Do you dream of seeing Sidney Crosby in the center of Ivan Demidov next year? It makes you want, but the market for autonomous players is a more realistic avenue.
And even if the 2025 cuvée may not be breathtaking, there are certainly centers that would be able to contribute to the development of the Canadian’s nugget.
The surprise presence in the series This spring will certainly help Kent Hughes, especially that with all young talented players who are in alignment, Montreal becomes an interesting destination for an experienced player who wants to integrate into a promising project.
Another factor that will allow the managing director to be active, he will have money to spend. The salary ceiling will drop from $ 88 million to $ 95.5 million next season and for the moment, the team is hired for just over $ 75.5 million with three autonomous players with restriction to sign: Kaida Guhle, Emil Heineman and Jakub Dobes.
Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Michael Pezzetta will be independent players without restriction and they will not all be back.
Here are six interesting candidates for the Canadian if they are still available on 1is Next July.
Sam Bennett
28 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 4,425,000
76 PJ 25 B 26 P 51 PTS
He has a good size, he is gifted offensively, but he is also a hard in the way he plays. If Demidov needs a player to put the washer on the palette, coupled with a teammate who can watch over him if necessary, Bennett is the kind of player that the Canadian will have to court. In addition, he has just participated in two finals of the Stanley Cup and won it last summer and he represented Canada to the confrontation of the 4 nations.
Matt Duchene
Matt Duchene Getty Images via AFP
34 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 3,000,000
82 PJ 30 B 52 P
He is no longer very young, but he still works at the rate of one point per game and he has just experienced his second best career season. It is an intelligent center that has a sense of play above the average which would be able to highlight the qualities of Demidov. In 16 seasons, he finished only once under the 50% in the circle of the appearance, it was in his recruit season.
Brock Nelson
Brock Nelson Getty Images via AFP
33 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 6,000,000
80 PJ 26 B 30 P 56 PTS
His production has fallen a little this season, but he posted a lot of plumb after having passed in Colorado on the deadline for transactions. He is an estimated veteran with a certain talent, but we must ask ourselves if he is starting to slow down or if he will be able to supervise a young player for the next two or three years.
Ryan Donato
Ryan Donato Getty Images via AFP
29 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 2,000,000
80 PJ 31 B 31 P 62 PTS
He has just known his best career season by doubling his statistics compared to his best campaign so far. The catch is that he has gone a lot by playing on the left of Connor Bedard in the Blackhawks rather than in the center. So he is able to follow a young great talent player, but is he able to do it by playing in the center?
John Tavares
John Tavares Getty Images via AFP
34 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 11,000,000
75 PJ 38 B 36 P 74 PTS
With the salary he will order, it would be surprising that Kent Hughes calls him, it does not fit in the team’s development philosophy and it would attach his hands financially because he will have some contracts to negotiate in the coming years to maintain his entire whole group. But it is difficult not to include him in the list because of his great talent and because it would be delightfully ironic that he ends up coming to win in Montreal.
Mikael Granlund
Mikael Granlund Photo Martin Chevalier
33 ans
Salary in 2025: $ 5,000,000
83 PJ 22 B 44 P 66 PTS
He still collects his large part of points, he is always a second trio player, but it may also be a plan B when we look at the first names on this list. That said, this is the kind of player with whom we know exactly what we get. It is a disciplined center, but it has its limits. That said, it is a better short -term option than those found within the team at the moment.
