His parents actually live in Winnipeg and his dad is assistant coach to the moose, so there is a little more to the story. Not sure how it is going to end, but probably no guarantees in anything especially in such a competitive business as pro hockey. Not sure how anyone speaks in guarantees on this site, such a speculative business. Bedard is going to be superstar is my only going out on a limb guarantee lol

I was trying to get him to see the other side of his argument. He speaks in absolutes.

Saying PLD wouldn't want to "throw away his prime years in Montreal" when he'd be playing in his home province playing for his childhood team is something only echo-chambered Winnipeg fans would say to cope with the fact that he probably won't stay there.

Also stating Montreal is 4-5 years out from being a "bubble" team is outlandish.

Sometimes, with Windjammer, you need to slow it down a bit. Get him to read between the lines of his own sentences.

Fair enough, like the idea of less people speaking in absolutes, Montreal isnt overly far away, basically Weber/price/and possibly muller or damphousse

Oh trust me, I know all about Windjammer lol. The fact that he says Winnipeg wouldn't trade Dubois and 20th overall for 5th overall and Kidney says a lot about his ability to look at trades objectively.

Im going with Elliotte Friedman on this one and he indicates otherwise about the days of PLD considering WPG Contenders as they're on pace to miss the Wildcards last spot by points in a dramatic finish he believes to CGY. With a 10-13-2 record after the 50 game mark he didnt believe the team had bought into Bowness as Coach. Either the System or its players would have to be replaced in the summer if they miss the playoffs in such a underwhelming fashion. Also asked if Hellebuyck is interested in if Bowness stays as his system hangs him out to dry as he's absorbed 4-7 goals a night almost 40% of the season and that as good as Hellebuyck is doing he should be leading the league in a Vezina conversation .


Apparently WPG is in a position where making move to rebuild around their current core is in vein.
They have to ask themselves are they TBL in 2017 or PIT in 2017? Both had the choice to rebuild or keep trying.
TBL sold every defensman not named Hedman building from scratch bringing in Cernak via Bishop, Sergachev via Drouin ,Mcdonagh via a pile of 1sts/former 1sts, and filled the rest of their roster out with Shattenkirks, Bogosian's , Schenn's and a plethora of other players who signed for less for a chance at a cup. Even then they still needed to pay for assets along the way occassionally like Savard.

My point is Chevy just clears enough cap to keep status quo
He doesnt have it in him to rebuild and his story will always be he lost to former friend MB the minute he eliminated him in the playoffs with a sweep and didnt rebuild .
MTL that TDL was selling not buying and we still squeaked into the playoffs and dominated way better teams to win our first ever WCF trophy (which i got a picture of on my wall )
Chevy basically subtracted and not added since that embarassing loss

IF you fired your GM today i'd agree with you over Friedman
But Friedman has as little faith in your GM as i do and that's saying something as i've not liked Chevy in WPG since 2016 but never thought "That mans going to lose Canada a team to relocation" until about a month ago when i realized how bad he's done and that he wasnt allowed to spend at the TDL . Well we did that to MB as he was the lame duck with no new deal or power and even a SCF appearance didnt save his job in the end, so i dont know in what reality Chevy's safe. Given your owners doubled down on Chevy until 2025 its more likely he alienates WPG Assets until they're worth way less like he did Kane.

But WPG Owners dont have Peter Coors and his Family to Bi*** slap the Molsons back into line when they're failing so bad its a negative for the company to associate with him.
WPG needs to do all it can to find an Owner with a clue and you will just as MTL eventually did after 30 years since Savard left office , I just hope to god like MTL you dont take that long .


Thats what i always come back to , its Chevy you have to rely on to make competent moves.
Reality is when this TDL passed so did most of your leverage with PLD as now the Draft is the last spot you got to move him before OS roll in .
Knowing your GM isnt capable enough to clear the cap to sign the players needed and match the OS this makes WPG a clear target just like when CAR targeted out GM while he was on his way out.

The irony here is WPG by comparison won less Playoff Series with 3 then MTL did since they became a team again .
In Fact MTL won as many Series in the year they swept WPG for a SCF run then WPG has since they were re-created .

Winnipeg has had a lot of Good but until Chevy's fired they'll just keep Bergavin'ing it up.
I get why PLD wanted out especially after ownership extended Chevy until 2025.
In the end Caufield before his Rookie Season won more Series then Schiefele in his career.

The only thing about Friedman is that I don't think he's ever broke anything about the Jets, so he really isn't telling is anything new.

But the Jets still have leverage and Montreal really has none, the Jets own PLD for another year, Montreal can't change that, they have no leverage to force the Jets to trade Dubois to them. If they want PLD now, they have to pay for him. So the Jets are in 100% control of where he goes. If Montreal doesn't offer anything they want, then they just move Dubois elsewhere for something they do like.

Even if it's just for one year, the Jets still get a first and a good prospect.

We both know the offer sheet is a hollow threat, as PLD has to sign it for it to work. And he's not going to sign a below market value OS. So you're looking in the 3 or 4 first range, or whatever it is, for the Jets to not match. PLD has no incentive to sign a lowball OS when he can go to arbitration.

