HabsWorld.net -- 

The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that the club has re-signed wingers Tom Pyatt
and Benoit Pouliot, who were set to become restricted free agents on July 1 to a one-year
deals respectively.  Pyatt received a $500,000 contract while Pouliot has
signed for $1.35 million.

Pyatt was first considered as a mere throw-in in the deal that also brought Scott Gomez to the Habs last summer. However, the 5’11 winger ended up making his mark on the team with his strong work ethic and tremendous speed.

The 23 year old played 40 games for the Canadiens last season, picking up five points and becoming one of Jacques Martin’s favorite forward in the process. In the playoffs, Pyatt appeared in 18 games and produced 2 goals as well as 2 assists.

Pouliot was acquired from the Wild back on November 23rd in exchange for
Guillaume Latendresse.  He picked up 15 goals and 9 assists in 39 games
with the Habs during the regular season but struggled during the playoffs,
amassing just 2 assists in 18 contests.

It was announced early last week that Pouliot had not received a qualifying
offer from the Habs.  Since then, it was revealed that this was done in an
effort to avoid the possibility of arbitration, where he could have been awarded
a settlement close to the $2M variety.  Instead, he essentially settled for
the midpoint between the qualifying offer and a potential arbitration
settlement, a common practice for the Habs and arbitration eligible players.