Andrei Kostitsyn Re-Ups for One Year
Word has trickled out that the Montreal Canadiens GM has been active yet again, as the Habs let it be known that Andrei Kostitsyn would be returning to Montreal for his final year as a Restricted Free Agent(via twitter, no less).
Although only a matter of time before this pre-negotiated deal was announced, there really was no way the Habs were going to part with Kostitsyn.
He has piled up three 20 goal seasons and is only now reaching his prime. Add to that the fact that his inconsistencies would never allow him to fetch a solid market value and it was clear that both his best choice and the Canadiens best choice was for AK to return for another year.
The deal is a one year contract that will pay him the same salary he has been earning for the past three seasons, $3.25 million, and fits in precisely with my off-season projection for how the Montreal Canadiens were going to do business.
With AK46 locked up for another year, the Canadiens salary cap space once again goes down. Following the Gill signing, the Habs were left with roughly $22.066 million in spending money. Now, including Kostitsyn's renewal, the Habs are left with somewhere around $18.9 million in cap space with the need to fill another 9 roster spots.
It's a great move in my opinion as, unlike in seasons past where Andrei has been looked upon to be the top 6 impact winger he is supposed be, this time around AK is going to be given more realistic duties, most likely paired with Danish centerman Lars Eller as they demonstrated solid chemistry on the Habs 3rd line.
The expectations have come down for Kostitsyn, season by season, but with a proven ability to pot 20 goals a year, and the physical dimension(when he wants to use it) to make an impact, there's no reason to think that AK46 won't thrive on the third line.
Of course, there is still the underlying hope that he will play his way back to top line duties, but if Montreal management takes the attitude that he is an effective and productive third liner, and leave room to spend money on another possible impact player for the top 6, then they are doing the right thing.
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