Besides playoff talk for the Montreal Canadiens, what many people are focusing on is who they will be re-signing this off-season, with an astonishing 13 free agents for this summer. Some people believe that this is one of the main reasons why the Habs are struggling this season and it makes perfect sense. How could players focus on team chemistry when nobody knows who will be on the team next season? There is a possibility that only a few of these free agents could return to the line-up next year. Well anyways what I will be doing is listing the free agents and whether I think that they will resign with the Habs and if so for how much. I believe that Komisarek is Montreal’s biggest priority.

By the way this chart is done is no specific order whatsoever.

**=indicates that this player is a restricted free agent

1.    Mike Komisarek – After what many people believe to be an extremely disappointing season for Mike Komisarek, people are saying that it is possible that Komisarek will take a little less money than what was originally thought of. I believe that Komisarek will get a contract that will last for 3-5 years for about 5 to 5.5 million dollars, but not for a penny more than that.

2.    Mathieu Schneider – Many people have been extremely satisfied with the play of Mathieu Schneider so far, and believe that we should reward his play with a new contract. I think that the Habs will resign Schneider for 1 or 2 years but he will be taking a significant pay cut he will probably get something from 2.5-3.5 million per season.

3.    Alex Kovalev – Not only do I hope that the Habs will not resign Kovalev but I do not think that they will. Kovalev’s play has been extremely inconsistent and he will want too much money for his level play. Kovalev will probably hit the open market and will get around 4 million per season.

4.    Saku Koivu – Seriously, where do I start? I personally still and will always have a great deal of respect for Saku Koivu and I hope he will retire as a Hab. That’s why I think we should offer Koivu a 3 year 10-12 million dollar contract and hopefully he will accept and will not be ridiculed by the French media.

5.    Tom Kostopoulos – I’ll say this in a few words. The Habs need to resign Tom Kostopoulos! He is one of the few players that give 100% on every single shift and that’s what makes him such a special player. So I don’t care how much money or how many years we give him as long as we resign him, it’s all good.

6.    **Chris Higgins – I believe that Chris Higgins will be put in a type of Dustin Penner situation, the Habs will give him a contract offer that Higgins will like, but some team will offer him more money and he will accept, but it will not be all bad because the Habs will be getting a pick or two in return because Higgins is a restricted free agent.

7.    **Tomas Plekanec – I think that the Habs will resign Tomas Plekanec to a contract that will make him our 2nd line center for years to come. A contract similar to Andrei Kostitsyn’s which is 3 years, 3.5 million per makes sense.

8.    Robert Lang – If Lang is able to return from his injury, I would love for the Habs to resign him for 1 or 2 years at 2.5-3.5 million per season.

9.    Alex Tanguay – I would love for the Habs to resign Alex Tanguay however I’m unsure if we are willing to give Alex the amount of dollars he wants. If we could sign Alex for anything fewer than 5 million then I would 100% resign him however, if he wants over 5 then I would prefer to keep that money and go after someone like Jay Bouwmeester.

10.    Francis Bouillon – I personally believe with all the depth we have at defense and the possibility of either Yannick Weber or Ryan O’Byrne playing for us next, year there is not really a big need to resign Bouillon

11.    Patrice Brisebois – 1 word. NO! Please Bob do not resign Brisebois, however, I wouldn’t minding seeing him as a part of our coaching staff next year.

12.    Mathieu Dandenault – Same thing as Brisebois. I truly hope he will not be back with us next year.

13.    **Guillaume Latendresse – I believe that we will see Guillaume back with the Habs next year. He will probably get a 2 year 4 million dollar contract and depending on his play during those 2 years.  The Habs will see what Guillaume is really made of.

So there you have it a list of 13 free agents that the Habs have and I really done see more than 7 of those players resigning thus giving the Habs a lot of money to pursue player like Jay Bouwmeester, Marian Gaborik and Martin Havlat.

I’m also hoping that players from Russia will come to play in the N.H.L with the Habs, players such as: Alex Perezhogin. Alexei Emelin (Pierre McGuire’s favorite player) and Konstantin Korneev (who is listed as the number Russian prospect)

I believe that next year’s line will look something like this

Tanguay                  Koivu / FA              D’agostini / FA

S. Kostistsyn          Plekanec                  A. Kostistsyn

Latendresse           Lapierre                    Higgins/Pacioretti

Kostopoulos          Chipchura                 Stewart

Markov                                           Komisarek/Jay Bo (a man can dream)
Korneev/Emelin/Gorges                Hamrlik
O’byrne/Weber                              Schneider

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