Montreal Canadiens: Paul Stastny is increasing his stock in the playoffs
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens will have other options to consider ahead of free agency this summer, and if Paul Stastny was one of them, his value got a boost.
The shining diamond at the top of the mountain for the Montreal Canadiens is John Tavares. It doesn’t take a 50-page breakdown to know first-hand what kind of impact he would have on the team moving forward. To put it simply, the ‘Habs don’t have a number one centre’ narrative would be crumpled up and thrown out the window of a speeding vehicle.
That’s all if Tavares chooses to leave the New York Islanders and if Montreal is his final decision. There have been varying opinions on whether that happening is possible or not where some think there’s no chance whereas others feel it could work. In the case of a rejection, the Montreal Canadiens probably have a few contingency plans in the queue. One of which being Paul Stastny.
After Tavares, Stastny would be one of the big free agent centres available. There are several reasons why the 32-year-old fits with the Habs moving forward, and it’s more than the fact that he’s from Quebec.
Stastny has been an impact player since joining the Winnipeg Jets after the trade deadline. He put up 4 goals and 9 assists in his 19 regular season games with the Jets as well as 6 goals and 7 assists in the playoffs. The team was already firing on all cylinders, but the addition of the veteran centre has added another layer of depth proving to be a set-up option in the slot as well as a finisher himself.
There’s a reason why many fans and players on the St. Louis Blues were upset by Stastny being traded. We’re only now seeing it on a larger platform.
The only thing is that this complicates things for teams around the league. Stastny currently has a $7 million cap hit. Before the playoffs, many would’ve thought that a pay cut would be on the horizon for him, but his numbers in the post-season may do the complete opposite. Every point and big play is another nickel in the jar of Stastny’s next contract.
At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get something with an eight in it, and there are still two more rounds left in the playoffs.
Marc Bergevin has rarely seemed like the type of general manager to throw away money aimlessly, ignoring Karl Alzner. There is a bidding war in waiting for the rights to have Stastny. Eventually, his play will take him to a point where it won’t be worth it for the Montreal Canadiens to pursue anymore.
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