Montreal, QC -- It seemed like only a matter of time, didn't it?
You didn't think they'd kept them both, did you?
Nah. Of course not.
Well, late last night, the Montreal Canadiens did what we all thought they would. They traded Alexei Kovalev.
With the acquisition of Ziggy Palffy, the Montreal Canadiens had the luxury of having two superstar right-wingers. And, while that may seem great on paper, Kovalev wasn't producing at the numbers he had been receiving on the second-line.
The 32-year-old was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday, in exchange for 26-year-old winger Marco Sturm and solid defenseman Janne Niinimaa.
"This was a huge, difficult deal for us," said Canadiens GM Dave Pagnotta. "Difficult, in a sense that it's never easy when trading a player of Kovy's status.
"At the same time, we're thrilled to have Marco and Janne on board. This deal improves our club defensively and gets us bigger on the blueline."
Prior to the deal, Canadiens assistant GM Bob Gainey declined the team was even considering a trade. He was unavailable for comment.
In 11 games with Montreal during the pre-season, Kovalev notched 1 goal and 6 assists and was a plus-4.
Sturm played in 7 games with the Penguins, registering 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points. He was also a plus-4.
"I spoke to him briefly on the phone, gave him an idea of where I think he'll play, and we'll find out this afternoon when his plane arrives," said head coach Claude Julien. "He'll likely replace Alex's position on the second-line with Saks [Saku Koivu] and Zeds [Richard Zednik]."
Niinimaa, 30, scored a goal and added 3 assists in 10 pre-season games with the Pens. He is expected to be reunited with his former New York Islanders teammate Kenny Jonsson on the team's second defensive pairing.
Meanwhile, rumors are already swirling that the Canadiens are not done yet. Reports out of Pittsburgh suggest the Habs may turn around and attempt to package Sturm for, what a source calls, "an offensive threat."