The Canadiens' next 2nd center could possibly be in the West
Will Canadiens' general manager Marc Bergevin match the Carolina Hurricanes' offer sheet for young center Jesperi Kotkaniemi? That's the question on everyone's lips right now. Bergevin has until next Saturday to give the answer to this question. But in case that the answer is no, what will be the options for the Habs big man to replace KK?
The San Jose Sharks forward is currently running out the last year of his $5.625 million contract and he didn't like the treatment behind the situation with Evander Kane by the Sharks staff at all. According to The Athletic, he would likely leave California if he is not traded by the end of next season. With 43 points in 50 games last year, he could fit in well at the second center position with Dominique Ducharme's squad.
Rumors linking Dvorak to the Habs grew over the summer. However, it never ended up being a thing. KK's departure to Carolina could force Marc Bergevin to get his hands on the 25-year-old American center. In Arizona, he had 146 points in 302 games. Last season, he scored 17 goals and had 14 assists. His contract pays him $4.45 million for four more years and a no-trade clause comes into effect in 2023-2024. That clause states that Dvorak can submit a list of eight teams where he doesn't want to be traded.
A change of scenery would be most beneficial for Monahan. The last two years have been very tough on the Calgary side. After an 82-point season in 2018-2019, the 26-year-old center settled for 48 points in 2019-2020 and 28 points in 2020-2021. Recall that last season was only 56 games, but that's still a far cry from the 2018-2019 season when he put up just over a point per game. Monahan has two years left on his contract and his salary is $6.375 million. If Bergevin chooses this option, he will have to free up some space under the salary cap obviously.
Other names such as Jack Eichel and Elias Pettersson have also come up in the media, but it is much less likely that they will land in Montreal. It's not impossible, but it would require a lot more gymnastics with the salary cap on the part of Bergevin.
If not, will Bergevin advocate an in-house solution? And you, what would be your option to replace Kotkaniemi?
Credit: TVA Sports - Tomas Hertl
TVA Sports - Christian Dvorak and Sean Monahan
