Plan B ... for Brian

Rolston, not Campbell.

If the Canadiens end up blue-balled and spurned in their wooing of Mats Sundin, signing Brian Rolston would be a great consolation prize.

Rolston was in the final season of a three-year Minnesota  Wild contract that paid him $2.432 million per. He's probably available in the $4 million to $5 million range.

The 6'2, 214-pound  native of Flint, Michigan, turned 35 in February. Rolston can play all three forward positions, and he's a power-play  quarterback (11 goals on the PP last season) – which will be important in what is shaping up as the post-Streit era in Montreal.

Rolston is a model of consistency – three consecutive 30-goal seasons for the Wild – and durability: he's missed only 11 games over the last seven seasons.

Rolston's eight game-winning goals tied Marian Gaborik for the Minnesota lead. His 289 shots were a team high.

McKeen's Hockey describes Rolston as  "a talented skater with dynamic accceleration and top speed ... not overly big nor phtical butplays an energetic, up-tempo style and works hard defensively ... thrives on special teams ..."

Rolston was New Jersey;s first-round draft choice, 11th overall, in 1991 and won a Cup with the Devils in '95. He's been involved in the trades that sent Claude Lemieux from Colorado to New Jersey and Raymond Bourque from Boston to Colorado. Rolston signed with Minnesota as a UFA in 2004.

Some Personal Notes from the Wild web site:

Rolston and his wife Jennifer, have three sons, Ryder, Brody and Stone, and make their offseason home in Traverse City, Michigan...Nickname is “Rolly”...Hobbies include playing golf, guitar and drums...Began playing hockey at age five...Most memorable NHL moment is being a part of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals...Names his brothers, Ron and Greg, as the most influential people in his hockey career...Grew up rooting for the Edmonton Oilers and his favorite player was Mark Messier...Played baseball, soccer and golf, in addition to hockey, as a kid...Names Roger Federer as his favorite current-day athlete...Enjoys the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers...His favorite road city is New York City and Madison Square Garden is his favorite road arena...His first job as a kid was mowing lawns...Favorite food is pizza...Favorite television show is “The Office” and favorite movie is Anchorman...Names Howard Stern as the person he’d like to meet and Super Mario Party 8 as his favorite video game...Calls pizza his favorite food and omelette as his favorite breakfast dish...His favorite place to dine in the Twin Cities is 112 Eatery...Favorite part of Minnesota is “everything” and that “it’s a good state for families.”

Interesting that Rolston loves NYC. Maybe he becomes the Rangers' Plan B if they don't sign Sundin.