Canadiens acquire defenceman Belle from Minnesota
The Montreal Canadiens made a minor trade that made a lot of sense today, acquiring defenceman Shawn Belle from the Minnesota Wild in return for restricted free agent Corey Locke.
In what was a deal of two former junior stars, Locke had no place in a very loaded forward group in Montreal and Hamilton. With the addition of Ben Maxwell, especially, Locke’s days with the team were numbered. The team is also lacking depth at defence with NHL experience. Belle is a good bet to start in Hamilton, but the team will not hesitate to call him up if there is an injury. The Canadiens really did not have any other good options in Hamilton who are NHL ready.
Belle was a former teammate of Carey Price in Tri-City in the WHL, and represented Canada at the 2005 World Juniors. Belle, 23 is 6′2, 232 so he adds size.
Belle registered three points and 74 penalty minutes in 63 games with the Houston Aeros. He also played nine games for the Wild during the 2006-07 season, scoring an assist (0-1-1).
He was originally a 1st round pick (30th overall) by the St. Louis Blues in 2003.
As for Locke, he made his NHL debut last season and the undersized forward never could make it past the AHL. He led the OHL in scoring twice and had been Hamilton’s leading scorer over the last four years. He was a 4th round pick for the Canadiens.
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10 Responses to “Canadiens acquire defenceman Belle from Minnesota”
July 11th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Looks good for the Habs on the surface. They get a former first round pick who has 9 NHL games at 23, for a former fourth round pick who has 1 NHL game at 24. Certainly the club has no shortage of smallish centres, with Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec the top two on the team at the moment, and the likes of David Desharnais, Brock Trotter, Ryan Russell, Ben Maxwell, Olivier Fortier, coming along.
Belle and Locke are as opposite as two hockey players could be, if you could combine Corey’s hockey sense with Belle’s physical attributes you’d have a player for the ages. It is almost comical it’s so extreme. Both were bogged down in their respective organizations apparently, but that seems to be chronic with Belle, he is with his fourth organization after just 3 pro season. Nothing to lose as far as Montreal was concerned, Locke had to play on one of the top two lines (like Grabovski) and that was not likely to happen. Particularly if Sundin signs on.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Rob, I agree 100%.
With all the young forwards in the system, Locke had no place even in Hamilton. Belle brings in a body on defence that gives us depth in an area needing some depth. We weren’t a team that could go 8-9 deep on NHL-ready defencemen (of course once our prospects develop that’s a different story).
This trade also makes a lot of sense for Minnesota. They have a lot of small forwards, and Locke definitely fits that bill.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Well, I’m sure that Locke “had a place” in Hamilton, he did lead the team in scoring the past 3 seasons or something…:). But I think he felt like he was ready for the NHL and apparently so do the Wild. Montreal now has 8 defensemen signed with at least some NHL experience, Markov, Hamrlik, Komisarek, Gorges, O’Byrne, Bouillon, Dandeneault, and Belle. I guess it will be a dogfight between those last 5 names to see who gets the #4 spot alongside “The Big Three”. Mathieu Carle or Pavel Valentenko could push for a spot as well.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I know he had a place, but there are players who have recently signed professional contracts that the Canadiens would probably want to see play more minutes than a 5′9 24 year old who is buried in the depth chart.
As for the defensive battle, it will be very interesting to watch. There are a lot of guys who have a real chance to come into camp and make the team. We’ll see who makes their move.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Gainey has already gone on record as saying that Valentenko won’t make the team. The best bet is for Dandenault to be the seventh defenseman.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I have to think that Francis Bouillon is on the bubble with the new acquisitions. Two big physical left side defensemen signed with NHL experience in Alex Henry and Shawn Belle. The one common theme of Gainey’s off season transactions has been to make the team bigger and more physical. Bouillon gives a big effort most games, but at 5-8, 190 pounds or whatever he is, that doesn’t make much of an impression most of the time.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I have to disagree man. Bouillon hits hard every time he lays a check (of course I don’t know this firsthand, but you can tell). He brings energy every shift and never takes a night off. He may not be the best defensemen in the league, but I swear he’s one of the best fifth or sixth defensemen.
As for Belle and Henry, you have to think that if they could be NHL regulars, they would have by now. Belle is still young enough to be considered a prospect, but I’m sure as hell Henry was brought in purely as a Bulldog to fill out that roster.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I think that Alex Henry probably has as many NHL games at the age of 28 as Bouillon did. There is not that much difference between the two in terms of overall effectiveness. One is big and stiff, the other is small and slick, but overall they are about equal in terms of value. Belle is a hard to figure. He must be really dumb to waste such prodigeous athletic ability.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I just checked, Bouillon had played 155 NHL games by the age of 27. Henry had played 175.
July 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I believe Henry played for the Wild in a system that was more so a case of the sum of the team’s parts being successful than any one individual’s talents stepping out and taking the reins. Jacques Lemaire as coach will do that to a team. Any career AHL defenseman could have probably stepped into his role and played competently, and one apparently did. The wild
I understand what you’re saying and you have a legitimate point in that if it took Bouillon that long to become a stable NHLer, it might be taking Henry that long, but do you honestly believe that Henry is better than Bouillon? Bottom line, in this post-lockout NHL, Bouillon spent the past two years as a regular in the league while Henry played in the minors.
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