Subban and Habs Have Work to do July 21, 2014, 8:35 AM ET [2029 Comments] Habs Talk

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1) The Montreal Canadiens and P.K. Subban have 10 days until their arbitration date, and word is that they aren't so close on the money just yet. Rumors have Subban's camp asking for as much as $10M per season, while very little has come out of the Canadiens in terms of what they're offering.



I can appreciate the impatience all around on this one, but when you see numbers this high, and you know there's a massive payout coming--whether it's over two or eight years--you have to expect that it's a complicated deal to work.



I think it's widely perceived that Marc Bergevin's playing hardball when this contract extension should be a slamdunk. People are bringing up recent extensions for Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as examples of how easy it is to commit to elite talent, but those deals weren't easy to work out for Stan Bowman. There was a lot of negotiating that went down to bring both players away from $12M+/season asks, while sensitively maintaining that they were the two most important players to Chicago's success.



Bergevin's sole mandate is to get this deal done for a number that's less than what it would be if Subban were up for a contract two years from now as an unrestricted free agent. That's what's complex about this negotiation. Naturally, Subban's camp is asking to be compensated for six years of being an unrestricted free agent, factoring in salary cap inflation, and the fact that he's still improving.



2) I don't know for certain that Subban's camp is asking for $10M per season, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. You have to think that's a number he could get if he continues on the current career path he's on, skating his way to unrestricted free agency in two seasons.



The other side of the coin is that anything can happen to him over the next two years. He needn't look further than what just happened to Thomas Vanek ahead of unrestricted free agency to realize that things change quicker than quick.



Subban holds the cards, how he plays them over the next 10 days or less have an enormous impact--not only on his future, but on the team's too. A compromise should be found, especially since an eight-year deal is in both parties' best interest.



3) So, the Kris Letang rumors are persisting, from what I gather. I won't comment on the possibility of Pittsburgh trading him to one of the 15 teams he'd supposedly accept a trade to (the Canadiens among them), but I will say this:



It's been ugly watching fans kick dirt at Letang--suggesting he's not a worthwhile pickup in a trade; that his contract is bloated for what he offers; that his recent medical history is too big a burden to undertake.



Letang is absolutely elite, and at $7.25M per season, is on a deal he fully earned. Some believe he's just a product of a Pittsburgh powerplay that includes Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They use Matt Niskanen's meteoric rise this past season to justify the claim.



Letang didn't come out of nowhere. He's been great at virtually every level, and his ability to move the puck and skate it out of the zone is up there with some of the best rushing defensemen in the league.



All these arguments about these types of defensemen always come back to someone comparing them to Drew Doughty. There's only one Drew Doughty. Letang doesn't have his physicality. Neither does Erik Karlsson. Both players, along with Subban, Duncan Keith and Shea Weber do the one thing that's so critical to team success: They get the puck out of the zone, typically with ease. They do that, and so much more.



4) Looking ahead to next season, you have to like what the Canadiens have going at the bottom end of their roster. The extremely inexpensive signing of Manny Malholtra alleviates defensive zone pressure on Tomas Plekanec. He doesn't have to take every d-zone draw now, and that's not to say that Plekanec won't have to do heavy lifting on the defensive side of the puck, but this move will afford him the opportunity to concentrate a little more on creating offense.



Fans are reasonably excited about young Jiri Sekac joining Plekanec's line. There's no way to project what Sekac can muster in the NHL, but he certainly looked dominant against the kids at development camp. The thought of him completing a line with Galchenyuk and Plekanec is giving the Canadiens an unheralded offensive look.







5) If the Canadiens enter this season as they're currently constructed, here's a look at how they might line up:



Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher

Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Sekac

Bourque-Eller-Parenteau

Bournival/Prust-Malholtra-Weise



Markov-Subban

Emelin-Gilbert

Beaulieu-Weaver

Tinordi



Price

Tokarski

Budaj



Marc Bergevin hasn't closed the door on trying to pick up another forward, though you'd have to imagine that will only happen through trade at this point.