Goodfellas
07-01-2009, 05:48 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Scott Gomez (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/1844)'s brief New York tenure ended Tuesday when the star center was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Canadiens (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/teams/canadiens) as part of a six-player deal.
The key player coming back to New York is forward Chris Higgins, a Long Island native who is set to become a restricted free agent. The deal was announced one day before the NHL's free-agent shopping season opens Wednesday.
New York had been looking to clear space under the NHL salary cap and cut out a major contract that still has five years and $33.5 million left on it. The cap hit on Gomez's deal is $7.35 million.
Gomez was sent to Montreal with minor leaguers Tom Pyatt, a forward, and defenseman Mike Busto. Along with Higgins, the Rangers received defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/4238) from the Canadiens.
The key player coming back to New York is forward Chris Higgins, a Long Island native who is set to become a restricted free agent. The deal was announced one day before the NHL's free-agent shopping season opens Wednesday.
New York had been looking to clear space under the NHL salary cap and cut out a major contract that still has five years and $33.5 million left on it. The cap hit on Gomez's deal is $7.35 million.
Gomez was sent to Montreal with minor leaguers Tom Pyatt, a forward, and defenseman Mike Busto. Along with Higgins, the Rangers received defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/4238) from the Canadiens.