Gorges, coming off knee surgery, signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract after contentious negotiations last summer. Had he not signed by July 1, Gorges would have become an unrestricted free agent.
Consensus opinion, supported by Gorges’ agent, is the Canadiens could have signed him for less money had they offered a long-term contract last summer.
The team wanted to see how Gorges would rebound from his injury – a prudence that seems to have been lacking in negotiations with Andrei Markov.
Is $3.9 million a tad high for a defenceman who doesn’t produce much offence?
For a comparable, consider the Leafs are paying Mike Komisarek $4.5 million per through 2013-’14.
The Canadiens have 13 players signed for 2012-’13 at a total cap hit of $47.4 million. This leaves them approximately $17.5 million under the cap with a list of unsigned players topped by Carey Price, who can become a restricted free agent. The RFA list also includes P.K. Subban, Lars Eller, Raphael Diaz, Ryan White and Alexei Emelin.
Pending UFA’s include Andrei Kostitsyn, Travis Moen, Mathieu Darche, Hal Gill and Chris Campoli.
Undrafted after a junior career with his hometown Kelowna Rockets, Gorges has been the poster boy for overachievement and a respected leader in the Canadiens’ room.
The team announcement:
Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the signing of defenseman Josh Gorges to a six-year contract extension (2012-13 to 2017-18). As per club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Gorges, 27, one of the team’s assistant captains since the start of the 2011-12 season, played in the Canadiens’ 39 games this season, collecting 10 points (1 goal – a game-winning tally at Phoenix on November 10 – and 9 assists) and 24 penalty minutes. The defenseman ranks first on the team with a +6 plus/minus differential and leads all NHL players with 101 blocked shots. Gorges has recorded 60 hits while averaging 22:35 seconds of ice time per game.
In 307 career games with the Canadiens, Gorges has posted 59 points (9 goals, 50 assists). Three of his goals were tallied on the powerplay. He displays a +16 plus/minus differential and served 150 penalty minutes. Gorges was the 2009-10 recipient of the Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy, awarded annually to the member of the Canadiens who played a predominant role during the regular season, without earning any particular honor
Since his NHL debut back in 2005-06, Gorges has registered 69 points (10 goals, 59 assists) in 403 NHL regular-season games. The 6’1’’, 201 lbs left-shooting defenseman has recorded 207 penalty minutes and maintained a +18 plus/minus differential. Gorges recorded three of his goals on the powerplay. He has accumulated seven assists in 46 career NHL playoff contests.
A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Gorges first signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent on September 20, 2002 after four seasons with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and a silver medal at the 2004 World Junior Championship. He was acquired from San Jose on February 25, 2007 along with a first-round draft pick in 2007 (Max Pacioretty), in return for Craig Rivet and a fifth-round draft pick in 2008.
Here’s the Gorges segment from Inside Hockey:
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Amazing news!!! Way to go Josh sigh of relief to have you on the Blue Line
Way too much money for Gorges, way too much.
Gauthier should have offered 2.5-2.75 mil a season tops for Josh on a 3 year deal who is just your average DMan on our team but plays with heart.
Now can we tank and get rid of Pleks, Cammy, GIinta, Gill, Weber and a few others while their stock is marginally high now???
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Problem is Pmonster is there is no one else out there they could afford. Gainey and Gauthier have put the team in a position that they are paying good dollars for bad talent. Gomez, Gionta, Gill, Markov, AK, only Cole has worked out so far, but we will be in the same boat as every year scratching for the playoffs then bowing out in the first round. Lets face facts they have not improved so the result will be the same. All they do each year trade 4 quarters for a loonie. Georges is a stay at home defenceman but he is small and this team already has anough lady byng canidates, but again there is not much out there, paid him a little to much but at least he’s playing.
Passalaqua
TSN reporting Plekanec and Subban in fist fight at practice. While probably not intended to be a joke “no punches landed”. Losing ain’t no fun, is it boys?
everybody seems to love this deal so i’ll be the one voice of dissent: terrible deal.
if he could hit, or if he could score, then yes i’d like this deal. but he does neither. he is positionally sound. he has heart. he has intagibles. intangibles arent worth 4 million a year. the 2.5 per year is a good deal. 4 is not.
As if we could have gotten him to sign for 2.5 million. The Habs blew it when they didn’t sign him last summer – I’m guessing they probably could have gotten him for 3 to 3.25. Serves the team right for dilly-dallying. You go Josh, so happy to have you on the team for the next 6 years.
Bobcat Bob
Gorges is a very good signing. As to the rest of the season – lots of people writing the Habs off — that’s pretty foolish in my mind – just give me a healthy team for the remainder of the season — are you telling me a fully healthy Habs can’t be better than Ottawa,Maple Laffs, Tampa, Winnipeg etc.???? Go Habs Go
Start by hammering Winnipeg – 8 out of 11 at home in January.
