An excerpt from The Hockey News (Adam Proteau):
Montreal I know what you’re saying right about now: “Wait, did the Canadiens sign anybody new so far?” The answer is, no, they haven’t signed a single new player. However, once they take care of their restricted free agents, the Habs will have upwards of $8-9 million in available cap space to play with.That means, once the regular season has started, GM Bob Gainey will be able to swoop in and pluck talented players off of teams that are struggling. When that happens, Canadiens fans will be more than pleased he decided to play it safe at the start of July.
Habster:
Habs fans can be pretty fickle and difficult when it pertains to the lack of UFA action by their beloved Canadiens. This year is no different but Bob Gainey has tried to sign a “big name” UFA without much luck.
Adam Proteau is correct when he highlights the fact that Gainey will have some spending money leftover for Mats Sundin or a trade deadline deal. With Georges Laraque included in the cap total, the Montreal Canadiens have just over $9 million left to sign their RFAs (O’Byrne, Halak, Gorges) and possibly add Sundin or another player during the season.
It will probably take approximately $3 million to sign the RFAs which would leave about $6 million to make other moves. Gainey can also add an extra 10% (or $5.7 million) to his salary cap total before the season starts, just in case Mats Sundin decides he wants to play for the Canadiens. Obviously, he will have to shed some salary to accomplish this situation but wouldn’t it be a welcome dilemma to have.