HabsWorld.net --
The Habs added some depth on the wing on Monday, announcing the signing of Ales Hemsky to a one year deal. The contract is reportedly worth $1 million.
The 33 year old had spent the last three seasons in the Dallas organization but is coming off an injury plagued season where he played in just 15 games; he missed 58 of those contests due to hip surgery. He was fairly productive in the games he did play as he picked up four goals and three assists while averaging over 14 minutes a night of playing time.
In his career, Hemsky has played in 838 NHL games with Edmonton, Ottawa, and Dallas, scoring 174 goals while adding 398 assists. When healthy, he can still be a second line winger. The problem for him is simply staying healthy although that’s why the Habs were able to get him as cheap as they have here.
He’s not going to be able to replace Alex Radulov (who is heading to Dallas on a five year, $31.25M deal) on his own though. Reports have surfaced that the Habs made the soon-to-be 31 year old the identical offer prior to July 1st but evidently Radulov preferred to sign with the Stars.
Montreal now has roughly $13 million to spend to re-sign Alex Galchenyuk and potentially defenceman Andrei Markov although they will likely want to leave themselves a bit of a cushion for in-season moves or injuries as well.
Hemsky’s Stats: