Montreal May Stay on the Commerce Market Sidelines
Arpon Basu of The Athletic: Basu writes that, in contrast to final 12 months when the Montreal Canadiens had been within the Pierre-Luc Dubois saga, this 12 months, the Canadiens aren’t tied to anybody, however are trying into some massive names on the commerce market.
Although they did their due diligence on Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Geese, the price was as excessive as final 12 months with Dubois. The Hurricanes are asking for star-level expertise in return, and Anaheim will likely be asking for one thing related for a participant with a time period left on his deal.
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens Prioritizing the Draft to Make Strikes
The Canadiens don’t need to transfer Mike Matheson as they’ve many younger defensemen developing subsequent season. So there aren’t many choices. Nonetheless, if historical past signifies something, the Canadiens will look to make strikes on the NHL Draft as they did the previous two years.
May the Canadiens Already Have An Inside Wage Cap In Place
Arpon Basu of The Athletic: Staying with Basu for a second, he writes that Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle are eligible for brand spanking new offers this summer season. A rising wage cap might have an effect on how the Canadiens these negotiations.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield took up about 9.5 p.c of a flat cap. Suzuki’s $7.875 million served because the ceiling for the Canadiens’ inside wage cap. Caufield fell beneath him. Based mostly on that share, Slafkovsky might get $8.65 million, however the Canadians would need him beneath Suzuki’s quantity if they may.
The identical might be mentioned for Guhle. We noticed defenseman Alex Vlasic signal a six-year contract with an AAV of $4.6 million. That might be the benchmark as each gamers play in troublesome conditions for his or her respective. Will probably be fascinating to see the place this goes.
NHL Rumors: Colorado Avalanche, and the Nashville Predators
May the Avalanche Goal Patrick Kane or Kaapo Kakko?
Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now: Rawal has a current mailbag and was requested what the Colorado Avalanche will do that offseason, together with if they’re concerned with Patrick Kane and Kaapo Kakko.
He writes that the Avalanche might be concerned with Kane whether it is on a one-year deal, however not a multi-year contract. Kane put up wonderful numbers with the Crimson Wings final season. To not point out, there are different priorities the Avalanche wants.
So far as Kakko is worried, he doesn’t suppose the Avalanche ought to commerce for him. He has good numbers and is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He might solely see the Avalanche doing this if the New York Rangers didn’t qualify him.
