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Montreal Canadiens: Where Does Andrei Markov Rank Among Habs Defencemen?

By Ken MacMillan

TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 25: Andrei Markov #79 of the Montreal Canadiens waits for a faceoff against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on February 25, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 25: Andrei Markov #79 of the Montreal Canadiens waits for a faceoff against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on February 25, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens let Andrei Markov walk a few years ago. He announced his retirement from hockey yesterday. Where does he rank among all-time Canadiens defensemen?

The Montreal Canadiens had an interesting offseason in the summer of 2017. They overhauled their left defence by trading Nathan Beaulieu, losing Alexei Emelin in an expansion draft and letting Andrei Markov walk away as a free agent. They also dealt top prospect Mikhail Sergachev that summer as well.

Markov had a tremendous career with the Canadiens before returning to the KHL three years ago. He was drafted in the 6th round of the 1998 NHL Draft as a 19 year old unknown who had never played outside of Russia.

The Voskresenk native played two more years in his home country before moving to North America. He had a solid rookie campaign by scoring 23 points in 63 games and showed he was a smart defender with an exceptional breakout pass. He followed that up with a sophomore season of 24 points in 56 games with the Habs, while also adding ten points in 12 AHL contests.

His offensive game really broke out in 2002-03 when Markov scored 13 goals and 37 points. He led the team in scoring by a defenceman and proved he was ready to be a top four defender at the very least.

Not a lot was expected from a sixth round pick, but Markov really exploded onto the scene following the lockout in 2004-05. The game opened up with the removal of the two-line pass rule and a clampdown on hooking, holding and interference. Finally, a player like Markov was free to use his skating and fantastic passing to create opportunities for his teammates.

Markov was one of the top scoring defensemen in the league for a period following the lockout. In 2007-08, he set a career high with 16 goals. In 2008-09 he set a career high with 64 points. He was great at even strength, a top penalty killer for the team, and one of the best power play quarterbacks in the league.

He was extremely loyal to the Habs as well.

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