Canadiens sign Chris Campoli: What does it mean?
Chris Campoli (HockeyBroad/Flickr)
Today, Pierre Gauthier made Canadiens fans go in a frenzy. By signing Chris Campoli, people realized it cannot be just a simple signing.
People speculated that it could be coming with news that one of the many blue line injuries are worse than we think. Some think that a trade is coming. Others simply think that this was a depth decision as the team is one more injury away from relying on Jeff Woywitka or Raphael Diaz.
Campoli was probably acquired in part for his work on the power play. With Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban injured, the Canadiens only have Yannick Weber and maybe Jaroslav Spacek for the point. The Andrei Kostitsyn experiment didn’t have great results either, but it is only preseason.
Pierre Gauthier has been quick to move when needed. He added Marc-Andre Bergeron two years ago, then James Wisniewski, Paul Mara and Brent Sopel last year. This could mean bad news for Markov or Subban or just Gauthier adding depth. You can never have too many defencemen.
Either way, it puts good pressure on Yannick Weber and Alexei Yemelin. Struggle, and the team has options. Play well, and the Canadiens didn’t lose much. It is a low-risk signing for one year and the Canadiens had cap room to spare. One thing we shouldn’t expect is Campoli to play a big role with the team unless there are more injuries. In a nutshell, he may just be Marc-Andre Bergeron 2.0.
Jared Book
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