Red Berenson isn't very happy with Pacioretty's decision to turn pro

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

Pacioretty, who acknowledged Berenson wasn't pleased with his decision, praised the coach.

"I talked to him before and he talked to me about the pros and cons about either decision," the 19-year-old said.

"A couple of days later, I ended up signing, making the decision to leave. I really took into consideration what he had to tell me. He's a great coach. He's probably the best coach I ever played for."

Read the entire story here.

As Berenson knows, leaving school early is becoming far more commonplace in NCAA sports than it ever has. With Pacioretty excelling at the team's summer development camp, it is really no surprise that he has decided to turn pro. By all accounts, he is going to be a very good NHL player.

Habs sign Pacioretty to three-year deal

From the Montreal Gazette:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today the signing of forward Max Pacioretty to a three-year contract (2008-09 to 2010-11). As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Max Pacioretty is a young player with a lot of skills who has the potential to play in the NHL. We are very happy to have him under contract for years to come. We feel he is ready to make the jump to professional hockey, and we will make sure to provide him with all the resources which will benefit his long-term development as a player,’’ said Bob Gainey.

Read more from Habs Inside/Out here.

Pacioretty sure impressed the Habs brass at the team's recent summer camp. If he really impresses at training camp, it wouldn't be a shock if he started the season off with the big club.

Habs still have money for Sundin

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

While the terms of the pact were not revealed, the deal leaves the Canadiens with more than $7 million to pay Sundin if he decides that he wishes to continue his career in Montreal.

Read the entire story here.

If the Habs do add Sundin to their squad, they would have to be considered the Eastern Conference favorite heading into next season.

Ryan O'Byrne re-signs with Habs

From Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today the signing of defenseman Ryan O’Byrne to a three-year contract (2008-09 to 2010-11). As per club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Ryan acquired a great deal of NHL experience last season. He is part of our young core of defencemen and certainly has the potential of becoming a very good NHL player. He is big, intense and his physical play are important assets for our team,’’ said Bob Gainey.

Read more from Habs Inside/Out here.

O'Byrne's size is an important asset on a team like Montreal which lacks size and physical play. The young defenseman has room to improve and should eventually slot into a top-four role on Les Habitants.

Montreal to Host 2009 Draft

The Montreal Canadiens, in conjunction with their 100th anniversary, will host the 2009 NHL Entry Draft at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

“The Montreal Canadiens are extremely proud to host the 2009 NHL Entry Draft,” said Canadiens President Pierre Boivin. “In December 2009, the Canadiens will become the first professional hockey team to celebrate a century of history. Thanks to the NHL, the Entry Draft is back in Montreal after 17 years. We are excited about this occasion, knowing the past history of the Draft and its origins in Montreal.”

Max Pacioretty impresses Habs brass

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

While Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens' director of recruitment, was reluctant to talk about individual players, he did venture the opinion that Pacioretty is "head and shoulders" above his peers.

"This isn't an evaluation camp," Timmins explained. "What we're trying to do is develop the players' skills. We've spent a lot of time working on fundamentals. In some cases, players are being exposed to things they've never seen before or things that they don't have a lot of time to do with their teams."

Read the entire article here.

It looks like the Habs scouting staff has continued with their fine drafting.

Habs trade Locke to Wild for Belle

From the Montreal Gazette:

While the Canadiens prospects were skating through 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scrimmages at Development Camp (Max Pacioretty looked GREAT!), the team swung a minor deal, sending smurf-sized forward Corey Locke to the Wild for intriguing defence prospect Shawn Belle, Carey Price's former junior teammate.

Read the entire report here.

This trade will certainly benefit Locke, as he was not going to crack the Habs' roster anytime soon. The Wild need scoring more than the Habs, so his chances of seeing NHL action have improved with this move.

In Belle, the Habs get a depth defenseman who can skate and has a little bit of upside. Not a bad trade for them considering they weren't going to get much use out of Locke.

All in all, this trade should have a minimal effect on both team's fortunes.

Halak re-signs with Habs

From the Montreal Gazette:

Two years, a cap-friendly $1.55 million. Halak made $500,000 last season.

Read the short story from Habs/Inside Out here.

Halak is a very good netminder, who would probably be starting for a handful of teams. Unfortunately, he plays behind the second-coming of Patrick Roy and will probably be valuable trade bait in the next couple of years.

Guy Carbonneau Discusses the Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau gives a candid interview about his teams' chances in the upcoming season. Carbonneau is especially excited about the addition of Alex Tanguay.

Guy Carbonneau called the acquisition of Alex Tanguay a "Christmas present that came before July 1."

"He may have had some difficulties last season," the coach added, "But his style will mesh very well with the kinds of players we have. And at the age he's coming here, I think he'll be able to handle the pressure of playing in Montreal."

