On Hockey Night In Canada between the second and third periods in the Ottawa-Toronto game, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet reported that Montreal Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov is seeking a long-term deal that could be up to as many as six years. The Canadiens don’t necessarily want to go that long, but may do it if the AAV drops a bit. 
Kypreos mentioned the possibility of a short-term deal with a much higher salary, even as much as $7MM on a three-year deal. We listed Radulov at #2 on our ranking of the Top Midseason Free Agents, and it’s clear that he would have multiple suitors should he hit the open market again this summer.
For what it’s worth Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz, who maintains a friendship with Radulov from his days in Nashville, recently said that he would be “shocked” if Montreal and the Russian forward didn’t come to some sort of an agreement. Trotz said that Radulov loves it in Montreal, and if he is looking for a long-term deal he may be there for a while yet.
Montreal has a few contracts coming off the books next year, including David Desharnais and Andrei Markov but also will need to re-sign Alex Galchenyuk this summer. While he’s had a very up and down season, hit by injuries and inconsistency, Galchenyuk should get a very substantial upgrade to his current $2.8MM hit, especially if he gives up several free agent years.
Assigning upwards of $6MM per season to a soon-to-be 31-year old for more than five years would be a risky proposition regardless of his excellent production this year. The Canadiens already have Shea Weber on the wrong side of 30 earning a ton of money for a long time (nine more years in fact) and Jeff Petry signed until he’s 34.
It does seem like there is a deal to be worked out between the two sides, after Montreal convinced Radulov to come back from the KHL, but how long and for how many millions is still very much up in the air.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yeah Subban for Weber is still a real head scratcher for me. I get that they wanted to get rid of Subban because of the bad blood, but they could’ve gotten a haul that made the Shelby Miller to the DBacks trade look weak.
Radulov has one year where he isn’t an issue in the locker room & he wants a 6-year deal. I just can’t see giving him 6 years. That kind of contract would become an issue.
Who was going to give Montreal a haul for Subban? They shopped him around the league & not one team offered them a haul for Subban. Why? Well, 2 reasons. One is Subban makes $9 million a year. That’s a huge contract to be taking on. The second reason is Subban’s locker room issues. It was well known that Subban did not get along with his teammates. That’s why Montreal traded him. His on-ice antics rubbed his teammates the wrong way. He’s a great talent. There is no doubt about that. However, he likes to be seen & sometimes his antics on ice caused issues with his teammates. There are reports that the same thing is happening in Nashville right now. If there are locker room issues with a particular player, teams are less likely to give up a haul