With the trade deadline fast approaching, now seems like a good time to look back at some of the trades that have had a big impact on the Montreal Canadiens’ franchise, and Tuesday was the 19th anniversary of such a trade. When Bob Gainey traded Craig Rivet to the San Jose Sharks for a stay-at-home defenseman and a first-round pick at the upcoming draft on February 25, 2007, he probably didn’t think it was a trade that would allow the organization to land one of the cornerstones of the franchise eventually.
Of course, the blueliner was a good friend of the Canadiens’ captain at the time, Saku Koivu, as evidenced by the fact that he injured him in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2006 while play-fighting at the team’s hotel, and he was important for the team, but he wasn’t untouchable. He had become a mainstay on the Habs’ blueline in the previous seasons, setting career-highs in points and assists in his last complete season wearing the Sainte-Flanelle, when he put up 7 goals, 27 assists, and 34 points. That performance convinced the Sharks to include their first-round pick in the deal, but at that point, nobody knew for sure where that pick would land.
Advertisement
Canadiens To Battle Islanders In First Of Three Games In A Month And A Half
Canadiens Prospect Out For Four Weeks
Canadiens: Noah Dobson Trade Paying Off Big Time
The Sharks ended up making the playoffs, while the Canadiens didn’t, and San Jose’s first-round pick turned out to be the 22nd pick overall. Gainey and co. used it to select American winger Max Pacioretty out of the USHL, where he had picked up 63 points in 60 games.
After the draft, he played one season at the University of Michigan, scoring 39 points in 37 games, then moved to the AHL for the following campaign and even played 34 games with the Habs that very year. He split the next two seasons between the AHL and the NHL before coming into his own during the 2011-12 season, putting up 65 points in 79 games. Pacioretty blossomed into a reliable goal scorer for the Canadiens, posting five seasons of 30+ goals, and was even voted team captain in September 2015.
As for Josh Gorges, he spent parts of eight seasons in Montreal, playing 464 career games with the Canadiens. He recorded 13 goals, 75 assists, 88 points, 606 hits, 1.042 blocks, and a plus-34 rating. His steadying presence on the blueline and his leadership made him an important player for the Habs, and he was an alternate captain for two seasons before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres in the summer of 2014 for a second-round pick after blocking a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Advertisement
If that were all the Canadiens got in the Rivet trade, it would still have been a good return, but when the organization decided to move on from Pacioretty and the Vegas Golden Knights came knocking, Marc Bergevin got Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki, and a 2019 second-round pick in return. While Suzuki wasn’t the player Bergevin was after, he wanted Cody Glass; he ended up being a fantastic acquisition.
Four years later, Suzuki was named the 31st captain in Canadiens history, and three and a half years after that, he wore the Maple Leaf at the Milano-Cortina Olympics. Playing for Team Canada and filling in for Sidney Crosby after he was injured, he showed the world just how complete a player he is on the greatest stage of them all. Last season, after being snubbed for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he carried the Canadiens to the playoffs, and he’s now on pace for having the best season of his career. He’s become the driving force behind the Canadiens’ surge in the standings. No one has played a bigger part in the Habs entering the next stage of their rebuild, and it still feels like the best has yet to come for Suzuki.
The captain is currently in the fourth year of his eight-year contract. If this new iteration of the Canadiens is to end their 33-year Stanley Cup Championship drought, Suzuki will be the one to raise the Cup above his head first and finally send a new championship banner to the Bell Centre rafters. Who would have thought the Habs would get that kind of player from the Rivet deal?
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Advertisement
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens’ page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens’ roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Read the full article here