Montreal welcomes Francois Beauchemin back to le belle province

[Daradon]

The Montreal Canadiens have dealt defenseman Luca Sbisa and Bulldogs center Eric Tangradi to the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Francois Beauchemin.

'We are very excited to have Francois back patrolling the blue line in Montreal. He is a top tier blue-liner and his skill and experience will prove invaluable to us in the second half of the season as we prepare for another playoff run. We expect him to make an immediate impact on the team.

While we are sad to see Luca go, this was a deal we had to make to remain competitive in the playoff race and bolster our defense which has been decimated by injury. Luca performed beyond expectations in the short time he was here potting two goals and steadying our blue line. We expect him to be a rising star in the NHL in years to come and wish him all the best in San Jose.

Eric is a big strong center that should be a plus to any prospect pool. We feel Eric's growth has stagnated with our club and AHL affiliate and believe a change of scenery will be the best for this young player in the next stage of his development and wish him the best of luck as well.'

[GreenLantern]

Pretty simple deal for us, I had too much money on the back end, somebody had to go.

Beauch is a good D man and will do well in Montreal. I was happy to get a young D man back in exchange as well as a wild card prospect.