May 11 Alexei Yemelin and What He Means for the Habs

Alexei Yemelin. You may as well consider him the "white whale" of the Montreal Canadiens organization. Few have actually seen him play but in 2004, the Habs thought enough of the young Russian defenseman to draft him 84th overall in the NHL Entry Draft. According to La Presse's Mathias Brunet, Trevor Timmins has likened Yemelin to a young Darius Kasparitis. Kasparitis was a mid-sized defenseman known for punishing hits and towing the line with his play, often times crossing it. Yemelin's 92 penalty minutes in the KHL last year, third most in the league, reflect that assessment. Sounds like the ideal fit on a team that could use more edge and physicality. Hockey's Future describes Yemelin in the following way:

An aggressively physical stay at home defenseman, with a strong shot from the point and above average skating. Will need to bulk some to fill out his frame, improve his offensive production, and cut down on penalties. Hits and annoys the opposition.

As is the risk with all Russian players drafted in recent history, there's no guarantee they'll ever be willing to get on a plane and land in North America to play professional hockey in the NHL. Up until now, that appeared to have been the case with Yemelin. He has toiled in the KHL and Russian Superleague since being drafted by Montreal but now, according to Marc DeFoy and Bob McKenzie, Yemelin is "signed, sealed, delivered" to become a Hab in the near future.

So assuming that Yemelin will join the rest of our boys on the ice at training camp in Brossard come September, where does that leave the ever-clouded picture of the Montreal blue line for the 2011-2012 season? As of right now, the only defensemen under contract for next season are Jaroslav Spacek and P.K. Subban. Roman Hamrlik, Hal Gill, James Wisniewski, Andrei Markov, Brent Sopel and Paul Mara all stand as unrestricted free agents. Josh Gorges, Alex Picard and Yannick Weber are of the cost-controlled restricted free agent variety.

I would say that Sopel, Mara and Picard, though noble through their contributions this past season, are as good as gone. Gorges and Weber will no doubt remain with the organization. I'm confident Gill will be kept as well. Uncertain of dollar amounts, I would think one of Markov or Wisniewski will be kept. Ideally both would stay, but that appears to be a pipe dream. To me, the arrival of Yemelin most likely means Hamrlik will be let go. Here is how I think the defense pairings will shake out for the start of next season:

Andrei Markov - Josh Gorges
P.K. Subban - Hal Gill
Jaroslav Spacek - Alexei Yemelin
Yannick Weber

In a perfect world, the albatross of a contract that is Jaroslav Spacek will be unloaded on another team. As unlikely of a possibility as I think this is, you just never know. There could be a team like the Islanders out there looking to reach the cap floor for next year and/or provide a mentor for a young defenseman in the organization. That remains the only option for Spacek considering the option of a buy-out isn't available as Spacek is over 35 years old. So if I were to take Spacek out of the picture, here's my ideal defensive lineup for the team come next year:

Andrei Markov - Alexei Yemelin
P.K. Subban - Hal Gill
James Wisniewski - Josh Gorges
Yannick Weber

A guy can dream, can't he?

Tags: Alexei Yemelin \ habs \ Montreal Canadiens

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