The Montreal Canadiens, who've sucked on toast over their last 12 games (4-8 record is ugly with a capital "UG"), placed forward Garth Murray on waivers today. If unclaimed Murray will be demoted to the Habs AHL affiliate in Hamiton, Ontario.
Hat tip also to "Daniel" who e-mailed me prior to the start of Tuesday's Habs-Vancouver Canucks matchup noting that forward Sergei Samsonov and defenseman Craig Rivet were healthy scratches.
So what's up with Les Canadiens? Are they planning a big move here?
Unlikely. As always, the truth is usually far less glamorous or exciting.
The Habs have struggled big time of late, particularly offensively, so by exposing Murray to waivers they're making room to retain promising, energetic young center Maxim Lapierre, who's looked good in his recent call-ups with the team.
As for Samsonov and Rivet, they simply haven't played well of late. Head coach Guy Carbonneau, furious over his team's lack of effort in its last two games (an 8-3 pasting at the hands of the Ottawa Senators during "Hockey Day in Canada" on Saturday, followed by a lackluster 2-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday), is sending a message to his players that, regardless of salary or status with the team, no one escapes punishment for crappy performances.
And given how crappy Samsonov and Rivet have played of late, why would any GM in his right mind wanna trade for them? Sammy's been an overpaid underachiever all season, while Rivet (an impending UFA this summer)simply hasn't played up to his usual steady, under-rated standards over the past month.
A month ago, Les Habs were one of the hottest teams in the league, at one point barely five points behind the Conference leading Sabres.
Now, they're 11 points back and in danger of sliding out of the top four teams in the Conference and possibly even out of playoff contention if this slide isn't checked soon.
It remains to be seen if Carbo's moves will stimulate his charges into
playing more spirited hockey, or if this will only send them swooning
further.
Yes, I'm harsh in my critiques of the Canadiens because they're my favourite team, this is my blog and I'll be as harsh with them as I please. So there, nyah...>:P
It seems the top two teams in the East are both struggling right now. I'm just glad they are struggling at the same time because that means the Sabres maintain their division lead.
I just wish the Sabres could get their power-play going. As for their penalty kill...Henrik Tallinder must be the most underrated D-man in the league. When he's in there, they kill over 90%. When he's out, its something between 75 and 80.
I don't get why Sampsonov is playing to bad this year. I loved him when he played that short stint for the Oilers. I suspect that he needs a fast thinking guy who can deliver magical passes like Thorton in order to play as well as he did in the past. I have a hard time buying into the idea that he's just being lazy... because a 2 year 7 million dollar contract shouldn't be enough to turn someone into the next Yashin.
im a habs fan and i c the jhabs is losing badlyu,gainey trade samsonov and murray to reds wing for pavel datsuyke and aebicher in the starting job then huet.or add carey price o back up.
Hey, Lets Go Buffalo....
With regard to the Devils; it sure doesnt hurt that the Devils ALWAYS get the benefit of the doubt from the refs. Last night, they didnt get called for 1 penalty, and this wasnt the first time this season.
Thadd - I don't think being lazy is the problem, nor who he plays with. Samsonov is the type of player that will score in bunches for a few games then disapear for the next 12 to 15 games. He darts around with the puck looking smooth then makes an ill-advised pass or weak bad angle shot. He has never been able to put it all together for a full season in his career and is grossly overpaid when measured by his performance. If the Habs are going to make any moves they should try to pawn him off to any takers.
Spector-I was kidding man. I actually went and checked it out, you were very polite in your asking for your name to be removed.
Messier- Yes the Devils do seem to get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to refereeing. I just find it amazing that this Devils team is the only team that can shut teams out when last year Carolina exposed this same exact team. In fact, teams around them have gotten faster, or remained faster than them anyway, and now they are able to skate with anyone.
Could the lack of attendance in New Jersey be a reason for such preferential treatment??? Makes one think doesn't it.
half the responses on this page has nothing to do with the main title. I think the Samsonov move isn't the best management move. He has proven himself in the past for his capabilites and his potential. When you stick perhaps the fastest guy in the leauge on a line with perhaps the slowest guy in the league (Kovalev), what do you expect from him? If anything they should bring up some young fast guys who are capable in playing with Samsonov. What ever team gets Samsonov will laugh when he threads the needle.
SC: My apologies for the deviation off topic in this thread.
Regarding Samsonov, I think there's more to it than Kovalev, who isn't as slow as you perceive. The Habs have tried matching Samsonov with several linemates but nothing appears to be working.
Much of this has to do with Samsonov himself, who has not played as well this season as in previous seasons. He's supposed to be a "self-starter" (remember how he was considered the better player by some Bruins fans when he and Joe Thornton played together in Boston?), a player who supposedly could make others look better. This season, he hasn't been getting the job done.
1) Samsonov has pretty much been a bust for several seasons now. How the Montreal management didn't know/see this is amazing
2) He was on the Oilers cup run last year, but to anyone who watched their games, he definitly was along for the ride, not one of the movers
3) He is what he is. Over paid and underachieving, again. With a high salary AND another year left we believe he's untradeable in this market
FYI: I've removed all the posts that deviated off topic in this thread, including my own comments. I apologize for any inconvenience those posts may have caused.
