from Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette,

The big news was the return of Radulov, who played his junior hockey in Quebec and logged 154 games with Nashville before bolting to the KHL. If there were any doubts about wanting to return to North America, he could have made $1 million more if he remained with CKSA Moscow.

“It’s a gamble and that’s why I was firm on a one-year term,” said Bergevin. “There are a lot of teams that sign players to long-term deals and end up buying them out. I sat down with Alex and I also talked with Sergei Fedorov and Shea Weber and our scouts saw him play a lot. He’s a hard worker and he’s one of the most skilled players available in the draft, certainly the most skilled outside the NHL.”

Bergevin said he was willing to offer longer-term deals to other free agents.

“This was the most aggressive I’ve ever been,” said Bergevin. “There were some players who said they didn’t want to play in Montreal but there are others who want to play here.”...

Weber, who was Radulov’s teammate in Nashville, told Bergevin that Radulov’s problems earlier in his career were the result of immaturity.

“It wasn’t a character issue,” said Bergevin. “He was 21, 22 and now he’s married with a kid and he’s almost 30.”

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