Rumor Mill Heating Up–Montreal and Edmonton Lead the Way?

A huge trade could be on the way between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens.  Teams know they have Montreal over a barrel, don’t they?  With the unfortunate opening night loss of number one defenseman Andrei Markov — their top point producer in 2008-09 — the win-now Habs will likely find themselves on the playoff bubble with a bunch of moderately skilled but overpaid defensemen, such as Jaroslav Spacek, Roman Hamrlik and Hal Gill.  While that means that the Oilers should ask for more than the serviceable Tomas Plekanec for the underrated Denis Grebeshkov, Montreal doesn’t have quality forward depth to spare Plekanec either.  But what about a bolder move for the Canadiens, like bringing back former defenseman Mark Streit from the rebuilding New York Islanders — say, for Hamrlik — to match salary- and draft picks?  Coming off a Norris Trophy caliber season, the 31-year-old Swiss blueliner could push the Canadiens into Cup contention.

Habs backup goalie Jaroslav Halak has gotten more ice time than franchise goalie Carey Price, which might mean the latter player will soon be traded.  More and more, it appears management is pushing to see if Halak has what it takes to be a top NHL goalie, and he’s definitely shown flashes.  Price was supposed to be Montreal’s goalie of today and the future, things just aren’t working out that way.  The 2005 fifth overall draft pick took the NHL by storm in his rookie year, with a .920 save percentage in 41 games played and an average of a Quality Start per game.  Unfortunately, goaltending performances fluctuate from season to season more often than at any other position, and too many expectations were placed on the British Columbia native too soon.  The past year has been nothing short of a disaster for Price, but maybe he will get a second chance to prove he’s a starting goalie elsewhere.