I like Canadiens chances.
The teams you list may, and I say may, be contending for the 7th or 8th spot at best. The better question would be whether you thought a healthy team could beat Pittsburgh, Boston or Philly. What happened 2 years ago was a fluke and if even possibly worked against us by having us think the team was better than it was. In the case of Pittsburgh and Philly, they have their own injuries to star players to deal with and it hasn’t slowed them down because of their depth. I think the Sens, Leafs and Jets will be out of the picture in a month, but Tampa is heating up (no pun) and I still think Buffalo will be a team to contend with.
It warms my heart that we signed a player long term who is over
5′ 9″
Let the de-smurfication begin!
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“You have to be this tall to ride on this ride”
-as posted in amusement parks across North America
SHOULD be posted on the Habs dressing room door
I don’t see many people talk about this, but I think we can/will/should trade Kaberle at the deadline. He’s not as toxic as people think, he has 7 points in 10 games on an offensively challenged team. I think someone is going take a chance on him a la Boston, maybe for a 3rd rounder. IF that happens we would have essentially traded Spacek for a 3rd.
Also, it was kind of a relief to see us lose vs. Florida… I hope now we can blow the team up instead of trading 2nd and 3rd round picks for rental players that ekes us into the playoffs. It’s a deep draft year and the closer we are to the top 5 picks the easier it would be to trade up for Yakupov or Grigorenko. Plus, it’s going to take a few years for our crop of prospects to mature (Leblanc, Tinordi, Gallager, Beaulieu, etc.), we’re not contending anytime soon. After Kaberle, I think our most tradeable asset is Cammalleri.
With Diaz sticking I think Weber is going to get traded, but probably during the draft. Even though he’d be cheap, at the deadline, most teams are looking for proven veterans.
Cammalleri if he heats up a bit we could get quite a bit for him. It’s a down year this year but he’s a proven scorer with the right linemates and a playoff performer. Maybe to a team like Florida that has the cap space and needs some extra scoring to put on a good show in the playoffs and has a ton of prospects (7 in the world juniors?).
Gionta, if his contract was expiring, would be tradeable but I don’t think so at the moment.
I would keep Cole (he’s been good and we just signed him), Pleks, PK (Let’s hope it’s a sophomore slump) and all the young guys (Even Desharnais, he’s small but he’s hardly “useless”, I still think he’d fare better as a 2nd line winger though) and I don’t think anyone’s going to give us anything for Gill.
So theoretically, we can free up 9 mil from Cam and Kaberle, another 4 mil if we don’t resign AK (I wish we would though) and some odds and ends by not resigning Moen, Gill, Campoli, etc. It should be enough to resign all our players. Obviously, we’re not going to be able to sign any stars and ice a powerhouse team so why not blow it up and rebuild. And I really don’t think it’ll take that long to rebuild, we have promising players in the minors and on our team, if we luck into 1-2 high picks this year and the next, I think we could become very competitive in 2 more seasons. Plus stars attract other stars, we haven’t had even a good offensive player since what? Leclaire, Recci, Damphousse?
I don’t necessarily share your confidence in Kaberle’s trade value, although a really good post and well thought out. Remembering comments made by the Penguins when we beat them 2 years ago they felt that losing Gill was one of the key reasons they lost. As Gill is a UFA and will be a rental player, we’d be lucky to get a third rounder, but if we’re rebuilding then he’s really not part of the picture either. I agree with Cammi having some value, but I’m not ready to write him off as when he gets hot he can almost carry a team. I fully agree with not trading away 2nd and 3rd rounders for rental players just to get into the playoffs. For once, I think the fans would support keeping our assets in order to improve long term.
.
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NHL NEEDS “TAKE HOME PAY” SALARY CAP
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Now fans need an outcry to the league to straighten out this salary cap.
Due to external factors, paying out $3.9 million in Montreal might be like management in Florida paying $2.8 million in Florida in terms of “TAKE HOME PAY”.
The “TAKE HOME PAY” player salary amount, adjusting for income and other taxes
that need to be paid, would make for an apples for apples salary cap.
The Habs are the most handicapped team in the NHL in terms of competing financially for players, so they cannot compete in the salary cap era THAT WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE TEAM SPENDING EQUAL, not equalize the total of all the signed players’ post-tax monies paid. It stinks.
Great signing, btw.
