All Habs readers are not shy about sharing their opinions with us — and we wouldn’t have it any other way — most often leaving comments on published articles. From time-to-time, fans have thoughts unrelated to a current article that they feel compelled to get off their chest. On these occasions, we dip into the mailbag to publish the submissions to All Habs.
One of our readers, Nelson Alfonso, has a suggestion for Pierre Gauthier when it comes to resigning Habs defenseman Andrei Markov. Sidelined with a knee injury for the season, Markov will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2011.
Markov Must Go
As the Canadiens embark on the final leg of their season, it’s already time for armchair general managers across this fine province to look ahead toward next season. Will most of this edition of the Habs be back in 2011-12? Probably not. With Carey Price in tow and our top six forwards sure to be back – unless we can find a sucker trade partner to take Scott Gomez’s awful contract off our hands – GM Pierre Gauthier’s main priority is to rebuild the back end. Possible unrestricted free agents include Andrei Markov, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik and James Wisniewski. Josh Gorges, Alexandre Picard and Yannick Weber will be restricted free agents. P.K. Subban and Jaroslav Spacek will be in the final year of their current deals.
So what must Gauthier do?
Expect the steady Gorges and power-play pest Weber to sign extensions before hitting the open market after next season. While not flashy, Picard has played well enough when others were injured to merit a one-year deal. They’ll join Subban and Spacek in a solid yet unspectacular back end (well, except for P.K. of course). That only leaves two spots (or maybe three if Picard is finally deemed expendable) open for Gauthier to fill. His priorities should be re-signing the steady Gill and a player that has so far been very impressive – Wisniewski. The former Islander – who (as of Feb. 15) has 15 points in 18 games since joining the Habs – is currently making $3.25 million and will probably ask for a raise. Give it to him!!
Odd man out
As much as it pains me to say this, the Markov Era in Montreal may be over. In line for a new contract but coming off a pair of major surgeries, the Russian cannot be counted on any more. While still an elite player when in the line-up, he has missed 132 games in the past two seasons. Based on that, should Gauthier give the 32-year-old a long and expensive contract? Or should that cash go to signing Subban, Wisniewski and Gorges to long-term deals? All three defencemen are under the age of 30 – Subban is 21, Wisniewski is 27 and Gorges is 26. The only way around this delicate situation for Gauthier is to convince the rear guard to sign a one-year contract at roughly the same salary – $5.75 million. That would give the Canadiens brass another season to evaluate Markov’s case. They could use the $5.5 million coming off the books from the expiring Hamrlik contract to check out the merchandise one last time.
But would the Russian go for it? If he doesn’t, then the front office needs to say ‘thanks for everything you’ve done. Good luck out there.’
Nelson Afonso
(Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)