The Montreal Canadiens, their need for a second-line center, and what would the cost be for Sidney Crosby?
Sportsnet: Renaud Lavoie on the Montreal Canadiens and their need for a second-line center.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Lavoie: “What the team is looking at now is to find that second-line center that they hope to get at some point. But they’re clearly not the only ones.”
What’s out there? And it’s already been mentioned by a few people: I think Montreal and probably a few other teams are waiting to see what happens with Sidney Crosby. If at some point Sydney wants to leave the Pittsburgh Penguins and just say, ‘I, you know what, I want to win another Stanley Cup.’ I think Montreal Canadians should be ready. So they need some cap space. They must ensure that they are not handcuffed. So we’ll see.
NHL Rumors: There will be players who want to wait until July 1st
I call Sidney Crosby. Can it be, can it be a really good centerman again? So they’re going to have to be patient because right now they’re in no rush to take that step, you know. But at the same time, there’s a reason why they traded a Carey award contract before the start of training camp. It was important for them to create some cap space. And you know, if there’s a team that’s ready to do real business, I think the Canadians will have a very open mind.
And that’s, that’s, that’s about it. They are now looking for that second-line sentiment. And if it’s Sydney, Crosby, I’m pretty sure my friend Nick Suzuki will be ready to be that second-line forward, and centerman, I should say, and Sydney the first-line centerman of that. But we’ll cross, you know that bridge, when we get close to the river.
Nick Kypreos: “Rene, you don’t know our show. We’ve crossed that bridge now, my friend. We’re crossing it now.”
So, okay, you, hey, you brought it up. We did. So let’s, I want to take one more, I want to take it a step further and get your brain thinking about it.
Lavoie: “Do you want to work on it again?
Kypreos: “Yes, from a different angle. Okay, so hypothetically let’s say Sid is ready for this, and he picked the Canadians from Montreal.”
Lavoie: “Yes.
Kypreos: “What do you expect to complete the deal?
NHL Rumors: The Vancouver Canucks and the Washington Capitals
Lavoie: “You know, that’s probably the million dollar question because I’m pretty sure Sidney, and it’s a big if, right: What are the odds of it happening? Is it 30%? Is it lower than that? Is it, I don’t know.”
Okay, but if it happens and he chooses the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have much leverage. When he says it’s Montreal, or I’m not going anywhere, or, you know.
But if you know the Canadiens’ management, you can obviously talk about the first round here. But after that, they’ll likely look to the Montreal Canadiens D core. Can it, can it be a David David Reinbacher, he’s a right shot defenseman. Could it be someone, someone else on the roster, an Oliver Kapanen and who is right at the moment, trying to understand the league. But he’s playing much better now than he was a year ago when he arrived in the NHL. So I believe you should throw pickaxes. You probably need to use some really good young players.
But I will say that’s about it, because you’re not going to jeopardize the future of your franchise by giving five pieces to a player who’s going to finish out his contract, probably in Montreal or wherever he wants to play. If he still wants to play with Pittsburgh, obviously there won’t be a trade. But could it be Colorado? Could it be LA? We don’t know.
But right now I believe the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for youth and picks. They are in a rebuilding mode, so we will see how things will evolve. But don’t expect Juraj Slafkovsky to be traded, or Cole Caufield to be traded, or Kaiden Guhle to be traded. I don’t believe that, it will be, I don’t believe it will happen.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumors overviews and hot topics from around the league. We also post some stuff Instagram.
#NHL #Rumors #Montreal #Canadiens #Sidney #Crosby #Cost