The Souray Vs Malakhov trade is it a steal for the Habs ?

Souray Vs Malakhov trade is it a steal for the Habs ?


01-Mar-00: Montreal Canadiens traded Vladimir Malakhov to the New Jersey Devils for Sheldon Souray, Josh Dewolf and a 2nd round selection (later traded to Washington, later traded to Tampa Bay - Andreas Holmqvist) in 2001.

It is important to point out that Malakhov was on the Devils cup winning team in 2000, so the trade worked out for them since winning the Cup is the most important thing.

But, right now, clearly the habs got the better end of the deal. I mean Souray is a ROCK defensively, PHYSICAL, and a FORCE offensively. Great trade for both teams, I guess. But Malakhov is playing for the Rangers right now while Souray is still playing for the habs so it shows a difference in how important they are to their team. I will definately take Souray RIGHT NOW over Malakhov but a huge margin, taking into account salary, age, impact, leadership, toughness, defensive ability, offensive ability, and most importantly hockey sense.

Yes , the habs have made a steal .

I voted yes for the Habs, but since the trade, the Devs won the cup w/ Malakhov and the Habs haven't. At this point, it looks like the Habs have won in the deal though.

Good for both teams. The Habs got what they wanted, which was a great return for an UFA to be who was not going to re-sign with the Habs. The Devils got what they wanted, a Cup. The only losers in the Malakhov soap opera are the Rangers.

As a big Malakhov fan i'll say it's a fair deal . When Vlad was traded to NJ he haven't had the pressure he had in Montreal and played behind skilled d-man like Nidermayer and Stevens .

Malakhov solidified the bottom 4 of the Devils d-corp with aging Daneyko, rookie White and overaged rookie Rafalski . Plus Souray physical play wasen't miss much with the play of Stevens , White and Deneko . The Devils also needed someone for their second PP unit .

We all know the story in Montreal before the trade , Malakhov ( while injuried ) was with his kid at a ski station . Then the media and most Habs fans started to hate Malakhov ( mostly because of this but also because of he wasen't able to play to his talent level everynight ... ) . The Montreal Media is pure **** , Malakhov was just there to help his kid to learn skiing at the school part of the moutain .

Malakhov was traded to New Jersey for Souray and an AHL level defensmen at the TDL . Montreal nabbed a big d-men with an interesting junior carrer :
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=14090
Come to draft time Souray was a high risk player , he never played a complete season in the WHL but scored 34 pts in 50 games that season . The Devils drafted him in the 3rd round 71 overall . He scored near 1PPG in 60 game in his last junior season . Souray problem with injury probaly cost him a 1st round selection because if he had played complete season his number would be similar to some fisrt rounder like Belak , Baumgartner and Brown .

Now Malakhov isin't the same player he was in Montreal , his short stint with trapping Devils killed his great offensive touch and after his cup run he had a good value so the Rags came and have put a big money bag on the table .

Rangers D-Men at the End of 2001 : Leetch , Poti , Berard , Malakhov , Karpa , Lefebvre ... Malakhov had to play on a team already rich in offensive d-men and it didn't help him much cuz he had to play a different role . ( Leetch and Berard were the 2 main offensive d-men and they traded for another one ( Poti ) at the end of the year .)

After the trade Brisebois was our no1 d-men , ( Wenrich was traded for our beloved Traverse at the TDL ) then he became a target of stupids fans and also the target of some media figure in Montreal . (

Souray devlopped his leadership and his all around game and is ice time improved a lot over his 2 first year with the Habs , he was one of our key player in the playoff run 2 years ago and was one of the few phisical d-men against Boston and their big boys in the 1st round updet by the Habs . This was his carrer year , he had almost 1 point per 3 game while playing nasty and phisical hockey .

Last year he had a surgery and didn't play , Souray had carried this injury over few season because of the long time for healing ( a complete season ) . During that year Souray worked hard off ice and he also had a baby and married baywatch's Angelica Bridges (http://www.ifrance.com/icepopi/Angelica_Bridges/3.jpg) ( Lucky ******* ) during that year the Habs defense was soft & pathetic our only phisical presence was an aging #5 Quintal and guys such as Traverse had to play almost all teams games .

Right now i would still do this deal from both pov .

