According to TVA Sport analyst and former Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois, the Canadiens may soon be parting ways with center Scott Gomez.
On Monday night, Brisebois reported (see video here -- helps if you speak French) that Gomez informed acquaintances he’s expecting the Habs to buy out the remainder of his deal at season’s end.
Given that Gomez 1) has two years left with an annual cap hit of $7.36 million and 2) is over the age of 26, Montreal would assume his cap hit over a period of four years (twice the remaining length of the contract.) You can see the full workup here.
If the buyout does indeed happen, it’ll be a rather fitting end to one of the most disastrous acquisitions in Canadiens history. Not only did Montreal take on one of the league’s most bloated contracts -- they paid a pretty price in doing so, giving up the likes of Pavel Valentenko, Chris Higgins and Ryan McDonagh.
Since coming to Montreal in 2009 Gomez has appeared in 196 games, scoring just 21 goals while posting a minus-23 rating.
Note: Eric Engels of CTV Montreal brings up a salient point -- the Canadiens might be hoping to buy Gomez out, without penalty, if there’s a window of opportunity like there was with the last CBA (see: compliance buyouts).
Or, they could hope the NHL adopts the NBA’s amnesty clause and just get rid of him that way.