Crazy offseason has now begun
Forget the NHL Draft, the rest of the offseason is going to be even more busy and crazy than the draft. In fact, but the end of this wild offseason, the draft itself might just be an enormous sidenote.
The first thing to take care of is signing a head coach for next season. It certainly sounds like Martin St. Louis will stick around behind the bench, but nothing is finalized yet. There is mutual interest in getting a contract signed so it is likely to happen, but it will be big news when it occurs.
Then there is all the health situations to keep tabs on. Will Carey Price be back and healthy next season? If not, has he already played his last game in the NHL? That’s a fascinating storyline that is sure to take much of the summer to decide.
Paul Byron, Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin, and Joel Armia were out of the lineup at the end of the season? Will they be ready to go at training camp? And which ones will still be on the team by training camp?
Jeff Petry wanted out of Montreal this season but didn’t get his wish at the trade deadline. His name is sure to be prominently in trade rumours in the offseason. Mike Hoffman and Armia trades would open up lots of cap space so general manager Kent Hughes is sure to try and find takers for them, but will be he successful?
How busy will the Canadiens be in free agency? There have been dots being connected between Montreal and Patrice Bergeron as well as Kris Letang since their former agent, Hughes, took over as the Habs general manager. Will one of those prominent, Montreal area stars sign with their hometown team?
There are a lot of questions to be answered in Montreal this offseason. Can they clear cap space and sign high priced veterans to go for it now? Will Price, Letang AND Bergeron be playing here in October? Or none of them? Will the Canadiens be contenders again, or contenders for drafting first overall once again?
The hirings, trades, signing and draft picks are always a big story of the NHL offseason. But the Montreal Canadiens appear like they are going to be big players in all facets of the offseason.
While we won’t have games to watch in the coming months, there are plenty of reasons to be happy the games on the ice are over so that the games off the ice can really begin.
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