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The recent reacquisition of Jeff Petry by the Montreal Canadiens was a missed chance for the Habs since Petry was then transferred to the Detroit Red Wings for Gustav Lindstrom and a draft selection in the fourth round shortly after the Canadiens made their first move to get him. Instead of keeping Petry, they could have traded him for a draft selection and utilized the money from his contract to further improve the scouting and management divisions in Montreal. In essence, they should have pulled a “pay Peter by robbing Paul” and made the necessary adjustments.
I feel that the Habs have a very excellent set of scouts working for them, but very good is not good enough in this case. Very good is required. Instead, the Canadiens should be considered among the very best in this regard throughout the NHL. I share your appreciation for their existing management team; but, I believe that the inclusion of a few additional voices would propel this organization into the elite level of the league. Increasing financial investment in these sectors is the only method to bring about the desired result.
The Montreal Canadiens should have waited a month or two and then moved Petry along with his $9 millionish salary over the following two years for whatever draft selections that they could have gotten and utilized this freed-up money to recruit more quality scouts and some more brains to add to its brain trust.
A move along these lines would have been more effective asset management.
The Toronto Blue Jays released standout player Carlos Delgado and waived his $10 million annual contract a very long time ago. They used this money to purchase what was known as the SkyDome at the time for the same price. After then, they gave the stadium with the retractable roof a new name, Rogers Stadium, and ever since then, they have been allowed to deduct this lawful advertising spend. This is a very astute use of one’s financial resources.
The Montreal Canadiens will almost certainly be selecting high over the course of the next two years. Selecting great players via the draft is the best way to capitalize on this short opportunity, and the ideal time to do it is right now. Having a larger number of scouts on hand, for example, is comparable to a developing country investing in essential infrastructure for the purpose of fostering economic expansion. If you do not have highways to transport your products to other marketplaces, you will be unable to expand your economy. In a manner of speaking, Montreal will not be able to mature into a genuine contender for the Stanley Cup until it has acquired the required people.
Some clubs, like the Dallas Stars, for instance, have been very successful in the drafts that they have conducted. The Toronto Maple Leafs have an absurdly high number of excellent scouts in their organization. Because they have not been given much to work with in terms of draft selections year after year, many of them are likely to be dissatisfied by this situation. Then there’s Tampa and Nashville, Tennessee.
Both of these groups have also been quite successful in the process of locating valuable diamonds.
I suggest that you should hire some of the scouts from these other clubs, much as the Habs did with Adam Nicholas, who was a skills expert for the Maple Leafs. With $9 million more, the Canadiens might have hired some high-caliber scouts to evaluate the young players in their system.
Similarly, by applying the same innovative thinking to the situation, Montreal could have utilized part of the money they saved to make a trade for Petry and a pick instead, in order to strengthen their management staff.
My admiration for Kent Hughes is well-founded, since he excels in a great number of areas. However, one thing that may be cause for concern is the fact that he seems to like working with individuals who he already has a strong familiarity with, both in terms of player acquisitions and advisers. Although I haven’t been able to find much fault with his overall performance thus far, I think it wouldn’t hurt to obtain some extra independent viewpoints on the matter. This was one of the previous general manager Marc Bergevin’s most serious shortcomings.
We can only hope that this is not a case of history repeating itself.
Some of you are probably thinking right about now, “Why doesn’t team president Geoff Molson just hand out this money?” Because contrary to appearances, neither he nor this franchise has access to such big pockets.
It is true that the Montreal Canadiens are one of the most prosperous clubs in the NHL; yet, a significant portion of this franchise’s riches will be generated once this club is placed up for sale. On paper, it has a significant amount of worth. The Maple Leafs of Toronto are not to be confused with the Canadiens. The Habs are not held in a joint venture by two massive telecommunications companies who have a lot of spare cash lying around. Therefore, the Canadiens need to be resourceful in order to find money to pay for extra employees to assist with scouting and management.
The previous year, Montreal obtained a first-round selection from Calgary in exchange for the right to acquire Sean Monahan and his exorbitant salary of $6.4 million.
The Habs forked up a significant quantity of cash in order to acquire a first-round draft selection that, at the time, was anticipated to be selected anywhere between 20th and 32nd overall in 2025. It is possible that this choice will move even higher, which would be wonderful if the Habs find some success. To put it another way, did Geoff Molson get the most bang for his buck with this investment?
The Montreal Canadiens had the funds to pay Jeff Petry an annual salary of around $9 million for the following two seasons. Sean Monahan was given $6.40 for his participation in the prior one.
Imagine what an investment of around $15 million spread out over the course of three years might have accomplished for essential infrastructure. Wouldn’t taking such a step have boosted their chances of signing at least two to three younger players of lower cost but higher quality, who would eventually help the Habs win the championship?
That is how I see it, for sure. In my opinion, doing business in such a manner would have been a more judicious use of the funds that had already been set aside to be spent. In point of fact, the Montreal Canadiens may have even come out ahead financially as a result of this investment in the long term.
This monetary error may still be corrected, and the time is not too late to do so. There are still some players on Montreal’s roster who will not have an impact, positive or negative, on the team’s performance. My recommendation is that you swap them for draft selections, and then use the money from their wages to reinvest in essential infrastructure. To do so would be an essential step in transforming the Montreal Canadiens into a premier team in the National Hockey League.