The Canadiens and the risks of an offer sheet for Dawson Mercer

This morning on BPM Sports, Martin Leclerc talked about the Dawson Mercer situation.

Basically, the young man is in a contractual impasse with the Devils. He’s a restricted free agent and doesn’t seem to be close to a deal with his team.

At the moment, he’s training with the Voltigeurs, his former junior club. My colleague Maxime Truman was right to say that he’s a candidate to go on strike in the next few days…

Should Dawson Mercer ever sign a bridge contract, a Shane Pinto-style deal (currently earning $3.75 million a year) might be a good match.

After all, the Devils’ player’s slump this year casts some doubt on the need to sign him long-term right now.

But if the Devils and the player still want a long-term deal, it’s clear that the amount will have to be higher. And since the New Jersey club has $5.75 million to spare, that could be the problem.

There are undoubtedly several factors that explain why he’s still RFA, then.

All this to say that right now, in the NHL, there are certainly teams looking at this and thinking that a player with such potential could be interesting. Martin Leclerc said so on the radio.

And one way to get him out is via a hostile offer sheet.

It’s not clear that Mercer wants to leave Newark, but if a good offer is put on the table, he might consider changing organizations.

And on that subject, here’s the table to see what a hostile offer sheet would cost.

If the Habs, a club that can create salary surplus and needs young forwards with upside, wanted to go after Mercer via a hostile offer sheet, they’d probably have to shell out at least $6 million, just to put the Devils in trouble.

Please note: we don’t know if Kent Hughes is interested in this project. We’re just analyzing.

And for that, the Habs would have to shell out a first-round pick and a third-round pick. And when I say a first-round pick, I mean his first-round pick.

During Martin Leclerc’s column, Gilbert Delorme said he was in favor. But Anthony Desaulniers qualified his remarks by saying:

If we’d done it last year, it would only have cost Ivan Demidov.

Because at the end of the day, there’s no way to “protect” a top-10 pick like in a trade. That’s the price you have to pay, and that’s just the way it works.

And with the Montreal Canadiens expected to draft in the top-10 – or close to it, at least – this year, that’s a… hefty price to pay for a Mercer, however good and ready to help right now he may be.

That’s probably why naughty clubs like the Habs or the Blue Jackets, who have to find a way to reach the salary floor in the wake of Johnny Gaudreau’s death, won’t necessarily go that route, in my opinion . But Mercer’s talent does make you think, though.

Meanwhile, Mercer continues to skate in Drummondville.

Overtime

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