The Montreal Canadiens announced today that the club has acquired defenseman T.J. Kemp from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional seventh-round choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Kemp will be reassigned from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
In addition, the Bulldogs have signed left wing Steve Gainey to a professional tryout contract.
Kemp, 27, has played in 22 games for the Penguins this season accumulating nine points (one goal, eight assists) along with 22 penalty minutes. Last season, the native of Pickering, Ont., competed in 73 games with the Springfield Falcons, leading all Falcons defensemen in points with 46 (eight goals, 38 assists) while earning 44 penalty minutes.
A fourth-year pro, Kemp has totaled 14 goals and 79 assists for 93 points in 174 career AHL games. He represented the Manchester Monarchs in the 2007 AHL All-Star Classic.
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound blueliner is scheduled to be available for Hamilton’s game versus the Philadelphia Phantoms tomorrow night.
Gainey, 29, has spent this season playing with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL where he has recorded 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) along with 36 penalty minutes in 33 games. Prior to this season, the 6-foot, 180-pound left wing had not played professional hockey since the 2005-2006 season when he split the year between the San Antonio Rampage and the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL.
The native of Montreal played in 56 games with the Rampage in 2005-06 earning 56 points (10 goals, 20 assists) along with 85 penalty minutes and 20 games with the Coyotes where he posted one assist and 20 penalty minutes.
Gainey is a former third-round selection of the Dallas Stars in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and is the son of Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey. He is also scheduled to be available for the Bulldogs game tomorrow evening.
