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Montreal Canadiens Blogger •
When Bob Gainey made the decision to move on from Vincent Lecavalier yesterday, the onus was put on finding a suitable replacement. Scott Gomez doesn't quite have the size of Lecavalier, but he has one more Stanley Cup ring, and has proven he thrives in a defensive system.
Everyone is asking for my take on the trade itself. I think the obvious arguments are as follows:
1. Scott Gomez is small, coming off a bad season, and gets paid too much.
2. The Canadiens shouldn't have given up Ryan McDonagh.
Let's be realistic:
Chris Higgins was expected to be traded.
Ryan McDonagh may be great one day, but any time you can get a top-line player and you have to give up a top prospect, you make the deal...ask any GM in hockey. Granted, you don't necessarily trade the number 1 pick overall, but the general consensus is you take what is proven over what is unproven.
Doug Janik, and Pavel Valentenko...throw ins...I doubt anyone is crying over their loss to the New York Rangers.
So, Montreal fans are upset it's not Lecavalier, and upset about trading Higgins and McDonagh for Scott Gomez?
No one will ever be happy in this town!
As for the move to acquire Gomez, as well as Tom Pyatt (played for the Canadian Juniors '06 and had a promising OHL career), as well as Mike Busto (a throw-in defenseman, tough guy who could join Hamilton), it really means nothing until the rest of the picture is complete.
It's a step in the right direction if the Canadiens are able to make some more good things happen today, and moving deeper into the summer. Until that point, I won't rush to judgement about whether this move is great, or terrible, or somewhere in between.
I will say that Scott Gomez is an elite player, with elite skill, and a paycheck that requires him to be much more productive than he was last season. He's a winner, an Olympian, and a veteran who understands the pressure of being a go-to-guy.
Let the games begin... two hours from now, this move might look very different.
As for Christopher Higgins,
I have no doubt that Higgins will be the player everyone wanted him to be in Montreal, at some point in his NHL career. New York expects that they are getting a goal-scorer by Glen Sather's account, but Higgins has proven he's a solid two-way player with good hockey sense and a touch of nerves about finishing. He is an extremely smart guy, personable, and absolutely professional in every sense of the word, be it in his fitness, or his mental approach, or his capacity to deal with the media.
I wish Higgins nothing but the best in his new venture in his hometown, and have no doubt he'll be a great player one day.
Everyone is asking for my take on the trade itself. I think the obvious arguments are as follows:
1. Scott Gomez is small, coming off a bad season, and gets paid too much.
2. The Canadiens shouldn't have given up Ryan McDonagh.
Let's be realistic:
Chris Higgins was expected to be traded.
Ryan McDonagh may be great one day, but any time you can get a top-line player and you have to give up a top prospect, you make the deal...ask any GM in hockey. Granted, you don't necessarily trade the number 1 pick overall, but the general consensus is you take what is proven over what is unproven.
Doug Janik, and Pavel Valentenko...throw ins...I doubt anyone is crying over their loss to the New York Rangers.
So, Montreal fans are upset it's not Lecavalier, and upset about trading Higgins and McDonagh for Scott Gomez?
No one will ever be happy in this town!
As for the move to acquire Gomez, as well as Tom Pyatt (played for the Canadian Juniors '06 and had a promising OHL career), as well as Mike Busto (a throw-in defenseman, tough guy who could join Hamilton), it really means nothing until the rest of the picture is complete.
It's a step in the right direction if the Canadiens are able to make some more good things happen today, and moving deeper into the summer. Until that point, I won't rush to judgement about whether this move is great, or terrible, or somewhere in between.
I will say that Scott Gomez is an elite player, with elite skill, and a paycheck that requires him to be much more productive than he was last season. He's a winner, an Olympian, and a veteran who understands the pressure of being a go-to-guy.
Let the games begin... two hours from now, this move might look very different.
As for Christopher Higgins,
I have no doubt that Higgins will be the player everyone wanted him to be in Montreal, at some point in his NHL career. New York expects that they are getting a goal-scorer by Glen Sather's account, but Higgins has proven he's a solid two-way player with good hockey sense and a touch of nerves about finishing. He is an extremely smart guy, personable, and absolutely professional in every sense of the word, be it in his fitness, or his mental approach, or his capacity to deal with the media.
I wish Higgins nothing but the best in his new venture in his hometown, and have no doubt he'll be a great player one day.
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