Blackhawks Acquire Samsonov for Cullimore, Salmelainen

[Thrillhouse]

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the team has acquired the five-time 20-plus goal scoring left winger Sergei Samsonov from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Jassen Cullimore and left winger Tony Salmelainen.

"We believe Sergei can rebound a give us a spark on the power play and offensively as well as improve our overall skill level," said Tallon. "We feel he has a lot left in the tank and playing under Denis Savard will bring out the offensive creativity that he has shown in the past."

Samsonov (sam-SAWN-nanf), 28, 5’8”, 188 lbs., native of Moscow, USSR, appeared in 63 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season recording nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points and 10 penalty minutes.

Samsonov was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 1st round, 8th overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He won the Calder Trophy for the 1997-98 season as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year while also being named to the NHL All-Rookie Team that season. Samsonov also played in the 2001 NHL All-Star Game.

A veteran of nine NHL seasons, Samsonov has appeared in 596 career NHL games registering 178 goals and 240 assists for 418 points and 119 penalty minutes while playing for the Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Canadiens. He has also played in 59 career NHL playoff games recording 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points and 14 penalty minutes.

Cullimore, 34, 6’5”, 220 lbs., spent the last two seasons with the Blackhawks appearing in 118 games while notching two goals and 12 assists for 14 points and 117 penalty minutes. In his NHL career, Cullimore has played in 643 games while scoring 21 goals and 59 assists for 80 points and 621 penalty minutes. He also appeared 35 career NHL playoff games scoring one goal and adding three assists for four points and 24 penalty minutes.

Cullimore was a member of the 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup Champions. He was signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent on July 22, 2004.

Salmelainen, 25, 5’9”, 185 lbs., played one season with the Blackhawks, appearing in 57 games and scoring six goals and 11 assists for 17 points and 26 penalty minutes. In his NHL career, Salmelainen played in 70 games scoring six goals and 12 assists for 18 points and 30 penalty minutes.

Salmelainen was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd round, 41st overall, in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and was acquired by the Blackhawks in exchange for Jaroslav Spacek on January 26, 2006.

[steg1989]

Good for Samsonov, hopefully he gets a little more respect from the Blackhawks than he did the Habs. The guy was a first/second liner with the Bruins and same with his brief stint with the Oilers. But when he signs with the Habs they have him on the 4th line barely giving him any time to play. I think the Blackhawks are the perfect home for Samsonov because I know he'll get playing time there. I know I'd take him back on the Bruins any day of the week...

[Thrillhouse]

Heh, pretty interesting trade. Habs wanted nothing to do with Sammy, Chicago needed to get rid of Cullimore. For those interested in salary, Chicago dumps $2.6 million but takes on $3.5 million for Samsonov.

I guess I'll pick Montreal as the winner of this one. Being able to drop that disgusting contract is huge for them, but I'm sure there's some happy Blackhawk fans now that Cullimore is gone. Maybe Samsonov can return to form in Chicago.

[Smerri1029]

Samsonov's tour of the Original 6 is half over.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

Heh, pretty interesting trade. Habs wanted nothing to do with Sammy, Chicago needed to get rid of Cullimore. For those interested in salary, Chicago dumps $2.6 million but takes on $3.5 million for Samsonov.

I guess I'll pick Montreal as the winner of this one. Being able to drop that disgusting contract is huge for them, but I'm sure there's some happy Blackhawk fans now that Cullimore is gone. Maybe Samsonov can return to form in Chicago.

I think it all depends on how well Samsonov can play again for the Blackhawks. If he returns to his old form scoring 25-30 goals I would pick Chicago as the winner in this one as they got rid of a useless Cullimore and Salmelainen who looked like a bust this past season.
Actually I thought already 2 years ago that Samsonov might be end up in Chicago. They are looking for speed, scoring and have been fans of russian or european prospects/players for some time now.

[Thrillhouse]

Well this is interesting:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211004&hubname=

It has been agreed upon that the Canadiens will buy out the contract of Culimore while Salmelainen's situation will be further evaluated over the coming weeks.

[Isles4life]

Wow. I'm surprised they're buying out Cullimore. They really just wanted to unload Samsonov whatever the cost I guess. I think Chicago might be a good fit for the guy now. They don't have much scoring depth up front, so he'll be given every opportunity to become a contributor again.

[vandymeer13]

Tony had good speed but tried to be too cute and fumbled the puck a lot. He should have been playing in the A last year. Cullimore was a waste of space he scored two goals against the blackhawks in his stint with us he was just awful and slow and if your those two things and can't fight worth **** your really worthless. Samsanov has a big contract but we can afford it. Now hopefully we get rid of Aucoin.

[BROKEN*ORBITAL]

Freeing up money for Daniel Briere's contract.

[mongoose]

Originally Posted by BROKEN*ORBITAL

Freeing up money for Daniel Briere's contract.

good ****ing riddance to that sack of ****!

[NYR36]

Junk for junk

[canuckfan]

I thought one of Chicago's problems were that they had too may players like Samsonov. Hopefully he re-discovers his scoring touch, for the Hawks sake. He could be the perfect set-up man for Havlat.

[bengino]

Jassen Cullimore had previously played for the Habs he wasn't spectacular, and when he left not too many people were crying, so to have him bought out (for an amount cheaper then it would have been for Sammy) is a good deal. Besides we had a pretty big amount of defensemen already in the fold that are NHL worthy to play, and having another one would take some time away from potentially having some young guys to get some playing time in the bigs. I have no idea about Salmelainen though, i guess we'll have to wait and see what develops there.

[peacemaker]

A couple of overpaid guys changing teams...

Hard to pick a winner but I will go witht he Habs.
Samsonov, and his contract can be a bigger 'distraction' than Cullimore and his contract..Samsonov will still have high expectations, but with Cullimore no one will expect too much, thus it maybe easier for him to quitely contribute.

Samsonov has to be a 25 goal guy to contribute. If he doesn't do that, he's just eating up salary.

Winner Cullimore and the Habs.

[savard18]

It was a shrewd move for both GMs. Gainey got to buyout a smaller deal with Cullimore, saving the Habs money. Tallon got a potential 20-30 goal scorer and 50-60 pt capable guy that should benefit from increased ice time and playing with Havlat on the pp. If it works out well than both teams helped themselves.