Written by Steven Ellis, AllHabs.net
TORONTO, ON. — Pierre Gauthier has made some odd moves since becoming the team’s general manager on February 8, 2010. Montreal hasn’t made any big splashes in the trade market since they acquired Alex Kovalev a few years back, and Gauthier has yet to prove he can make any movements that could change the impact on the team. Let’s take a look at the trades he has made so far. Keep in mind that I will be focusing on only the players acquired, not draft picks of free agents.
St Louis gets: Jaroslav Halak
Montreal gets: Lars Eller, Ian Schultz
Carey Price proved last year he can win without the pressure of a backup goalie. Jaroslav Halak was unable to continue his playoff magic for the St. Louis Blues, tallying 27 wins, 11 less then Carey Price. Lars Eller missed training camp this year due to a shoulder injury, but has been very impressive for the Canadiens in five games this year. Ian Shultz hasn’t made the team yet, and there wasn’t much expectation that he would.
Nashville gets: Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations
Montreal gets: Rights to Dan Ellis, Dustin Boyd and future considerations
Being a huge Dan Ellis fan, I was very excited about this deal. But that excitement lasted only two days, as Ellis signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was part one of the bust. Then there was Dustin Boyd. He brought very little except toughness to Montreal, and signed in Russia during the off-season. That’s part two of the bust. Sergei Kostitsyn, who declined in points ever year for Montreal, had 50 points with the Nashville Predators last year. Triple bust.
Tampa Bay gets: Cedrick Desjardins
Montreal gets: Karri Ramo
I’m not sure if Gauthier was just being nice to former Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher or not, but any other GM wouldn’t make this trade in his right mind. Ramo was one of the top goalies in the KHL, while Desjardins was one of the best AHL netminders once again. Behind Price, Ramo may never, if ever, get a chance to play for the Canadiens. Bad news for Habs fans: Desjardins got his very first NHL win against the Montreal Canadiens. Good news is he is currently in the Colorado Avalanche system, where he wont be with the team for a few years at least with Semyon Varlamov in between the pipes. He would have been the starter in a year or two for Tampa.
Colorado gets: Ryan O’Byrne
Montreal gets: Michael Bournival
Montreal has had good defensive depth for a few years now, and O’Byrne was unable to crack the lineup full time. With Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Roman Hamrlik, P.K Subban, Josh Gorges, Andrei Markov, Yannick Weber and Mathieu Carle, O’Byrne would have had a tough time staying with the team. O’Byrne has played incredibly well for the Avalanche, a little late considering how much Montreal desperately needed more defensemen last year. Bournival is a prospect with potential, and could crack the Habs lineup on the bottom two lines in the next couple of years.
Check out part 2 tomorrow for more trades, and to see if Montreal got better in these deals.
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Until next time, GO HABS GO!
To me, it’s even. 2 good trades, 2 bad trades. The Halak/Eller trade is pretty good to me. We managed to get a great youg talented player with a good size for a great goaltender. The thing is that we already had another great goaltender. The Bournival trade is good for me too. O’Byrne wasn’t able to show that he could help our team and we have a lot of D-Man, in our system, that can do everything that Ryan does.
For Kostitsyn, that’s awful. Pure talent just didn’t have a chance to express himself offensively. Like a lot of our players right now. And how come we couldn’t keep Desjardins?? A young talented back-up for Price. Gauthier didn’t want any competition like two years ago?? My god, ridiculous.
Great work.
Glad you enjoyed it! Part 2 will be up tomorrow.
If Desjardins is such a good back up goalie… why have two teams now (Tampa and Colorado) left him in the AHL.
Heck when Smith and Ellis struggled mightly, they gave Desjardins two games (both wins) and then traded for Roloson, showing no faith in him.
He’s 26 and hasn’t secured a full time NHL position. He’s also cleared waivers 3 times in his career. He’s not the prize prospect he’s been made out to be.
No loss there.
Desjardins still hasn’t looked to me like a number 1 NHL goalie, possibly a tandem goalie or a very good back-up, but I’m not entirely convinced he’ll be a starter.
Eller is looking great, Halak not so much, the grade shifts in the Canadiens favour for that one. I just hope Schultz can someday have an impact at some level. 5 points in 50 AHL games is underwhelming.
One thing to remember about the Desjardins/Ramo move.
Desjardins was a pending Free Agent on July 1st 2011. He had made it clear to management that he was looking for an NHL opportunity. As the fourth goalie in the organization (Price, Auld, Sanford) last year, that wasn’t happening in Montreal.
Ramo’s rights are still owned by Montreal, whereas Desjardins rights are no longer owned by Tampa.
It was hoped Ramo would come over to be the NHL backup this year. However he played too well in Russia becoming the top goalie in the KHL. He got more on a KHL deal than he could ever hope for as an NHL backup. If he isn’t the top goalie in the league and is merely good, he might have come over.
I also have serious doubts that Desjardins is starter material as you said. The guy MIGHT, and thats a big MIGHT be an NHL backup, but he’s done nothing to prove he can be an NHL starter in two years time. He’s also not exactly young, as he’s now 26 years old.
Calling this trade one that “No GM in his right mind would make” is way out there. I don’t think the Habs lost a thing on this, and gambling on Ramo coming over was a good decision… he’s obviously got talent.
I don’t think Tampa had no faith in Desjardins. He had 2 wins in 2 games, letting in only 2 goals in the process. They traded For Roloson because they needed an experienced goalie to take them far in to the playoffs,and if you look at the goaltending in the finals, neither of them were rookies. Had Desjardins had his chance early in the season, they may have not needed Roloson.
Good comments Beaker. You are correct. Desjardins has moved past the up and coming prospect to a player who has likely reached his ceiling in the AHL. Certainly it was a risk trading for Ramo but a worthwhile one for a goaltender who is capable of being a NHL backup. Desjardins was vastly overrated by some — my reaction to the silly fuss over his trade is here: http://www.allhabs.net/feature/desjardins-is-shipped-out-arent-we-going-a-little-overboard/
if Ramo ever gets more then 2 wins for Montreal, I would say Montreal won the deal. Yes, Ramo is doing well in Russia, but he isn’t playing for Montreal or Hamilton, so he’s technically not helping the team he was traded too. Desjardins was able to get 2 wins for Tampa, so right now, even though he is on Colorado now, I believe Tampa won the deal, until Ramo plays for Montreal.
Cedrick Desjardins lost the starting job in Norfolk before the end of last season.
Dustin Tokarski played 46 games and Desjardins 24.
Tokarski started all 6 Norfolk playoff games, Desjardins 0.
If Tampa had faith in Desjardins, why did he finish the year as the AHL backup? and then was allowed to walk pretty easy in the offseason?
He’s 26 years old… he’s no prize. He’s basically the equivalent of Nathan Lawson.
Desjardins had a lingering shoulder injury all throughout the second half of the season, playoffs and the start of this season. It’s not necessarily that the Lightning lost faith in Desjardins, but that he has some nagging injury woes.
I just don’t see anything in Desjardins that seems better than MacIntyre, Lawson, or any of the other dime a dozen AHL starting goalies that makes losing him a big deal.
He’s also a guy who continues to clear waivers on a yearly basis.
what exactly has PG got for his trades other than Eller.OB is a big stay at home d-man ,bournival is gonna be a plumber,Picard who they kept over OB is in the minors.where,s everyone else.He’s traded away draft picks for 1 year players.He’s looking for a face off man which he traded for and then does’t resign them and has to go out and trade for another.IMO he doesn’t have a clue who to keep and who to let go. JM doesn’t like a player and their gone
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