Andrei Kostitsyn’s trade clears way for Montreal Canadiens players grow into his role-NHL News
The Montreal Canadiens have managed to trade the forward, Andrei Kostitsyn, to the Nashville Predators, and the move has cleared the way for other Canadiens players to grow into his role.
On the closing day of the trade market on Monday, February 27, 2012, Canadiens’ general manager, Pierre Gauthier, apparently had an extensive shopping list but only managed to do the unfinished business of the forward.
The difficulties the GM faced in finding a suitor for Kostitsyn reflected that the player was not as easy to unload despite the competitive nature of the market on the last day.
Gauthier said:
"It wasn't easy to trade Andrei Kostitsyn."
He added:
"When we get to these times we usually evaluate how we are going to go forward, and we thought that going forward he was not going to be part of it. That was our decision and that's why we made the trade."
The trade, the GM said, will help the cause of other players whose performance was overshadowed by Kostitsyn’s presence in the team.
Pierre Gauthier further said:
"I think with Kotsitsyn gone, it will be an opportunity for people to grow into the role he was playing. We look at it from a team perspective. The people that are here can all contribute and it's how you play as a team and how people perform to the best of their ability that will determine that.”
He said that the move was made to eliminate the dominating role of individual players and make the team more competitive by providing growth opportunities to all the players.
Now looking at the roster, it shows that the team maintains a balance with respective strengths at almost all positions, he said.
The team also had other players on the unrestricted free agency, but could not find potential buyers for them.
February 27 was the deadline of the National Hockey League (NHL) trade market, and almost all teams looked interested in consolidating strengths of their squads on the final day.
Canadiens, who are aiming to rebuild the side at certain positions, said that the Kostitsyn trade will supplement their efforts.
Defenseman, Chris Campoli, was reported to be another player the team wanted to trade, but no buyer was attracted.
The side could have also traded veterans, Travis Moen and Mathieu Darche, but since both the players are injured and out of the scene, it was not possible to reach deals on them.
Both will be made available in the market next year. By then Canadiens are expected to start rolling over with the much waited improvement at all positions.
The manager has asked the players to improve on from their current level of form as the team environment is now more competitive than ever before and this was the opportunity and time for them to prove their skills.
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