After acquiring Jonathan Quick 2 seasons ago, GM Tomayko vowed that he had found the franchise player that Montreal had been seeking.  As of 2PM on the 16th of January following a 1-3-0 start, Quick found himself taking a flight to Toronto instead of back to Montreal on their team flight.  Don't get too excited, Toronto fans.  Quick will become the starting goaltender against the Leafs in between the pipes for the Boston Bruins.

The Deal:

Jonathan Quick
Rick DiPietro

for
Miika Kiprusoff
Ben Lovejoy
Cedrick Desjardins
Craig Smith
Mike Lee
1 FLA
2 BOS ***

*** - Montreal holds the rights to trade 2 BOS and 3 MTL for 1 BOS once league fees are paid.

As noted above, Jonathan Quick is a franchise goaltender at an EXTREMELY cheap price for the next few years to come into his RFA period.  His services in next year and the years to come will likely haunt the Canadiens in this intera-divisional trade.  

Just like in the NHL, the fans of Montreal are asking for the head of their team's GM.  Lets finish by talking about what Montreal recieved in return for this deal and try to reason with the fans.  In a few aspects, Boston overpaid for this deal.  Miika Kiprusoff is still a legitimate goaltender.  Some stats were better or at least comparable to Quick's last season.  Taking in this contract and player was definately a move by GM Tomayko to still commit to this season after large contract additions from the off-season.  

It is obvious that draft picks had to be returned in a deal for Quick.  The 1st rounder from Florida and the 2nd rounder from Boston are now Montreal's.  To help the cause even more, Montreal has the right to deal their 3rd next season with the 2nd they recieved back to Boston for their 1st round selection.  Hoping that their pick is late in the first round, Montreal can come up large in next year's draft having 3 first round selections if they choose.

Ben Lovejoy is welcomed as well by Montreal for his defensive capabilities.  He will likely share a line next season with Deryk Engelland and into the future with the squad.

Prospect and current NHL-Predator Craig Smith is what GM Tomayko says is the player that really pulled this deal together.  26 points as a rookie at the half-way point of the 2011-2012 NHL season really stands out.  Craig Smith is developing still at the center position including faceoffs, but his scoring is already there.  Smith remains 5 points out from the rookie lead in points as of this article.  With the aging center position in Montreal, Smith is already looking at adequate 2nd/3rd line time next season for the Habs.

Rick DiPietro was also included in this deal purely on a salary cap basis for goaltender Cedrick Desjardins.  Prospect goalie, Mike Lee, is a future AHL net-minder at best coming to Montreal as well.

Montreal is already flirting with the cap limit with a full roster, but next season still sits at 24 million with already 12 roster spots filled.  Addition of Smith and Lovejoy add 2 more secure roster positions.  It looks like all the chips are in this season for GM Tomayko and the Montreal Canadiens, but it also appears there is still a few cards up the White/Blue/Red jerseys.