RDS/La Press Canadienne: Gainey veut réaliser une transaction

Habster:

If you listen to Bob Gainey’s pre-draft news conference, he sounds like he wants to make a deal for an established NHL forward or even to improve the Canadiens draft position if the 3-4 players the Canadiens covet are within reach and could be taken before their 25th position.

Gainey also stated that he would be willing to trade his first round pick along with one of the team’s prospects to get a solid NHL forward if the opportunity presented itself. He also stated that he had discussed some trade possibilities with other teams but there wasn’t anything solid on the table as of yet.

Unfortunately, Canadiens fans have heard the same old broken record over the last few years without much to show for it. Gainey is a conservative GM/person by nature who believes very strongly in maintaining a franchise through good drafting and smart low profile player signings. Who can argue with the results to date?……….an Eastern conference title, highest scoring NHL team and a very bright future for the team.

I’m sure his inability to sign the big UFA wasn’t from a lack of effort as shown in his alleged 6 year/$49 million contract offer to Daniel Briere last season (it’s also believed he jumped into the Ryan Smyth sweepstakes after Briere signed with the Flyers). He was able to make solid, if unspectacular signings of UFAs Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski and Tom Kostopoulos last year.

Where Gainey can be criticized is his hesitation/inability to pull the trigger on a substantial trade to improve his present NHL roster. He will have to give up something substantial in the way of prospects, draft picks and/or a roster player to get a player of substance in return. The Canadiens certainly have the assets to make a solid offer proposal which wasn’t the case a few years ago.

Gainey can’t rely solely on the UFA market place to improve his team regardless how much more attractive or better the Canadiens organization presently looks. It’s time to be more aggressive and lay the cards on the table, Bob!!!