NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show on the Montreal Canadiens GM search: “The other name I mentioned on the podcast today was Daniel Doré, former 1st RD draft pick of the Nordiques who worked with Gorton with the Rangers, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on their radar.”
TSN: Pierre LeBrun sources are saying that the Montreal Canadiens will start the interview process for their GM position.
“Now as I reported earlier, Roberto Luongo, Daniel Briere, and Mathieu Darche are among the candidates that are scheduled to get interviews after the Habs got the green light to speak to them. But the Habs are expected to talk to as many as 10 candidates during this first phase of interviews. So, there’s many more names in there, not just those first three that I’ve confirmed.”
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: There is no rush for Carey Price to get back into the Montreal Canadiens lineup. Will he want to test his physical health this year to show what he could offer for next season?
Eric Macramalla: “Carey Price remains the highest paid goalie despite a deal signed 4 years ago. Really unfortunate that Bergevin awarding Price an AAV of $10.5M has made it inevitable the Canadiens (i) will trade him and (ii) get little in return.”
Eric Engels of Sportsnet: (mailbag) Can’t see the Montreal Canadiens trading Carey Price before the trade deadline.
Now, if he comes back before the trade deadline and looks like he did before, teams will be calling.
Price does hold the hammer with a no-movement clause. If they haven’t had one already, Price and GM Jeff Gorton will have a conversation about his future. Can’t see Price wanting to be part of a potential five-year rebuild.
Could see the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers have some level of interest. Price has four years left at $10.5 million and those teams would need the Canadiens to retain 50 percent of his salary.
Four untouchables on the Canadiens should be Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Alexander Romanov and Kaiden Guhle.
If the Canadiens don’t get a decent value for Artturi Lehkonen there is no point of trading him. He makes $2.3 million and should get some interest.