Major Hab Makeover

Montreal’s centennial season went from hopes of a Stanley Cup run to one where they barely squeezed into the playoffs and then were blown out in the first round. The result has been a complete makeover this summer. The changes do not end with the players, but Gainey brought in Jacques Martin to coach the new team.

The makeover began just before the trade deadline with Montreal making a trade with the Rangers to pick up Scott Gomez. That move is as a tremendous gamble for the club since that ties up over $7.3 million of cap space for the next five years. When Gomez signed with the Rangers it was a surprise since he was not considered to be a player that craved the spotlight. In Montreal, the pressure on him will only increase.

In free agency the Habs added Cammalleri and Gionta to bolster the offense. Both have flair and speed, but at 5’9 and 5’7 they join Gomez at 5’11 leaving Montreal with extremely small skill players. The three also tie up over $18 million in cap space for the next five years. You have to wonder if Gainey would not have been better off trading for Lecavalier and his $10 million per year salary. Their next skilled center is Tomas Plekanc who is 5’10 and leaves them small up the middle. The only grit on the top two lines will come from Latendresse and he may well have play on the top line to provide some balance.

Yes the Habs added firepower with the signings, but they lost Koivu, Kovalev and Higgins and will not be bringing back Tanguay or Lang. Some of the poison from last year’s dressing room has been removed, but I am not sure if the overall changes are an improvement.

On defense they continued with the change of personality by letting Komisarek go in free agency and will not be resigning Schneider. Spacek and Mara have been brought in and should help offensively, but neither is a defensive standout. To help with the penalty kill and deal with bigger forwards 6’7 Hal Gill was added, but at over $2 million per year you are paying quite a bit for a third pair defenseman.

In goal Montreal will again go with the young duo of Price and Halak. Going without an experienced back up was a big gamble for Gainey that did not work well last year. The pressure got to Price and his confidence disappeared. His glove side weakness was exposed and he did not have the veteran back up that he could lean on, or learn from. No changes have been made in goal and Montreal is hoping that Price is over last year’s shakiness and can lead the team. In Montreal, that’s quite a bit of pressure for a youngster that will turn 22 later this summer. If Price doesn’t rebound Halak will take over. I can see one of these two being moved and a veteran back up brought in over the next year.

This season has more questions then answers for Montreal. They have totally remade the roster and dressing room, and have a new coach to run the team. The talent up front suggests a small, fast, skill team bringing back fire wagon hockey. The coaching however suggests a more conservative approach so it will be very interesting to see how this new mix comes together.

Gainey is taking a very big gamble with this year’s team. The gamble is also a long term one since very few contracts will expire at the end of the season and Montreal will have little flexibility if the pieces don’t fit. That is not good position to be in since the cap will be going down next year.