Montreal Canadiens: Why Andrei Kostitsyn Needs to Be Traded

The honeymoon is over. Two seasons removed from a magical 2007-2008 campaign, Andrei Kostitsyn seems like he is no longer interested in playing hockey for the Montreal Canadiens.

After a very disappointing loss against the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night, the Canadiens return to Montreal from their five-game road trip with two wins and three losses.

There were ups and downs on this trip, but one of the biggest downers has to be the behavior of the Kostitsyn brothers.

When asked by yahoo.com's Greg Wyshynski if he actually believed that his demotion to the Hamilton Bulldogs had nothing to do with his uninspired play on the ice, Sergei Kostitsyn replied yes.

How shocking. For a player who has always had an easy time piling up points, when faced with adversity, Kostitsyn decided that asking for a trade was the appropriate thing to do.

This selfish and immature attitude seems to have rubbed off on his older brother Andrei, who is playing the most uninspired hockey that I have ever seen.

During the second period against Edmonton, Guillaume Latendresse was fighting his way down the boards, and instead of either coming to the aid of his teammate or trying to communicate, Kostitsyn leisurely coasted down the middle without a care in the world.

This is just one of the many plays that have come to be expected of the former first-round draft pick of the Canadiens this season.

Jacques Martin made the right move by benching the enigmatic winger in the thrid period. That period turned out to be the Canadien's best of the night, but the Oiler's goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin shut the door and basically won the game for Edmonton.

With Kostitsyn's uninspired play and lack of contribution, Bob Gainey should look to put him on the trading block.

We all saw how frustrating it was to see the ever-so-talented Alex Kovalev be consistently inconsistent in his tenure in Montreal, and the time has come for the Habs to rid themselves of players who only try in one game out of four.

If the Canadiens are truly looking to establish a new identity, then trading a player like Kostitsyn who doesn't care will be the first step in the right direction.