from Eric Engels of Sportsnet,
Montreal has $65.3 million invested in 19 players for next season and $28.7 million of that is going towards their seven defencemen: P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Tom Gilbert, Alexei Emelin, Greg Pateryn, Petry and Beaulieu. Assuming the salary cap is set at $71 million for 2015-16, the Beaulieu signing leaves Bergevin with just $5.25 million to sign restricted free agents Brian Flynn, Alex Galchenyuk, Jarred Tinordi, Christian Thomas, Michael Bournival, and unrestricted free agent Torrey Mitchell.
That’s not enough money to go around, let alone leave a cushion for maneuverability. And considering the Canadiens have been in the NHL’s bottom third in offence over the past two seasons, it would only make sense for them to deal from their strongest position to address their weakness.
Gilbert, who’s in the final year of a contract that will pay him $2.8 million, and Emelin, who’s signed for another three seasons at $4.1 million annually are the most likely candidates to be shopped by Bergevin.
Of course, given his stated philosophy, Bergevin may prefer to have as much defensive depth as he can get. If he’d rather keep the blueline he has, the Canadiens could instead decide to move a signed forward or two off the roster.
Tomas Plekanec has one more season on his contract, which comes with a $5 million cap hit, and after a 60-point season as Montreal’s most reliable defensive forward, he’s the type of player a competitive team would offer picks and prospects to acquire.
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