The Montreal Canadiens added blue line depth Tuesday by acquiring veteran Sergei Gonchar in a trade with the Dallas Stars in exchange for left winger Travis Moen.
Gonchar, 40, isn’t a quality defensive player at this stage of his career, but he will add some offensive talent to a Canadiens defenseman group that has just three players (P.K. Subban, Andre Markov and Alexei Emelkin) with more than two points.
Montreal’s power play ranks 28th in the NHL at 7.7 percent, and only Subban (one goal) and Markov (one assist) have tallied a point on the man advantage among the team’s blueliners.
Gonchar, who has one assist in three games this season, is a good puck-mover and a decent playmaker with 102 career power-play goals. He missed the Stars’ first 11 games of the season because of a foot injury.
The Canadiens are Gonchar’s fifth NHL team. He has played for the Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals since being drafted in 1992.
Photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
