Boyd Stays, O'Byrne Traded -- What Did I Say??

So Ryan O'Byrne's rough and tumble time with the Habs has now officially come to a close. Too bad, I liked him, he was big, but he never quite gave the team the kind of consistent play that someone like Gorges is able to provide. I think his downfall ultimately was that he didn't show any improvement this year and this is what the team is looking for. Get better. That's what Gorges ultimately did and now he finds himself as a top 4 d-man.

Although O'Byrne is a big guy, he never really used his body to the best of his ability. But he left us with some memorable moments, unfortunately both not so good:

1. "Pursegate" -- Team is getting set to play the Lightning. The night before, O'Byrne walks out of a Tampa Bay bar with some girl's purse, accidentally!?
2. Against the Islanders 2 years ago at home, he scores on his own net.

Anyhow his fate was pretty predictable, like I wrote in my last post:

I think we can all agree that Picard is now ahead of O'Byrne in the Canadiens depth chart. Chances are, O'Byrne is going to be traded unless something else happens or someone gets injured.

So O'Byrne takes up residence in Denver for the Avs, while the Habs get the young, French Canadian prospect Michael Bournival in return. Since the Habs are looking pretty deep in the defense department right now, given Weber is also chomping at the bit on the farm, this was probably the right move to make. The deal also takes O'Byrne's $941,667 cap hit off the Canadiens' books.

Bournival is an 18-year-old centre from Shawinigan who was Colorado's third-round choice, 71st overall, in the 2010 draft. He's currently playing with the Cataractes in the QJMHL.

It'll probably be some time before we see him with the big club. With even more wiggle room under the salary cap, don't be surprised if GM Gauthier makes another move soon.

As a result we'll wait to see what happens with Dustin Boyd. Personally I was a bit surprised that no other team picked him up... right now, Ryan White would certainly be an upgrade if he shows the kind of spirited play that he presented in the preseason.