Caps Acquire Cristobal Huet - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

A couple of weeks back over at The Sporting News in a column I wrote about Olie Kolzig, I took pains to note that the Capitals were in something of a bind. While it was clear that Kolzig was at the end of his career, there seemed to be no logical bridge inside the organization to get the Caps from Kolzig to prospects like Simeon Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth.

Well, just a few minutes ago, Washington GM George McPhee seemed to find himself a bridge when he snagged Montreal Canadiens goalie Cristobal Huet for a second round draft pick in 2009, a pick the Caps previously acquired when they sent Brian Sutherby to Anaheim earlier this season.

The Milbury Scale: I hate to repeat myself, but we're going to give this deal one Milbury. Over in Montreal, Bob Gainey gets to unplug the logjam he had going in net with Huet, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak. One wonders if Gainey might not be angling to acquire another veteran before the deadline rather than put all his chips on Price heading into a playoff where Montreal may very well end up as a top seed.

As for McPhee, it looks like he's finally acknowledged what plenty of other folks had been talking about all season long -- that Washington's situation in goal wasn't going to get any better unless McPhee did something about it. With Kolzig coming up on unrestricted free agency and Johnson under contract next season, it would make sense that Kolzig may already be headed elsewhere, with McPhee lining up the cash he needs to sign Huet for long enough to get the prospects through the pipeline.