One-third of the way through the 2010-2011 NHL season, the Montreal Canadiens sit atop the Northeast Division with 38 points in the standings. They are also the second stingiest team in the NHL, as of this morning, having only allowed 54 goals against—the Bruins have 52 goals against but have played two fewer games.
While the success that the Habs are enjoying comes as a surprise to pretty much everyone, fans and media alike, what is more amazing is how the Canadiens have done it all with the services of star defenseman Andrei Markov.
Re-injuring his surgically repaired knee against the Hurricanes a few weeks ago, Markov went under the knife yesterday to have that same knee operated on again. As such, he is out for the balance of the season, although there is a slight chance he could be back very late in the playoffs, if the Habs go deep.
So while the Habs are playing well and look like they are for real, they still have some glaring holes in their roster that need to be addressed if they want to truly contend this season. Namely, a top-six winger to play on the second line and perhaps a puck-moving, offensive defenseman. The other asset that the Habs in short supply of is size and toughness. Aside from these problems it looks like the Habs' roster is pretty set.
It is with this in mind that I thought it was a good time to find out what you, the fans, would do with the cap space that the Habs now have available. The media is talking and the pundits are pontificating, but I want to know what the fans think.
Here is a link to the Habs salary page on CapGeek.com:
http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=2
According to CapGeek.com, as of this morning the Canadiens have $1,069,075 in cap space plus $4,840,580 in LTIR money for a total of $5,909,925.
That's a lot of clams!
So given the current make up of the team and assuming that Scott Gomez is still the second line center—he is currently injured and listed as day-to-day—what moves would you make to improve the Habs roster and make them a true contender?
It's your turn to be the GM and you have $5,909,925 to spend. Do you make a trade? Do you call someone up from Hamilton? Do you go to the casino and put it all on red?
Send me your responses in the comments section, via
Twitter, on
Facebook or by
email.
I am going to post this article on
HabsAddict.com, the Bleacher Report,
Hockeybuzz.com and the Team 990's
The Franchise.ca and will be compiling the answers and posting the results on Monday December 13, 2010.
So get your thinking caps on, do your research and let me know what you think. I want names, cap numbers, explanations, justifications, the whole nine!
Happy GMing!
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