Patrick Marleau

This would be a great deal for the Habs ONLY if certain things were to accompany such a trade.

First, you would have to sign Marleau to an extension immediately, as we have seen with players like Smyth and Briere, the closer they get to the end of the season the more tempting it is for them to test the UFA market; Marleau is still only 27 years old and proven, give him the 7 mill per year he is gonna want now and lock him up.

Trading away a 22 year old goalie like Halak to some is not a big deal, but he did play very well last season winning 10 of his 16 starts and posting a 2.89 g.a.a.

Why is that important?

Because Gainey has said Carey Price will not play this season for the Canadiens unless he is the starting goalie. So my question is, if Huet starts to crumble, which he did show signs of doing last season repeatedly before he got hurt, who comes in and plays for him?
Without Halak's performances last season the last game vs Toronto would have meant nothing anyway because the Habs would have been eliminated way before then.

Another problem facing the Habs if they do make that trade, is what do the lines become?
Are guys gonna gel as well once they are moved around? The Koivu Higgins Ryder line was the best line for the last 2 seasons by far when healthy.
Marleau is a center, as is Koivu, Plekanec, Smolinski, Chipchura. So somebody has to move to the wing, my guess is Plekanec. The best lines I could think of would be:

HIGGINS MARLEAU LATANDRESSE
PLEKANEC KOIVU KOVALEV
KOSTITSYN SMOLINSKI LAPIERRE
BEGIN CHIPCHURA LATHI

The fourth line could rotate with Murray and Kostopoulos...a lot of possibilities for Carbonneau..

Marleau would also be a great addition so in two years from now as we start to phase out Koivu and Kovalev.
Along with guys like Higgins, Latendresse, Chipchura, Lapierre and Plekanec, Marleau would be great to build around.

If Gainey could get this deal done and net a decent backup goalie for this season I am all for it but I think it might be a little late to do get that goalie now.
I would assume since Danis has no starting position with the Bulldogs he would have to be that guy.

I would also be curious to see if Ryder could score 30 again in SJ where he won't be saying Raycroft 8x per year.