“The Canadiens are among the teams interested in Pavel Mintyukov”

Félix Forget
“The Canadiens are among the teams interested in Pavel Mintyukov”
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

The Anaheim Ducks find themselves in a rather precarious situation today. The team must decide whether or not to match the hostile offer made to Leo Carlsson, which would pay him $18 million a year.

They have the money to match it… but they also need to sign Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov. That's where things could get tricky.

We know that Gauthier isn't eligible to sign a hostile offer, but Mintyukov could be. And that means that right now, it feels like the Ducks are pretty vulnerable to such a scenario.

And it's interesting to note that, according to TheFourthPeriod, there are teams that have shown interest in Mintyukov. Among those teams are the Hurricanes… but also the Canadiens.

And this is despite the fact that he's (yet another) left-handed defenseman.

Mintyukov, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound mobile left-handed defenseman, isn't necessarily the most physically imposing player. That said, he still has some grit to his game… and perhaps that's what interests the Canadiens, despite the fact that he's left-handed.

Keep in mind that the 22-year-old defenseman recorded eight goals and 22 points in 73 games last season.

That said, if the Canadiens want to acquire Mintyukov, a hostile bid seems like a difficult option to consider. The Canadiens are limited in the hostile bids they can submit: it can be less than 4,775,666 M$ per year (which the Ducks would certainly match) or more than 11,939,167 M$ per year (which is very expensive for a player like Mintyukov, especially since it would cost the Canadiens four first-round picks).

However, in reality, nothing is stopping the Canadiens from taking advantage of the Ducks' weak position to acquire the defenseman in a trade. Perhaps Kent Hughes sees this as an opportunity to land a good young defenseman at a low cost, and that's where his interest stems from.

I wouldn't bet everything on him ending up in Montreal… but it's still a story worth keeping an eye on.


Quick Thoughts

– Makes sense.

– That's great!

– Phew.

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