Quoting: Campabee
I hope the Habs match but knowing how fragile MB's ego is he likely doesn't match just out of spite for KK. Logic says to match though and either KK accepts a new deal before next offseason or he raises his value enough to get traded out of Montreal. The Habs have spent too much time, money and resources on KK to let him walk for next to nothing IMO. They always knew KK was going to be a 3-5 year project now that we are about to see what we have we can not just abandon the plan especially after letting Danault walk.
Yeah that last part that you mentioned is the hardest for me to figure out from the outside looking in. If you look at the sequence of events it’s as if GMMB had no forward looking plan.
He OS Aho while insulting / pissing off a billionaire owner who is new to the league and very openly talks about how the the old school culture in hockey and front offices is archaic and needs shaking up and he wants to be disruptive. He should’ve known a very reasonable contract offer loaded with signing bonuses wouldn’t do anything but irritate him.
Then he lets Danault walk for what I think seemed like a reasonable amount of money and term. Maybe a tad high but if you don’t trust KK or anybody else for at least the next few seasons potentially seems like a good guy to sign.
And then after letting Danault walk he calls KK out publicly during negotiations and lollygags on getting a deal done with him.
All the while, Dundon has him circled for what he sees as a grievance with the Aho OS and knows that the canes org is very interested in the player given they sent a request. maybe offer wasn’t great but this should’ve triggered a warning with how everything went down in the past - you have a pissed off front office, a clear weakness at center, a player that’s a prime target for an OS (not a star but an underperforming young player with massive potential), and the canes are sniffing around him already.
Maybe I’m misreading how it all played out but from where I stand it shouldn’t take a genius to see how this scenario would unfold. And if you’re the GM of the Habs that’s literally your job haha