Maybe the separatist “fans” that plan on handing out the flags to protest the English coach could better spend their time by lobbying the Quebec government to give tax breaks to professional athletes in the province. I agree the NET PAY is the reason our contracts have to be larger than other franchises.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
I’ve suggested the same type of thing at times. Not hard in concept. Sign players to “take home salaries” and have the actual total salary be a variable figure based on some NHL standard formula for each city. So when a player is traded his “total” salary gets adjusted up or down to provide the specified “take home” pay. It still requires a team like Montreal to spend more money but at least the extra taxes doesn’t impact the cap. The difficult variable is that taxes vary not only by where the players plays but where he resides, which is not always the same, and where he resides for tax purposes based on state/provincial and country TAX residency requirements.
If you look at the composition of recent Stanley Cup winners (eg. Boston, Chicago), the backbone of their teams have been gritty North American players like Gorges. Why? Because they grow up with the Stanley Cup as the Holy Grail, its achievement the raison d’etre of their existence. Unfortunately, experience has shown that European players with some exceptions like Chara of the Bruins give equal weight to Olympic Gold medals, World Championships, etc. Don’t want to sound like Don Cherry but if the template for success is signing players like Gorges, Subban and Price, then let’s hope this is the first step in bringing the Stanley Cup back where it belongs. Difficult to say this but “well done, Mr. Gauthier”.
It’s essentially Spacek money for a younger, steadier defenseman. Little doubt another team would have offered him similar money and terms if he was a FA. Players like Georges are really important and I like the signing. Everyone is freaked out about how little there is left to sign Price, Subban, etc, but there are no core players becoming UFA’s that we couldn’t afford to lose, and you have to think Gomez will be buried in the minors to create another 7 MM to spend. There are teams in worse shape than the Habs cap-wise, and unless they go on a winning streak, and fast, there are a couple of veterans who could be of interest to contending teams for lower round picks. Maybe even a player who still has a year or 2 left which could free up even more cap space. I doubt very much the Canadiens are as worried about their cap right now as the media and fans are.
I don’t know if anyone else mentioned it, but I have a feeling that Gionta will be traded before the deadline, and now that Gorges is signed long term he will be named captain.
That would be nice but I don’t see a market for a 32 year-old banged-up, under-achieving, over the-hill and way undersized winger with 2 more years @$5 mil. per year
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“You have to be this tall to ride on this ride”
-as posted in amusement parks across North America
We can dream can’t we???
I’m sure, depending on the next few games, there will be others leaving town also…
disagree..gionta is a very experienced veteran player who can add much savy and leadership for a team going into the playoffs. who knows if he will be shipped.
I agree with you on the savvy and leadership but the baggage I mentioned will scare off any potential suitors
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“You have to be this tall to ride on this ride”
-as posted in amusement parks across North America
Good signing. It means that some guys in the room believe this club has a future. Time to build for it. Work hard to sign Price and Subban long term as well now that the club is down and out and their agents can’t say they make an extraordinary difference. I would try to include Kostitsyn and maybe Moen, but get whatever picks or prospects available for the rest of the UFA’s now. Gomez and Gionta can hold the kids together when they get back (Gomez is down but too physically talented to be done yet). Both are solid, proven playoff performers and should be moved as soon as someone makes any decent offer.
I think all the people who disagree with the 3.9 per year need to remember praising this guy to be out captain!
We still want him as captain! What are we expecting management to do? Give him 2M a year and the C? How does that place any confidence in him (being the number 1 shot blocker this season)
Great signing!!!!!
You can post all the stats you want, but the bottom line is this guy gives 110% all the time, plays injured, and stands up for his team mates.
For once good news when I opened up HI/O !!!!!!!
Very well said, and of all the stats below I see no mention of him being an important reason we have the #2 PK in the league.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
I don’t think that except for Emelin that any of the others teams forwards are scared of any of the hits (oops I mean taps) the Habs dish out on opposing forwards. Except for a few flashes of rushing this team is one of the best that clears the puck to a forward standing and waiting for it in the league. Yes they are young and they have a lump of useless coal (Gill) who spends more time on one knee looking like a shortstop more than a defenceman, but Gauthier should fall on the sword for handing Markov all this money knowing he had 2 major knee operations and still give him a contract before he even played, there was no risk of losing him no GM would not have dished out this cash on such damaged goods, heck even the bruins got rid of Bobby Orr and Markov is no Bobby Orr.
Passalaqua
Makes total sense and the #s are about right. I think it’s a good sign that we’re going to get the right price for price as they are pals and have certainly discussed staying together. If we pay PK more than 2.8M / year I will officially stop cheering for Mtl. He’s just not worth it anymore and unless he changes his attitude quickly he may never be. Have to lose the dwarfs, in any way possible. Maybe they could put a min height restriction before getting on the ice.
pipes
My god management can’t win with you fans. I clearly remember the bitching on this site when the Habs only signed Gorges for one year. There was a huge outcry!! Now they sign him for 6 years which is what most wanted and we get OH we overpaid and blah blah blah. How can this teams ever get your respect.
short memories for sure.
