Ottawa Senators Breaking News: Bonk traded to Habs in three-team deal
June 26, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: TSN.ca

Bonk traded to Habs in three-team deal

Canadian Press

6/26/2004

RALEIGH, N.C. (CP) - The 2004 NHL entry draft was on its way to being the quietest in recent memory before John Muckler started the Radek Bonk merry-go around Saturday.

The Ottawa Senators general manager dealt the Czech centre to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for the 77th overall draft pick in what was a simple salary dump by the Sens.

What Muckler probably didn't expect was the Kings turning around and sending Bonk to rival Montreal.

The Habs also acquired backup goalie Cristobal Huet in exchange for backup goalie Mathieu Garon and the 95th overall draft pick.

It was the biggest transaction on a day that featured several swaps of draft picks, but few active players.

Only 15 transactions were completed, three of them involving NHL players.

The other two moves of note featured the Anaheim Mighty Ducks trading defenceman Niclas Havelid to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for prospect Kurtis Foster and the Edmonton Oilers trading forward Jason Chimera and the 80th overall pick to the New York Rangers for the 57th and 112th picks.

But the story of the day was Bonk's travels as he was a King for about six minutes.

Bonk, who had 44 points (12-32) in 66 games and two assists in seven playoff games with Ottawa last season, is a restricted free agent who requires a $3.5-million US qualifying offer by midnight Wednesday.

Too rich for Ottawa, not a problem for Montreal.

``We don't mind qualifying him at $3.5 million,'' Habs GM Bob Gainey said. ``It's a big contract but we'll work our budget in other areas.''

Muckler said he had no intention of qualifying Bonk and was looking for some form of compensation before losing him as an unrestricted free agent next week, which Bonk would have become once Ottawa didn't qualify him.

``If you're making $3.5 million, you have to be a special player,'' Muckler said. ``And when you look at centre ice on our club, Jason Spezza needs to be on the first two lines and that's another reason we made this move.''

Gainey sees Bonk as his team's No. 3 centre behind Saku Koivu and Mike Ribeiro.

``We addressed a weakness on the club and we feel we'll be a better club with Bonk,'' Gainey said. ``At centre ice, he can complement other centres we have. He's a good, strong two-way player, physical and reliable.''

Huet, from France, posted a 10-16-10 record for the Kings with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Garon appeared in 19 regular-season games with the Canadiens as backup to Jose Theodore. The Montreal netminder went 8-6-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average with a .921 save percentage.

Garon, drafted 44th overall by the Canadiens in 1996, is due to make $1.1 million in his next season in the NHL.

The Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off a big move as well, trading their fourth overall pick to Carolina in exchange for the Hurricanes' eighth overall pick and a second-rounder (59th overall).

The move allowed Carolina GM Jim Rutherford to pick forward Andrew Ladd, the top ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

Jackets GM Doug McLean was happy to get forward Alexandre Picard with his first-round pick plus obtain a second-round pick, which he didn't have coming into the draft.

``I've really been talking to Doug for probably a couple of months but the talks got a lot more serious in the last two or three weeks,'' Rutherford said. ``I'm sure he was fielding other offers and certainly we had to adjust our offer as we went along until we finally to the point we got last night.''

Meanwhile, salary dumping was underway in Anaheim.

Havelid has $3.2 million left on the remaining two years of his contract, $1.6 million for next season and $1.6 million for 2005-06.

In Havelid, the Thrashers acquired the defensive help they desperately needed and a decent offensive blue-liner. He had 26 points (6-20) in 79 games last season but also sported a minus-28 rating.

``We think he can play on our top four on the blue-line. He's a good fit,'' Thrashers GM Don Waddell said. ``We needed help on defence and we got it.''

The Ducks have been told to slash payroll and Havelid was the first to go under new GM Al Coates.

But overall, there wasn't the kind of frantic draft day activity we're used to. And that can be blamed on the looming expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players.

``I certainly felt that was going to be the way,'' Nashville Predators GM David Poile said. ``It's a predictable situation because of the uncertainty going forward. What I'm thinking about is totally Nashville Predators and taking care of our team and not really looking at much more than that.

``There's a shortage of teams that would like to add to the payroll. It's just an unknown time. You just have to take care of what you have. If you're thinking about making a deal for a player or players, and taking on a financial obligation or term, I think you're a little bit hesitant than you would have been in past years.''