Kostitsyn Brothers Reunited

			2011/2012 Stats				2012	July 1st Details
To Nashville	Pos	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Andrei Kostitsyn	F	27	53	12	12	24	$3.25m	0	UFA
-----------------------
To Montreal	Pos	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
2013 2nd Round Draft Pick
Conditional 2013 5th Round Draft Pick

In the first trade deadline deal of the day, the Montreal Canadiens sent potential unrestricted free agent forward Andrei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators, to re-unite him with his brother Sergei Kostitsyn, who the Habs dealt to Nashville in 2010 in a free agent deal.  This is the second deal we've seen in and around the deadline between these two sides, going the other way from Nashville is their 2013 2nd pick and the pick they received from Montreal in the Hal Gill deal, the first deal I just alluded to.

With only 24 points this season, Andrei hasn't been a great offensive force this season and there is no guarantee that having the two brothers back together in the same city is really going to do anything for the older brother's numbers.

At a $3.25 million annual cap hit, the feeling is that there isn't many of those bargain pieces available at a good price on trade deadline day, so the Predators may have settled upon Kostitsyn, thinking that they may not be able to get anything else at a reasonable cost.  The early signs are that some of the key UFAs that are available on the market are going for some high costs, which is holding up the proceedings on the deadline festivities.

Well, it hasn't been a good first year in the pool for Derek W., who is now only 4 points out of last place in the standings, he may very well get a boost from Kostitsyn, who is going from a horrible offensive team in Montreal to a much better offensive team in Nashville.  The Predators are the 10th ranked team on offense in the NHL, so it could be a great move to keep Derek out of the absolute basement.