I agree, but I imagine that it’s different sectors of posters.
I wasn’t happy that we’d only signed him short-term, but I’m thrilled with this signing.
Aaaaaand, some people just like to complain.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
True there are fans. Then there are fans that love to hate.
there are fans who have a different opinion than yours , just because we dont agree doesnt make either of us right or wrong , thats why anyone can post on this site , not just people who agree with you guys
I respect and listen to others post. Read my comments I love being proven wrong. What I don’t like is the hate that fans give the Habs. Did you know the coach doesn’t speak French because the Owner sure did.
Exactly, slamtherimtim. The fact I’m not thrilled with the Gorges signing doesn’t mean I’m negative. I’m just being realistic. I think a long-term deal is great so I’m happy they got him locked up. But $4 million a year for a character defensive defenceman is too much. If he were the final piece to the puzzle, the character guy we needed to solidify our defence and so on, then ok, that’s undertstandable. Fact is, we’re already paying through the nose for another dozen players. WE CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY TOP DOLLAR FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THIS TEAM. Is that too hard to understand?
I love how pessimists always say that they are ‘realists’.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
Agreed, no team has fans that agree on everything. Some will always like and some dislike ANY move.
I think that most people on this site understand the value in a player like Gorges and what he brings. (the term of the constract may be a bit of an issue) What bothers people is the seemingly total disregard by team management for what this team actually does need. (and Gorges does not address that need). We have to bow to their superior hockey knowledge (acknowledged, but the needs seem so obvious).
It’s more about total frustration with this management regime. (at least that is how I feel)
This comment makes sense to me. I finally understand where you and the haters are coming from. I knew the moment we traded for Gomez that we were in for some tough years. My anger is that nothing makes the fans happy. We win it’s because the coach didn’t mess things up. If we lose it’s because the coach sucks and the GM sucks and the Captain (who isn’t playing sucks) and that Price guy is a bad goalie. It’s frustrating reading all this stuff.
Yeah, I hear you. Been a Hab fan all my life, and yes, I’m spoiled.
What Gainey and our GM have been doing for years now is trying to build a team that logic tells us won’t get far in today’s NHL. To some of us it seems like the proverbial locomotive approaching from a distance. (taking a long time, we see it coming, but no effective action is being taken)
Top 10 Reasons The Habs Signed Gorges Yesterday:
http://puckbandits.com/2012/01/02/top-10-reasons-the-habs-signed-gorges-yesterday/
U said it all ,George as grown to a better leader/ shot blocker and skater then Gill now it is turn to help PK and the rest
Mornin’ all.
Just going to reiterate what I’ve said below, and that I’m really really happy that we’ve locked up a team player and a leader like Gorges with a long-term deal.
I had the misfortune to read some of the negative posts on here, and, as I suspected, they made me both angry and disappointed in the lack of hockey knowledge from people on this forum. When posters can’t identify any other strength in a hockey player than points or ‘size’, it gives a pretty good take on their abilities to read other aspects of the game.
Good on Gorges, and well done PG.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
Don’t pay attention to those posters. Most of them aren’t lacking knowledge they just like provoking a reaction and arguing with fans. It amuses them. It comes in waves: 1) the usual “Hey great! Finally! Well done! crowd 2) The “What’s he done crowd” 3) The “Trade him crowd” and finally the 4)”It was a mistake to dump Halek, Huet. Theodore” crowd.
SKost with the hatty last night… Sure he was a petulant child when he was here, but J-Mart should shoulder his share of the blame on that one, with his inability to work with Sergei.
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http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Apostrophes
Skost would have never been good here. A cancer to the room needs to be removed. The Flyers saw this and shipped both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter away. They became a better team because of it. FYI I still think Flyers suck and when they are eliminated in the first round I will be laughing my ass off.
Good for him. He was only at about 15 points in 31 games before that. Not super for a second line winger playing 18 mins a game and the PP. Maybe he has finally turned his game around!
Every one gives Halak the credit for our playoff run. What people don’t realize is that Cammy was scoring at a 2 goal a game pace. But ya Halak was the hero not Gorges who blocked two game winning goals.
After his hat trick, he now has 8 goals on the season, which is 1 less than Moen…
Good job PG, great signing, few more to go.
GOHABSGO.
