Let the Spending Begin: Scott Gomez Traded to Montreal

Give Rangers general manager Glen Sather credit; he found somebody to take on one of the team's ugly contracts when he sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko on Tuesday afternoon. Gomez, 29, signed a seven-year, $51 million deal with the Rangers prior to the 2007-08 season, and the signing proved to be a mistake from the very beginning.

In two years with the Rangers he never tallied more than 16 goals, while registering 128 points in 158 games. Solid production, yes, but hardly worth the $7 million per year cap hit the Rangers were on the hook for.

The Canadiens entered the offseason with nearly $30 million in cap space, mainly due to the large number of players eligible for free agency, so they can certainly handle the contract. Still, for fans in Montreal, this has to be quite the letdown as the team has been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Tampa Bay Lightning forward -- and native of Montreal -- Vincent Lecavalier for the better part of the past year. This should essentially end such rumors.

In return, Montreal sends the 26-year-old Higgins to New York. In four years with the Canadiens he's scored 20 goals three times, and is coming off the worst season of his career, statistically, scoring just 12 goals (to go with 11 assists) in 57 games.

In terms of talent-for-talent, it's not all that horrible of a deal for Montreal when you look at it as Gomez-for-Higgins. Gomez is the better player, but the contracts changing hands, as well as the head-scratching addition of top prospect Ryan McDonagh, makes it a clear and decisive win for the Rangers. It also opens up the possibility of another big score when free agency opens on Wednesday. Marian Hossa? Marian Gaborik? Perhaps a trade for Dany Heatley? Plenty of options and possibilities.