Mid-1990s, Scott Gomez (left) with the East High Thunderbirds in Alaska.
Courtesy Open Up The Ice

Canadiens centreman Scott Gomez will wear No. 11 from this coming season onward in Montreal, for the first time in his NHL career getting to pull on the number he wore as a boy in Anchorage in minor hockey, baseball and basketball.

Full story is here. I spoke with Gomez today on a Mike Boone tip – Boone has spies everywhere – and he admitted from Alaska that it's a dream come true to wear No. 11, which was last worn by longtime, hugely popular decade-long captain Saku Koivu.

Gomez's No. 11 was retired by his East High Thunderbirds in Anchorage, Alaska for his exploits in scholastic sports. He was unable to wear it in New Jersey, the older John Madden claiming it, thus breaking into the NHL at age 19 wearing No. 23. Gomez switched to 19 in New York in appreciation for Larry Robinson, who coached him in Jersey.

It was suggested to Gomez that he not wear No. 11 last season, his first as a Canadien, with the July free-agency departure of Koivu, but was told "why not?" by GM Pierre Gauthier when he inquired again at the end of this past season. With both 19 and 23 hanging from the Bell Centre rafters, Gomez chose 91 this past season – Robinson's number inverted. Ninety-one also was the number of Markus Naslund, one of Gomez's teammates in New York whom he admired greatly.

Goaltender Alex Auld has signed a one-year deal with the Canadiens for $1 million.

The team also announced, late today, it had come to terms on a one-year contract for Dustin Boyd, who was obtained in the trade that sent Sergei Kostitsyn to Nashville.

The Canadiens also re-signed Curtis Sanford to a two-way contract that would pay him $550,000 in the NHL. He will likely be the No. 3 guy on the depth chart and play in Hamilton.

He's big, he's bald, he's Alex Auld.

Not likely.

Tomas Plekanec and Patrick Marleau have re-upped.

The champs continue to shed salary: Kris Versteeg to the Leafs, Andrew Ladd probably is next.

Can TSN2 turn Ilya Kovalchuk into a five-hour television show?

We'll see ... and we'll be watching, using the CoverItLive window for HIO input and your comments:

http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltc...

Dan Ellis was on the Team 990 and he said all the right things, praising the organization and adding that he would be more than happy to sign here for the right price.

"If the right offer is there, 100% we'll move forward with that," he said of signing with the Canadiens.

Ellis knows Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn from his days in Hamilton, and he knows Michael Cammalleri and Hal Gill.

He added:

"Carey Price is one of the best up and coming goaltenders in the league. He has untapped potential."

"It makes for a successful team, and that is what you want to be a part of."

This from TSN's Bob McKenzie via Twitter: All indications are that goaltender Dan Ellis will be going to market tomorrow. Doesn't preclude MTL as a destination, but opens it up.

• Michael Farber on a thin crop

• Eric Duhatschek on the impending UFAs

• Cap space

• Top Dmen available

And ...

• Yvon Pedneault on the trade

• Mathias Brunet's take

• Frankie the Bull welcomes SK74

• Robert L's analysis

•  •  •

The worst news of the off-season is Chris's decision to stop posting Comments at Habs Inside/Out.

Chris knows his hockey, and his analyses are always insightful and provocative. His opinions stand out in a environment where, too often, the gargoyles take over the cathedral.

The people who run this zoo are hoping he reconsiders.

Goaltender Dan Ellis has seen all kinds of skaters up close during his career.
Todd Karol, Reuters

• TSN's Bob McKenzie wonders: Could Price and Ellis co-exist in Montreal?

The Canadiens have traded Sergei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators for forward Dustin Boyd, goaltender Dan Ellis and future considerations. The deal also includes future considerations for the Predators.

Ellis, who turned 30 last week, played in 31 games last season, posting a 15-13-1 record. His GAA was 2.69, with a save percentage of 90.9. His career numbers are 2.64 and 91.2.

Ellis's cap hit was $1.8 million last season, and Ellis can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Via Twitter, Ellis had this to say: "Very excited about the trade! Its an honor to be part of a team with such great tradition and passion! Hope we can figure something out!"

Boyd, a 6-foot centre who will be 24 next month, split last season between the Predators and Calgary Flames. He collected 11 goals, including three game-winners, and 13 assists in 78 games. He was plus-6 while averaging 12:13 ToI. Boyd, whose cap hit was $700,000, is an RFA who did not get a qualifying offer, which makes him a UFA is he's not signed by Thursday.

Kostitsyn quickly fell out of favour with head coach Jacques Martin last season and split the season between Montreal and the Hamilton Bulldogs. He had seven goals and 11 assists in 47 games with the Canadiens.

As Arpon Basu points out, the Canadiens have found a back-up and mentor for Carey Price – if Ellis signs – and a fourth-line centre who's younger, cheaper, tougher and faster than Glen Metropolit.

And the team has purged itself of the malignancy that is SK74 – safely dispatched to the Western Conference, just in case he ever turns into the player he thinks he is. Over/under on visits to the Grand Ole Opry before he's barred: 2.

The deal ends popular speculation that the Canadiens would happily trade Sergei Kostitsyn for a dog – and shoot the dog.

Subtle bonus if something works out with Ellis: a non-francophone backup – as opposed to, say, Martin Biron – means the usual suspects won't be whining for a homeboy Number One every time Price lets in a bad goal.

Pierre Gauthier, Man of Action ... and still two sleeps till FA Day.

