John Tavares is the top unrestricted free agent this summer and will be speaking to several teams but the Montreal Canadiens won’t be one of them.
The entirety of the regular season had a lot of mystery clouds around John Tavares. The New York Islanders franchise player went into the year unsigned making him leaving a true possibility. Considering the organizational need, the Montreal Canadiens made sense as a team who would greatly benefit from his services.
But it came down to more than that. The Habs had, and still have, a lot of cap space to offer Tavares the kind of money he’d be looking for. Additionally, you can’t disregard the presence of Shea Weber and Carey Price within the organization who Tavares has had success with internationally. Perhaps the fact that his agent Pat Brisson and Marc Bergevin are good friends could’ve helped in some regard.
Despite the season the Montreal Canadiens had for the 2017-18 campaign, they could easily be in the bubble next year with a good degree of health. That may not be enough for Tavares who has an opportunity to win at the top of his priority list.
The negatives of the regular season can’t be ignored though. The way the team played could’ve pointed him in a direction away from Montreal. Marc Bergevin has done a good job so far in selling a positive future for the Montreal Canadiens.
The team has signed prospects, made efforts to re-establish an organizational culture, and did very well for themselves at the NHL Draft. However, it looks like that won’t be enough for Tavares. Reports circulated that the 27-year-old is expected to meet with five teams allowing them a chance to present their best pitch to get him to join.
Arthur Staple of The Athletic tweeted out the expected teams, and the Habs may not be one of them.
Tavares list just about finalized, it appears.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) June 25, 2018
Leafs, Sharks, Stars are in, as mentioned a couple days ago. Believe the Bruins are in as well.
Canadiens and Vegas not on the list as of now.#Isles will get in there too, of course.
It’s a tough blow but there’s still a possibility the two camps meet. Tavares signing with the Montreal Canadiens was always a mega optimistic take and it looks like the team will defintiely need to look elsewhere as far as free agents go.
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Morning Links
A Q&A with Canadiens assistant GM Trevor Timmins after NHL Draft (Gazette)
An interview with Trevor Timmins discussing the players the Montreal Canadiens added over the weekend.
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The complicated mess that led Max Pacioretty and Marc Bergevin to this unhappy place (The Athletic)
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