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Rangers trade Gomez to Habs for Higgins
June 30, 2009 · Derek Felix · Jump to comments
The rumors were true. There’d been talk that Montreal had interest in Scott Gomez to replace UFA Saku Koivu as their top center.
Apparently, that’s what happened as the Canadiens and Rangers have struck a deal involvingthe playmaking pivot with Gomez headed north of the border for left wing Chris Higgins.
In two seasons spent on Broadway after crossing the Hudson, the 29 year-old Gomez totaled 128 points (32-96-128). The former Devil who won two Stanley Cups wasn’t a bad Ranger tying for the club lead in scoring with 70 points in 2007-08. However, he struggled in Year Two dropping to 58 points (16-42-58). The decrease in production for a highly paid player making in excess of $7 million contributed to the Blueshirts finishing near the bottom in offense (210 GF) with the second worst power play (13.9 percent).
Remarkably, Gomez’ 58 were enough to pace the club tying with Russian enigma Nikolai Zherdev, who the club just qualified along with key RFA’s Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Lauri Korpikoski plus blueline hopeful Corey Potter.
For Gomez, the Blueshirts get 26 year-old Higgins, who returns home following a tough season that saw injuries limit him to 57 games and 23 points. The previous season, the Smithtown NY native posted career highs in games (82), goals (27), assists (25), points (52), power play goals (12) and game-winners (5)- helping the Canadiens to the East’s best record.
He makes significantly less than Gomez earning 1.7 million last season but is also a restricted this summer that the Rangers must sign. Higgins won’t play anyone away and he can’t be expected to match Gomez in the scoring department. However, he’s a solid two-way forward who can play a second line role as well as be used effectively on the penalty kill. With it looking like Blair Betts and Freddy Sjostrom are done, adding a player of Higgins’ quality is a wise move. He’s a superb skater who should benefit from John Tortorella’s aggressive system.
Truth be told, I’ve always been a fan of his but never imagined he’d ever wind up wearing our jersey. In some aspects, it reminds me of how I felt towards Jamie Langenbrunner, who I wanted forever until the Devils swooped in and acquired him in the Jason Arnott deal that involved Joe Nieuwendyk and Randy McKay. Is Higgins as good as the Devil team captain? Probably not. But he’s a versatile forward who can do a lot of things well including play PP.
My hope is that he evolves into a similar player as Langenbrunner. Someone who’s a constant that brings consistent energy. Something the much more gifted Gomez lacked driving fans nuts. Will the Rangers miss Gomez in the faceoff circle? Hard to say as they still boast reliable captain Chris Drury and Dubinsky. The question is what does it mean for Korpikoski and Artem Anisimov? Does Korp shift to center the third line or does Ranger brass feel Artisimov is ready for such an important role? All depends what they do the rest of the summer and of course, on training camp.
Where does Evgeny Grachev fit into their plans? Is he deemed ready or does he play another season in Junior where he set a new OHL rookie scoring record with 80 points for Brampton? We’ll have to wait and see.
The complete trade involves six players with Gomez along with Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto going to Montreal for Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko.
I don’t know much about what else we got except that Janik is just a well traveled depth defenseman who’s a UFA. I liked Pyatt as the former 2005 fourth rounder is a solid energy guy who projects as a third liner. He put up 37 points for Hartford in 2008-09. In looking at the other two guys, McDonagh is a former first round pick who has played two seasons at Wisconsin, meaning he’s a teammate of last year’s second round pick Derek Stepan. So, that part at least makes some sense. As for Valentenko, he’s another defenseman who spent little time in North America before going home to play for Moscow Dynamo in the KHL. I guess we shouldn’t expect to see him anytime soon.
For the Rangers, they unloaded salary which was a necessity moving forward this summer. Now, it gets interesting. Can Glen Sather also find a taker for Michal Rozsival (5 M)? If so, that would free up a lot of cap space and allow for much more maneuverability. Keep in mind Dubinsky and Callahan will get significant raises which will be a factor.
What this does is it could make the club players for Phil Kessel, who I’d much rather see than Marian Hossa or Dany Heatley. That’s if the Bruins are willing to listen.
The NHL version of Midnight Madness strikes tonight with Hossa, Heatley, Marian Gaborik, Martin Havlat, The Sedins, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Alex Kovalev part of a free agent class that should garner significant interest.
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