Montreal Canadiens: Five Moves Habs Did NOT Make That Led To Playoff Success

Tony DeAngelo

This was a bit of a weird one, but there were some rumours shortly after the trade deadline that the Canadiens had a plan in place to sign Tony DeAngelo. The only problem was he decided not to tear up his contract with the New York Rangers.

DeAngelo will be a polarizing figure for the rest of his career after he was suspended in Junior for using a racial slur against a teammate. It was his second suspension for violation of the league’s code of conduct that season, but the details of the first one have been kept quiet.

This season, DeAngelo got a hooking penalty in the Rangers first game and was then given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for using some choice words with the referee. He was then benched for the next few games and apparently was not able to move on from the benching.

He eventually got in a fight with backup goaltender Alexander Georgiev and was then placed on waivers, went unclaimed, and then GM Jeff Gorton said DeAngelo would not play another game for the Rangers.

Since, DeAngelo has been in limbo as he isn’t allowed to play anywhere else, but there were rumours his contract could be terminated before the trade deadline. Then, after the deadline came the rumours that the Habs were interested in signing him if his contract with the Rangers was torn up.

Adding a player like DeAngelo would have sent shockwaves through the Habs fanbase. I can’t imagine Bergevin cares that much about what is said about his decisions on Twitter, but DeAngelo would have been quite the distraction to the team.

He also might have been the solution to the team’s woeful power play, but he has been suspended three times in his career for abuse of an official and got into some kind of altercation with a teammate earlier this season, and most unbelievably of all, was suspended in Junior for using a racial slur against a teammate.

That was a long time ago, but it is the kind of thing that would need to be addressed with teammates to this day. You would like to think he was misguided as a kid and has learned a lot since becoming an adult, but some things can’t be excused.

Would that distraction have hurt the Habs more than DeAngelo’s offensive acumen would have helped? Would the team have been strong enough in the dressing room to come back from down 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs or would the room have been fractured and trust broken among teammates?

It is hard to say, but there is no question it was a distraction worth avoiding.