The additions of Tanguay and Laraque should be welcomed in Montreal. How they will translate to on-ice success remains to be seen, but both are serviceable players who should be excited about playing in La Belle Provence.

Top four winners so far this off-season

I realize it is only three days into the free agent process, however, there has been an incredible amount of activity the past few days. Therefore, I think it is time to compile a list of the four winners since the off-season began:

Winners

1. Detroit Red Wings: Well this is easy. The Red Wings were able to re-sign Brad Stuart to a four-year contract and then pen Marian Hossa to a one-year deal at $7.4 million. More importantly, the Wings didn't lose anyone off their 2008 Stanley Cup roster. The best team in the entire NHL got substantially better without giving anything up. With the roster the team has lined up for next season, they will be even more overwhelming favorites than they were this past season. What does Ken Holland eat for breakfast in the morning? I'd love to know.

2. San Jose Sharks: The past few seasons, the Sharks have been loaded at forward; unfortunately, the team has been lacking the necessary defensive corps to take the next step. Well, that is no longer an issue for Bay Area fans. The Sharks' back-end is now comprised of Dan Boyle, Marc-Eduard Vlasic, Rob Blake, Christian Ehrhoff, Kyle McLaren, Doug Murray and Brad Lukowich (Craig Rivet was traded as this was written). That is a terrific blend of finesse and toughness. The additions of Boyle and Blake cannot be underestimated. Maybe the most important fact of all is that both players have won the Stanley Cup.

3. Columbus Blue Jackets: Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson has done a great job of molding his team and establishing organizational credibility throughout the NHL. By signing Mike Commodore and trading for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman, the Jackets were able to solidify their defense going into next season. Additionally, the team was able to replace the scoring void left by Nikolai Zherdev by quickly signing Kristian Huselius. With these trades, the Jackets are demonstrating their intention of building from the net out. That is a perfect strategy with Ken Hitchcock at the helm. More importantly for Jackets fans is that Howson has signed or acquired players with 3/4 year deals; thus, not handicapping himself down the line when prospects Derrick Brassard, Jakub Voracek, etc. come up for their second contracts.

4. Montreal Canadiens: This may same like a strange team to include on this list but bear with me for a second. The Habs haven't done anything stupid this off-season, in fact, they have actually improved their roster. While they lost Mark Streit to the Islanders, the Habs would have been more foolish had they actually paid Streit that type of money (5yr, $20.5 million). The Habs only really need to replace Streit on the power play, and with Kirk Muller continuing to guide the team with the man-advantage and Andrei Markov playing the point that shouldn't be a big concern. Additionally, the Habs have become more talented up-front with the addition of tremendous passer Alex Tanguay. As well, the team added much needed muscle on the fourth line by signing the hulking Georges Laraque to a three-year contract. Finally, the team signed Andrei Kostitsyn to one of the more reasonable three-year contract extensions I've seen in a while (3yr, $9.75 million). Good work by Bob Gainey and Company.

Honorable mention:
New Jersey Devils

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Streit had good feeling about the Islanders

From Greg Logan of Newsday:

"I just had a good feeling about the whole situation," Streit said in a telephone interview from Zurich, where he's working with his personal trainer. "I really like the team, and I love the city.

So, it was kind of an easy decision for me."I had good, exciting years in Montreal, but for me as a person and a player, it was time to move on. I'm not sad at all. I'm really excited because I played in Long Island many times with Montreal, and I always liked it there."

Read the entire article here.

Translation: "The Islanders offered me way more money than the Habs, so it was time to move on."

Laraque heads home

From TSN:

Georges Laraque is heading home.

The native of Montreal, Quebec has signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens, reportedly worth $4.5 million. The deal includes a partial no-trade clause.

Here is the entire article.

Good signing here by the Habs. The team needs some size, especially up front and the hulking Laraque will slip right into solid fourth line duty. Additionally, he is a positive force in the dressing room.

Leafs acquire Mikhail Grabovski

From TSN:

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to fill out their roster for the 2008-09
season.Toronto announced Thursday that the club has acquired forward Mikhail Grabovski from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in the 2010 draft.

Read more from TSN here.

While it is nice to acquire a young talent like Grabovski, I don't understand why the Leafs continue to trade away draft picks. It is absolutely mind-boggling. That said, Grabovski has been a successful AHL player and does possess the talent to make the Leafs as a scoring forward.

Also, you always have to wonder when a team trades a young player within the division. Does Bob Gainey know something Cliff Fletcher doesn't?

Habs look to have lost out on Sundin and Hossa

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

Plan A - a bold attempt to sign Mats Sundin before he became an unrestricted free agent - hasn't worked out for the Canadiens.

