Cristobal Huet

Four years, $5.625 million per.

So will they move Khabibulin?I can't see the Blackhawks tying up nearly $12 million in two galtenders.

Other signings: Cory Stillman to Florida, three years, $10.6 million; Eric Godard to Pittsburgh (will they drop  Georges Laraque?), Adam Hall to Tampa Bay, three year, $1.8 millio, Darcy Tucker to Colorad, two years, $4.5 million ( he can hang with Andrew Raycroft, who also signed with the Avalanche).

In an interesting piece titled Five Questions About the Draft, Mathias Brunet of La Presse speculates the Canadiens could be looking to launch their centennial season with a bang by making a big draft-day trade.

Players said to available: Olli Jokinen, Marian Gaborik, Patrick Marleau, Mike Cammalleri.

Brunet also writes that Quebec prospect Nicolas Deschamps may not be available when the Canadiens exercise their 25th-overall first-round pick.

The Bruins, picking 16th, are said to like Deschamps.

Carey "The Puck Stops Here" Price. (THE GAZETTE/John Mahoney)

From the comments here on Inside/Out, it was obvious that some fans were happy with the Huet trade, while some were sad and disheartened, but mainly it seemed that people were surprised - and even mildly confused - that Montreal's Number One netminder had been moved to the Washington Capitals. You can count me among that perplexed majority.

A stunning trade!

Two weeks ago, he's the Canadiens' number one goaltender.

A second-round draft choice?

Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak down the stretch?

Figure Guy Carbonneau likes this? 

Canadiens goaltender Cristobal Huet has be rewarded for his stellar play during the last month as he was named the NHL's third star for the month of January behind Alexander Ovechkin and J.P. Dumont.

Huet posted an 8-2-1 record last month, with a 2.40 goals-against average and one shutout in 11 games.

For the season, Huet has posted an 18-8-6 record with a 2.34 GAA and .923 save percentage.

Cristobal Huet has joined Andrei Markov as the top vote-getter in their respective positions in the Eastern Conference during fan voting for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game.

Huet received 64,351 votes, more than 6,500 votes ahead of Henrik Lundqvist (57,715) of the New York Rangers. New Jersey's Martin Brodeur is third with 57,415 votes.

Markov is dominating the voting for blue-liners for the second straight week. He has 115,007 votes, more than 30,000 ahead of Boston's Zdeno Chara. Tomas Kaberle, Brian Campbell and Kimmo Timonen round out the top five.

Sidney Crosby is the leading forward with 177,873 votes. Canadiens captain Saku Koivu ranks eighth with 46, 554 votes. Alex Kovalev is 15th with 23,992 ballots.