Shout-out to Jarred Friedman for finding a good Dan Ellis interview

• Pat Hickey on the Pouliot signing

• Pouliot deserves another chance – François Gagnon

• Pouliot is working out, looking to put on 12 pounds – Pierre Durocher

• Cap issues hinge on Price – Arpon Basu

• Cleaning up the Canadiens room

• Top UFA forwards – Scott Burnside

• Savard in play

• Rumour roundup

And a video display of Pouliot Passion

Tom Pyatt (left) celebrates Game 3, third-round playoff goal with Maxim Lapierre.
Shaun Best, Reuters

The Canadiens signed Benoit Pouliot and Tom Pyatt to one-year contracts today.

Pouliot was acquired in the deal that sent Guillaume Latendresse to Minnesota, where he scored 27 goals. Pouliot's totals were more modest: 17 goals (none after March 25), 11 assists. And as the Canadiens progressed through the postseason, Pouliot – drafted one spot ahead of Carey Price in 2005 – became something of an afterthought.

Pyatt was acqured in the seven-player trade with the New York Rangers that brought Scott Gomez to Montreal last June. Pyatt was a strong two-way player in the playoffs and was especially valuable on the penalty kill.

RDS is reporting Pouliot signed for $1.35 million and Pyatt for $500,000. Each earned about $800,000 last season.

The cap-stressed Canadiens are unlikely to be active on July 1, so there won't be much in the way of Sundinian speculation this week.

Glen Metropolit, Marc-André Bergeron and Dominic Moore become UFAs on Thursday.

There is the remote possibility Carey Price will receive an offer sheet.

If Gauthier were to make trades, he probably would have made them at the draft in Los Angeles.

But you never know. Habs Inside/Out will keep an ear to the ground, and the Commentariat may feel free to tell the GM how to do his job.

• The focus shifts to free agency

• Not a vintage year for the Q

• François Gagnon on drafting Americans

• Was Tinordi a Timmins home run? – Arpon Basu

• Quotes from the draft

• Bruins are busy

• Free agent lists: Eastern Conference and Western Conference

Watch this video long enough and you'll see fourth-round pick Morgan Ellis

On Day 2, the Canadiens select Mark MacMillan, a forward from the BCHL and Morgan Ellis, a Dman who played for Cape Breton in the Q, in the fourth round (113 and 117 overall).

The fifth round (147 overall) brought an intriguing pick: Brendan Gallagher, a 5'9" RW who scored 41 goals and had more than 110 PiM for Vancouver in the WHL, and  Gallagher, who's not afraid to drop 'em, is the son of the team's strength and conditioning coach.

The team's final choice, 207th overall in the seventh round, was John Westin, who plays for the Modo Juniors in Sweden.

Those tempted to dismiss these kids as no-chancers might consider Andrei Markov, a sixth-round choice (162nd overall) by the Canadiens; Hal Gill, who was an eighth-round pick (207th overall) by the Bruins; Travis Moen, a fifth rounder (155th) for Calgary, Jaro Spacek, a fifth-round pick (117th) by Florida; Tom Pyatt, fourth round (107) by the Rangers, and Josh Gorges, who wasn't drafted at all.

Oh, and in 2003 the Canadiens picked a pretty good goaltender in the ninth-round, 271st overall

AUDIO: Pierre Gauthier | Morgan Ellis | St. Louis Blues president John Davidson talks about getting Jaro | Danny Biega of Pointe Claire (Louis Leblanc's teammate at Harvard, drafted by Carolina)

Pierre Gauthier trades up five spots to pick a big – 6'6", projected to go to 230 lbs – defenceman who has impeccable bloodlines and was captain of the U.S. Under-18 national development team.

Jarred Tinordi, the son of former NHLer Mark Tinordi, turned 18 in February.

Scouting reports laud a kid with size and the inclination to use it. Tinordi can skate and has a hard shot.

He is supposed to go to the University of Notre Dame this autumn. But Tinordi's junior rights belong to the London Knights, and the Canadiens may wish to guide him toward a first-rate OHL organization and the coaching of Dale Hunter.

How badly did the Canadiens want Tinordi?

To move up from 27 to 22, the Canadiens surrendered their second-round pick.

The Vancouver Canucks conditionally traded their pick, at 25, to Florida but would have kept it if Tinordi were still available.

DRAFT AUDIO: Jarred Tinordi | Mark Tinordi | Guy Boucher

• No qualifying offer to Pouliot

• Emerson Etem is a hot prospect from the golden state – Pat Hickey

• Much suspense surrounds Canadiens

• TSN's predictions

• Who the heck is Tyler Toffoli? Scott Cullen's mock draft

• Top Russian prospects

• Boone blogs live, at 7 p.m.

And, if your stomach can take it, Sergei sounds off.

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier met the media today in Santa Monica.

Pat Hickey was there and recorded the proceedings.

RDS reports that the Canadiens have made qualifying offers to 10 restricted free agents, most notably goalie Carey Price and forwards Maxim Lapierre, Tom Pyatt and Sergei Kostitsyn.

Benoit Pouliot, the team's other RFA, has not yet received an offer. The Canadiens have until next Monday to do so, if that's in fact what they choose to do.

Pierre Gauthier on Pouliot, quoted by Marc-Antoine Godin on Twitter: "The evaluation is not finished. A qualifying offer should come before Monday."

Others to receive offers: farmhands Mathieu Carle, David Desharnais, Cédrick Desjardins, Brock Trotter, Ryan Russell and James Wyman.

A few notes from our friends at CKAC:

• Price: earned $850,000 last season, the final year of his entry-level contract.
• Lapierre: earned $800,000 and had a good playoffs after a lacklustre season.
• Pyatt: earned $685,000, second-low on the team to SK74.
• Kostitsyn: earned $585,000, spent quality time with Hamilton or in Jacques Martin's doghouse.

The Canadiens have four UFAs who next Thursday could be shopping their services anywhere they wish: Glen Metropolit, Dominic Moore, Marc-André Bergeron and Paul Mara.