Will the Habs sell? Of course not, stupid!
It’s no secret the Habs would love to move Sergei Samsonov. There was also an RDS report last night that Alex Kovalev had asked for a trade, but apparently was taken down, and there have been whispers of Sheldon Souray being moved because of his contract situation, I’ve even heard Saku Koivu’s name come up at the hockeybuzz forums, and it makes me think, will the Habs sell? Of course not!
Things aren’t looking good for the Canadiennes, but all hope is not lost, and don’t forget the Toronto Maple Leafs last week were in a much worse position, they went on a three game losing streak, and they’ve still advanced in the standings. It’s a tight conference, and the Habs could go from 10th to 4th in less than a month.
And with Bonk, Johnson, Aebischer, Downey, and the majority of their defense core already UFAs, they really only have one chance to contend in the next two to three years, and Habs fans would love to see their 25th Stanley Cup before their centennial.
So what WILL the Habs do?
Are they comfortable with David Aebischer taking over for the time being? They could add a veteran backup like Ed Belfour or Curtis Joseph, but that would leave them with three goalies when Cristobal Huet comes back, and someone is going to get pissed.
There is the possibility of moving Sheldon Souray for someone more willing to re-sign. Maybe they could try a deal like this.
To Chicago:
Sheldon Souray
2nd Round Pick
To Montreal:
Adrian Aucoin
Bryan Smolinski
Peter Bondra
The Habs get Smolinski and get Bondra thrown in exchange for taking on Adrian Aucoin and his large contract.
That gives them their second line center, their replacement for Aucoin, and a solid winger.
That also removes the need to deal Kovalev, because apparently his trade request is the result of a fight with Sheldon Souray.
But now they need to dump some salary, and they can do that by moving Sergei Samsonov, but what team would be willing to take him? Philadelphia might be able to take him on, if they plan on attempting something next year. They have the room, especially with Forsberg gone, and with Calder becoming a UFA.
The Habs could also use a little more toughness, I know, I know, Lapierre is doing it great, but what about…
To Philadelphia;
Sergei Samsonov
To Montreal:
Todd Fedoruk
These two deals remove problems the Habs have had a lot of the year, and would make their team look like this… I don’t care what their lines are normally like, this is on a best player, best line basis.
Ryder-Koivu-Kovalev
Bondra-Smolinski-Johnson
Latendresse-Higgins-Plekanek
Begin-Bonk-Perezhogin
Fedoruk-Murray
Aucoin-Markov
Rivet-Niinima
Boillion-Dandenault
Komisarek-Streit
Huet (IR)
Aebischer
All the deals seem far fetched, but it improves the team, remove two players who are obvious dressing room cancers, (Samsonov and Souray) keeps the payroll about the same, and doesn’t give up any youth.
Thoughts?
-L