While we can look at many reasons why the habs are having a pathetic season so far…2 items really stick out and no doubt in my mind that if these 2 things were where they should be we would be in a playoff spot…we have had the 5th most pp chances yet we are 29th on the pp and related to this is camm..not to pick on him only but he is not getting pd 6m to have 8 goals …we should have at least 16 more goals from the pp and camm scoring on the pp and 5/5…
Maybe Camm has “Kovalev-itis”. Slug through the reg season and then go all out in the playoffs?
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
You think!! 2 years ago he won the playoff scoring race even though his team didn’t make the finals. Last year he was the top scorer after the first round. Cammy is crazy do you want him awesome in the regular season or awesome in the playoffs. I prefer the playoffs but the team needs to make it to the playoffs first.
I’d like him to play awesome in the reg season AND the playoffs, but that’s just me.
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
Well in a perfect world that would happen and would be AWESOME
He most certainly did NOT win the playoff scoring race two years (or any number of years) ago!!
Really?? Who else scored 13 goals that playoffs??
I believe he meant GOAL scoring specifically, and he is correct.
- Honestly yours
Cammalleri can’t score because he thinks he is unbeatable from the right top circle. He has made himself a one trick pony. Everyone has seen the trick but CBC featured it and a contemplative Cammi so he thinks he is Crosby redux. Nothing wrong with him except he is stubborn between the ears.
Some of Gorges’ stats compared to other defensemen.
Points: 10 (88th)
Plus/Minus: +6 (38th)
Blocked Shots: 101 (1st)
Hits: (43rd)
Giveaways: 24 (35th)
Takeaways: 9 (95th)
Cap hit: 3.9 million (43rd)
25 before 14
See the difference in cap hit and points? Way too much money. BTW, the +/- he is tied for 106th and is listed at 116th.
I think his +/- would be a lot better if he didn’t have his defensive partner PK coughing the puck up all the time. I’m sure his goals against per minute of pk duty is probably pretty low too but don’t know where to find that stat.
“They don’t hang Conference Championship Banners from the rafters here”
Carey Price
I guess if that’s all you look at, then that’s all you’ll see.
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GO HABS GO! 2011-12 is probably not our year!
Chat with me on Twitter @TheRealRGM81
Yeah we should have kept Wiz and his -18. God’s gift to defensemen, Drew Doughty is -4, $7M. Last years prize of FA was Ehrhoff, he’s -11. +6 was Gorges is pretty good for a team in 13th place. In 5-6 yrs, $3.9M for your capt. and steadiest d-man will be a bargain. This is a good signing, I’m just surprised it came from PG; surprised he is allowed to negotiate 6yr deals.
The +/- was based on D’s only.
Yea just totally ignore all his other stats. The only thing that matters for defensemen are points.
And it’s compared to other defensemen, not the entire league.
25 before 14
Sure 3 to 3.5 will have been better but his agent was in the driver seat on this one as well at 27 Georges is entering is best years as a D and as a leaders on the back end, with all the young guys it,s actually a good thing
you can’t compare +/- between players on good teams and not so good teams.
See: Staal, Eric
or Kaberle before and after the trade
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“You have to be this tall to ride on this ride”
-as posted in amusement parks across North America
I don’t get people saying Gorges isn’t physical. Emelin is the only defenseman with more hits than him.
Emelin: 103
Gorges: 68
Subban: 48
Gill: 29
Diaz: 22
Weber: 21
25 before 14
In 39 games Gorges has 60 hits for 1.54 hits per game.
Emelin in 28 games has 103 for 3.675 hits per game.
I don’t think Gorges’ hits scare anyone.
Still second best on the team.
25 before 14
Great! But if we are not able to get rid of any cap players before July, we will never be able to sign all the kids who need to be signed for next year.
Only 17 million to sign Price, Pk, Diaz, Emelin, Eller, White, Kostitsin and Moen
Do you think this might put some pressure on Price to stay ? since they are good friends.
But how do we get rid of all those huge saleries by Camm,Gionta,Gomez and Kaberle ?
The 8 you mentioned …I agree we need to keep .
Steve, I do not know where they are going to get the cap space to sign them, unless they can unload 3 players for 1 first rounder. We need a first rounder and we need to unload cap.
Bury Gomez in the minors..maybe, wishful thinking.
Cammy.. to some western team that needs a finisher.
Gionta..i would keep but could be useful to a team that needs veteran experience at playoff time
Kaberle. team that needs power play help.
Habs would likely have to take some money back in order to dump these players.
Tough talking about next year already is it not Dave.! But it is positive!
agree Ian..the gods are pissed for some reason. not much ya can do.
Does he have to learn french?
In a recent article Mike Boone rightly and honestly concluded “This isn’t a good team”. A couple of years ago or even last year, he wouldn’t have said this. We were not a top team then but last year we were well into the playoff hunt.
