Ando wrote:

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...I guess either Perezhogin or Higgins get bumped back to the third line??? And-o has seen and heard every Bertuzzi rumor...but And-o just doesn't see a huge benefit to upgrading the wing considering the other more pressing needs on this roster! Why not go for a top d-man...and, of course, depth at centre??? And-o says that Vancouver can keep Bert...send us Jovo-Cop instead!!!

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Not including the recent offensive outburst by the Habs, there is no question an upgrade on offense is still required. Given the market conditions and availability it probably would be a little easier for Gainey to acquire either through trade or free agency a goal scoring winger than say a top defenceman or a top tier center. (Although given the Habs personnel, not sure how Gainey could pry a top goal scorer away from a team without giving up too much of the clubs future).

     The reality is there are just too few quality centers in the league to begin with, and making a deal for one seems unlikely. There are only a handful of elite centers available for unrestricted free agency at the end of the year. Marc Savard,Daniel Briere,Brad Richards,Jason Arnott,Jokinen,Straka. Additionally underrated players like Vyborny,Mcdonald from Anehiem and Kozlov from New Jersey will be UFA's as well. Not exactly a deep pool of centers available. All 30 teams will be chashing perhaps  9 or 10 elite centers,including the clubs they played for last year. With the exception of Vyborny,Jokinen,Mcdonald all the other centers eligible for free agency are on teams that have strong playoff aspirations and probably are not looking to deal that player at this time. The same can be said for a top tier defenceman, the talent pool is just not that abundant, and since all teams look for an elite defenceman and centerman to be the building blocks for a team hard to conceive of a gm trading away a franchise player, unless payroll considerations are a priority. With the exception of Florida, and the Jokinen situation it does not appear that any gm has his back to the wall financially to trade away an elite center.

      The price for a rental player like a Mark Parrish might not be too onerous for Gainey to handle, and although that sort of move would not answer all the Canadiens scoring problems, an addition along those lines (without giving the future away) would help.