The Latest On P.K. Subban

The rumor mill has really picked up in recent days surrounding Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban.  The 27 year old has six years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $9MM per season.  Once July 1st hits, a full no-move clause kicks in which has brought this discussion to the forefront.

GM Marc Bergevin met the media late Thursday afternoon.  Here are some of the highlights from his scrum:

Bergevin noted that he has never shopped Subban but he “can’t prevent teams from calling” per TSN’s Frank Seravelli.  Also from Seravelli, Bergevin said that the conversations regarding Subban have been “pretty short”.  He also acknowledged that he is continuing to listen to offers regarding Subban, per Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette.  When asked point blank if it was realistic to think that Subban would be traded, his answer was a succinct “no” according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Here is some more buzz regarding Subban:

• ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun confirms that the Canadiens have held talks with both the Oilers and Canucks but that there is still no indication that Bergevin actually has intentions of trading Subban or is just listening to see what’s out there.
• Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos tweets that the asking price for Subban remains too high. He adds that the Canadiens are interested in moving up in the draft in order to secure Pierre-Luc Dubois.  We profiled Dubois earlier this week as part of our draft preview.
• TSN’s Bob McKenzie believes that “Under the right circumstances, the Montreal Canadiens are prepared to trade P.K. Subban.” (Transcription via Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot.) He adds that the calls Bergevin has received are legitimate and past the tire-kicking stage.
• Former NHL agent and GM Brian Lawton hears that the Oilers are very interested in Subban and are considering “a big ask that includes everyone not named (Connor) McDavid.”

Last season, Subban played in 68 games for Montreal, scoring six goals and 45 assists while averaging a career high 26:21 of ice time per night.  He finished 14th in Norris Trophy balloting for the NHL’s best defenseman.