Canadiens obtain Eric Tangradi from the Jets in exchange for Peter Budaj and Patrick Holland.

Excellent news.  We trade what we have an excess of to shore up an area of need.  My sense is Eric Tangradi isn't the mouth-foaming maniac I wanted after the game in Ottawa on Friday, but he adds size and oomph to our lineup, we're even less of an inviting target now.

Good for Peter to land somewhere in the NHL where he can play, the Jets' goalie situation is shaky, he might get a lot of starts, certainly more than he would have even if he'd been preferred to Dustin Tokarski.

Congrats to the management team, I was resigned to the fact that we'd have to waive Dustin, and might very well lose him, I didn't think a trade would be possible in this market.  This is as much of a coup as netting a 2nd-round pick for divesting ourselves of Josh Gorges.  The Canadiens cap situation improves as well, with a cheaper backup goaltender, and a cheap forward as an instant callup option.

And Dustin gets a chance at the NHL, and Mike Condon doesn't get pushed back down the ECHL, he graduates to the AHL for good.  Along with Joey McDonald, he's the man in nets for the Bulldogs.

Patrick Holland was getting squeezed out, his development might have stalled.  To be fair, he wasn't in the best situation the last couple of years, a young player being asked to provide offence, and he being a playmaker having no snipers to set up.  Maybe the Jets' system will be a better opportunity to progress to the NHL.

Another feather in the cap of the management team, they deal away two contracts and take one in return, I'll always be happy with dealing two spare parts for a significant piece, and this provides more flexibility.  Last June at the draft, even though Marc Bergevin was saying all options were on the table, trading up or trading down or keeping our pick in the first round, Trevor Timmins had let slip that trading down for more picks wasn't realistic, since they were running out of contract slots.  Dropping one contract seems to be a good thing if they felt they were being squeezed, what with another crop of junior and NCAA and European players needing to be signed this year.

A final thought that Travis Moen's time in Montréal might be very limited.  Eric Tangradi can offer now more than Travis is able to at this point in his career.  He may be enjoined to drop his limited No Trade Clause so he may join a Canadian team out west that might appreciate his veteranship and leadership.  The Oilers could certainly use some.