Gomez heading north, are Sedins still in play?

That big first line centre Bob Gainey was seeking became Scott Gomez on Tuesday.

I'm not sure if Gomez can compare to a Vincent Lecavalier, or even a Patrick Marleau, but at least he plays centre. I guess.

While giving up Chris Higgins to grab Gomez is not a crippling loss, the $7.3 million cap hit for each of the next five years definitely is.

In one fell swoop, Gainey has cut his spending capability to roughly $26 million with at least one defenceman and two forwards left to sign.

Will that be enough to still go after the Sedin twins tomorrow?

If so, and Gomez becomes Montreal's second line centre, then this deal starts to look a little more interesting.

But Gainey was hoping to swing a trade so he could use that player to convince free agents to sign here. I'm not sure Gomez accomplishes that.