So we traded away and added a few players. In recent years we traded and added and we also built in some mind-boggling long-term contracts. We even gave a big contract to a player who had not been playing regularly, has not played since and possibly (more than likely) will not play again.
The buck stops at one door – first Gainey and now Gauthier. Yes, they made a few good trades; they are supposed to; that’s why they get paid the big bucks. In the end, they contributed immensely to driving this organization into the ground.
Right from pre-season, the Habs looked bad and they will continue until the house is cleaned out on top.
Dave, You are quite right my friend. But we do have a nice young group, both on our roster and on the farm. If we can unload and package some older players, both this year and next, for a few 1st round picks, I feel we will have a great young team here that will grow into a winner.
First Molson has to be sure of having the right GM and coaching team in place for the long term. We do have the best scouting department in the NHL.
Did not know there was only one team in the NHL. So pathetic to read the same old comments every time a player signs a deal in Mtl . He is overpaid,we could have saved if if if, too long deal…
Funny how we never see those experts comment on how it happens everywhere everytime. Man people are miserable !
I love the only in Montreal comments…
Look at Philadelphia right now, they have a goalie in Bryzgalov signed for big bucks long term who is announcing to the media it is good and great news that he isn’t starting today in outdoor classic and how this gives his team a better chance to win.
I don’t think our overall cap situtation is as bad as it appears. I would think no matter what be it trade or sent to Hamilton we won’t see Gomez on the books next year. Also, Markov will either be healthy and helping us next year or on LTIR. If his knee really isn’t healed after this last go around, it probably never will be, thus putting him on LTIR frees up space.
If the team continues to struggle I am would think one of our core “little overpaid” forwards will be traded again freeing up more space.
Same. People here are so negative about it but I really don’t think there’s a chance of us losing any of our key players.
25 before 14
Yep, as long as Molson is willing to pay some bucks, we are fine cap wise. A free buyout period would be ideal too.
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
I assume that means he’ll be named captain in the not too distant future. Good signing as long as we trade a couple vets at the deadline and bury you know who…
Gorges will be a 4th D for years to come as we bring in Tinordi and Beaulieu.
Tinordi and Beaulieu won’t be ready for years. Unless, of course, the Habs want them to “learn on the job”, causing all kinds of goals against.
Habs have needed more hitting style of Dman for years, and Emelin cannot do it all by himself.
I hope this means an end to the long standing tradition of not negotiating contracts with players during the season.
Habs salary cap issues:
As the article mentions they now have 13 players taking up 47.4mil. But the cap for next year has yet to be officially determined. Kostitsyn is the only remaining UFA they weren’t going to necessarily let go. And Price, Subban and Eller are the only and RFA’s that come with multi million dollar price tags. UFA Moen is not a huge loss if they can’t trade him at the deadline. RFA’s Diaz and White should be able to be signed relatively cheap or sent down. I suspect the only players they might’ve wanted to keep but could lose are Kostitsyn and Emelin, who might both make more money elsewhere than the Habs can afford to pay them. Emelin’s an RFA, but he could choose to go back to the the K.
However, there’s also something else that could come into play.
Will next year be under a new CBA? Will a hard cap be part of it?
I suspect their could be significant disatisfaction with the status quo. Under the current system, money making teams like MTL, T.O. etc can’t spend their money to improve themselves. Plus too many veteran players are being forced out of the NHL prematurely, or at least being devalued.
And then you have Donald Fehr as head of the NHLPA. He was one of the original architects of baseball’s luxury tax. Which has turned out to be the most financially advantageous system for both players and owners.
The NFL switched to a soft cap. I wouldn’t be surprised if the NHL does likewise
can’t help but think we could have save close to a million for the same deal last summer
Ya….we should probably focus on the negative. we do want to fit in here, after all.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
It’s official, Gorges is my new favorite player. Coincidentally he was also my old favorite player.
Gorges is too small for an almost $4mil/season contract for 6 looooooong years. With Tinordi and Beaulieu years away and with a D that has Weber and Diaz, Gorges is not the big body needed to keep the front of Price’s crease clear. Gill and Emelin are the only 2 that have any size and use it. 4 other Dmen don’t, leaving the Habs too soft to defend properly.
Gorges is a leader. Yay! (sarcasm)
4 mil for a shot blocker with no offensive up-side is not only too much; it’s a lot crazy.
PG shouldn’t be allowed to screw up Cap decisions like this, especially for 6 years.
errr.. We did have size back on D, but the never ending idiotic trades like McDonagh to the Rangers has left us grasping at straws. For me I am glad we signed Gorges as we needed SOME stability back there (as we tend to ship people off before they mature). I can’t count how many achievers there are in the league who ‘used’ to play for Montreal but were traded before we could tap in to their potential….
