'I have it on good authority that Marchessault is open to the idea of playing in MTL'.

I’m all for Kent Hughes spending money this summer to improve the club.

However, it has to make sense too.

Jonathan Marchessault is 33 and is having the best season of his career in terms of goals scored. You know as well as I do that he’s going to be asking for a lot of money this summer… And at his age, he’s also going to want a contract spread over several seasons.

He’s in a position to ask for the moon after all, because his numbers are there. And if not in Montreal, he’ll get paid elsewhere because he’s proven himself.

Can the Habs really afford to offer a long-term contract to a player his age, even if we know how good a hockey player Marchessault is?

The question arises, because we’ve seen such bad signings on the free agent market in the past. The situations don’t necessarily compare, but it makes me think of the Karl Alzner signing in Montreal…

If not, would Marchessault agree to “play at a discount” in Montreal, to allow Kent Hughes to add other talented players to his roster?

Let’s not forget that Juraj Slafkovsky is likely to ask for a lot of money, too, while Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are already earning very good salaries…

In brief

– Noah Hanifin breaks the bank in Vegas. This could be a sign of Marchessault’s departure, by the way.

– Wow!

– Who can stop them?

– And yet, if there’s one agent who’s capable of going after the big contracts, it’s Boras…