Sabres acquire Nathan Beaulieu foir 3rd Round Pick

[pilldoc]

http://thehockeywriters.com/arizona-coyotes-trade-mike-smith-to-calgary-flames/

 

The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres pulled off the first deal of the day though, sending Nathan Beaulieu to Buffalo for a third-round draft pick.

[flyercanuck]

Wonder whats up with Beaulieu? He was highly thought of just a couple years ago...recently it's like they couldn't wait to be rid of him.

[yave1964]

 He is a solid back end guy but the offensive side has eluded him. Paired with Ristolainen he would allow the later to roam and do what he does best. for a third rounder it is a good deal.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

47 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

Wonder whats up with Beaulieu? He was highly thought of just a couple years ago...recently it's like they couldn't wait to be rid of him.

 

There might very well be something "wrong" with Beaulieu, as I can't say I've seen enough of him play to know for sure.

 

But then again, Montreal has made some real head scratching moves over the last few seasons and this could just be another.

 

The Drouin move, for example, while not terrible by any means, still saw them give up on what apparently is supposed to be a very good future defender.

They traded with the Bolts for Nikita Nesterov, a defenseman whom I think projected as a nice 2nd pair guy with a nice point shot....only to let him walk away by not tendering him an offer.

 

They traded away Subban, who has been really coming into his own as a top tier league defender, for Shea Weber, who, granted, is already an established monster defender, but likely won't age well.

 

Rumors keep swirling that they have gone cold on Alex Galchenyuk, who by all accounts, is still a very good player with some center ability and upside (he is still young), because they seemingly don't know what to do with him.

 

I dunno.

All I am saying is, the Habs, while not making outright horrendous moves, have done some things that, at the very least people can question as to "why?".

 

The Beaulieu move looks like another one fans can sit and ponder what the Habs are thinking.

 

Bottom line is...they seem to be trading away young defenders and not addressing the overall defense need and also not really addressing their need at C.

 

[blocker]

I think Buffalo just got  better. 

[ruxpin]

I really like this for Buffalo. 

 

I have no idea what the hell Montreal is doing. 

[jammer2]

4 hours ago, ruxpin said:

I really like this for Buffalo. 

 

I have no idea what the hell Montreal is doing. 

 

 

 

 Just a horrible deal for Montreal. If you give away Sergachev to provide offense, you sure as hell don't trade away your only other defender under 30 afterwards. When Markov went down last year, Belieau went on a nice offensive hot streak, scoring 8 power play points in 10 games. This guy has not even peaked yet, he's still getting better. I would have thought he was EASILY worth a first rounder. A measly 3rd???  Pffffft, Buffalo war room was probably laughing out loud after hanging up the phone at the conclusion of that trade.

 

 So....the Habs defense now consists of Weber, Petry and Emelin (who is rumored to be left unprotected and might be plucked by Vegas)....who else is gonna play defense for this team?? Markov is a UFA, slower and injury prone. Seems VERY odd to subtract SO MUCH from a defense that Price needs to be playing at a high level.

 

 Memo to the Habs, you need to be able to actually get the puck out of your end before you can score!!