ONCE A HAB, FOREVER A HAB!!!
Give it a rest. This team has had many underachieving players for several seasons now that everyone likes to dump on and wonder what the hell is wrong with them. Gorges is not one of these players. He is one of the very few Habs that is constantly playing up to and above his talent level. He quietly contributes very sound hockey game in and game out. Not EVERY defensemen in the league has to be a big body who thumps. How about the NHL leading block shoter. Is that O.K too?
Go look at the list of NHL D and their salaries. At 3.9 Gorges is not a joke.
On a tiny tot team, the Habs do need size on the back end. I really don’t give a rat’s ass if he “contributes very sound hockey”. 69 points in 403 NHL games with a +16 for a 190 lb. DMan should not equal $4 mil/season.
How about the fact he leads the team at plus 6. Next closes is plus 2. I guess that means nothing to you either because he doesn’t score often. Gee a stay at home defensemen that doesn’t score enough?
You need a variety of players with a variety of roles on a team to win. Gorges defends well 5 on 5, is a great penalty killer, excellent shot blocker, fits in well in the dressing room and gives full effort every game. But why would that be good enough for you. He did not grow enough when he was younger so he is garbage.
With the long list of players us fans have to be disappointed with this season, how anyone can not be happy with Gorges is mind boggling.
Look, in the NHL today, Gorges does not produce points and is too small to knock most forwards off the puck. Pretty much every player in the league now blocks pucks, so he’s not that special. Playing 6 seasons on a knee that needed surgery is what’s mind boggling.
Like Price, he is waayyyyyyyyyy over-rated around here.
But he is plus 6!!! If he is too small, why is he a plus player on a team that doesn’t score?
What’s greatly overrated around here is size. If a player doesn’t end up on a highlight reel with is bodycheck, than he’s too small to be effective.
He’s 6 feet almost 200 pounds! He’s not small by any means and is one of our best players.
25 before 14
i beg to differ, Gill has size and DOESN’T use it. He’d rather fall to 1 knee to block shots than try to muscle anyone out of the way of carey price.
6′ 1″ and 200 pounds is small? Whatever. I agree 6 years is pretty long but Gorges has proved himself time and time again but to say he’s small, you need to smarten up fella.
You know, for a guy with Andrei fricken’ Markov as his avatar, you should be the last person on earth criticizing a Josh Gorges contract extension. He should have been given the long term deal over your boy during the summer.
Actually, no, Gorges shouldn’t. 6 feet and 200lbs is small when many teams have forwards that over-match him in size and strength.
Didn’t know you all were fans of the too soft tiny tot playing D the Habs have. PG has just guaranteed an under-sized overpaid player will be around for 6 years.
Markov brings way more to the table than Gorges ever will.
You’re comparing Gorges to Markov?
Apples and Watermelons my friend.
______________________________________________________
“You have to be this tall to ride on this ride”
-as posted in amusement parks across North America
FFS! I can’t believe anyone can find negative in this. He is an amazing defensive defenseman, blocks the most shots in the league, an obvious leader, actually wants to be here. If you think Weber or Diaz will ever be more valuable than Gorges…I guess I’m actually glad that PG is our GM.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Defensive Dmen shouldn’t be paid near $4 mil a season. Stupid deal.
A little off the subject, but this is the kind of guy we need to sign too (see if you recognize the player in the last scene
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456635/#lb-vi582131993
ONCE A HAB, FOREVER A HAB!!!
Finally some good news. I think this is a bold and constructive move by Habs’ front office. I refuse to give Gauthier sole credit, but it is a smart and thoughtful signing. Overpriced? No way in hell. He is one of few who bring heart and soul to every game. Now the Habs can begin to build a defensive squad around him that will hopefully include Subban, Tinordi, Emelin, Diaz, and beyond.
As usual, Habs overpay. Sure, it’s just a “little” bit half a million here and there and you’ve got a good fourth-liner that you can’t sign.
Overpriced at 3.9M? Yes, considering his lack of offensive output and skill. Grossly overpriced? No. I don’t mind someone like Gorges being a bit overpaid.
Dennis Seidenberg on the Bruins has a cap hit of 3.25M with comparable if not better overall stats (but 3 years older than Josh) and I think that’s what Gorges should’ve gotten especially over a contract as long as 6 years. I’m not worried about the contract length since I don’t see Gorges degrading over that time and he isn’t injury prone.
But I bet Gorges’ agent was able to drive up the price a bit because Montreal has nobody who could replace Gorges (which tells you something about the Habs’ defensive depth).
Say if Gorges keeps up his steady defensive play and blocked shot numbers and manages to put up 20-30pts during most seasons then I will think his salary will be justified.
