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Wednesday, October 20, 1999
Canadiens forced to make a deal
Forced to dress at least two fuzzy-cheeked rookies on the blue line, the Habs made a move for some experience Wednesday, picking up 27-year-old defenceman Karl Dykhuis from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Dykhuis became available when the Flyers signed veteran free agent Ulf Samuelsson. Available is perhaps too strong a word. "Here, take him," is more like it.
While the deal is for "future considerations" the only consideration is the Canadiens will pick up the rest of the Sept-Isles, Que., native's contract which will pay him $800,000 this season, $1 million next year and $1.2 million the year after that.
The injury-ravaged Habs dressed three rookie defencemen Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche - Miloslav Guren, Francis Bouillon and Stephane Robidas, a 22-year-old who was called up from the Habs' Quebec City farm club yesterday and made his NHL debut against the Avalanche.
Veteran Barry Richter was a healthy scratch to make room for Robidas.
"We've got three kids on defence who altogether don't have 30 games in the league," said Montreal general manager Rejean Houle. "We need help on defence right now and this gives us some things we are missing. (Dykhuis) is only 27 years old, so he's still pretty young, but he's got close to 400 games in the league. (Coach) Alain (Vigneault) needs more options on defence and this gives him more options."
The Canadiens are without regular defencemen Vladimir Malakhov, out indefinitely with a knee injury, Patrice Brisebois out in indefinitely with a back injury and Craig Rivet, who is out for 2-3 weeks with a fractured cheek bone.
Houle had two options for help: sign a free agent like Samuelsson or make a trade. The Flyers pretty much made the decision for him by signing Samuelsson earlier this week. That made Dykhuis available and the Flyers were willing to give him away to save his salary.
Dykhuis, who played for Vigneault when both were with the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and won a gold medal with him at the world junior champioships, didn't make it to Montreal in time to play in last night's game but is expected to make his debut Saturday in Toronto.
Dykhuis is a player whose total never quite seemed to equal the sum of the parts. He's got good size, is a good skater and has a decent shot, but is mistake prone.
"It always seemed when he made a mistake, it was a big mistake," said one pro scout.
Dykhuis isn't a defenceman that can be used against another team's top line. He's good for about 15 minutes a game and loses effectiveness the more responsiblity he's given.
Even on the current Montreal roster he will likely be a fourth or fifth defenceman after the likes of Eric Weinrich, Vladimir Ulanov and Scott Lachance, but he should help in the short term.
The trade caught Dykhuis by surprise, despite the fact the Flyers had picked up Samuelsson. The Flyers also put Luke Richardson on waivers, but it's not likely anybody will pick him up because of his salary.
"I never really thought about (a trade)," said Dykhuis, who arrived at the Molson Centre during the first period. "I didn't expect to leave.
"I'm excited and very happy to be part of the Montreal Canadiens. Growing up in Northern Quebec, every Saturday night we watched the Canadiens on television. Putting on the Habs uniform will be a big thrill."
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