by Chris G, Contributor, All Habs Hockey Magazine

LAVAL, QC – The nice folks here at All Habs Hockey Magazine have decided to give me the opportunity to answer the questions received in the All Habs Mailbag. Will they regret it? Let’s hope not…

Do you have a question or a topic you would like us to discuss? Okay, here’s what you can do.

Let us know:

1. who you are
2. where you’re from
3. if you wish, send us a photo of you in your favourite Habs gear
4. who’s your favorite player, present or past
5. and of course, your question

You can contact us via Twitter, our Facebook page or email at info (at) allhabs (dot) net

We’ll feature you, and your question, in the All Habs Mailbag!

Here’s what you wanted to know this week:

What the heck was Marc Bergevin thinking when he signed David Desharnais for four years?

Lori Bennett, Mississauga

Lori, I wasn’t a fan of the contract extension as soon as it was announced by the Montreal Canadiens. I was critical about it on the March 16th episode of the @Habs360 podcast and unfortunately, I am being proven right.  I don’t understand what the hurry was. Was Marc Bergevin afraid that a team would make an offer sheet to David Desharnais as a restricted free agent during the off-season? Ever since Desharnais signed the four year $13-million contract extension, he has totalled 12 points in 26 games including playoffs.

Are those the kind of numbers you expect from your number two centre? No way! No one would sign Desharnais to an offer sheet with those numbers. The 2011-12 season was his best career in the NHL. Is that enough to sign him to that contract ? Not in my mind.

We saw in the series against the Ottawa Senators, that the Canadiens will never go deep into the playoffs with Desharnais in their top six. He had a total of one point and took a total of three shots on goal in fives games. His first shot came in game four against the Senators. If Bergevin would have waited for the off-season to renegotiate, he would have definitely signed him to a shorter term and for a smaller amount. Is he a candidate now for a buyout? Unlikely but not impossible. To listen to my comments on the contact extension, click here.

With a season under his belt, what kind of moves do you think Marc Bergevin makes this off-season?

Daniel

Well Daniel, it is the worst kept secret but it is obvious that the Canadiens need to get bigger in the centre position. But, as the Canadiens GM said in his post-mortem, there will be 29 other teams looking for that type of player.

From his first season with the Habs, we can see that Bergevin likes players with heart. I expect at least one more hard working grinder type player that can play on the third or fourth line. A player that I would like to see join the Canadiens is Bryan Bickell of the Chicago Blackhawks, that becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. At 6-foot-4, 233 pounds,  Bickell will add the size that the Canadiens are lacking. Another need that we saw at the end of the regular season was a physical defenceman. It was quite apparent as soon as Alexei Emelin went down against Boston.

Will Marc Bergevin make any moves or trades at the draft to try to move up?

Simon, Jeremy, Mike, and Marp

It seems that this is a question that everyone is asking themselves right now! I think that the Canadiens will definitely look to move up in the draft rankings if they are really interested in a player and if the price is right. Don’t expect the Habs to move up in the top 3 and draft a Seth Jones, Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin. Even though this is a good draft, the asking price to move up to one of those spots will be steep.

The Canadiens have one pick in the first round (No. 25), three in the second (Nos. 34, 36, 57) and two in the third (Nos. 71, 88). They could use some of these assets to move up five or 10 spots in the first round. Trevor Timmins does believe there is a lot of parity among the first 35 prospects on his draft board. “There’s depth right across the board of this draft”, Timmins told NHL.com at the Scouting Combine last week. “You have high-end defense, forwards, centers, power wingers and scoring wingers. There are also good quality goalies available. I don’t see any holes in this draft … maybe the later rounds might not be as great as previous years.”

Let’s see what Bergevin can pull off, if anything, on June 30th. Keep it locked on AllHabs.net for more coverage heading into the draft.

How is rehab going for various banged up Habs players? Will they be ready for next season?

Karen, Montreal

The injury list was quite long for the Canadiens at the end of their playoff series against the Senators. The only player who is expected to miss the beginning of next season due to injury is Alexei Emelin. He underwent re-constructive knee surgery on May 21st with a scheduled six month recovery. This will give Jarret Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu the opportunity to fight for a roster spot next season and force the organization to make a tough decision when Emelin returns to the lineup.

Carey Price admitted to being two weeks ahead of schedule on his knee injury rehab. Last he spoke, he hadn’t hit the ice yet, which he defined as the real test, but wasn’t planning on doing so for a few months anyway. Brian Gionta also underwent surgery a few weeks ago and let everyone know his recovery was going very well via his Twitter account.

Max Pacioretty suffered a dislocated shoulder that didn’t require surgery. Brandon Prust was scheduled to undergo a MRI on his shoulder a few days after the season ended, but we haven’t heard more about it. Everyone else’s bumps, bruises and broken fingers must be healed by now, and they should all be ready for combat come September.

If you buy a player out are you able to re-sign him again afterwards to a new contract?

Andy

As discussed in last week’s mailbag, according to the new CBA, the player that is bought out by a team (compliance buyout) is prohibited in re-joining it for the following season. So if you were hoping the Habs would go after Scott Gomez during the off-season, tough luck!

This was fun! Don’t forget to follow @chrisg1980 and @Habs360 on Twitter before the folks on All Habs read this and pull the plug!