from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gaette,

By now you probably know the details of the offer the Canadiens made to Aho — an offer, as Bergevin repeatedly emphasized, that was accepted by Aho and his advisers. The young man wants to play in Montreal, which isn’t always the case....

The key is the $21 million the Canadiens will shell out the first year if the Hurricanes choose not to match. That is clearly the wager Bergevin and owner Geoff Molson are laying down: they’re gambling that Dundon will choose not to match. Even billionaires don’t have $21 million lying around. It’s conceivable that Molson knows that Dundon is fully extended and would have to do some juggling to match. Most of the talking heads were saying immediately that the Hurricanes would definitely match. Perhaps they will. But it may not be as obvious or as definite as they think.

Whatever the financial background, there’s little doubt that Aho is worth the risk. He would be a wonderful addition to this young Canadiens team. Tricky, fluid, smart, tough enough to excel in the playoffs and (as Bergevin said Monday) “a player who makes the guys around him better.”

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