Neither has Plan B, although the No. 2 object of general manager Bob Gainey's affection - Marian Hossa - is, like Sundin, still on the market.

Read more from Hickey here.

In reality, this isn't all bad news for the Habs. Remember, this team finished first in the Eastern Conference last season and has a youthful core. Therefore, we can expect them to continue to improve over the next few seasons. Additionally, they added quality winger Alex Tanguay at the draft and still have enough money to sign their own restricted free agents. If I were a Habs fan, I'd be happy my team hasn't/probably won't sign Hossa or Sundin.

Kostitsyn signs on for 3 years

From TSN:

Montreal re-signs RFA forward Andrei Kostitsyn to a 3 year deal worth $3.25-million a season

Read the news from TSN here.

Good signing for the Habs. Kostitsyn was signed immediately after free agents were open to offer sheets. He will continue to grow as a center and was terrific last season for the Habs. The $3.25 million per season is certainly reasonable. In fact, with Jeff Carter signing on for $5 million per season, this contract may be a bit of a bargain for the Habs.

Have the Habs traded their first round pick?

From Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette:

Martin Lemay, who's at the draft for CKAC, says he's heard the Canadiens
have dealt their first-round pick.

Read the short entry here.

The draft is under an hour away, so we will find out soon enough if this report is indeed true. If the first round pick involves Sundin, it would have to be part of a larger package.

Update: From the Calgary Herald (Link here)

The hot rumour at this moment is that the Canadiens have traded their first pick (25th overall) to San Jose (which otherwise would be pickless in the first round) as part of a package for centreman Patrick Marleau. The Sharks have 10 days to move their captain before a no-trade clause kicks in and Marleau earns the right of veto. As luck would have it, the Habs and Sharns have neighbouring draft tables on the arena floor.

Sundin could be traded to Habs

From Darren Dreger of TSN:

Sources tell TSN the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to encourage Mats Sundin to decide his playing future before July 1.

In the past 24 hours the Montreal Canadiens were granted persmission by the Maple Leafs to speak to Sundin's agent about the possibility of the 37-year-old centre signing in Montreal.

The Leafs would have to trade Sundin's negotiating rights to the Canadiens to facilitate an early signing.

Read the entire story here.

That is like the Yankees and Red Sox making a deal in baseball. However, with Toronto looking to rebuild and the Habs needing some size and scoring up-the-middle, this trade would make sense for both sides. Sundin can still play at an extremely high level and if he is going to bolt Toronto, may as well get something in return for his services before July 1 hits.

Selanne to Habs?

From Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette:

RDS reported that Saku Koivu was trying to persuade Teemu Selanne to join the Canadiens.

I'll believe it when I see the Finnish Flash at training camp – which, for Selanne, begins in February.

Remember how Andrei Markov's friendship with Alexander Ovechkin was going to influence the superstar's decision on whether or not to stay in Washington? The more feverish (and delusional) among us were working out scenarios on how the Canadiens would surrender a pile of draft picks and Alexander the Great would come play in a city where his taolents would be most appreciated.

Well, friends is friends .... and $$$ is $$$.

How many salary-cap dollars would Selanne want to come play out the string in Montreal?

Read the short entry from Habs Inside/Out here.

This is just a rumor, so let's not get all excited about it. However, this is a rumor that does make some sense. Selanne has been linked with possibly going to the Habs in the past, and who wouldn't want his goal scoring prowess on the wing?

Selanne could conceivably replace Michael Ryder on the wing and give the Habs speed, size and sniper ability that may help them take the next step. Time will tell...

Streit to leave Montreal?

From Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette:

Journal du Montréal beat man Marc de Foy reports the Canadiens may be loath to shell out the dollars needed to keep Mark Streit in Montreal.

The team has a lot of balls in the air, in terms of contracts. Themain priority is Andrei Kostitsyn, who can become an RFA on July 1, ascan Josh Gorges and Jaroslav Halak.

De Foy also points out that Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu are entering the final year of theircontracts. And the team will want to lock up Mike Komisarek, who canbecome a UFA on July 1, 2009.

Read the short entry here.

I don't see the Habs breaking the bank to sign Streit. While he is extremely versatile and valuable to the team, his defensive work does not merit him signing a large-money contract. As much as the Habs would hate to lose him on their power play, Andrei Markov is capable of handling the load on the point without him. Additionally, mastermind Kirk Muller can surely find a way to maintain the Habs' success with the man-advantage.

Second Round Playoff Matchups

Here are the matchups for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

Montreal (1) versus Philadelphia (6)

Pittsburgh (2) versus New York Rangers (5)

Western Conference:

(1) Detroit versus Colorado (6)

(2) San Jose versus Dallas (5)