Blues fans have been clamoring for this deal. Many wanted Halak,but they didn’t think the price would be Eller. He was #2 on the prospect depth chart only because of Pietrangelo’s existence. Lars can play. His two NHL goals were on deflections from dirty areas. The kid isn’t afraid to use his body and get low. He has all the needed skill to make plays in tight corners and work the boards. Give him some time to fill out and he will be a very good player.

The Habs witnessed just how far you can ride a great goalie, which is much farther than even a superstar can take you (Kovalchuk, Gaborik, Ovechkin, etc.)

I thought if they were going to trade Halak for some reason, they should at least try to package him with one of their bad contracts or something…but wow. Did not see this coming.

Look at what Brian Burke has done with Kaberle. He’s created a bidding war amongst teams for a very good player, one who’s likely to be traded for a lot more than he’s worth, and how? Simply by sitting back, taking a few phone calls, doing an interview or two and driving up the market for his player.

Gauthier took the easy route, and for all we know, took the first deal that was offered to him.

The deal itself is fair, as I said. Eller WILL play in the NHL and is likely a top 6 forward, and Schultz has size and grit. For all we know they could be the next Mike Richards and Milan Lucic, respectively. But with Halak’s value at an all-time high, and the Canadiens coming off a final-four finish, they should have been looking for immediate improvements, not more potential.

The deal just has way too many “maybes”.

Regardless of the upsides, the PR impact of a trade like this is bad for Montreal.

I would have much preferred paying a little more to get a Berglund or a Perron.

Another question to ponder, if Schultz and Eller are so good, then why were the Blues (who’s management aren’t pushovers) so keen to give up on them? The answer is because they were expendable, and because they don’t think those players would be able to crack their line-up. Yet they’re fine for montreal.

Don’t get me wrong, the deal itself is fair, and frankly the Canadiens could win it, contingent on Eller’s development and whether he can actually pan out as a top 6 forward in the NHL. Problem is, it doesn’t benefit the Canadiens TODAY. Gauthier even admitted that, talking about the future in his press conference.

I also disagree with you when you say that Montreal management is smarter than what they’re given credit for. In fact they’re worse. They’re easy to give up on players, get pushed around when it comes to trades and they’re lazy when it comes to scouting, player development and due diligence when it comes to these types of things.

I think they’re lucky more than anything else.

But thanks for your comments, I definitely appreciate it. You too Fred, and good job with that prediction, haha.

Eller’s scouting report here:
http://forecaster.canada.com/faceoff/hockey/player.cgi?6418

BTW Denmark produces excellent hockey players, as they demonstrated at the Worlds this year.

Ian Schultz scored 24 goals (with 150 PIM) in the very tough Western Hockey League last year. The Calgary Hitmen have produced first rate NHLers.

Schultz’s scouting report here:
http://forecaster.canada.com/faceoff/hockey/player.cgi?6898

You want size up front? Schultz has it.

Montreal management is much smarter than many fans and commentators give them credit for.

After all, the Habs did get to the Eastern Final this year, did they not?