Realistic ? Lol like the Pirri signing but will most likely never happen and deharnais buyout aswell .. The trade would be nice to get yakupov but for a cheaper price as much as we all hate emelins cap he is still are bigest hitter and he will most likely bounce back along with the hole team with Price being back

Why does everyone keep trading Emelin for Yakupov?? Its not going to happen. Throwing Pateryn and Condon into the deal does not make the other GM say "Really? why didn't you say so! Where do we sign?"

Then you are throwing in a 3rd and a 5th our way for good measure.......

Sorry bud but this isn't somewhat realistic. I, as a Habs fan, would be overjoyed if it did but in the real world this will never happen. Especially after Chia went full ****** and traded Hall for a non top pairing dman. He's on a short leash going forward. Everyone in the world knows they got fleeced in that deal.

The biggest over statement by Habs fans everywhere. Emelin is a 5-6 dman being paid like a 3-4 dman. His hitting is all he has. NO offense. NO speed. NO brains. Aside from pissing off the Bruins, he isn't that important to the team. If you want to replace the hitting you'd be missing, you can do so with a cheap bargain bin pickup in free agency. L. Schenn, Grossman, Jackman, Mike Weber, all guys who can replace Emelin's hitting quotient at a fraction of the price. All free agent currently. All cheap and easily moveable.

Also, our team has gotten a huge upgrade in the physicality dept. already with Weber, Shaw and even Radulov. Emelin's hitting is not needed anymore. PK Subban's offensive prowess is however. That's something im hoping Sergachev can fix.

Yes, Emelin is overpaid. But there is one thing about him that nobody really want to see. He can easily play 20+ minutes every night. And that is the problem. Markov will not play the 23+ minutes he played last season. IMO he will play between 19 and 21 minutes. Beaulieu will be at the same level. So the Habs need a third LD, who can play 20 minutes. I really like Barbeiro, but I don´t think that he can play 20 minutes every night.

If Emelin could be traded for Yak, I would be happy. But then the Habs have to sign a LD, who can play 20 minutes.

And I wouldn´t buyout DD. If he could not be traded, keep him.

Just like F50 said, any of those FA d's like schenn would be able to replace emelin at a way lower cap. I'd give up emelin a pick & a prospect just for yak, obtaining a skilled LW would be huge for our top 6. & about the desharnais situation, doubtful MB will trade him because nobody wants the guy unless it's for like a 7th rounder & MT has a huge hard on for DD, can definitely see Vegas taking him off our hands which would clear up some cap space for a decent free agent or a resigning. Either way I'd love to see Hudler, Versteeg (if he stays) or Schenn in a habs jersey

Marc, you and i both know he played 20+ mins a night because of lack of depth not because he deserved to. Beaulieu was supposed to be a top 4 by now and hasn't quite grasped it. Petry was injured. etc etc . At that point, Therrien doesn't have much options left to his disposal. Also you say that Markov and Beaulieu will play ~20 mins each next year as well as Emelin. That is virtually impossible. There's a reason why there are 3 ranks in defence. 1st pairing draws the hardest competition which will be 23-25 mins a night. 2nd pairing 20-22 mins, 3rd gets whats left over if the rest of the game is pretty much even strength and non close games. If Emelin is playing with Pateryn on the 3rd, i guarantee you they won't be getting near 20 mins a night. No defence core in history roled 3 pairs of dmen at 20 mins a night equally. It just doesn't happen.

Emelin @ 1.5M - 2M, fine but other than that, he needs to go.

F50marco, I totally agree with you that there should be a difference between the three pairings. And on the right side there will be this difference in minutes (Weber 25+, Petry 21+, Pateryn minutes left). But not on the left side. IMO neither Markov nor Beaulieu will play the 23-25 minutes of a first line D. Markov will play first line PP and Emelin will play first line PK, both times RD will be Weber. 5 on 5 I would guess first D Beaulieu/Weber, second Markov/Petry, third Emelin/Pateryn. But belonging to Markov, Emelin could be switched to the second line to take some additional minutes.

You mentioned the lack of depth last season. Habs still have a lack of depth on the left side, because Markov is too old to play 23 - 25 minutes (if he will play these minutes throughout the regular season, he will run out off gas during the playoffs) and Beaulieu will need one or two more seasons before he can play these minutes every night. I agree with you about the salary of Emelin, even 2.5M would be ok.

But i don't think you understand where the bulk of the minutes comes from though? PP and PK are not the major minute changers for him. Its regular shifts. If Emelin gets more ice time, so does Pateryn. Which by then your taking away from Weber and Petry. Yes i understand Markov won't get 25 mins a night but he will be paired with either Petry or Weber and thus have his minutes elevated naturally. same goes for Beaulieu who although amy end up being paired on the 3rd pairing with pateryn, he has proven to be more effective than Emelin. Emelin will not be sent out with Weber or Petry on a regular basis so these extra minutes you speak of won't happen. Emelin will get his share of PK but that's it. Not saying i don't agree with you regrading Markov and Beaulieu. In a perfect world, Emelin is substituted with a top pairing LH dman to play with Weber. Markov has his minutes cut by playing with Petry and Beaulieu continues to learn the ropes with Pateryn on the third line. Emelin's spot is virtually replaced by Beaulieu as is. But in this scenario, Emelin is traded, which means habs have cap space to ad a true top 4 dman through trade or free agency with a guy like Russell. that would be the quick fix.

Regardless, my actual point was that even IF Emelin would get that ice time, that would be the mistake. He's not good enough for the elevated ice time and thus shouldn't be patrolled as a top 4. Beaulieu neither at the moment so the Habs should be trying to acquire a player closer to Markov's capabilities in terms of usage.

F50marco, I totally agree that in this scenario Habs have to get a real top 4 LD. And I agree that Emelin shouldn´t get the minutes.
But you have to face reality.
Habs have to reduce Markov´s minutes to max 21.5 minutes. Beaulieu´s minutes will raise up to max 21.5 minutes.
According to these minutes, the third LD has to play at least 17 minutes.
IMO there are two "Baustellen" german spoken Habs have to fix.
First one is a top 6 left winger. Second one is a top 4 D. The first one should be fixed very soon, the second one during this season or at least 2017 - 2018 season.