Yes, you read that right.
Here's the press release for your reading pleasure.
In an effort to plug leaks on the good ship Canadiens, General Manager Pierre Gauthier pulled the trigger on a trade.
To the Carolina Hurricanes goes Jaroslav Spacek and coming back to Montreal is Tomas Kaberle.
What a brutal move.
Not only would Spacek have fetched much more come trade deadline day, but he was in the last year of a deal that paid him $3.83 million per season.
Kaberle, on the other hand, has two more year (after this season) left on a deal that pays him $4.25 million per year.
Not to mention that he currently has nine points and is a minus-12 for the year. Worse yet, since being traded from the Leafs to Boston last season, Kaberle has only 18 points (1G, 17A) in 53 games (with the Bruins and Canes).
Keep in mind that this is a player who was brought into Boston to help them turn their powerplay around last year. And how did Boston do during the playoffs with Kaberle as their quarterback?
Zero goals and 11 assists in 25 playoff games for Kaberle and a PP that went 10-for-88 (11.36 percent) over four playoff rounds.
Here's what the Twitterverse is saying about the deal:
Dave Stubbs, Hockey Inside/Out
"I keep looking for even a tiny upside to #Habs Kaberle deal and... I can't find one"
Tony Marinario, TSN 990
"Tomas Kaberle is soft. He cant defend anymore. He killed Bruins Power play last yr in playoffs. 4.25M cap hit until 2013/14. This is bad."
Will Martinez, HeyMyNameIsWill.blogspot.com
"So what's on the agenda for this afternoon? An extension for Gomez?"
Kyle Roussel, Cowhide and Rubber
"This trade is silly. Buys JM more time, takes on a long contract. Not only do #Habs resemble the old Leafs, they now acquire their scraps."
In short, this is a brutal move of desperation from a GM who is clearly trying to save his own butt. And that has been the fear for the last few weeks...that Gauthier would start selling off parts of the team in an effort to squeak into the playoffs and/or save his own butt.
This move sets the Habs back on a lot of levels but, also going forward. Not only do the Habs have to deal with Scott Gomez's brutal contract but they now pick up another.
The bottom line is that this is a huge roll of the dice by Pierre Gauthier. For this deal to work out, Kaberle has to return to his pre-Bruins form, otherwise this is going to become another albatross for PG to bear.
Side Note
The deal is possibly an indicator that Andrei Markov will be out longer. More likely, however, it shows that Chris Campoli will be back in the lineup soon.
Either way, if Gauthier et al. expects Kaberle to a) revive the Habs powerplay and b) turn their season around, then this team is in even more trouble than I previously thought.
Calling Geoff Molson, calling Geoff Molson. The house is on fire and your GM just doused it with gasoline.
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Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and featured columnist on PowerScoutHockey.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM. Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/
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(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
