Something brewing in Montreal ?

According to an NHL insider, something is brewing in the offices of the Habs management. The insider mentions in his latest blog entry, that the Canadiens Gm, Bob Gainey is in talks with two Eastern conference teams. He does not mention either of the teams, but some readers in their comments have mentionned one of the teams. One deal that could be in the making , would be with the Islanders. The habs would send Mike Komisarek and Radek Bonk to Long Island for Radek Martinek, Jeremy Colliton and Sean Bergenheim. I would not make the trade, i think by giving up Komisarek, a 6’4’’ solid defenseman with a bright future in Montreal, would make the habs defense vulnerable in the long term. Yes, i am a Komisarek fan and don’t want him to leave for the reason i mentionned above. Also the Habs play in a highly competitive division and against teams like Ottawa, Toronto, Boston and Buffalo, a guy like Komisarek will make his presence known and players may tend not come in the habs zone on his side, a mark of respect. Now without comparing him to one of my favorite habs players, Larry Robinson, I think Komisarek can gain with time the same kind respect that Robinson did, is that players tended not too come in on the left side when big Larry was garding the fort, those that did, paid a heavy price. Komisarek is young, strong and will get better with a seasoned NHL pro like Carbonneau as his coach. So no, i don’t make that trade.

Now on the same site, an another reader posted an another rumour, that would send Souray, Ryder, Ribeiro, Aebischer and the 2007 first round pick to Pittsburgh for Malkin, the young russian star . Of course alot people see this as a fantasy league trade, but i see it otherwise. First, salary wise it makes sense. The Pittsbugh Penguins have to become cap compliant as to the minimum of 28 million. An another reason that could be that Mario Lemieux and his group could see with such a trade, is becoming more competitive and have a better chance at making the playoffs and gaining the extra revenu with the veteran help that Gainey would be sending them. On the other hand, the Penguins could be willing to stand pat and risk missing the playoffs a few years, and hope to improve. When your trying to sell the team, you should be at an advantage. selling it as a competitive team could get you a good price. Or, you could risk taking less because it won’t bring you the extra revenus a potential playoff contenter could. Mario, we will be waiting for your answer. What do the habs get out of this ? Well, a player like Malkin would find in the habs some russian commrades in Kovalev and Markov, which would be dynamite on the powerplay. The space left on defense with Souray going the other way would not be as big as per Komisarek going in the other trade i mentionned. The Habs have a good stable of youngsters knocking at the door and could fill in for Souray. I like Sheldon Souray, when we was going thru a bad time last season, I stuck with him and it paid off , but he will become a UFA at the end of the season and nothing indicates that Gainey would of offered him an another contract, so Mr. Gainey would with this trade, gets better quality in return that he would, he if he tried to trade him in an another way. Alot people could say, why trade Ryder ? Yes he is a 30 goal scorer, but is not a fast skater and Malkin with Kovalev, has a better chance at scoring 40 + than Ryder ever could. Ribeiro, like Ryder is not a fast skater and his work ethic and attitude does not fit in with what Gainey and Carbonneau are trying to build in Montreal. Why would Gainey want to trade a good solid back up like Aebischer ? the answer is simple, it would complete the Theodore trade last spring, in the process, it would look better than the Roy trade in 1995. Gainey with trading Aebischer, would open the door for Yan Danis or shop for a good and cheap back-up. Of course a good part of such a trade is the cap issue, for both Pittsburgh and Montreal. The Penguins need to reach the mimimum of 28 million and the Habs want to make more room for youngsters. Gainey would be dumping 8.5 million in cap space and graduating some young talent and possibly sign free agent J.P. Dumont and have some cap room to add what is missing come the trade deadline towards the end of February and make a good playoff run. Bob, on this one, go do it.