On the Vancouver Canucks …
Rick Dhaliwal: Elliotte Freidman said on Sportsnet 650 that a comparable for Brock Boeser‘s next contract could be Johnny Gaudreau‘s six-year, $40 million deal.
On the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs …
Dan Robertson: Defenseman Rinat Valiev confirms that requested a trade from the Maple Leafs.
On the Montreal Canadiens …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger was on TSN 690 yesterday morning talking about the Montreal Canadiens and Max Pacioretty.
Dreger would be surprised if Pacioretty is back with the Canadiens next season, that Pacioretty would have welcomed a trade before the deadline. It seems like both Pacioretty and the Canadiens are ready to move on from each other.
“I think there was interest. I think there was enough interest in Max Pacioretty before the deadline, but not at the asking price. I can’t blame Marc Bergevin for trying to facilitate a need to fill a hole by trading an important piece like Pacioretty, but at the end of the day I don’t think we should look at Max Pacioretty and the fact that he’s not going to score 30 again this season and say that the interest wasn’t there. The interest was there. Just part of the package, my understanding is, had to include a good young No. 2 NHL center.
“Well, you’re just not going to get another team to tear apart their roster in-season to that degree. So maybe something pops up in the offseason.”
Dreger says the asking price for Pacioretty at the deadline has unrealistic according to other GMs. It would be a surprise if a team was willing to step up to the high price at the draft. If he was a 30-goal scorer then maybe someone would pay up, but he’s not.
Pacioretty still has value, as a good top-six support player.
Darren Dreger: (clarifying point from the above radio hit) There is trade interest in Pacioretty as he is a proven goal scorer but teams are saying that the asking price is too high.