Montreal Canadiens

Gainey activates plan b

After months of futile attempts to entice Mats Sundin to sign with the Canadiens, Bob Gainey closed the door on the Swedish option and acquired Robert Lang from the Chicago Blackhawks. Gainey traded away the teams recently acquired second round 2010 draft pick from the Leafs to obtain the well travelled Lang, working on the last year of a annual 4 million dollar contract.

Clearly, Gainey’s patience and tolerance for allowing Sundin to continue to vacilate in terms of making a decision to play or retire finally came to an end as the team began preparations for training camp. From Gainey’s perspective the risk of a on going distraction of whether Sundin would or would not sign with the team was simply too significant. A lack of focus at the task at hand due to ongoing Sundin speculation was not something Gainey wanted to risk. Gainey wanted a set team heading to camp. Acquiring Lang was the final piece in the Canadiens puzzle, at least as far as Gainey was concerned. Recognizing the team lacked size, and depth down the middle, Gainey reached out for the consellation prize in Lang. The question is, does Lang adequately address the Habs need at the center position?

The move to acquire Lang, represents the cautious low risk potential high reward incrementalist approach that has characterized Gainey’s tenure as gm of the Habs. In Lang, the Habs get a player coming off 7 consecutive 50 plus point seasons. A plus player throughout his career, Lang scored 14 of his 20 goals last season at even strength. Gainey did not box himself into the corner in obtaining Lang. He traded away a second round pick for a reliable offensive player on the last year of his contract. Gainey addressed a pressing need, a skilled centerman to back up Koivu and Plekanec. In the event of an injury to either Pleks or Koivu, Lang has the short term capabilities to step in as the second line center. That responsibility would not be adequately addressed by either Chipchura or Lapierre, two defensive orientated centers with limited offensive capabilities.

The addition of Lang does come with a buyer beware price tag. Despite his size and skill, Lang is clearly entering the twilight of his career. At 38, he is not the player he once was. His committment to using his size to create time and space for himself and linemates is inconsistent at best. Despite winning 53 percent of faceoff draws last season, his three year average in that department is closer to 51 percent. Perhaps more worriesome is the fact that he was plagued by nagging back injuries last season, and the league is littered with examples of players hitting the 37 to 38 year mark that see a steep drop off in productivity. Nonetheless, Lang brings a skill set superior to the last two stop gap centermen Gainey had acquired in Radek Bonk and Bryan Smolinski. Lang is far more creative with the puck, still poses a better than average shot, and mkaes up for his lack of physical play by good positioning and strong on ice vision. Lang’s presence fleshes out three solid offensive lines, will save some wear and tear on Koivu. Additionally it pushes the likes of Begin and Kostopolous down to fourth line minutes, much more in line with their capabilities. As well it upgrades the competition between Lapierre and Chipchura for fourth line centering duties, which can only be viewed as a good thing.

The question remains, was the procurement of Lang a succesful plan b move, or rather an inadequate stop gap measure. From Gainey’s perspective acquiring LAng while not having to disrupt or sacrafice any of the teams prized young assets was more amenable than making a more radical move and sacrafice part of the youth core to acquire a player along the lines of Marleau. Time will tell if Lang as plan b was the right one. At this point, the jury is still out.