Let's play General Manager together.
A championship team is the sum of all of its parts. Each part must be constructed to fit into a winning mold. Any large deviation from the natural order and the hopes of a championship are dashed.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently: To take the Habs and dissect them in terms of parts in the right places to create that winning team. It really is a formula - almost scientific.
Money well spent?
I will tell you right now very bluntly that the Habs can't win a Cup with the top two line centres that they have. In this cap world, you can not have a $7.3 million hit in Gomez and not have that player be a dominant performer and expect to challenge for the Cup. A $7.3 million centre has to dominate. Big money at centre has to pay for players the calibre of Malkin, a healthy Gaborik or Kane. And that big money, big time centre has to have a second-line centre to complement him.
I love the way Plekanec is playing, but he's not going to lead you in the playoffs. He's a UFA at season's end. Trade him for a puzzle piece that fits into the championship mold. One of the top two centres has to have some size. You have an Eric Staal and you can find him a complement down the middle fairly easily. Gomez and Plekanec are not the 1-2 centres to lead a Cup run. $7.3 for Gomez straps you to of the cash needed to create a winner. This is a five-year problem Bob Gainey bought this summer.
Point of comparison
On defence, look at the Flames. Bouwmeester, Phaneuf and Regehr are their top three. Now that can win a Cup. The next three on the depth chart in Calgary only have to be good, not great because they're not going to see the ice all that much in the playoffs. However, Giordano, Sarich and Pardy offer strong support in Calgary. The point is that a championship team has two or three star defencemen (Niedermayer, Pronger, Beauchemin in Anaheim for example). That puts the building blocks in place. In fact, I like Calgary and Chicago to challenge for the Cup in the west based on their D. You think the Habs are close with their top three on D?
The rest of the forward positions are simple. We all know the drill: two scoring lines, a checking line, an energy line. Important here is that everyone is happy in their role. The checking line is happy to shutdown. The energy line is happy to deliver hits and forecheck hard.
Let's see how the Habs stack up here:
Cammalleri first or second line forward. Check.
Gionta first or second line forward. Check.
Lapierre energy forward and not more. Check.
Latendresse. What is his role?
Kostitsyn. Nope. Can't see him on any championship team.
D'Agostini. Nope. Not first or second line and no D skills. Bye bye.
Metropolit. Yep. Checking line or energy line. He can be a champion.
Moen. Checking line. Check.
What do the Habs have here then? Five forwards that could fit the role of a championship team.
That leaves us with the goalie. If Carey Price is the Nashville Carey, then they are set at this position.
Know your role
What I am saying in the end is this: When you build a team, know where the player fits in a Stanley Cup winning strategy. If he doesn't fit, then you can't win with him. He can be a good player, but if he doesn't happily fit the role you design for him, then forget it.
I know you are gonna think I am crazy to say this, but Carolina is closer than Montreal to a championship and they are the worst team in the league. Why? Ward is the goalie in place. Staal is the big strapping, game controlling star centre. No dominant D-man but two huge pieces in place for Carolina for sure. The Habs may have one in Price.
I'd rather be Carolina's Rutherford trying to build a winner right now than Gainey. Rutherford has two horses and free money to spend to keep building. Bob has no free money and a three-quarter horse.
