Will Martin St-Louis succeed where Jim Montgomery, Rick Bowness and Peter DeBoer failed? This is a bit of the bet that Kent Hughes took.
The general manager of the Canadian found a taker for Evgenii Dadonov on Sunday. He passed on the Russian winger to the Dallas Stars, in exchange for another winger, Denis Gurianov. This is where the St-Louis challenge begins.
Gurianov has a very interesting potential. That’s why the Stars claimed him at 12e rank in 2015. A 6’3 player who skates like the wind, as we were told, always attracts attention.
“He is extremely fast, confirms Trois-Rivières Lions goalkeeper Philippe Desrosiers, who rubbed shoulders with Gurianov in the Stars school club, from 2016 to 2019.
“It was not uncommon for him to take the puck, beat the defenseman and score himself. He has a lot of speed and a very good throw. I saw the exchange, I thought it was a good shot from the Canadian, almost a theft, especially against an aging player. »
His early career suggested that these qualities would transfer to the pros.
But this season, despite all his fine qualities, Gurianov has been limited to 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 43 games. All this at 25, when he should hatch.
One after another, however, his coaches were unable to get him to play “the right way”, we are told. The fact that he stood a little too peripherally, despite his size, was obviously an irritant. His 23 hits in 43 games this season are a reminder that he’s not the most fond of rough play.
The problem is that Gurianov has a $2.9 million contract in his pocket this season. As he will be a restricted free agent this summer, the Stars must submit an offer worth at least 2.9 million to retain his rights.
However, Dallas is already stuck under the cap for next season, with five players who will earn 7.7 million or more. According to Capfriendly, the team has just $8.6 million in wiggle room next season, and that’s with only 16 players holding contracts. Under the circumstances, Gurianov was going to command far too high a salary.
It is also not said that Hughes will want to offer him such a contract this summer, but the DG has just acquired him against a player he was going to lose anyway at the end of the season.
Unlike the Canadiens, the Stars aren’t in “development” mode, and in Dadonov they’re getting a player their head coach, Peter DeBoer, already trusts for having coached him with the Golden Knights last season.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Evgenii Dadonov
sources of hope
His efficiency rate is among the factors that suggest that Gurianov can turn the tide. The winger has scored on just 2.9% of his shots this season, well below his average of 10.6% over the previous three years. This kind of statistic sometimes announces an upcoming upward correction.
A colleague from Dallas also describes Gurianov as a young man with a good head on his shoulders, whose attitude is not a problem.
“He was really not a coward, remembers Philippe Desrosiers. He was often one of the last on the ice at the end of practices. »
The Quebecer describes him as an endearing individual. “I was already a roommate with him for three weeks,” he recalls. He was sometimes the one who took me to the arena, and he often listened to Russian rap, he raised the sound! People will get to know him, he has a great personality.
“If he plays with talented players, he could unlock. I watched Martin St-Louis at camp in September, I found him good with young people. He will be able to work with him, and in Montreal, they may have a more individual approach than in Dallas. »
Salary gymnastics
For the current season, the transaction barely changes the salary situation at the Habs.
The team retains 50% of Dadonov’s salary of 5 million, or 2.5 million. By obtaining Gurianov, the CH therefore adds $400,000 to its payroll (2.9 from Gurianov and 2.5 from Dadonov, for a total of 5.4 million). The Stars meanwhile save that $400,000, sometimes the cushion that allows for another trade.
Recall that the Canadian acquired Dadonov last June, in exchange for the last four years of Shea Weber’s contract. As soon as he arrived in Montreal, he was seen as a potential candidate for a transaction. His name has often been linked to the Winnipeg Jets, but they found backup on the wing in Nino Niederreiter on Saturday.