Murray signs, Gorges vs. Diaz
Posted 7:47 PM ET | Comments 0
First of all, I have to say that I am quite happy with the acquisition of Douglas Murray. rnSure, he may not be the most complete player with speed lacking sorely in his game, but the Canadiens absolutely needed to add a little bit of grit on the back end with Emelin for the better part of the first half of the season. Oddly enough, the Murray addition means that the Canadiens find themselves in the somewhat of the same predicament as last season, too many bodies on the blue line. Eight defensemen all signed to one-way contracts. And that's not including Nathan Beaulieu et Jarred Tinordi who are waiting their turn. Many will argue that Tinordi belongs in the opening day lineup. Honestly, I'm one of those who thinks he SHOULD be in Montreal, not Hamilton. When Emelin returns, my D pairings would probably look like this: Markov-Subban, Emelin-Diaz, Murray-Tinordi Spares: Gorges-Bouillon-Drewiske. Many won't like my exlusion of Josh Gorges, but I think that the others bring more (or at least have the potential too) to the table. I think Murray, Bouillon, Drewiske et Tinordi will accept sharing the 5/6 slots according the night's opposition. Will Josh Gorges accept a role like that? I don't think so. Unfortunately, Gorges has another problem; his contract. To me, he is the best player for the Habs to trade, he would even have value if it weren't for the contract. Alas, I don't think too many GM'S will lineup to free Bergevin from this contract. Will Bergevin be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat? Or will Diaz end up being the trade chip? Would you rather Diaz be traded? Many have linked him to Calgary. Of course, that may have more to do about Bob Hartley being the first to tell the world to pay attention to this kid. Nevertheless, it's an interesting problem to have for Bergevin, an interesting one to speculate about for us fans too. Thanks for reading!