Pierre Gauthier is certainly finding ways to keep busy. After retaining Andrei Kostitsyn on Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens re-signed winger Mathieu Darche to a one-year, $700,000 contract on Friday. Like last year, the contract is once again a one-way deal. In addition, it represents a $200,000 raise from his previous salary.
Prior to joining the Canadiens, Darche had bounced around a fair bit, spending time with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning organizations. The St-Laurent native, and graduate of McGill University, eventually signed with the Habs in the summer of 2009.
Last season, Darche set personal-bests with 12 goals and 26 points in 59 games. The 34-year old has accumulated 60 points in 189 NHL regular-season games as well as 3 points in 18 post-season contests.
Louis Moustakas is an editor at HabsWorld.net and works for the Coaching Association of Canada in Ottawa. He can be reached at l.moustakas@habsworld.net.