The Montreal Canadiens at the Deadline: The Best Trade Was No Trade at All

Bob Gainey doesn't make big splashes on trade-deadline day.  He just doesn't do it.  The closest deal he's made since his arrival in Montreal was his wizardly trade with the Rangers that landed us Alex (then Alexei) Kovalev in exchange for Josef Balej.

This year was no different.  In my humble opinion, it didn't need to be.

I'm not that sure many teams in the Eastern Conference made any substantial moves. Other than Bill Guerin heading to Pittsburgh, I wasn't envious of any teams.

Boston traded for Steve Montador and Mark Recchi.  Montador is a sixth defenseman, fifth at best.  Although Recchi is having a great season with 45 points thus far and had a five-assist game earlier this week, he is 41-years-old and undersized.  He's not a good fit.

Buffalo put some pieces together by acquiring a backup goaltender in Mikael Tellqvist and gave up a second-round pick for checking centerman Dominic Moore.  Neither of those players are what the doctor ordered.

Florida picked up Steve Eminger, a defenseman who is having a decent season offensively with 25 points.  His downside is his career +/- of -48.

The Carolina Hurricanes traded Justin Williams and ended up with a familiar face with Erik Cole.  I think Cole's best years may be behind him.  He has 27 points this season, not exactly the player the Habs are looking for.

The Rangers made a splash this year though I don't think it was a beneficial one.  They traded a second-round pick for Nik Antropov, who may or may not play well and certainly won't adapt quickly to a new system as it took him about five years to adapt to Toronto's.  Derek Morris is a -13 UFA defenseman with 12 points.  The Rangers gave up three roster players for him, most notably Nigel Dawes.

Possibly the worst trade by an Eastern team was that of the Philadelphia Flyers.  They gave up a gritty forward that fit PERFECTLY in their system and a second-round draft pick for tough-guy Dan Carcillo.  Also, they traded for Kyle McLaren, who will inevitably end up playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms in the AHL.

The Montreal Canadiens didn't make any moves today.  Bob Gainey traded for Mathieu Schneider a couple of weeks ago.  He also picked up Glen Metropolit off waivers.  Why compromise your team dynamic if you know the potential is there?

Alex Tanguay comes back tomorrow.  Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik have been MIA.

As soon as they start playing, they will be better acquisitions than anyone the Canadiens could have traded for today.

Except for maybe Olli Jokinen...