How you like ‘em now?

I guess the key to me is for Chiarelli to wait to give him the contract. If Patrice continues his rebound from the injury and posts something like 25G + 50A+ and looks strong, I’m fine with giving him a good contract (but reasonable for both parties). You have to figure Savard is the odd man out at some point and a center corps of Seguin, Bergeron, Krejci is a luxury… if Seguin develops as expected at least. I’d be pretty happy going the next 5 years with those 3. I just don’t want Chiarelli to hand out the mega-deal before the season starts and then be back to trying to figure out these cap problems again next summer.

Matt – just wait and see. Bergeron will be expecting a sizable contract. Whether it’s 4 years, $20M+ or one of these silly 10 year, $45M types with $6M, $5M descending salaries, he will be expecting a good payday. It’s just how it is.

Now, Bergeron is a good player. A key guy on this team. Overrated by many fans, underrated by many others. I count him as a very solid #2 center. Probably good for 50-70 points a season. I don’t believe he’s a perennial 30 goal scorer or a 50 assist type. He’s not that physical, he’s not likely to be especially durable. He’s a responsible player though the recent wave of premier “shut down defensive center” stuff makes me laugh. He’s just a good player, you know?

But if the team eats up payroll by paying 2nd line centers like Bergeron and Krejci big money (by which I mean if these guys are getting $5M+), well that’s how they will set themselves up to lose a Seguin in 3 years, because that guy will quite possibly command 1st line center money in 3-4-5 years. Point being, re-sign Bergeron 1) after the team shows that it has rebounded from last season’s overall fiasco, 2) to a solid deal such as 4 years, NO NTC, and for about $4-$4.5M per year if he proves he’s worth it. Bergeron for $5M+ per year, for 7+ years, with a NTC? Sorry, I would never give him that deal right now.

Now I’ll get flamed for suggesting that the team not open the checkbook and give Patrice whatever he wants but let’s see the top guys prove their worth this year before making * more * stupid signings like some of the “THANKS A BUNCH” contracts that Chia has handed out the past couple years.

I went with 2. I’m not that confident. There have not been enough changes to the roster yet. Horton + Seguin will help, Seidenberg is an improvement over Wides though the sporadic offense of the latter could be missed. Unfortunately, too many players from the losing squad are returning as of now. I suppose the argument from some will be “… yeah but a healthy Krejci” etc. But injuries happen every year and given what I still feel is a too-soft forward corps, they’re likely to occur again.

I feel like we’re still an impact trade and a couple role players away from the ideal balance to this lineup.

Right now, I don’t see any reason to expect significantly different results from the past couple years. Fans are always optimistic this time of year so I imagine I’m much in the minority. Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

BTW… until we see this group win the kind of games they have lost in the playoffs 3 years running, let’s not give extensions to Chara and Bergeron. If this turns out to be another disappointing year – and I dearly hope it’s not – then you can’t just keep bringing the same core back year after year. In other words, let these guys earn extensions, don’t give them away before the results are in.

doesn’t mean that they can’t get better by addition AND subtraction. With their veteran leadership i think it would be very hard to let that collapse linger in a bad way. It should motivate them if they’re actually a cup contender