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We are not even half way thru the season and already we have seen four guys losing their jobs (Hitchcock, Yawney, Gallant and Kitchen). Could we see more before the end of the season ? Very possible, Gretzky would step down before the obvisious would happen. Is Joel Quenneville’s job on the line in Colorado ? I don’t rule it out, unless he can turn around Jose Théodore’s poor play. I would not be surprised to see Colorado buy out Théodore’s contract at the end of the season, he will be earning 6 million next season, so at two thirds, Colorado would be on tap for about two million in dead cap space and save 3.3 million in the cap. Brisebois and Turgeon will not be returning next season also. Pierre Lacroix has been known for pulling rabbits from his hat in the past, but the Théodore trade is not one of his best, combined with the Brisebois and Turgeon signings, will be a blotch on his legacy in Colorado.

If Florida wanted to shop Gary Roberts, I think he could be a good fit in Montreal and center the maligned Kovalev-Samsonov line. He is a good leader and could take off some pressure from Koivu in that department, he also could be a good influence on the youngsters coming in to a playoff run. I don’t think too many teams will want to meet the Habs in the first round of the playoffs, or any round for that matter. The comeback kids are deadly when it comes to the second and third periods, a lead is not safe with them. I would not be surprised also, to see Gainey keeping an eye on what the Leafs will do with Tucker. I think if the Leafs don’t sign him to a contract extension and becomes a free agent, Gainey could offer him a contract, which in my opinion could spell the end of Micheal Ryder in Montreal.

If the Senators fail to make the playoffs , I can see the owner cleaning house, Muckler and Murray would be out of jobs. If this happens, we might see the return of Pierre Gauthier as Gm, who is presently acting as the Habs Gm during Gainey’s leave for the reason we all know. Would Gauthier be tempted on giving Pat Burns a call ? Burns is recovering from cancer, has mentionned his desire to get back in to coaching. In a way Burns would be coming back to where he started. He was the coach of the Hull Olympiques when a certain Wayne Gretzky was the owner in the mid 80’s and had players like Luc Robitaille, Pat Brisson (now a player agent) and Benoit Brunet in his line-up. Remember it was Burns’ Devils that eliminated the Sens in game 7 of the Eastern conference final in 2003 and went on to win the cup against the Mighty Ducks in seven games. It would be a good comeback for Pat, espacially that he would be meeting three of his four former employers on a regular basis (Montreal, Toronto and Boston).

The season is 187 days long, divide in two and it comes to 93.5 days, so the half way point as calculating the cap, would come on day 94, which brings us to about the first weekend in January. So look for movement to start in the week of January 8th and would end at the trade deadline on February 27 th.