The_Rocket Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Long time no post for me on here! But I got this idea today and wanted to seek some feedback on it... so here I am! as the title says, I’m proposing Roussel to MTL one for one with Paul Byron. Here’s my reasoning: TDLR: Canucks get the better player while MTL gets a French guy with one less year on his contract. long version: Habs will likely lose Danault to FA and I think Drouins days in that city are done as well. If both of them leave, habs will have 0 Francophone players. I’m not sure how important it is to them to have a French guy, but I think there is some serious consideration by ownership there to have at least someone who speaks French as their main language. Roussel is a decent enough pest but his offense has evaporated and he has to be in sheltered minutes to be at all effective. Byron, on the other Has decent underlying metrics, is a good pk/2-way winger, and would fit in nicely beside Dickinson and Podkolzin on a checking third line. the big factor here are the contracts. Similar AAV (Roussel 3 million, Byron 3.4 million) BUT roussel has only one year left where as Byron has two. This matters because the Canucks will be shedding a ton of cap hits after this season (LE, Beagle, Luongo Recap, etc.) with no major RFA’s to sign (aside from Rathbone and Depieteo, who should be cheap) so they can afford to have Byron carry over one extra year. MTL on the other hand, have to re-sign Suzuki after this coming season. It would benefit them greatly getting Byron’s AAV off the books for that year, especially considering it looks like they will try and keep Armia who fills a similar role anyways. this would give the Canucks a top 12 like so: Miller - Petet - Boes Pearson - Horvat - Hoglander Byron - Dickinson - Podkolzin Motte - Beagle - A Guy (“a guy” is one of highmore, MacEwan, Lind, lockwood, etc.) imo its a pretty decent lineup with 2 lines of high scoring, a solid checking line, a 4th line that can actually tread water, and overall a good defensive group especially compared to last year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwijibo Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Roussel from France. So there goes your selling feature. Byron is an important part of Montreal’s team. He’s a great penalty killer and his speed makes him a threat. Roussel is all but done. Montreal passes on this easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rocket Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 1 minute ago, qwijibo said: Roussel from France. So there goes your selling feature. Byron is an important part of Montreal’s team. He’s a great penalty killer and his speed makes him a threat. Roussel is all but done. Montreal passes on this easily Yeah I know that but he moved to Quebec when he was 16 and still lives there in the offseason and speaks French. That makes him a French Canadian by definition. If MTL does want a Francophone, Roussel fits the bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwijibo Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, The_Rocket said: Yeah I know that but he moved to Quebec when he was 16 and still lives there in the offseason and speaks French. That makes him a French Canadian by definition. If MTL does want a Francophone, Roussel fits the bill I disagree. If it’s that important to them they can go out and try to get Paquette or swing a trade for Gourde. There’s no reason to take on a useless player who isn’t even Quebec born just because he speaks French hell. If it’s that vital they have 2-3 guys on their Laval Roster they can call up Edited July 18, 2021 by qwijibo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Like the others said I'm not sold on the notion of his Francophone background being the selling point for the trade. Given the salary and how Roussel isn't really a positive asset, plus we have Motte or potentially Highmore/ Gadjovich who could slot up the lineup, I would rather give one of them the 3rd line LW spot and keep the bottom-6 less expensive. Time to put an end to the expensive bottom 6 (Byron is good, but Motte's probably just as fast and smart, bigger, and comes at around 1/3 of the contract price). I like the look of the following and would prefer not to add more 30+ players (rather just bury Roussel and Eriksson). Lotto Line Pearson - Horvat - Hoglander Motte - Dickinson - Podkolzin Highmore - Beagle - Lind/ MacEwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Torts Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 31 minutes ago, qwijibo said: Roussel from France. So there goes your selling feature. Byron is an important part of Montreal’s team. He’s a great penalty killer and his speed makes him a threat. Roussel is all but done. Montreal passes on this easily So he’s from Montreal then right 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptKirk888 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 34 minutes ago, qwijibo said: Roussel from France. So there goes your selling feature. Byron is an important part of Montreal’s team. He’s a great penalty killer and his speed makes him a threat. Roussel is all but done. Montreal passes on this easily He’s still a francophone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanuck Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 25 minutes ago, The_Rocket said: Yeah I know that but he moved to Quebec when he was 16 and still lives there in the offseason and speaks French. That makes him a French Canadian by definition. If MTL does want a Francophone, Roussel fits the bill Half of my family lives in Mtl and I suspect I've spent years of my life there if I were to add up all the time I've accumulated there - this notion that Montreal puts a premium on French speaking players may have even true in the 70's/80's but it's WAY over-played by people outside of Quebec these days imo. They, as much as any other fan base, understand it's a business and any asset that can help you achieve your goal will be considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwijibo Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 2 minutes ago, CaptKirk888 said: He’s still a francophone... He’s still a crappy player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptKirk888 Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Just now, qwijibo said: He’s still a crappy player Didn’t say he wasn’t. Just responding to the ‘France’ comment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Roussel is big into Maple Syrup. I'd mention this to the Leaves of Hogtown, btw... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkSave Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Sacre Bleu! Rooster is going to have a career year if he can crack our bottom 6!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 1 hour ago, CaptKirk888 said: He’s still a francophone... Now for something completely random: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilya Mikheyev Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 I don't think Roussel's ability to speak French actually gives him much value to MTL (I think people say that on this board as a joke cuz he literally has no value). Byron was scratched some games in the season but was looped back in for every playoff game (for a reason) and played well. My guess is GMMB will wanna go with the same strategy, sending him down on waivers if required but keeping him around under the assumption that no one will wanna claim his contract. And if they do, then he has a bunch of cap space. I doubt he'd change course to take on a worse player on another terrible deal, even tho Rooster does have 1 year less on the contract. If there is any value in the trade it is exactly that - that MTL gets one less year with an underpaid 4th liner. But I don't think he'll move Byron for a total waste of cap space like Roussel this year as they try to meet the expectations they set last year of making it to the SCF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devron Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Wasn’t Byron on waivers this year lol. Not saying anything about this thread either way, just thought that was funny. Byron was prettt good in the playoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwijibo Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Devron44 said: Wasn’t Byron on waivers this year lol. Not saying anything about this thread either way, just thought that was funny. Byron was prettt good in the playoffs He was, it mostly for salary cap reasons. Montreal was up against the cap all year and had to make moves to stay cap compliant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Teemu Selänne said: I don't think Roussel's ability to speak French actually gives him much value to MTL (I think people say that on this board as a joke cuz he literally has no value). Assuming he is still literate in French; it's "true French" (as some in France might say vs Quebecois which *some* have a kind of snobbish attitude towards that "dialect"). Myself being sadly not literate in French from wherever, I can't tell the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 it's an interesting - well thought out proposal imo - but I think I'd prefer to let Roussel expire and target another center for a dual-C third line as opposed to Byron. but I really like Byron - and think the OP has made a solid effort here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Devron44 said: Wasn’t Byron on waivers this year lol. Not saying anything about this thread either way, just thought that was funny. Byron was prettt good in the playoffs some quality players hit waivers imo this year - and weren't claimed, for tight cap reasons.... that shortie vs Toronto in the playoffs was worth the full 3.4 million in my opinion. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 If Burrows has any pull, he could be a factor that makes this trade more likely than not if both GM's were to speak Him and Rouss have a good relationship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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