It was certainly to be expected; a major overhaul in the Montreal Canadiens organization. It would be an understatement to say
GM Bob Gainey has been active so far this offseason. By not resigning Koivu, Kovalev, Tanguay, Komisarek, Lang, Kostopoulous, Dandenault, Brisebois, and Bouillon (there are so many I may be forgetting one or two), Gainey gave himself plenty of wiggle room under the salary cap to spend in the pool of free agents this summer, giving him a rare opportunity to reshape the team and its philosophy. After a disappointing centennial season, the franchise will now get a fresh start, with new owners, the
Molson family, a new coaching staff with
Jacques Martin as Head Coach, and new players.
Bob Gainey made a splash the day before the July 1st free agent frenzy by trading away
Chris Higgins, defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik, for center
Scott Gomez, along with Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto. This trade allowed Montreal to acquire perhaps the best centerman available on the market. With the financial flexibility Gainey gave himself, he could easily absorb Gomez's cap hit of around $7.35 mil per year. It was a win-win for both sides. The NY Rangers would free up valuable cap space to make some changes on the team, notably signing star winger Marian Gaborik, and the Habs would acquire a top play-making and Stanley-Cup-winning centerman in 29 yr old Scott Gomez, replacing long-time captain
Saku Koivu. It was believed a change of scenery would be best for both the CH and Koivu, allowing both parties to turn the page and get a fresh start. Saku Koivu signed a few days ago in Anaheim, to play with his good friend and fellow countryman Teemu Selanne.
Then came
July 1st. GM Bob Gainey was probably the most active on Day 1, signing Mike Cammalleri, Jaroslav Spacek and Brian Gionta.
Following a pt-per-game season, recording 39 goals and 43 assists for 82 pts,
Cammalleri, 27, was signed to a 5yr contract worth $30 million. It would seem to be an instance of deja-vu for ex-Hab
Alex Tanguay, who has seen Cammalleri replace him after his Calgary departure, and now after leaving Montreal. This 5'9 goal-scoring forward put up some exciting numbers last season, playing alongside Jarome Iginla on Calgary's 1st line. Question is, will he be able to produce similar numbers in Montreal, and, in turn, justify his large contract?
Brian Gionta, 30, a goal-scoring right-winger of fairly small stature, being 5'7, is reunited with Gomez, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2003 with the Devils and recorded a career season in 2006, notching a whopping 48 goals and 41 assists. Gainey must have had him on his radar immediately after acquiring Scott Gomez. With new arrivals comes the question of team chemistry, and reuniting old Stanley-Cup-winnning teammates is never a bad idea. Gionta was signed to a 5yr-$25million contract. After average, perhaps even below-average seasons to their standards, both Gomez and Gionta have something to prove and must be looking forward to getting back on the ice together and repeat the successes they experienced with the New Jersey Devils. I wouldn't be suprised to see them emerge as a dominating dynamic duo.
The departure of
Mike Komisarek (signing with Toronto) was a huge blow to the Canadiens not only on the ice, but also in the dressing room. Number 8 was a great leader and teammate, loved by both the fans and the players. Fortunately, Gainey was successful in signing to a three-year contract worth $11.5 million,
Jaroslav Spacek, 35, an experienced defenseman who fills most of the void left by Komisarek. He is steady defensively with an important offensive upside, and is said to be a fantastic teammate and leader. He will be a comforting presence on the blue line and a great addition to the powerplay, seeing as he possesses a canon of a slapshot.
Those expensive but necessary signings consequently replaced top ex-Habs Koivu, Tanguay,
Kovalev and Tanguay. Roughly a week later, GM Bob Gainey adressed the need for size and grit by signing to 1yr deals defensemen
Hal Gill, 34 and 6'7, of the Stanley Cup-winning Penguins, 29 yr old
Paul Mara, 6'4, and 6'2 forward
Travis Moen, who played a major role in Anaheim's Stanley Cup win a few years ago. Those are good signings that add some necessary size and muscle to a relatively small team. Jacques Martin will have a good group of experienced defensemen next year, with the likes of Markov, Hamrlik, Spacek, Mara, Gill, Gorges and perhaps some space for youngsters Weber, O'Byrne, Subban, Carle, depending on their training camp performances. Up front, a fast, balanced attack with a good mix of speed, size and skill. Left wingers
Andrei Kostitsyn,
Guillaume Latendresse and
Mac Pacioretty, all over 6'0 ft, will provide size and offense to the first three forward lines.
Here's a preview of what
next year's team could look like:
A. Kostitsyn-Gomez-Gionta
Pacioretty-Plekanec-Cammalleri
Latendresse-Lapierre-S.Kostitsyn
Moen-Metropolit-Laraque
extras: D'Agostini, Stewart
Markov-Spacek
Hamrlik- Mara
Gorges-Gill
extras: O'Byrne, Weber
Price
Halak
It'll be an interesting training camp! And hopefully an exciting and successful year. Go Habs Go!
