He would not be the first player in the modern era to clash with Torts. Torts is an old school coach and these are sensitive times. The culture in hockey needs to change anyway if we are going to have true superstars like in other leagues. That video of Therrien screaming at Subban, for example, made me sick.

The kid dreams of playing in his home town, close to his home and family. He didn't whine about it. He comes to work everyday and has grown to be the top center on a very talented team, and has been professional since day one, including giving the team maximum visibility into his intentions to leave.

Choosing not to sign a long term extension is an incredibly brave thing for a player to do. You are trying to paint it in a negative light, but who is taking the risk: The player, it's all on the player. If he gets an extended, season, or career-ending injury, he is risking 10s of millions of dollars. The team will get assets for him in trade one way or another.

I think the important thing to recognize is that he will not take another 1-year deal. It would be crazy for him to leave all that money on the table and take all that risk a second time.

Ok So he had it out with torts, I dont care about that it was HOW he handled it, demanded a trade, fine, but then while they tried to appease him, and he was still under contract to play, he would go on the ice and just do nothing, just skate around....He acted like a spoiled child. So No, I have ZERO, NO interest in that type of player on the team. Yeah good on him for informing Management he has no intentions to sign an extension, which means, he WANTS to go to Free Agency, SO WHY WOULD HABS FANS WANT TO TRADE FOR HIM and give away prospects when he has made it CLEAR he wants to test FREE AGENCY, that is absolutely foolish to do that...Habs will probably try and Sign him, but he isnt stupid, he knows the tremendous pressure he would be in, playing for the Habs, fans will eat him alive first time he goes in a slump. He would be better off signing elsewhere. IF the Habs do get him, I will obviously cheer for his success, I just dont see the point in giving up picks and prospects for him, if he wants to test free agency.

Yeah I remember that game where he barely skated. Some poor judgement on his end. He was what? 21-22 at the time? He felt disrespected and made a mistake. Who hasn't? Patty Roy got hot-headed and went in front of the media and said he'd played his last game as a Hab. Ryan O'Byrne stole some lady's purse when she snapped an inappropriate photo of Koivu at a bar. They are athletes, not saints. I think his play every shift following that one has shown that he has matured and grown into one heck of a player, and a player that any NHL team can win with.

Yeah, you may be right, I just dont have time for kids demanding ****, when they've proved nothing. Lets just agree to disagree, you like him because he is french and think he will be the next big french star. I am saying I dont want him based on how he went about wanting to get traded.....I just dont like players that demand trades, plain and simple. I am a Habs fan and honestly i was NEVER a Patrick Roy fan, I never respected him demanding a trade either. Same with players holding out on contracts, or wont report to the minors. To me they are NOT team first mentality players, they are ME FIRST players, and THOSE ARE NOT players who you WIN with. That is My Humble Opinion.

But but but... We won with Patrick Roy and so did the Avs...

Just wanted to clarify. I'm anglophone and I like him cause he's Good first and a Local boy second. French has nothing to do with it for me. Not true for everyone, but for me it is.

Yeah ya got me there with Roy, but he was just an asshole. I never did like him, BUT he was also at the time Top 5 goalies in the league, Dubois is NOT Top 5 in the league, He is Barely Top 3 on his team. I just dont see him EVER leading a team to a cup. Like I said IF The Habs Sign him as a free agent, Fine, I will root for him, i dont HATE the guy, Just dont want to give up picks and prospects to get him, only to see him walk away as a Free Agent. Which by him telling the Jets he wants to test free agency means he isnt looking to sign long term anywhere at the moment.

I don't wanna go 12 rounds on the subject. I think he does get traded and signed long term this offseason and the Habs would be lucky to get him.

That being said - he is not a top player in the league it's true, but he has not hit his prime yet. He's improving every year and he might plateau as 4-5 PPG campaigns and that's just fine by me! Whomever we pick 15th OA this year will have less than a 25% chance of achieving the same.

Ok So I am just curious about a couple of things....
1/ What makes you think he will sign a LONG term deal in the offseason? The man clearly stated and as you said you thought it was professional of him to do so, told Jets Management that He WANTS to go to free agency.
2/ If Habs do get make the mistake of offering up draft picks and prospects to get him, you are OK with taking that gamble, knowing he most likely walks at end of season?

Despite my thoughts about his Character, my BIGGER concern is giving away part of our future and rebuild on a gamble......
2/

What makes you think he will sign a LONG term deal in the offseason?

1) Statistically very few players have ever take 2 consecutive 1 year deals if they did not absolutely have to. I have a hard time coming up with any examples, but there can't be more than 5 players in the salary cap era who have done it
2) Winnipeg will trade him if they can to maximize the return in the offseason. Trading him at the TDL next year they will get less than a sign and trade or something of that nature where they give a team permission to negotiate with him ahead of a trade
3) He's having a career year and this would be the ideal time to cash in. Last year his numbers were OK, but this year they are great
4) The risk to the player in doing 1 year deals 2 years in a row are large. He could hit a funk. He could miss significant time with an injury. He could have a season ending injury. He could have a career ending injury. In all of these cases he makes significantly less money than if he signs this offseason
5) While I think he would sincerely like to play in Montreal, I think his desire to "only" play in Montreal has been severely overstated. No player would hand that lever to a team so they can lowball them with it. This is a media fabrication and people taking the situation out of context
6) There is a time honoured tradition of French Canadian players manifesting their "desire" to play for the Habs and leveraging it to juice other teams to pay a premium for their services. I'm not saying that's what Pat Brisson is doing, but it makes a heck of a lot more sense than telling the world for no reason that his player will only play in 1 market so that market can lowball him...

You are OK with taking that gamble?

I would expect a trade to come in the offseason with a pre-negotiated 8 year deal in place. Otherwise it makes no sense. I don't think it's much of a risk to trade Owen Beck and the Florida 1st plus a lesser asset for a PPG center age 24-25 years old. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

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