Jonathan Marchessauly in Montreal? Analysts make big statement

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Elias Edmonson
April 8, 2024 (5:38 PM)

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A few days ago, Jonathan Marchessault reached a remarkable milestone by scoring his 40th goal of the season into an empty net.

He also became the fourth undrafted player to achieve this feat after Artemi Panarin, Jason Blake, and none other than Martin St-Louis. Following that game, he took the opportunity to pay tribute to the current head coach of the CH.

I keep proving everyone wrong: the analysts, the scouts, and the teams that never drafted me. People said I was lucky last year, in the playoffs. I'm a guy with character. I will never stop, much like Martin St-Louis. He has always been an example for me. If I can have half of his career, I'll be really happy. He's someone who inspires me. I never want to think too far ahead, I just want to help my team win." - Jonathan Marchessault

Marchessault, who will also be an unrestricted free agent this summer, could very well test his freedom. The Quebec native has recently mentioned wanting to stay in Vegas, but is realistic and very aware of the situation in Sin city as GM Kelly McCrimmon could very well sacrifice Marchessault to save money.

Indeed, according to the site Capfriendly, Vegas already has under contract five forwards with salaries of over five million with Jack Eichel ($10 million), Mark Stone ($9.5 million), Tomas Hertl ($6.75 million), William Karlsson ($5.9 million), and Ivan Barbashev ($5 million). This is not to mention the defensemen Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8 million) and Shea Theodore ($5.2 million).

It's also important to remember that they will surely want to keep the services of their most recent acquisition, Noah Hanifin, and that they have many other free agents coming up, including Anthony Mantha, Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier, and Alec Martinez, to name a few. Sooner or later, money is going to start running out in Vegas.

Jonathan Marchessault with the CH?

On the airwaves of 98.5FM, Mario Langlois asked Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse if the CH was ready to move to another stage of its rebuild, that of signing a veteran forward. The pair of former players were clear in their remarks, the CH is ready, and Marchessault is the right player for it:

The Marchessault scenario becomes more and more interesting. If you say: 'Maybe we're there.' What I don't want is to make the mistake of Marc Bergevin and end up going for players like Mike Hoffman and others, saying that they are established guys (...) We need to add guys who we are 100% sure will fit into what we want to build, where we want to go, and who will get behind a guy like Suzuki and the young ones. That's what I need. If I find a player who is that type and can bring that, then let's go, we're on it..." - Guillaume Latendresse

For his part, Maxim Lapierre went a bit further in his thinking, linking him to a current CH player.

I really like Marchessault, for sure and certain. The playoffs he's had, the season he's having. I think it's more the prototype of player, the goal is to surround Kirby Dach. You know, right now it's going well on the first line. Who are Kirby Dach's wingers? Is he going to play with Newhook? Is he going to play with a veteran we go get like a Marchessault?" - Maxim Lapierre

The question, however, is not whether we want to see Marchessault with the CH, but rather if the Hughes/Gorton duo thinks they are there yet. Their fear of the word starting with "P" might slow them down in adding a high-caliber player. We might still be a year too early for this kind of personnel move.

Still, adding a 40-goal scorer, even if he is 33 years old, is most interesting. The Quebecer currently has 66 points, including 41 goals, in 75 games this season. He will conclude a 6-year deal this summer, valued at $30M ($5M/year) signed in January 2018.

Via : DLC Jonathan Marchessault : un joueur idéal pour le trio de Kirby Dach