The Montreal Canadiens have traded forward Travis Moen to the Dallas Stars in exchange for veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar.
Moen has suited up in 10 games this season for the Habs but has yet to register a single point. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder will have one year left on his original four-year, $7.4 million contract at the conclusion of this season. He carries an annual cap hit of $1.85 million.
Stars general manager Jim Nill had this to say regarding Moen:
“Travis is a proven forward that does all the gritty things needed to win. He brings leadership and experience to our forward group and will be an important part of our penalty kill.”
Meanwhile, Gonchar will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year. Dallas is also retaining eight percent of the Russian blue liner’s $5 million cap hit. The 40-year-old has only played in three games for the Stars during the 2014-15 campaign, recording just one assist in the process.
For Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, the move is a precarious one. While Gonchar may be able to add some sort of spark to the third-worst power play in the league that currently sits at a miniscule 7.7 percent success rate, he is an aging defenseman who is well beyond his years. He simply doesn’t have the same skating legs he once had in Pittsburgh.
On one hand, Gonchar could add stability to Montreal’s back end and relieve some pressure from the already-overworked Andrei Markov. On the other hand, he could turn out to be a complete flop. Cross your fingers Habs fans.
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