Devils : 2 surprising player make the team : White and Rafalski . They trade for Malakhov at the TDL ( probaly after a bidding war with another team ) , Souray is traded ... not a big loss at the time he was still developping and few youngster outplayed him ( White , Rafalski ) . The Devils won the cup and let Malakhov sign a big contract as an UFA with division rival , the Rangers . Yougster Goc & Commodore seem ready to play some NHL time . The Devils will trade again at the TDL for veteran help , Sean O'Donnell is acquired form Minnesota in a deal involving Willie Mitchell another strong product of the Devils scouting team .

Habs : Malakhov had to be traded , he was about be UFA & the team wasen't willing to offer 4M to a guy hated by the media , imsurprised of the return Reggie Houle got , a big d-men with 2 years of NHL under his belt and a former 2nd rounder Josh Dewolf who was playing in the AHL at the time . Dewolf never played an NHL game and he still play in the AHL , when his contract expired he was signed by an AHL team or by the Ducks . Souray had a lot of ice time and turned into a solid top 4 d-men in Montreal , he's also one of the few Habs to impose respect to the other team ... Souray is the best Habs d-men this season and if he isin't injuried again he will establish himself as a good physical d-men with a good power shot . He's comparable to Bryan McCabe and Keith Carney and will earn the respect he deserve this year .

Good for both teams. The Habs got what they wanted, which was a great return for an UFA to be who was not going to re-sign with the Habs. The Devils got what they wanted, a Cup. The only losers in the Malakhov soap opera are the Rangers.

I agree.

the devils won a cup and malakhov was a big part of that. that is the only standard you guys should be looking at

the devils won a cup and malakhov was a big part of that. that is the only standard you guys should be looking at

Was he a big part of it?
I dont remember anyone saying that before.

just asking: was malakhov a difference maker?

Was he a big part of it?
I dont remember anyone saying that before.

just asking: was malakhov a difference maker?
No he wasn't.

the devils won a cup and malakhov was a big part of that. that is the only standard you guys should be looking at

I disagree, I don't think it should be the ONLY standard when evaluating this trade.

One must realize that the Habs were not going anywhere back then, and had zero % chance of winning the cup. Furthermore, Malakhov was an impending free agent.

The only options for the Habs would have been
a) re-sign ---> wasn't going to happen
b) lose him to free agency and get a compensation draft pick
c) trade him and get as much as you can

Having said that, the Habs got adequate return for Malakhov. The bottom line is that Devils got a piece of the puzzle that helped them win the cup that year, and the Habs got as much value as they coold --> it was a fair deal for both teams

Was he a big part of it?
I dont remember anyone saying that before.

just asking: was malakhov a difference maker?

No...Scott Stevens was ;)

Just a question regarding the 2nd round pick traded to Washington. Wasn't that part of the Zubrus - Linden for Zednik - Bulis trade?? I seem to remember there was a flipping of picks as well. Brings even more perspective to the Souray trade....

Malakhov was at best the 4th best defender on the Devils and an argument could be made that he was 5th or 6th. The Devils had a very solid defense with Stevens, Neidermayer, Rafalski, Daneyko and White. Malakhov was a good depth player, but hardly a difference maker on that squad.

An argument could be made that the real reason the Devils made the move was to prevent a rival from getting Malakhov, rather than the Devils really wanting Malakhov. The fact they appeared to overpay for him shows there may have been a bidding war for his services. I'm guessing the Flyers.

Just a question regarding the 2nd round pick traded to Washington. Wasn't that part of the Zubrus - Linden for Zednik - Bulis trade?? I seem to remember there was a flipping of picks as well. Brings even more perspective to the Souray trade....

No, the 2nd rounder traded to Washington was the 2nd rounder we got from New Jersey in the Souray-Malakhov deal. So basically, we traded Linden, Zubrus and the 2nd rounder we got from New Jersey for Zednik, Bulis and Perezhogin. I like it. ;)

No, the 2nd rounder traded to Washington was the 2nd rounder we got from New Jersey in the Souray-Malakhov deal. So basically, we traded Linden, Zubrus and the 2nd rounder we got from New Jersey for Zednik, Bulis and Perezhogin. I like it. ;)

The Caps didn't even bother signing Paetsch, who they selected with the 2nd rounder. They did get a 1st for Linden though, so it made up for what could have potentially been an extremely brutal trade for the Caps. Zubrus, 1st (Boyd Gordon) for Zednik, Bulis and Perezhogin is still ugly though.