Only a little more than 12 hours until Free Agency is upon us and two of the most sought after free agents are current Montreal Canadiens. While I’ve already written a blog about the Radulov situation, it feels like much more is at stake for GM Marc Bergevin when it comes to the contract demands of Andrei Markov. At 38 years of age, Markov continues to be one of the most underrated defenders in the league while only commanding 5.75M on his last deal. Reports are that Markov has asked for a 2-year deal from the Canadiens at 6M per year. As of now, Bergevin is playing hardball here and it is reported that the sides have stopped talking. Radulov is replaceable on the open market, though doing nothing and allowing the sacrifice of Sergachev to become about Drouin replacing Radulov remains an error in my eyes, but that’s another debate for another day. Unlike Radulov, Markov is not replaceable on the open market. Bergevin failing to sign Andrei Markov should cost him his job and here’s why:

1) The contract demand isn’t crazy. There is little doubt that Bergevin would appreciate the hometown discount at 5M per on the two-year deal. Or even go the way of Doan and Lidstrom before him and go with yearly contacts. But it’s not like Markov is asking for 4 years or 7M either. Markov continues to produce and there is literally no way the Habs regret this contract next year. Should they end up regretting the last year of the contract, at least it’s for a player that has spent his entire career in the uniform; this is something that should be palatable here.

2) Reputation. Montreal already is not seen as a very sexy destination for free agents because of the taxes, the media pressure, and the weather conditions of winter. The organization already has some black eyes to its name regarding player treatment in recent memory too. Think about Patrick Roy, Saku Koivu, or who can forget the mid-game trade of Mike Cammalleri. Bergevin has done a good job of shoring some of these perceptions recently, but brutally casting away a lifetime veteran who is still producing at a near-elite level over ONE year of dispute on a new contract… I can’t imagine this would be a good omen for other players to want to sign here.

3) Lack of replaceability. Only one available defender can even come close to the production of Markov and that’s Kevin Shattenkirk. Anybody think Montreal could get him to sign on a 2-year, 12M deal? Me neither. Unless Jerabek is far superior to Lehkonen (and that’s saying something considering he could very well be the next Jiri Sekac), losing Markov means losing productivity from the blue line. This team is in no position to lose productivity at any position on the ice, it’s already starving for offense!

Keeping these points in mind, following the negotiations will be very interesting because three possible outcomes will come true in the very near future. 1. Bergevin will get Markov to lower his demands and further cement his reputation as an excellent negotiator when it comes to this type of situation. This would be further proven if the same were to happen to Radulov, but winning both cases sounds like wishful thinking to me. 2. Markov will get his 12M over two years. Here, the Bergevin fans will say that at least he tried to lower the contract, while the critics will say that he lost his time and perhaps allowed other targets to get away. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. 3. If the third outcome happens, and Markov actually walks away from being a Montreal Canadien, then fans of this team should turn up the volume yet another notch on the fire Bergevin bandwagon that is sure to come circling at the first sign of trouble when the next season gets underway. Bergevin will have allowed a franchise player to get away over very little, and Weber will be without a suitable partner on the top pairing which will further alienate fans that have otherwise defended the Subban trade of last summer. And truthfully, losing Markov kind of makes Weber+Drouin over Subban+Sergachev seem like Bergevin is simply threading water instead of really looking to improve the team.

Kevin Leveille

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