Time for the Habs to earmark future cap room to a few upcoming extensions: Gallagher, Petry, Danault, Armia, Tatar. I ordered these in likelihood of happening. This is also contingent on the current economics not throwing everything out of whack.
Gallagher has been one of the most underpaid players in recent years, which always adds a layer of difficulty when negotiating a new deal. He's been making 3.75M the last six seasons. He'll be 29 when his new deal kicks in and has had a billion injuries over the years. Not the kind of player who will age well, but also the kind of heart and soul guy you can't bear to lose. He's also Bergy's priority.
Gallagher: 6 years, 6.5M AAV? The Kreider deal, basically.
No defenceman has been more important to the Habs the last five years than Jeff Petry. Even more than Weber, especially when Weber has been hurt. Also a smidge underpaid at 5.5M the last six seasons, but he also got better as the deal went on, and was seen as a slight overpay when he initially signed. He'll be 33, so less years.
Petry: 4 years, 7M AAV? Edler and Stralman were in the 6M range, and apologies to them but Petry is way better.
Danault, we've talked about him at length here. Hayes got 7.14M AAV over 7 for a clean 50M, and while he provides a bit more offence, I'd say Danault is the better player overall. Only way this gets done, IMO, is if Danault wants to stay and takes length over AAV.
Danault: 8 years, 6.25M AAV. Gets his 50M guarantee. Plays till he's 36, which for a guy who wins with his legs more than his body isn't the end of the world.
Armia brings things to the table the Habs just don't have otherwise: big dude, right-handed RW, great PKer, great forechecker, decent scorer. They'll hate to lose him, but I think he only returns if they can't sign one of the bigger names.
Armia: 3 years, 3.5M AAV. Might come under that, actually. He's not quite in Doonskoi or Connolly's range, but he has size.
Tatar won't be back, unless they dump Drouin/Domi and just don't have anyone else. I like him a lot, he's a feisty player who scores, but he's a bit older than the others and seems the most replaceable.
Tatar: He's better than Zuccarrello, no? Although we can all admit Mats was overpaid. 4-5 years, 6M AAV?
_________________
|