If Kaberle at 4.25M per season can get 50 pts per season then him and Gorges on the right side would make for a good 2nd D pairing. If Subban bounces back next season and Markov is healthy, they could make a good 1st D pairing. That would leave Emelin-Diaz or Emelin-Weber as our 3rd pairing.
Disagree that 3.9mil is overpriced. It is on the higher side of the “fair” range though.
Seidenberg’s deal was made prior to the 2010-2011 season and salaries have increased every year since the cap came into effect…especially this past summer where salaries really seemed to take a huge jump.
- Honestly yours
Very happy about Gorges’ contract extension with the Habs. Congrats Joshy!
Not sure why so many are griping about it though. 3.9mil/year is on par with other quality defensive Dmen in the league, and make no mistake about it – Gorges is an ELITE shut-down Dman in the NHL. Feel free to dispute that if you wish, but if you do, please provide a list of Dmen in the league that you consider to be a class above our boy Josh as far as shut-down Dmen go. Add in the intangibles he brings (leadership, team guy, etc.) and it makes sense to me.
As a UFA this summer, I’m sure he would have got 4mil (or slightly more) from some team(s) in the league.
Also, consider this: Dmen typically reach their prime in their early 30′s and JG is signed until he’s 33. Considering how salaries have increased since the beginning of the cap era, the 3.9mil will not seem so high as he approaches and reaches his prime in a few years. Looking at his current cap hit of 2.5mil and the previous 3 years where his cap hit was only 1.1mil, it’s safe to say we’ve gotten excellent value from him over his tenure as a Hab.
I could understand folks saying he didn’t give us a hometown discount and how 3.0-3.5mil would have been better (obviously), but 3.9mil is still fair value. As for the “he would have signed for less if you gave him a long-term deal last year” issue, no sh!t Sherlock – seriously injured players who require surgery and will miss siginficant time always have a lower value.
Would it have been better if Gauthier DID give him a long-term offer last year for less money? Of course, but that’s hindsight and we all know hindsight is 20/20.
For those bashing PG (for the JG extension or other reasons), I’d like to give him kudos for breaking that “team policy” of not negotiating new contracts for players during the season. BTW, this deal was signed on the first possible day that teams were allowed to negotiate new contracts with their players.
In a league where so many players want to avoid playing in Montreal for a variety of reasons (high taxes, intense scrutiny/spotlight, team/provincial/cultural politics, weather, etc.), Josh did the opposite and publicly volunteered his desire to stay here and win here. He works hard, leads by example, and leaves it all on the ice every shift.
I’m happy to have him. Congrats again, Josh!
- Honestly yours
btw, Congratulations Josh. Hope to see you wearing the “C” in the next couple years.
Cheers,
So funny how this situation mirrors 2 years ago. So many of the commentariat picking at things and trying to make something seem bad… Gorges is a great player and not undersized, and he is a crucial part of this team. It’s a good thing we signed him and the cap hit is not bad, moreover he would have gone for more on the open market. Also, all those comments about PK and how he sucks and should be traded are just like those comments made about Price when Halak was starting… we all know how that turned out. Relax people, give it time, it’s a bad season but we are not a team in ruins.
Best thing about this deal is that it shows Gauthier is willing to deal during the season. Therefore, he’ll be more in tune with who is interested in sticking around, and who needs to be dealt at the deadline.
Other than that, not happy with the $ or term. both are too much.
Starving for good hockey just watched Habs put the boots to Dave Schultz and the Flyers, Robinson was a beast.
Finishing the last of my Molson product and that’s it.
I don’t get why commenters here always want to ship out AK big man scores 20 goals a season. Play this guy top six and leave him there you get 30 goals a year.
Ryan_45 I agree.
great to see habs sign a player during the season less b,s to deal with in the summer, moneys about avg i guess terms a lil long but i guess its backend light, i hope.price will most likely be in the 5 to 5,5 mill a year range, koz can start booking a moving truck now,emelin and diaz should get chump change, subban may demand more but with he yr hes having so far he ll get way under what he maybe asking. gauthier and cunnyworthless need to be evicted as soon as poss before the holes to big to climb out of .
GO HABS GO
For those comparing to Schenn’s contract, he’ll be UFA when he’s 26. What was Gorges cap hit when he was 26? And what will it be next season? About .3m more than Schenn. Seriously, this is a great deal for a player like Gorges.
“Responding to the media , or playing to the media, or listening to the fans is the quickest way to start losing” – Sam Pollock
@la loyalist well then that us on the Goat he should have locked him up last summer he is not worth that coin.
And juice Corson went to war for the Habs show done respect.
Posting sucks on an iPhone by the way can’t reply to comment.