MONTREAL, QC.- Habs fans have been freaking out this week, as restricted free agent Josh Gorges rejected a qualifying offer of $1.3 million from the Canadiens organization, taking the team to arbitration.
While I believe that there is no cause for concern just yet, I have to hope that his season-ending knee injury from this past December will not be a major factor in negotiations.
At the time of his injury, Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier was quoted as saying “he’s a strong leader and a great competitor. Obviously, we’ll want to keep him going forward despite the fact he won’t play this year.”
That being said, one would assume that they’re assessing his worth as a player, excluding the injury. I have to admit, the automatic qualifying offer is somewhat of a joke. He’s worth at least twice that amount, and thus begins my rant of reasons why Josh Gorges is awesome. He’s one of the best shut down guys the Habs have right now, and he certainly knows how to take one for the team.
Case and point. During a regular season game against the Washington Capitals last year, Gorges dove to block a shot, taking a puck to the head in the process. The force of the hit was so hard, that the indentation of the puck was left on his helmet. And yet, the man of steel was unscathed.
If you’re still not convinced, check the stats. They don’t lie.
In the 2009-2010 regular season, Gorges led the Habs in blocked shots with 158, was 12th overall in the league, and was second only to Hal Gill in the post-season with 55 blocked shots. The pair were largely responsible for shutting down Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as the Habs eliminated the Caps and Pens in the first and second rounds, as the Habs made their first Eastern Conference appearance since the early ‘90s.
While Josh only played 36 games in the 2010-2011 season, he still recorded 79 blocked shots before going on the injured reserve for the remainder of the season with right ACL issues. Luckily, Gauthier was able to pick up Wisniewski two days later, to fill the hole that Gorges and Markov had left on the blue line.
Habs fans were upset when Wisniewski left to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets this summer, but he served his purpose, keeping Josh & Andrei’s spots warm. Not to mention the price tag hanging from Wiz’s neck was a little steep. I believe that Gorges is part of Gauthier’s long term plans, and hope that they can ink a deal that spans over the next few seasons, as Gorges is eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer.
All in all, Gorges is a major asset to the club, and I don’t think Habs fans need to worry about seeing the number 26 on anyone else anytime soon… Erik Cole, looks like you’ll have to find a new number (and yes, Habs fans, that’s Erik with a “k”, not a “c”. Learn it, live it, love it. Stop making “Eric Cole” a trending topic, and spell it right! If you can manage Cammalleri, you can handle this one!)
Gorges was acquired in February 2007 in arguably the best deal Bob Gainey made during his time as GM of the club, along with a 2007 first round pick, which turned out to be young power forward Max Pacioretty, in return for defenseman Craig Rivet and a fifth round pick in 2008.
Follow me on Twitter @ladyhabs