Keep Shaw and trade him next summer if you need cap space. Spezza is horrible and a locker room cancer. Habs don't want any lazy whiners.

Dell will likely get a look as a possible starter from a few teams. That might push his asking price up.

I get your concerns about Spezza. I tried to make it work with Stastny, too, but was hoping Spezza might find some new joy playing with two guys who can fly.

I agree on Dell. That's why I am hoping to pull him in as a credible 25-gamer to ease the pressure on Price and give the Habs some injury cover.

You realize that's the equivalent of Dallas paying Shaw $7.9M the next 2 years right?
I'm sure they're game for that trade, but not with that retention. Montreal would have to assume the risk that Spezza proves to be more valuable to them than Shaw.

Replace Dell with Lindgren (save yourself 1M$)
Deslauriers, DeLaRose and McCarron will not make 1M$ next year (Christ, DLR and Mac can't even get on the roster permanently let alone make 1M$)
Deal Pacioretty, and you've got the cap space to add Statsny as a UFA instead of losing Shaw for Spezza

Tavares isn’t leaving one garbage fire for another.

Not to mention the Habs can’t even give Tavares 8 years

Have whatever opinion you want, but read the complete post before posting stupid crap like this...

I saw that, but figured they'd be paying Spezza that much anyway and it sounds like he's becoming a problem.

Tavares would never sign with the Habs, even if they dealt a second for him. If he’s so desperate for cups, he would never sign there - the isles are so much better, and I think he knows that

Shaw would be expensive for a year, but then falls back to a more reasonable number for two years (OK, still $3.9) but the cap will be $84M or so by then.

Sorry, I didn't realize you were his drinking buddy. My bad.

If you look, Habs traded for his negotiating rights, allowing them to give him 8 years.

Fair point, but they'd be more likely to move him for peanuts first. That's a hefty amount of retention. Maybe $1-1.5M at most.

The consensus from beat writers is that he wants to win. Are the Habs in a better position to win now and in the future than the Isles are? Absolutely not.

I'm just not sold on Lindgren in the event the Habs lose Price for another protracted stint. I like Dell, but it's a luxury.

Deslaurier is a UFA and will probably get a few decent offers. You might be right about JDLR, but if the number is too low, I assume he'll go home. If McCarron doesn't make the roster next year, I assume he'll be traded or lost on waivers.

Consensus? Darren Dreger said yesterday on TSN that he thinks JT wants to be in Montreal "where hockey matters." He isn't always right, but he is more than most.

Whichever team Tavares chooses would be the team in better position. The Isles have had years to give him success and failed. Why should he believe the next 8 years will be any different?

I’m referring to Arthur Staple, the guy who follows the Islanders.

Dreger said the Habs and Tavares are a stretch.

So much young talent. Mat Barzal is already the best No. 2 Center in the league, hold for maybe one or two

Not many teams in this league, that lose a #1 goalie, will win. It's the reality of the cap world. Put all your peanuts in a basket and run with it

Agreed. But having a guy who can go .500 for 20 or 25 games makes saving the season possible.

That may be a strike against. Unless you give him a full NMC, can you guarantee he won't be supplanted as the #1 if he has a down year?
Isles main issue is that they give up so much. Defense and goaltending isn't cutting it, and that's something that has been apparent for most of the season, and is hardly a new or unforeseen issue, yet Snow has made no move to correct it. I'm not suggesting Bergevin is any better, btw, but Snow has had his chance and blown it. Does Tavares still have faith in his GM?

I think Lindgren can do it. Hell, I think Niemi could hold the fort for 20 games. Nobody at 2M$ or less gets a team into the playoffs if asked to play more than that.

It’s unfair to say Snow has “blown it.” Nothing Works in his favor, one year the defense is solid but there isn’t enough offense. The next year, the defense is horrible but the offense is amazing after he gets a few forwards, it’s honestly ridiculous.

Snow isn’t good, but after getting Eberle I think he’s made it clear that he wants to fix the team for the right price. If he gets a dman at the deadline, I cannot see why Tavares would not have faith in him.

Is one D enough of a difference though?
Halak and Greiss are under siege, but it seems to me there is room for improvement there as well. Both are turning in less than league average performance on a regular basis. I don't see one defenseman correcting that.

I feel like they need a near complete revamp on the back end, from the net out. Not an easy thing to accomplish, and an easy thing to get wrong. Steps should have been taken by now rather than waiting until the trade deadline. Maybe the isles would be more than a bubble team if they had addressed these issues sooner.

Lehner could cost only a second and a low level prospect. That’s an easy deal to make.

They can go out and get a few third pairing guys in Cole, Johnson, Petrovic etc., or they can perhaps make a splash with their influx of picks and perhaps add an OEL, or Karlsson. Not saying it’s realistic, but it makes sense for those two sides to move them, and the Isles certainly have assets to make it work