It's funny how things work out sometimes. Kopitar was a Jacket earlier this season but after the jackets struggled scoring goals, he was traded for Rick Nash. Now things have come full circle and Kopitar will join Nash in Columbus.
The fans are cheering in the streets: He's Back!
In a blockbuster deal, the Jackets and Canadiens hooked up in a deal early Tuesday morning that saw 6 players moved.
To Montreal:
Rene Bourque
Dennis Wideman
Jiri Hudler
To Columbus:
Anze Kopitar
Ruslan Salei
Matt Bradley
Penney was very happy to have Kopitar back:
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Any time you can acquire a top end talent like Kopes without sending one back is a good thing. We will miss Bourque and all his points (2nd in LW league scoring) but we are confident Kopitar will play well with Nash and hope they find some chemistry working together.
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After about a week of back and forth via PM, a deal was finally struck. Rumor has it that the Habs GM wanted Oshie but Penney was just not willing to give him up in this kind of deal.
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Oshie is a special young player and we like what he gives us. With him you get 100% all the time. There has been interest in the kid but we are reluctant to move him right now.
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The Jackets are looking for a 2nd line C to compliment Kopitar and Nash but for the time being don't be surprised to see Kopitar switched to C with Oshie getting more icetime on the 2nd line.