Montreal Canadiens: It’s back to square one as Sebastian Aho is matched

As expected, the Montreal Canadiens offer sheet for the young centre, Sebastian Aho, was matched by the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon. As a result, the Habs now have the picks and cap space that were tied into the contract unfrozen.

On July 1st, Marc Bergevin made one of the boldest moves in his tenure as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens when he sent an offer sheet for the Hurricanes franchise centre, Sebastian Aho who is coming off of his best season to date in the NHL. Aho had 30 goals and 53 assists for 83 points along with 12 points in 15 games during the 2018-19 NHL playoffs. The contract was a five-year, $42.27 million deal.

From the offer sheet’s very announcement, it seemed as if Marc Bergevin’s attempt was destined to go wrong. The Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell was more than confident the Hurricanes would match the offer sheet, and the team’s owner Thomas Dundon confirmed this the following day.

Although it was always certain Carolina would be alright with the $8.454 million cap-hit, Marc Bergevin’s strategy was to use Sebastian Aho’s signing bonus as a way to prevent the Carolina Hurricanes from watching. This strategically formed contract had Sebastian Aho receiving a $21 million signing bonus in the first calendar year of his new contract. This, however, did not phase Hurricanes owner Thomas Dundon.

Where do the Habs Go From Here?

With their draft picks and cap space now at their disposal once again, the Montreal Canadiens can start making significant moves, if there are any to be made.

For starters, there have been rumors that the Montreal Canadiens have interest in acquiring Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine who is currently an RFA. Per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, the Habs are one of the teams that inquired about Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, but they are more focused on Laine.

The Montreal Canadiens bringing over Patrik Laine would be a huge move for the organization and their fans. Laine is a franchise play who in his three years of playing in the NHL has yet to have a season where he scores less than 30 goals. Although he seemed to have a down year with a long stretch of not producing, Laine is still young at 21 years of age and has plenty of time to further improve upon his game.

It is possible the Habs may try to acquire Patrik Laine via a trade which would most definitely see significant prospects and draft picks, maybe even a roster player, going from Montreal to Winnipeg. If the trade route does not work, the Montreal Canadiens may send their second offer sheet of the summer and the Winnipeg Jets would have to match it in order to keep Laine.