The Montreal Canadiens figure to be a hassle to deal with in the 2017 playoffs, and not just because it can often be so hard to score on Carey Price.
GM Marc Bergevin has assembled quite the fleet of talented forwards in Montreal, but he’s also added a lot of guys who can get under opponents’ skin. That trend continued on Tuesday, as he acquired veteran pain-in-the-blank Steve Ott from the Detroit Red Wings for a sixth-round pick in 2018.
At 34, most (if not all) of Ott’s scoring touch is gone, yet he can yap with the best of them. And the best of them includes many Montreal Canadiens; Ott joins Brendan Gallagher and Andrew Shaw as world-class pests.
(Guys like Tomas Plekanec can needle opponents, too, but those three are especially agitating.)
Ott also gives the Canadiens an additional veteran forward after they traded away David Desharnais. There’s still a glut of defensemen in Montreal, so we’ll see if there is more to come from Bergevin.
The Red Wings get a depth pick in what might be a superior draft to 2018 as they gradually sell off some parts. It’s possible that they might have more up their sleeves, although many noticed that potential trade target Thomas Vanek suited up against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.