Flames Acquire Cammalleri, Ramo from Canadiens for Bourque, Holland

The Calgary Flames swung a major deal on Thursday by acquiring left wing Mike Cammalleri, goaltender Karri Ramo, and a fifth round pick in the 2012 Entry Draft from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for left wing Rene Bourque, right wing Patrick Holland, and a second round pick in the 2013 Entry Draft. The trade came just one day after Cammalleri made disparaging remarks on the Canadiens' play as of late. The tam currently sits at the bottom of the Northeast Division with a 16-20-7 record in 43 games and have 39 points. They are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games and have lost two straight games. In 38 games this season with Montreal, Cammalleri has nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. In 35 games with Avangard Omsk of the KHL, Ramo has a 13-15-7 record, five shutouts, a 1.97 GAA, and a .927 save percentage. Bourque has 13 goals and three assists for 16 points in 38 games with the Flames. He is currently serving a five game suspension for elbowing Washington's Nicklas Backstrom in the head on January 5. In 40 games with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, Holland has 17 goals and 40 assists for 57 points.

This is an excellent trade for the Flames, as Cammalleri adds plenty of offensive and scoring depth to the team despite struggling in Montreal this season. He enjoyed a productive 2008-09 season in Calgary playing alongside Jarome Iginla, so the two wingers will likely play on the same line once again and hopefully find the offensive spark they once had together. Ramo was drafted by GM Jay Feaster while he was with the Tampa Bay Lightning, so he adds some familiarity in net. However, there is no guarantee that Ramo will play for the Flames in the near future, as he has been playing in the KHL in recent years. Despite struggling for much of the 2011-12 season, this move clearly shows that the Flames are definitely going to make a push for the playoffs. As for the Canadiens, they dealt a player who had clearly lost his passion for the team and also cleared up some salary cap space in the process. In Bourque, they get a big winger who can score and play a physical game despite being a bit of a streaky scorer. He is also excellent on the power play and penalty kill, so they get a well-rounded special teams player in the deal. Holland has shown some promise in the WHL over the past few seasons, so the Canadiens get a prospect with some upside. In the end, the trade is a shakeup for both struggling teams. Cammalleri and Bourque will also look for fresh starts with their new teams and hopefully improve their offensive games.

Canadiens Sign Forwards Cammalleri & Gionta to Five-Year Deals

The Montreal Canadiens continued to retool their roster on Wednesday by signing center Mike Cammalleri to a five-year contract worth $30 million, which averages out to $6 million per season, and right wing Brian Gionta to a five-year contract worth $25 million, which averages out to $5 million per season. In 81 games last season with the Calgary Flames, Cammalleri scored 39 goals and 43 assists for 82 points. Gionta appeared in 81 games last season for the New Jersey Devils, scoring 20 goals and 40 assists for 60 points. These aren’t bad signings for the Canadiens despite the fact that Bob Gainey has gone crazy the last few days acquiring new players for his team. Cammalleri and Gionta both have decent offensive skill, especially on the power play, and give the Canadiens two proven scorers. However, Cammalleri was paired up with Jarome Iginla in Calgary last season and had a break-out year as a result. It will be interesting to see if he can stay just as productive as last year playing with different players. Gionta established himself as a top-scorer in the league a few seasons back when he scored 48 goals in 2005-06, but hasn’t been able to score more than 25 goals since then. If Gionta can’t increase his goal-scoring production, then this could be a bad signing for the Canadiens, as Gainey could have signed several other 20-goal scorers for less than $5 million per season.