It's now been over 60 hours since the trade deadline passed and so by now I would hope the hissy fits and empty tirades have ceased. Yes, your Montreal Canadiens really did trade away their "number one" goalie, and yes, they really didn't land Marian Hossa. At the risk of launching the die hard fan right back into the fury I just said I hoped he had come out of, I say good on ya Bob!
Let's start with Hossa as this one seems to have sparked relatively less unrest among the Habs' faithful. First off, it's never a good idea to trade one player for four players - especially if those four players are in your starting lineup. I have it on good authority that the players being sought by the Thrashers were Chris Higgins, Maxime Lapierre, Ryan O'Byrne and Mikhail Grabovski, all of whom started Tuesday night's game. There a number of reasons a four-for-one trade is a bad idea, namely if that one player gets injured or underperforms you're left empty-handed. Not to mention the fact that regardless of how he plays you're left with four holes in your roster with only one plug to fill them with. In short, it's not an operation which will pay off in most cases.
Second, you're giving up: an established 60-point, two-way forward in Higgins; an interesting pest of a player who can just as easily score as he can draw penalties in Lapierre; An up and coming defenceman with, at the very least, the frame to be a force on the blue line in O'Byrne; and a young prospect who's lighting up the minor leagues and has big time hit or miss potential in Grabovski. Make no mistake, these are four players that each bring something different and potentially very valuable to the franchise.
Moving on to the Huet case, this obviously at first glance appears to be a head scratcher. I'll acknowledge off the bat that I don't like the fact that this trade was to an eastern rather than western conference team. But if that was the difference between a second and third rounder, it may have been worth it.
Not many GMs are looking to trade away their all-star goalie in the last throws of the regular season. That being said, this move has everything to do with Carey Price and nothing to do with Huet. When Gainey said in his post-deadline press conference that he would have accepted a fifth or sixth round pick for Cristobal Huet, he was making an important statement.
Gainey believes Price is the next in a long line of legendary Montreal netminders. What's more, he believes that Price has drawn all he can from the AHL and being a backup in the NHL and that the time is now for his sink or swim moment.
I don't believe Gainey truly thinks in his heart of hearts that the Habs will win the Stanley Cup this season. I do believe, however, that he thinks they have a good shot at winning it next year and the best way to maximize that chance is to start preparing for that goal now. Which means getting Price in the nets full time, not to mention giving him a taste of some playoff action. Imagine a moment, if you will, how things might have gone come playoff time had the team held on to both goalies. The media, fans, and even the players, would have likely been divided on who the starter should be - as they had been up until the trade.
The tandem clearly hasn't worked for these two in recent weeks, so something had to give. My sense is that Gainey would rather lose this year with Price and set up his shot for next year than risk going an extra round with Huet and having an inexperienced Price as the starter going into next year. Next season will be the Canadiens' 100th anniversary, a milestone which has been set as a target year to succeed for some time now.
As it is now there is no indecision, there's no more doubt: it's Price or bust. Assuming they make the playoffs, Montreal is in something of a no-lose situation. If they get bounced in the first round, they'll have gotten their taste and the youngsters will be better for the experience - especially Price. On the other hand, if Price finds a groove when all the money is on the line - as he has been known to do his entire life - then look out.
