LAS VEGAS | Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes won’t have time to sit around in the coming days. As soon as they return to Montreal, they’ll have to look into the free agent market, which is scheduled to open Monday.
• Read also: The Canadian is very active on the transaction market… but does not believe he will move his fifth choice overall
• Read also: Jesse Ylönen will not return to the Canadiens
Gorton acknowledged that he could be active on that front.
“We’re evaluating several scenarios that have nothing to do with the draft. That’s our job,” he said, speaking at a press conference held at one of Vegas’ many posh hotels. “We always want to have a better team than last season. It would be nice to come back with some added elements to the group.”
Photo credit: Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
But we shouldn’t expect him to make a big splash by going after an impact player.
“I think it’s too early,” he said. “We have a lot of young players who are developing and who have the opportunity to play. We wouldn’t want to prevent one of them from developing because we added an older player on a long-term contract. That would be a step backwards.”
Actually, the executive vice-president of hockey operations does not want to be burdened with a big salary, while several pieces are still missing from his puzzle.
To do otherwise would risk bogging down the Canadiens in upcoming contract negotiations over the next few years with youngsters like Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle and Kirby Dach.
Ylönen libéré
It has already been reported that Tanner Pearson, Colin White and Chris Wideman will not be back next season. To this trio, we must now add the name of Jesse Ylönen. The 24-year-old Finn will not receive a qualifying offer from the Habs, which means he will become an unrestricted free agent on Monday.
Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP
“By mutual agreement, we and his agent agreed that a fresh start could benefit him,” Gorton said.
Conversely, the Montreal team will announce in the next few hours that it has submitted qualifying offers to Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron.
The departures of at least four players will leave some holes in the lineup. That’s where adding reinforcements from elsewhere could prove useful.
“We looked at the different scenarios and the players we could target. We’ll see on Monday. These players must have the same interest as us,” Gorton said.
The next few days are looking to be more than interesting for Canadiens fans.
