Higgins For Gaborik? I Don't Think So...

Here are a few reasons why you can forget about Marian Gaborik coming to Montreal for Chris Higgins:

-The Habs had seven players with over 50 pts last season (Higgins being one of them). Mark Streit is gone, but with Alex Tanguay, and Robert Lang in the fold there’s a good chance they can repeat, or even best that feat. The offense was the strongest in the NHL last season, and they haven’t shown any signs of slowing down in the early parts of this season.

-UFAS this summer: Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Robert Lang, Alex Tanguay, Mike Komisarek, Francis Bouillon, Steve Begin, Mathieu Dandenault, Tom Kostopoulos, and Patrice Brisebois. RFAS this summer: Chris Higgins, Tomas Plekanec, Guillaume Latendresse, and Kyle Chipchura. RFAS the following summer: Carey Price, Sergei Kostitsyn.

If you’re Bob Gainey, and you can reasonably negotiate to keep most of the important players on that list, do you really think it’s worth it to bring in another player who’s looking at a 7-10-year deal, at a cap hit of 8 million/season? This is a real important question, because I, or anyone else who follows the Canadiens, can say with 100% certainty that Bob Gainey won’t trade any assets to Minnesota without a guarantee that Marian Gaborik will sign an extension upon, or even before his arrival.

Even if Gainey elects to part ways with Bouillon, Dandenault, Begin, Kostopoulos, Brisebois, and one of either Lang or Tanguay, he’s only shaving a maximum of 10.5 million. That money will surely be absorbed in deals for Alex Kovalev, Mike Komisarek, Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, Guillaume Latendresse, and one, if not both Alex Tanguay, and Robert Lang. After all, these core players are the reason why experts, and fans, have picked the Canadiens to be skating for the Stanley Cup in June.

-Last season 25 trades were made before trade-deadline day. The first note-worthy one came on December 14th, when the St. Louis Blues traded Doug Weight, Michael Birner, and a 2008 7th- round pick to Anaheim for Andy Macdonald. Beyond that, it wasn’t until February 11th, when Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore found a new home in Ottawa, in a trade that sent Patrick Eaves, and Joe Corvo to Carolina. Vaclav Prospal went to Philadelphia the day before the deadline, and 22 other deals made previous didn’t involve anyone significant, let alone the top trade target: Marian Hossa.

We know that there is an impasse with Gaborik and Minnesota. The Wild want him to sign an extension now, and knowing that he’s the top free agent on the market, Gaborik is looking to field offers come July. Given all the reports, chances are Gaborik will move before the deadline…but in October?

-For Chris Higgins, Jaroslav Halak or Ryan Macdonagh, and a draft pick? So the Wild shed 6.33 mil in cap space, and the Canadiens send back roughly 2.4 if the deal includes Halak?

The Canadiens currently have just over $1,000,000 in cap space. But GMs can get very creative about clearing space... How creative can Bob Gainey get without hurting his team? Even if you switch some names around in this supposed deal it doesn’t work.

The argument for trading Gaborik so early is so his value doesn’t drop due to an injury (he already has one) or a slump, or another team’s skepticism at being able to get him under contract after acquiring him. Do you think the Minnesota Wild want to deal Marian Gaborik for Higgins, Dandenault and Bouillon or Begin? Can you think of any other teams that can offer a better deal?

“But this is an opportunity to reunite Saku with brother Mikko, and that makes sense as far as the cap is concerned”.

Yah, I agree! The Habs are probably going to take their second longest serving captain in team history, and trade him after he’s waited 12 years to play for a team like this in Montreal. They’re going to unload their top playoff performer for a guy who plays 60 games a year, and has never won anything. And I also think Sarah Palin would be an excellent President here in the land of things that should never happen.

I doubt Gainey is going to flip Alex Tanguay or Robert Lang after just acquiring them this summer. Kovalev is staying put…hopefully until he’s 50, and Andrei Markov, Roman Hamrlik, and Mike Komisarek will be a part of this organization for years to come.

So someone get out their calculator and explain to me how Bob Gainey is going to make this deal happen?

-As a General Manager you always want to make your team better. Gaborik is among the greatest talents in the league. He’s a pure scorer, and likely fits Montreal’s offense as well as anyone playing in the NHL. Gainey tried to get Sundin, but had to move on to plan B. Plan B seems to be working just fine, but because it’s labeled “plan B” everyone’s speculating he hasn’t given up on Plan A- Mats Sundin or a player of equal worth. These rumors won’t die until Gaborik is skating on another team, but I’ve yet to hear a logical argument outlining how the Canadiens and Wild can make this deal happen. Granted, sometimes things happen in the NHL that are completely void of logic…that’s why Mike Milbury had a job for so long.

Maybe this deal will go down…but in the midst of this economic crisis I wouldn’t hesitate to take some of my savings and wager that it won’t, especially not for the players mentioned…and especially not in October.