Marian Hossa: Pros and Cons

Ah! Against the Leafs! Marvelous!

As we all know, Trade Deadline Day is approaching. One week from today, we will only be 2 days away from one of the most exciting days on the NHL Calendar. That day will also be a gut-wrenching one for us Montreal Canadiens fans, as we await to see who Big Bob will be targeting and trying to acquire: Marian Hossa or Olli Jokinen?

In this article, I will document the pros and cons of acquiring Marian Hossa.

Here we go:

Marian Hossa, a 29-year old czech right winger, is especially renown for his offensive abilities.
His combination of great hands and his ability to keep the puck make him an offensive threat at any moment, and so does his explosive shot. Eventhough he isn't much of a physical presence, the offense he generates makes up for it. Over his past 3 seasons (not including 07-08) he has scored 36 goals or more and has had 82 points (1 PPG) or more.

His position also makes him quite intriguing, because he is a right winger, and could therefore fill the void left by Michael Ryder' downfall, as our 1st line RWer. He would also add some size (6'1'') .

Two cons against Hossa are his status after July 1st, the date after which he will become an unrestricted free-agent and the salary he might command on the open market.

Like we saw last season with Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, Marian Hossa could easily be offered a 4-5 year contract worth US$8-9 M annually.

One big question is: Do the Canadiens have the will and the ability to dish out all this money to a guy like Hossa, especially with the RFA status' of Andrei Kostitsyn and of, in a few years ,Tomas Plekanec, Sergei Kostitsyn and Chris Higgins and with Mike Komisarek's UFA status after the 08-09 season ?

Another con against Hossa is his trade value. As one of my colleagues pointed out, if Peter Forsberg can get you Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and two high picks (1st and 3rd rounds), what can Marian Hossa get you?

An approximation would be Chris Higgins, Ryan O'Byrne , one of Kyle Chipchura, Corey Locke or Mikhail Grabovsky and a first rounder. A condition to such a trade would probably be a negotating period with Hossa and his agent on an extension.

All this is a short resume of what is going on inside the Canadiens' Front Office's heads. Hopefully, they won't explode!

Keep faith fellow Habs fans!