Montreal Fan here, prefer a 1st if we are eating 3M, but would still do this trade if no one is willing to trade a 1st.

It's going to be a pro-rated salary that's retained, so it would probably only be about 1.5M retained if that trade were made today. I think Montreal would be lucky to get a prospect and a second at this point, his production has dropped off significantly

a first for plekanec?!?!?! you are out of your freakin mind. hahaha.

It's amazing how overrated Panik has become. Not enough for Murray.

What has Murray done? They both need a change of scenery.

That’s what I’ve been saying around here



They must still think that this is 2014-15.

You aren’t getting a first for Plekanec. Maybe a 2nd or 3rd at most with 50% salary retained. Lmfao. MTL would be nuts to turn this deal down

looool right????? its so absurd..

Not sure Murray does or that CBJ wants it. He's a solid 3/4 and I still think it's not enough for him.

Robb, even with salary retained a 1st is a hard sell. OP's offer is more than enough and fair value. Plus you can't say retaining 3M like its such a massive burden for the Habs if we do. In real dollars at the TDL its like only maybe 500K and we have so much cap space that it wouldn't be a problem for us.

Yeah I'd "prefer" a 1st also. I'd prefer five 1sts. That doesn't change anything.

Like I said, I would still do the deal.

Someone will always spend a 1st at the trade deadline for a top shutdown center. Anyone referring to Plekanec's production doesn't understand his game. We can all sit here and laugh about a 1st for Pleky, but Hanzal and Vermette both got at least a first. It doesn't matter if other fans on here feel the need to belittle the idea or our player, because anyone being honest, knows that their GM will likely pay that cost. Also, its a late 1st round pick, lets stop pretending I am asking for the world here.

Also, eating 3M in cap means nothing to us, I agree. That's still a huge bargaining chip for a team close to the cap. Don't eat it for free.

Vermette's age when traded: 32 at time of trade 35 pts in 63 games
Hanzal's age when traded: 29 at time of trade 26 pts in 51 games (16 goals)

Listen I'm all for defending Plekanec, what he does, he does really well still. People look at the cap hit and the offence and think he's a cap dump. We both know he isn't. Is he vastly overpaid? Yes obviously but he's a UFA and at the TDL so the team acquiring him has very little left of his contract to actually pay out so he might as well have a cap hit of 1M for all it really matters. But your taking rare occurrences where players who were A) younger than Pleky and B) better offensively than Pleky at the time of those trades compared to now and prorating it to this year. Not sure it works like that.

Moving from a 2nd to a 1st is big jump and we're not talking about 32nd to 31st here. The team taking on Pleky is a playoff team and probably one that is good in the standings so the pick more than likely is 50-62. That late 1st is still 2a very good chance at a stud player. The drop off after the 45th pick usually is noticeable.

IMHO no team should or will overpay for Pleky with a 1st even a late 1st but a late 2nd and a B prospect mentioned above is absolutely fair value. Brian Boyle last year went for the same thing and didn't' have the pedigree Pleky has nor the numbers either but he did have youthfulness being only 31, which is a major factor.

Then you mentioned cap hit, yeah that is an asset but its only an asset if there are team willing to take him at full value first. At 6M cap hit not one single team will trade for Pleky. There aren't enough teams that have that kind of cap space to add him so retaining isn't a luxury. Its a necessity. Otherwise we limit how many teams can afford Pleky and potentially force that one team to look elsewhere. The TDL is tricky. Being to cocky will get you what the NYI got for Vanek when they traded him to MTL. A last minute deal where for a stud player in his prime where they got a prospect who was already highly suspect and a late 2nd rounder..... for a player who was 29 and just under a point per game throughout his career! Imagine Pleky at 35.......

If someone gives us a 1st, I will be really really happy. I just don't think we'll see it. Or at least if i was advising a GM who is interested in adding Pleky, I'd advise him what OP is offering at best and that is with 50% retention included.

All fair points. I just don't agree the notion of a team spending a 1st on Plekanec is so unrealistic is laughable. We see similar deals to this often enough that if someone doesn't like the idea (like you in terms of fair value), fine, but to pretend like its the most far fetched thing ever (you didn't), they need to get real.

Bergevin's early asking price should absolutely be a 1st +. If we settle on a 2nd, that's fine.

Of course the asking price should start high. No one goes into negotiations asking for the lowest they'd want. That concept gets lost on here unfortunately. We only see the end result and expect that to be the already negotiated down offer lol.

Frankly I've come to the conclusion that no matter the offer, there will always be criticism. Every poster on here is looking at deals at face value. The GM's aren't. Making a trade in their minds could be the difference between keeping their jobs another year or potentially saving a bad season, etc. maybe they have some centers injured until the second round of the playoffs and will need good players to get them through 1 round only.

So looking at it from a face value point of view, Plekanec is not worth a late 1st rounder. If a team is going all in and are near the end of their window, I could see a GM getting greedy and sacrificing a 1st on Pleky (especially if the center market is weak or the players that were available are already gone) as a last ditch effort to keep his team a float this year.

If trading a late 1st for Plekanec meant helping save a season and possibly my job for another year, I'd do it.