Last night, with the trades of both Andrew Shaw and Nicolas Deslauriers, it looked like the Canadiens were clearing up cap space to make a big splash today and boy did Bergevin try. For the first time since February 2013, an offer sheet has been tendered to a restricted free agent and for the first time ever, the Montreal Canadiens are the team tendering it. They are trying to pry Sebastian Aho (35th pick overall in 2015) away from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bergevin said in his presser that whatever happens, this at least shows the fans that the Canadiens and Geoff Molson do want to have a winning hockey team and it's a gamble that they were willing to take. Furthermore, Bergevin said that he has to answer to Geoff Molson and to the fans but not to the other general managers, this is a competitive business and the goal is always to win.
Unsurprisingly, the offer is for 5 years (the restricted free agents nowadays don't seem to be interested in giving away many unrestricted free agency years, see Matthews and Meir) at a cap hit of 8.454 million per year which means that should the 'Canes fail to match the offer, Montreal would have to give up 3 draft picks to Carolina, a first, a second and a third round pick in the 2020 draft (yes the year the draft will be in Montreal).
Bergevin also mentioned that by making this move, he also sends a clear message to his aging starts Price and Weber that he does want to win now and will act accordingly. While many will say that the offer is not high enough, the structure of the contract may give the Hurricanes a bit of a headache:
Breakdown of Aho offer sheet: $11.3M SB plus 700k salary in Year 1; $9.87M SB plus 700k salary in Year 2; $6.95 SB plus 750k salary in Year 3; $5.25 SB plus $750k in each of Year 4 and Year 5
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2019
The contract is salary bonus heavy and means that the Canes will have to come up with 21 million in the next year which is not necessarily easy for a team that is struggling to bring in the money. That being said, the Hurricanes might not have matched the offer right away but they did troll the Habs somewhat on Twitter with this uber sarcastic poll:
Will we match the offer sheet for Sebastian Aho?
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) July 1, 2019
That seems to indicate for sure that the Canes will be matching the offer sheet but there's also the possibility that the Canadiens and Canes can come to an understanding and agree to a trade before the expiry of the 7 days the Hurricanes have to match the offer. In his press conference, Bergevin said that he spoke with the Carolina GM this morning only so one can think that there hasn't been much negotiation between the two sides for a trade.
As things stand, Montreal currently has one pick in the 1st round in 2020, 2 in the 2nd (one from Chicago), and 1 in the 3rd. Should the offer not be matched, the Canadiens won't be speaking often when they host the draft next summer but it's hard to imagine the fans complaining if this means adding Aho to their young core. Last season, Aho gathered 83 points in 82 games which is 11 points more than Max Domi who was first with the Canadiens. Aho has been in the NHL for 3 years scoring 49, 65 and 83 points. This is a 21 year old guy who keeps on getting better and better. Better yet, this is a 21 year old proven center (who has played all year at centre as Bergevin felt the need to say).
In his press conference, Bergevin remained careful and eluded answering certain questions such as: do you have a plan B should this one fall through? and was this your back-up plan if Duchene opted for another team? However, he did say that he didn't mind going over the cap if there was a need for it but all the while being aware that you do have to become cap compliant before the start of the season. He added that even if Aho didn't come, he would still have a very good team.
There's no doubt that this announcement made this free agency day much more interesting but should the Hurricanes match the offer, Montreal will be in trouble with a lot of unspent money and no new roster players (aside from Keith Kinkaid who was signed as Price's back-up for $1.75 M for a year). Fear not, Bergevin is well aware of this and made it clear that the unused cap space from the last couple of year was not because Geoff Molson was stingy and asked his GM to save every possible penny but rather because he couldn't get players to come to Montreal.
The ball is now definitely in Don Waddell's camp and the next move is up to him. He's already said that he may take the full 7 days before matching the offer just to make life harder for the Canadiens. Will he definitely match it though? This really is a team that is strapped for cash and 3 extra picks in the next draft is not a bad thing to have, furthermore, according to Bergevin, Sebastian Aho really wants to come to Montreal and be part of what's going there....Does Waddell really want to sign and keep a player who does not want to be there? Time will tell...for now, all that the Habs and their fans can do is cross their fingers and hope for the best.