How would a converstion like that that even go? Hey Pierre we'd really like you to come play for us, but not enough to give up anything of value for you, but we really want you, trust us. Plus, we also don't like you enough to pay you market value or more to get you here now, so, instead sign this lowball offer sheet, so we can screw over your current team and we'll make sure to pay you fairly when it expires. Remember we like you, just not enough to pay a fair price to get you now. But you're so important to us that we will definitely pay you fairly. We promise!
How do you sell that?

This whole statement is ridiculously stupid and contradictory to reality. If PLD would sign the 1 year QO with the team he doesn't want to play for why wouldn't he sign the same value contract offer for the team he does want to play for?! You think just cause the Jets own his rights that they own the player, we don't live in the 30's where slavery was the accepted norm. you may own the player's rights but the player still had free will to sign whatever is placed before him, if the Jets are offering a 1 year 6.3 mil QO and the Habs are offering a 1 year 6.3 mil OS, I guarantee you 100% he signs the OS over the QO.

6.1m to 8.4m isnt a deal breaker its an extra pick , if we committed to the first , we'll commit to the second.

"Hey Pierre , 8.4m x 1 year is what we're looking at. We can revisit Term when you're a UFA (as you wanted) . This way we get Value and keep assets in house to build around you, Suzuki and Caufiled in the immediate future moving up our rebuild timeline signifigantly." as after next season he meets the required seasons to become a UFA a year early just a week after his 26th birthday

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.................. i wonder if he'd take less today so he can have more tomorrow and the pieces to help make the team he's committing to a contender during his prime years.
MTL knows we got to pay him like he's a UFA anyways why not just wait and let him show he really wants to be here .
It also allows us not to get Handcuffed to another Drouin deal if he cracks under the pressure of the media and fans here in MTL.
Sure that kinda risk for a 1st ,2nd and 3rd round picks is high 100% but not as high as the cost of moving him later if he doesnt work out.
Its in everyone's best interest including WPG


You're right , there's no way he'd do anything that reasonable or in his own self interest.
Especially not when he can slide out of the playoffs after being a top 5 team most of the year with WPG.
If CGY takes you guys over for that last spot i really dont see how you can sell him on being a contender again if Chevy is still there after the moves he made , or didnt make to be more accurate.

I think its a situation that only new Management could fix doe PLD to stay in WPG .
Otherwise offersheets looks a lot better then what WPG has offered him this year so far.
Its one thing if Chevy acquires real support for him at the TDL showing an investment in him and the team.
But he really hasnt and in a year Hellebuyck should be a Vezina Finalist he's getting 4-7 goals against almost half the season ,

All things that can be fixed with a new GM
If you keep your GM too long then like we learned with Kotkanemi there is gonna be some fallout.
He built something great but has failed to manage those assets for years now squandering them .
If he misses the playoffs after sitting idle at the TDL then WPG has to move on from him .
I mean Caufield has won as many series before he was a rookie as Chevy has as GM on a truly amazingly deep team for so many years.

I dont think WPG is a bad system or its players are bad.
I just think their GM has become a big joke among other GM's and especially UFA's like our GM became.
His parting gift was a bunch of bad contracts our new GM is having to deal with thats holding him back .

Unless you're telling me you think Chevy's done then im not convinced WPG recieves any higher value then 1st ,2nd and a 3rd round pick .
I just dont see why GM's suddenly start showing Chevy the respect they do Kent Hughes who had good relationships with Players and Management alike making his job easier.
For those reasons i think Martin Madden is WPG guy to help rebound the organization as he's responsible for ANA depth since 2008 and risen to the Assistant GM role in ANA.
He deals with Players and Management similar to Hughes experience. While Hughes strength is with the youth he's pretty honest he'd rather acquire drafted ELCs at the same position then draft them.
While i think Madden like Armstrong in ARZ will be much more focused on the drafted and likely not being as experience with contracts as Hughes.
The difference being signing Madden like with Armstrong means 4 year rebuild and everyone goes while Hughes is more confident in being able to squeeze value out of contracts .

Outside Hellebuyck who i wouldnt move until i found his Heir , id burn it all down keeping 2-3 veterans
No way they can Contend with Chevy as GM anyways so why not just rip the band aid off before he implodes everything like Bergavin did here.
It'll make it 100% easier on your next GM

Why do you play into his psychosis? The conversation wouldn't be how he imagines it and we wouldn't likely have to go 8+ mil either. The conversation likely goes like this:

Pierre, we love you and want you to play for the Habs. We tried to work with the Jets management on a fair deal that wouldn't handicap our team for the long haul but the Jets were not interested in working with us to come to a fair and reasonable trade. We would like to sign you to an 8 mil OS but we do not possess our 2nd round pick for the 2024 draft, we know you have been given your 6.3 mil QO and we have the assets to match that in the form of OS compensation. If you would consider it, we would like to proceed down this route and once Jan 1st 2024 rolls around we will negotiate an extension with you.

The idea is to layout all of the facts and not try to hide anything so that PLD does not feel offended by the low OS.