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On Friday afternoon the Montreal Canadiens officially dropped out of the Mats Sundin sweepstakes, when they signed another proven scoring veteran in, Robert Lang.
For the entire summer, Montreal General Manager, Bob Gainey, made it clear that he was very interested in Sundin, but with training camp right around the corner, is not willing to wait any longer for a decision.
”Sundin didn’t give me any indication he was going to make a decision, and my hockey department and I were not prepared to wait for a player, who may — or may not, decide to play until November, December, or January or February,” said Gainey. “We also developed back-up plans and, today, we decided to use one back up plan, instead of continuing on a course that didn’t seem as if it was going to be fruitful. There was no indication that we would see Mats Sundin with our team.”
That so called back up plan, as Gainey called it, was bolstering their offense by trading,a second round 2010 draft choice, to the Chicago Black hawks, for the veteran, Lang, who last season registered 54 points.
Known for his consistency, this 37 year old, who in 1990 wasn’t selected until the seventh round by the Los Angels Kings, registered his eighth straight season of 50 points or more. The most important aspect of this deal for Montreal is that they are getting a veteran leader, who is excited about playing for the Canadiens.
“You never want to get traded, or move your family, but I think it’s going to be a great situation,” said Lang, who in a grand total of 875 NHL games with the Kings, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Blackhawks has recorded 635 points, including 77 power play goals.
Gainey, who after the season made a trade, with the Leafs, to acquire the negotiation rights of Sundin — before he hit the free agent open market on July 1, admitted that there was no time this summer when the Canadiens believed that he was sold on coming to Montreal .
“At no time did I have any feeling we had (Sundin) locked up,” said Gainey.
Heading into their one- hundredth season, Gainey has been aggressive this off- season in signing scoring forward, and former Stanley Cup winner, Alex Tanguay and enforcer, George Laroque.
Dropping out of the Sundin running is great news for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Maple Leafs; who have all expressed interest in signing this aging veteran, and proven leader.
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