Last edited by Spector on January 17th at 9:59 AM.
its ok spector.
samsonov has surprised me. i had him pegged for roughly 60 points
what do they do with him? Give him the jeff oneil treatment and wait it out till next year? Or cut him loose for what ever they can get
Based on his remaining salary and likely unwillingness of most teams to absorb it, "cutting him loose" isn't an option. They're stuck with him for another season and all they can do is either hope he rebounds after the all-star break or improves his performance next season, when he'll be in the final year of his current deal.
Gainey could always take one from the Sharks playbook and toss Samsonov down to the minors for a weekend. The Sharks looked sharp against the Av's monday night. Wilson's temporary demotions seem to have helped his team. Maybe it'll have the same effect in Montreal.
Scratching Samsonov was a move that, in my point of view, should've been done 3 weeks ago. As for Rivest, I really didn't liked the fact that he left the Bell Center after Carbo told him he was a healthy scratch. Medias are saying he came back later in the game, but still.
And as for trades, there will be none, but then again, that's just my opinion. Trades should have occured when things were going well, when players like Mike Johnson and Alex Perezhogin are playing over their heads, but "the chemestry was good" they said. Now that things are back to normal, no GM's intersted in the Habs underperforming players. Plus, there's about 4 teams who are pretty sure not to make the playoffs so far (Philly, Chicago, St-Louis and Columbus). The other teams probably won't trade with the Habs when they are in a playoffs race themselves. As for the other four, well, what could Gainey be a buyer for?
There might be a team out there which would take on Samsonov's contract if they had speedy center who is a good puckhandler to play with him. faux rumors said he was "along for the ride" in Edmonton and that might be something he'd be up for because he must know that he's gotta get his stats up before the end of the next season unless he wants to be working the money Peter Nedved is making this season.
I have the utmost respect for guys like Carbo, Muller and Gainey. I trust them to pull something out of the bag and make things work. They don't just think about "now" but also the future. So in them I have faith.
That being said, I am forced to wonder why certain things aren't done. A simple example is Chris Higgins. When he was injured, Latendresse took his spot and that line continued to score while Samsonov and Kovalev continued to falter... But when Higgins came back (a natural center I might add), they put him back on the first line and sent Latendresse back to the 4th line (where he stopped producing).
So why do they keep going with Plekanec instead of Higgins on the second line?!? They're doing the same thing with Plekanec that they did with Bulis. HE'S A CHECKER, NOT A PLAYMAKER!!!
Higgins on the second line and Latendresse on the first. I think they will pull the team out of the scoring slump.
i'm no expert......but been a montreal fan since i was 5yrs old....now i'm 53....but as far as i see it the rumor about samsonov and rivet going too chicago for aucoin might be a viable move..for both teams....samsonov would excel for chicago seeing that they a much different style of hockey then montreal does.....he would be great with havalat and bondra.....with rivet gone and samsonov gone montreal would be able to resign sourray...and get aucoin......like i said i'm no expert....
Sorry, rotor, gotta disagree with you. First, the Habs already have two very good puckmoving blueliners in Souray and Markov. They don't need another. Second, Aucoin is overpaid and injury prone. His salary would take far too big a bite out of the Habs payroll for next seaon. Third, and most importantly, the Habs desperately need more offensive depth at center, something this rumoured deal wouldn't address.
well we have samsonov who does nothing dead weight and his salary is taking a chunk of their payroll at least they would get someone who can at least do something.....samsonov will never give them that center they are looking for in a trade..and sourray is a must to be resigned
Much as some folks may look at me sideways, I think Samsonov would fit pretty well in Philly. Problem therein, I don't think Philly will part with their few good players.
As much as Samsonov can be explosive, I as a chicago fan don't really want him...although that being said I would do anything to drop Adrian Aucoins salary. This is the crazy situation Chicago faces in trying to bring premier talent to a city long forgotten.
What Chicago needs to do is at season's end buy out aucoin, go hard after Pavel Datsuyk or Scott Gomez offering about 5-5.5 million a season for about 4 years giving time to Towes,Skille,Bolland,Barker time to develope Chicago into a premier talent in the league.
Don't worry Chicago fans our time is coming as long as Tallon don't go trading all our GREAT prospects away(we have one of the deepest talent pools in the NHL.....GO CHICAGO
I think this was talked about before. But while most Habs fans want to resign Souray because of his importance in situations like the power-play, the fact of the matter is: the Habs will probably lose him.
Souray is going to attract big dollars. Not Pronger or Niedermeyer big, but bigger than the Habs can afford. Combine that with the FACT that he'd like to be closer to his daughter...
I'm not saying the Canadiens should trade him at the deadline - he's simply too key. But I'm confident this is his last season as a Hab.
Best case, we do like we did Ribeiro and we sign Souray and then trade him.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
