Habs are interested in Jonathan Marchessault and Sean Monahan

Friday’s splendid day is already far behind us. Damn, it felt good to have a fan base that enjoyed Kent Hugues’ first Céline Dion selection (Ivan Demidov), rather than one that questioned it… or even booed it (Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher).

Finally, the Canadiens drafted the guy we’d been hoping for.

But hey, it’s already July 1, and since the Habs still have one or two seasons to go before they can hope to win forty or so games a season, it’s likely to be a quiet day in the Montreal cockpit. Even if a few journalists from TheAthletic and La Presse have been reporting for a few weeks now that the Habs could overpay an unrestricted free agent if the contract is only for a year or two.

Even if the salary cap has gone up and Karl Alzner’s and Joel Edmundson’s accounting dollars have disappeared, there’s still Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Carey Price, Jake Allen and Jeff Petry on the Habs’ payroll…

That’s why I was surprised to hear Elliotte Friedman say this morning that the Habs were probably among the teams interested in making an offer to Jonathan Marchessault today. Marchessault and the Golden Knights have been unable to reach an agreement in recent days…

Elliotte says he expects Montreal to be one of the teams to try to sign Marchessault today.

My two cents: it sounds like there’s a lot of demand for him with Guentzel and Reinhart off the board. Someone will have to overpay; and it probably won’t be MTL. https://t.co/sZuamDm7Q0

– HabsLinks (@HabsLinks) July 1, 2024

Marchessault scored 42 goals in 2023-24. He won the Conn-Smythe Trophy (and the Stanley Cup). In short, he’s going to be expensive. Very expensive!

Yes, he’s already 33 years old, and in theory he could always accept a higher annual fee over fewer years – the opposite strategy of contender teams like the Lightning – but it’s the fit that I don’t see.

The first 100 players selected this weekend – and the late selection of Justin Poirier – reminded us that NHL teams are all trying to get bigger. You can have one or two small players, but not four!

The Habs already have Cole Caufield, Brendan Gallagher, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Lane Hutson!

Did Marchessault’s agent name a few teams to Friedman to boost his client’s value?

Does anyone in the Habs wish to suggest that they’d like to sign French-speaking Quebecers… after drafting ZERO over the weekend?

But in reality, Marchessault is a lot closer to New Jersey – or Patrick Roy and New York – than to Quebec.

And maybe that’s for the best. The fact that he offered his support to Éric Duhaime would make him the enemy to bring down during the losing streaks in the left-wing media you know so well…

Unless, of course, the team that just (aggressively) entered the fray at the last minute is that of Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes? I don’t believe it… but then, I could be wrong, you know.

Extension

– The Habs would (again) like to bring back Jeff Petry Sean Monahan, who has already given us two first-round picks.

Overtime

– Tyler Toffoli could play on the same line as Macklin Celebrini.

Sounds like stud goal scorer and winger Tyler Toffoli will be joining a young and exciting group in San Jose. The Sharks are getting a good one

– Dan Powers (@Dan_Powers_) July 1, 2024

– Contract extension in Toronto for Joseph Woll. #1erGardien?

3 years x $3.66 million for Woll https://t.co/xDkJJBgHdi

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 1, 2024

– Brett Pesce in New Jersey: it looks like it’s over.

When Brett Pesce’s free-agent deal is finalized with #NJDevils, it’s expected to come in at six years with an AAV in the $5.5M range.

– Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2024

– Small contract for Connor Brown in Edmonton.

– Great signing for the Panthers!

– Matt Duchene would stay in Dallas.