After a long playoff run came to an end last week, Monday was a day for exit interviews for both Montreal’s management team and most of the players. Here are some of the key takeaways from the day.
Considering that it looked like quite a few players were dealing with injuries (some clearly came back ahead of schedule), it’s noteworthy that management believes that no one needs surgery to their knowledge. That is certainly a promising sign for the offseason as that means that there shouldn’t be too many players whose summer training is considerably affected.
Meanwhile, Jeff Gorton spoke about the ideally changing viewpoint of the Montreal market. While the usual criticisms are well-known from over the years, he noted that the atmosphere in the playoffs is something he feels could resonate with players and potentially change the perception. Speculatively, that could play a role in any UFA or trade negotiations over the next few weeks.
While the Habs made it to the final four, GM Kent Hughes poured cold water on the idea of automatically going all-in. At this point, he isn’t necessarily inclined to pursue a trade for a rental player as obviously, the preference would be to add a younger player who fits with the core group. Later on, Gorton opened the window a little, saying that at this point, they don’t know who all is available and what happens there could influence their plans as it did last year with Noah Dobson.
One thing that has been a consistent theme during the rebuild is that management didn’t want to make moves that would block the development of their prospects. This may be changing. When asked about the possibility about bringing in someone via trade that does just that, Hughes called the scenario “inevitable for us”. At that point, if it happens, they’ll then have to decide if that makes the prospect (or younger player) more expendable which is another departure from how they’ve operated to this point.
Lastly from the management presser, it was noted that extension talks are likely to start with head coach Martin St. Louis this offseason. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract and teams typically like to avoid having their coach in a ‘lame duck’ year. At some point, it seems quite probable that an extension of some sort will be worked out.
In terms of news from the players, Brendan Gallagher was the headliner. Early in his scrum, he said that “It’s pretty clear, I’ll be kind of moving on here.” While he didn’t come out and say specifically that he has asked for a trade, he referenced that it is his decision. Gallagher has one year left on his contract with a $6.5 million cap charge. He also has the ability to block being placed on waivers (that’s the no-move part of his contract) while he has a six-team no-trade list as well. He spoke quite highly of his 14 years in Montreal and how the team was there for him when his mother passed away. But Gallagher made it clear that he feels he can still contribute and that the team’s actions made it clear that they don’t feel the same way, meaning that it’s time for a change of scenery.
Speaking of a change of scenery, another player heading for one is Patrik Laine. He suggested during his scrum that he felt he could have come back from his core muscle injury in January. The pending unrestricted free agent noted that he was hoping that he would have been dealt at the trade deadline to give him a chance to play elsewhere. (A $2 million signing bonus due after the deadline made that much harder.) Hughes suggested in his press conference that eventually, Laine’s mindset was that he simply wasn’t going to return which explains why he was always deemed as being unavailable despite practicing with the team.
One of the storylines this summer for the Habs will be Ivan Demidov’s next contract as he’s eligible to sign an extension starting on July 1st. Hughes spoke of preferring to work out a long-term deal and in his scrum, Demidov indicated the same. If Montreal can work something out by September 15th, they can give him an eight-year deal. After that, the maximum term of a contract drops to seven years. Demidov also stated that he’ll remain in Montreal to train this summer and that Alexander Zharovsky, the team’s top pick last year, will join him at some point. Zharovsky, the KHL’s top rookie this season, has one year left on his current contract and as a result, is unlikely to be with the Canadiens in training camp.