Montreal Canadiens re-sign defenseman Josh Gorges to one-year contract –NHL offseason Update
Montreal Canadiens retained their defenseman, Josh Gorges, and kept that extra additional depth behind the blue line as they re-signed him to a one-year contract, worth a reported $2.5 million, announced the Eastern Conference franchise on Friday, July 22.
The move helped Montreal avoid a salary arbitration hearing, which Gorges had filed for and was scheduled for later on this month.
Canadiens' General Manager, Pierre Gauthier, was pleased to have been able to tick another to-do box off on his list of offseason priorities.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Josh Gorges for the 2011-12 season", Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier said in a statement. "He is a very reliable defenseman for our club. Josh is recovering extremely well from his knee injury that kept him out
of the line-up for half of the regular season and the playoffs, and we look forward to seeing him at training camp".
The Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada native, played with Kelowna Rockets prior to joining the National Hockey League (NHL) in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was with the Rockets during their Memorial Cup winning season in 2003-2004 and participated
in four playoff games, registering two assists,
Picked up by San Jose Sharks the following season, Gorges was sent to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Cleveland Barons and played 74 games with them in which he recorded a total of 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists).
During the 2005-2006 season, Gorges played his first 49 games with San Jose and picked up six assists in total. The next season he was traded to Montreal and has remained with the Canadian club for six seasons.
Last season, Gorges was limited to only 36 games as his right knee injury turned out to be a season ender near the end of December during a matchup against New York Islanders, but according to GM Gauthier, Gorges will soon be good to go.
"Josh is recovering extremely well", GM Gauthier said. "We look forward to seeing him at training camp".
Being a well-rounded defender, Josh Gorges provides adequate defense to the Canadiens blue line, and having him back next season will be a plus-point in any situation.
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