Montreal Wins the Vanek Sweeps

No question, the biggest prize at this deadline was going to be forward Thomas Vanek, who the Islanders acquired earlier in the year from Buffalo in a pretty big deal.  The Islanders were unable to convince the Austrian sniper to re-sign with the team, so they had to deal him out.

There were a number of powerhouse teams looking to add a guy like Vanek at this deadline, but surprisingly, the Montreal Canadiens came up with the win and it turned out that the price wasn't quite as high as what the Islanders paid for him in the first place.  Coming back in return is prospect goaltender Sebastian Collberg and a conditional draft pick, a 2nd rounder.

The Montreal Canadiens got an instant offensive upgrade in Vanek and they didn't have to give up anything that was in their line-up right away.  With the Canadiens entrenched in the Atlantic Division playoff spots, they were going to need some more offense, helping out a pretty good defense and even better goaltending.

Between Buffalo and Long Island, Vanek has scored 21 goals and 32 assists in 60 games, good enough for 35th in pool scoring, heading into tonight's action.

This has some potential to be a good move for Vanek and therefore Chris in the pool, as there should be some excitement about going to a team that is in a playoff push.  It will be interesting to see who Vanek will line-up with the Habs, but he does have enough talent to make some offense on his own.