You Be the GM - Reponses: How You'd Spend the Habs Cap Dollars

by Kamal Panesar

With the Habs recently placing Andrei Markov on the Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), the Montreal Canadiens now have more than $5 million in cap space to play with.

Last week, I asked what you, the fans, would do with that money to make the Canadiens a better team.

Well I asked and you answered!

I received over 200 responses through comments on HabsAddict.com, Hockeybuzz.com, The Bleacher Report, tweets, Facebook messages and emails.

While there were a lot of differing opinions the one common theme is that Habs fans really know their stuff!

Below is a sampling of some of the ideas and responses that fans came up with and, as you can see, there is some great creativity there. The responses tended to lean towards addressing the hole in the top-6 however there were also some great ideas for fixing the defense.

I pick and chose a few responses to illustrate some of the responses that I received. There were so many good one and it was difficult to pick a few but I thank all of you for sending me your feedback!

So, without further ado, here is what you all had to say:


Forward

Champ (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"I would seriously try to convince the NYI to take Gomez. They have plenty of Cap Space and the need someone to set up Tavares. Gomez will help them get to the Cap Floor for the next 3 years and help their young players develop. Montreal will not need much in return because they should be happy to get rid of his Cap hit. That will open the door to getting Brad Richards.

This does make sense for the Islanders."


castor (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"It's simple, the Habs need a big guy that could play on the first two lines. For sure Kovalev is not the answer. I would say : Try to ship Gomez somewhere else and than give what it takes to bring Iginla to Montreal. In fact, Gomez could fit to Calgary......they need a center. Yes is overpaid, but Gomez would help them for sure. I could imagine a trade like Gomez, 1st choice and a good prospect for Iginla and a 2nd.

If its not possible, we should keep the team "as is"....."


Guimania (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"I think a better question then who would we trade for would be who is actually available.

The forwards with size that I would like to see traded for are untouchable. Toewes, Sharp, Byfuglien, Perry, Getzlaf, Clowe, Ryan, Backes, Hejduk, Horton, Franzen, or Giroux.

So who could be had that has size and talent?

Umberger - I don't watch much BJ games but I assume he could be had for the right price

Ladd - Very Doubtful that Atlanta would trade him away in his first season

Malone - Never really liked him but would eb a good fit, although we would probably have to give up to much for him

Laich - Might work and we have D to spare but is he that much of an upgrade over what we could call up

Not much to choose from, But Umberger would probably be the best upgrade and fit if it was for the right price. But what could a bubble team want that we could give them?"


Hirky (from HabsAddict.com)

"...I am sure the Habs need a forward with that cash. I'd like a guy like a S.Montador, J.Corvo or T.Daley but I think the Habs are OK on the backend. A scoring winger is much more of a glaring need. A few ideas...Simon Gagne($5.25M UFA 2011), Milan Hejduk($3.9M UFA 2011), Tim Connolly($4.5M, UFA 2012), Brad Boyes($4.0M cap UFA 2012), Mike Ribeiro($5.0M UFA 2013). I think they only need a FWD for a couple years as they have several solid junior players ready to make the jump. I dont like Ribeiro's contract but he is familiar with Montreal and knows what it takes to play here. He was an alright player when he was here but is also a centerman. I think the help they need is a winger. I also stated before that they should push hard for Alex Semin because otherwise WSH will give him a 12yr contract to reduce their cap hit and really who wants to play with that Ovechkin guy anyways...LOL. I think my ideas arent impact guys but I think it may be hard to draw an impact guy to MTL. I cant wait for Louis LeBlanc and Brendan Gallagher to light up the World Juniors."


Nic_Latourelle (from Twitter)

"Possible forwards: Milan Hejduk 3M (last year of contract), T connelly (tradable asset making only 4.5) and PM Bouchard 4M"


Defense

willey101 (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"If we are talking on a player however then I think we need to bring in some guys with toughness preferably on D. A guy like Weber is playing well but he'll be a complete non-factor in the playoffs.

A guy like Robyn Reghere, Kevin Bieksa, Colin White, or a Jovo-cop or McCabe."


African_Fanatic (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"One glaring hole would be a physical Dman,the habs don't have that Dman who can intimidate.Also,i don't know if the top pairing Hammer/spacek can play at high level for 82 games and the playoffs.

One player i really like is K. Bieska,he plays very physical and he's moving puck Dman with powerful shot from the point.

I don't know what it would take to get him from the canucks but he would an ideal addition to MTL defence."


God_then_kovy (from Hockeybuzz.com)

"Regehr would be a great addition to the habs. Still on contract for 4M for 2 more years. That way we can use our cash this summer to work on a top 6 forward, and would have a legit replacement to either Markov or Hammer."


Philip Thornton (from Bleacher Report)

"My first move as GM would be entering talks with Gill and Hamrlik to retain them for 2011-2012, hopefully both on contracts paying less than $3m each
about all i might do as habs GM is call up Carle to give him some games
possibly talk to MAB over a 1yr $550k 2 way contract
i think the big stuff will happen in the summer
will kostitsyn stay? (id keep him, but he would have to sign a 4yr deal to keep the money he is getting)
Markov can walk now... he has had too many injuries, he has served montreal well... but he is no use on the IR"


So that's it folks!

What do you think of these ideas? Do you agree? Disagree? Would you go try to get Iginla? Richards? Waive Gomez? Pick up Bieksa?

Posted in: andrei markov,canadiens,habs,montreal canadiens,salary cap