan base is also upset about this move.

My problem is not so much with Gauthier but more with the Habs' rush to name him as GM. What was the rush? Why didn't the Habs name him as interim GM, if only until the end of the season, in order to see what options were out there?

But alas, the deed has been done. Gainey is gone and his right-hand man, Gauthier, is here to take over. I think, out of fairness to the man, we have to reserve judgment until we see what Gauthier can do. He has a lot of pressure on his shoulders and some very important decisions to make.

On the more immediate horizon, Gauthier has to tackle the Olympic trade deadline, the March 3rd NHL trade deadline, Plekanec's contract and Halak and Price's contract renewals and/or trades.

With all of these balls up in that air at the same time, we have to hope that Gauthier knows how to juggle. To his credit, there were some encouraging signs from his press conference, as Gauthier explained that the Habs have already started talking with Plekanec's agent. He also explained that he was happy with the goaltending situation and that Halak was not being traded.

Nice words, but let's not forget that he said the same thing about Kariya, in Anaheim, the week before he traded him. So hold on to your hats, ladies and gentleman, because this ride might get a little bumpy.

Read More