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The Players
The summer of 2009 will long be remembered for the massive overhaul that saw the Canadiens allow eleven unrestricted free agents to walk, including Mike Komisarek, Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu, in order to acquire the likes of Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez. In contrast, the summer of 2010 was indeed much tamer, with of course one or two notable exceptions. The longstanding goaltending debate was put to rest when Jaroslav Halak packed his bags and headed to St. Louis in exchange for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Consequently, Carey Price has officially become the team’s top netminder. Alex Auld, who was signed during the summer, will be his back-up and will likely play somewhere between 20 and 30 games. In addition, both Curtis Sanford and Cedrick Desjardins were retained in Hamilton. Also, the money freed up by trading Halak afforded the Canadiens extra cap space to re-sign Tomas Plekanec to a 6-year, $30 million dollar deal. Problem child Sergei Kostitsyn was shipped to Nashville for the rights to Dan Ellis, who eventually signed in Tampa Bay, and Dustin Boyd, who was retained. Boyd, along with the aforementioned Eller, seem poised to take over the bottom two center posts, especially since Pierre Gauthier announced he would not keep Dominic Moore or Glen Metropolit. Along with the two veteran centers, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Paul Mara were let go while Georges Laraque’s buyout was made official. Otherwise, the summer saw the Canadiens get much of their youth under contract and add prospects Alexander Avtsin, Kyle Klubertanz and Andreas Engqvist to an already fairly deep farm system. With the departures of many veterans, there are a few extra spots left up front. Expect Tom Pyatt, Ryan White, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, and Ben Maxwell to seriously contend for the final forward positions. Also, Aaron Palushaj, Alexander Avtsin, and J.T. Wyman all appear to have an outside chance of cracking the lineup or, at the very least, earning a call-up some time during the year. In short, one can expect the team to have a slightly younger feel this year. And, with the departures of Sergei Kostitsyn and Georges Laraque along with the resolution of the seemingly eternal goaltending debate, one can also hope for a year with a bit less controversy. Then again, that may be asking a lot in Montreal. Intro written by Louis Moustakas - July 2010 Injury List
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