All hail Andre Savard.
Well, maybe we shouldn’t go that far….not yet anyway. However, he has taken the Montreal Canadiens one step closer to being a contender.
It may be only a small step, but last week’s trade that sent Trevor Linden and the enigmatic Danius Zubrus to the Washington Capitals for two young, speedy forwards [Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis], shows that Savard has a vision.
That is something Hab fans are not used to, considering Rejean Houle was running the show for the past few years. Who can forget the blunders under his reign and the clear lack of any plan or vision.
With his recent trades, Savard has made the team younger, faster and he has added some offensive punch up front. He also saves approximately $7 million in salaries [Weinrich and Linden’s] that he can use to try and bolster the team through free agency in the off season.
The trade with the Capitals also gives the Habs another first round draft choice in this years entry draft. With Savard’s track record in drafts [he managed to uncover Martin Havlat in the same draft that Houle claimed had nothing and traded his pick for Linden], things could be turning around for the Canadiens.
With a few more of Savard’s “diamonds in the rough”, the Habs could be in good shape in the very near future.
Of course, it must be pointed out that this is all just speculative. Zednik and Bulis could turn out to be just another mistake. There is something about playing in Montreal that seems to turn great prospects into plumbers. Zubrus is the perfect example of this. A first round draft choice for Philadelphia, he was brought to Montreal for Mark Recchi and was touted as a talented young player. Don’t get me wrong, he was talented and did impress me his first season, but this season the only thing he was talented at was being inconsistent.
So the Habs are now a younger team, definitely have more speed up front with Zednik and Bulis. The two also give the Canadiens a little more offensive efficiency and let’s not forget the money they saved that will be put to better use (we hope).
Looks like we have a man at the helm that knows what he’s doing. So let’s be patient with this young group and watch them develop into contenders.
[email protected]
Well, maybe we shouldn’t go that far….not yet anyway. However, he has taken the Montreal Canadiens one step closer to being a contender.
It may be only a small step, but last week’s trade that sent Trevor Linden and the enigmatic Danius Zubrus to the Washington Capitals for two young, speedy forwards [Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis], shows that Savard has a vision.
That is something Hab fans are not used to, considering Rejean Houle was running the show for the past few years. Who can forget the blunders under his reign and the clear lack of any plan or vision.
With his recent trades, Savard has made the team younger, faster and he has added some offensive punch up front. He also saves approximately $7 million in salaries [Weinrich and Linden’s] that he can use to try and bolster the team through free agency in the off season.
The trade with the Capitals also gives the Habs another first round draft choice in this years entry draft. With Savard’s track record in drafts [he managed to uncover Martin Havlat in the same draft that Houle claimed had nothing and traded his pick for Linden], things could be turning around for the Canadiens.
With a few more of Savard’s “diamonds in the rough”, the Habs could be in good shape in the very near future.
Of course, it must be pointed out that this is all just speculative. Zednik and Bulis could turn out to be just another mistake. There is something about playing in Montreal that seems to turn great prospects into plumbers. Zubrus is the perfect example of this. A first round draft choice for Philadelphia, he was brought to Montreal for Mark Recchi and was touted as a talented young player. Don’t get me wrong, he was talented and did impress me his first season, but this season the only thing he was talented at was being inconsistent.
So the Habs are now a younger team, definitely have more speed up front with Zednik and Bulis. The two also give the Canadiens a little more offensive efficiency and let’s not forget the money they saved that will be put to better use (we hope).
Looks like we have a man at the helm that knows what he’s doing. So let’s be patient with this young group and watch them develop into contenders.
[email protected]
