OffThePost.org

So that would leave Mete out?

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He was on the 3rd pairing in the playoffs and didn't get many reps considering his ELC is up. His creativity is being overshadowed by his struggles 1-on-1. Then again, he's only 22. They may keep him but if he gets leapfrogged by Romanov, watch out.

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Danault said point blank his role on the team will determine whether he stays. Said he's more than a 3rd line defensive centre and wasn't too happy with his role in the playoffs.

Hopefully this is just jockeying for a payday. The Habs still need him, even if Suzuki and Kotkaniemi bounce him off the top 6.

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Julien is feeling better and will return next season.

Petry wants to stay, says the team could use some size up front. I'm sure Bergy agrees.

And on paper, Oliver Ekman-Larsson would be the perfect pairing partner for Shea Weber. Cap-wise, I can't imagine it working out. 16M for two defencemen?

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Friedman says the Danault comments did not go unnoticed. An extension suddenly doesn't look like a sure thing. Also, Domi is getting a new agent. Dude's gonna have to play for his next meal.

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Dano and Domi appear to be trading chips...
Danault to the Desert. Domi to Deadmonton

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hock ... ssion=true

Gaz sees the writing on the wall for Domi.

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Habs make their first move of the offseason, getting goalie Jake Allen from the Blues for a 3rd and 7th.

That's 15M on two goalies next season, but he's only got a year left and they needed a backup. OK move.

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That's a pretty damn good backup you got there albeit for $15 Mill.

https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canad ... =278542340

The Habs have been well below the cap the past few seasons, so I'd rather they spend on a real backup than leave the cap space unused.

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They have room..

Habs bring back Laval LW Lukas Vejdemo on a one-year, two-way deal. Competent skater and penalty killer who doesn't score enough for a top line and isn't physical enough to be a natural 4th liner. I like him, but he's a tweener who will get in if there are injuries.

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Vejdemo is being loaned to the SHL to get reps before the 2021 season starts.

Kotkaniemi may do the same.

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Elliotte says the Habs have put feelers out for Danault. He wants 2C money and the Habs may not want to give it to him. In that case, they would keep Domi and put him at 3C.

Not ideal, but if Danault wants 7M, I get the trepidation about locking him up. It would suck to lose him, though.

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Danault's awesome but if he thinks he's worth Brayden Point money, dude's flipped his gourd(e).

The guy I think he's comparing himself to is Kevin Hayes, who at a similar age got 7x7M from Philly.

Danault is better defensively by a long shot, but provides a little less offence (no 20g season) and isn't as big. I'm guessing negotiations start at around 6x6.5M, which is a lot when you need wingers for Suzuki and Kotkaniemi.

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That's fair, but Hayes is also fairly overpaid for what he does. I don't blame the guy for putting himself in an ideal position in a shallow free agent pool and reaping the benefits, and to be fair he was really good in the regular season for Philly, but they're going to regret that deal. He was a complete no-show in the playoffs.

I thought Hayes was annoyingly effective in the Habs series. He'd slowly plod his way into the zone and somehow got the time and space to make plays.

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Well, he did have 13 points in 16 games, so maybe it was the series against the Isles he was nowhere to be found (to be fair, none of Philly's "big guns" really emerged in that series).

Thing is, he's getting paid to be a game-breaker and I just don't think he's quite on that level.

And neither is Danault, who's good for 12-13 goals a season. But he's an elite defensive centre who can hang with offensive players, which is valuable in its own right.

I've narrowed a potential deal down to 8 years x 6.25M AAV, front-loaded. He'll be 36 at contract's end, his elite comparable Patrice Bergeron is 35 and still elite. I think Danault's legs, faceoff prowess and defensive play will age well.

*This is all contingent on the game's economics not being totally eviscerated by COVID, of course.

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