Molson beer is meh
Joined: Jan. 2017
Posts: 3,736
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Zero % chance Habs pay this much for Dubois.
I think everyone needs to fully understand that neither Hughes nor Cheveldayoff are in any hurry to get this deal done. The only people who are being impatient are Brisson (PLD's agent) and Dubois himself. I keep seeing both fan bases arguing that their respective teams have all the leverage..... when, at the moment, everyone is right!
The Jets have leverage, because well, they have the player under their control for the next 2 years. End of story. They can just sit and do nothing for 2 years, and during all that time, Dubois will still be a Jet.
The Habs have leverage, because well, they don't need PLD. He isn't a priority. End of story. Would they like to have him? Sure! But why pay for something expensive when you can get him essentially for free in 2 years. MTL isn't trying to be competitive during the next 2 year, so spending "premium" assets, that are better served for your rebuild, makes no sense to the organization.
HOWEVER. I believe Cheveldayoff made a huge mistake not electing for team arbitration with Dubois...as this would of eliminated another parties leverage....PLD's....
Not electing for team arbitration opened the door to PLD having the power to remain without a contract to force a trade. I've seen articles written that it sill leaves PLD open to signing an Offer Sheet (OS), which is true... but no one, especially MTL, will sign Dubois to an OS and potentially losing an unprotected 1st rd pick... and besides, WIN have the cap space to match basically anything. The main problem now is if Dubois decides to sit and refuse to sign a contract until he's traded...and with Chevy looking like he still wants to be competitive...this could be a huge chocking point. The biggest question with PLD now, is how badly does he want to be a Montreal Canadiens? Enough to want to sacrifice $$$ until he gets what he wants? Then again, Brisson's comments never specified he doesn't want to play for the Jets, nor that he wouldn't want to be traded to other NHL teams.