At the age of 38, defenceman Andrei
Markov’s pro hockey career is winding down and he’s decided to finish it in the
KHL. Markov was a free agent this summer, but the team he’s played for the last
15 seasons, the Montreal Canadiens, didn’t offer him a new contract. It was
reported that the Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers were in interested
in the services of the Russian veteran, but he decided against staying in the
NHL.
Markov told the media that if Montreal
didn’t re-sign him then he didn’t really want to play with another NHL team and
would play elsewhere. This resulted in the blueliner signing with Ak Bars Kazan
of the KHL for the next two seasons. After being one of the club’s steadiest defenders
over the past decade and a half, many fans are scratching their heads as to why
Montreal didn’t offer him at least one more year. Markov had also been a
pleasant surprise offensively with the Habs by contributing 572 points for the
squad in his 990 games.
In fact, he’s tied for second overall with
Guy Lapointe on the club’s all-time scoring list for points by a defenceman. He
had a good season in 2016/17 with six goals and 30 assists in 62 contests so
was still productive. Markov ranked 38th in the NHL for scoring by a
defenceman last year and Shea Weber was the only Montreal blueliner to outscore
him. When it came to points-per-game, Markov was actually ranked 16th-best
in the league.
Since letting Markov walk, Montreal has
acquired defencemen Mark Streit, David Schlemko, Joe Morrow and Karl Alzner to
help fill the gap. Fans are a little puzzled though why the Habs decided to
ignore the 38-year-old Markov and then sign the 39-year-old Streit. However,
Markov may have priced himself out of the market in Montreal as he reportedly
wanted $6 million a year for the next two seasons or would have taken a
one-year deal. Montreal has just over $8 million in salary-cap space, but
didn’t want to spend the majority of it on Markov.
The team may still sign another one or two
free agents, but the pickings are getting slim now. There are still several
pretty good defenceman who have yet to be signed though and while they may not
be youngsters, they certainly won’t cost as much as Markov was asking. These
include veterans such as Dennis Wideman, Cody Franson, Fedor Tyutin and Francois
Beauchemin and younger players such as Cody Goloubef and Eric Gelinas.
The Canadiens decided Markov wasn’t worth
the money though and must now try to replace his minutes and point production. They
may hit the jackpot at training camp if one of the team’s prospects shines and
earns a spot on the blue line or they may see how things go at the start of the
season with what they have. Streit might be able to step in where Markov left
off, but if he struggles we could see Montreal make a trade for an
offensively-gifted defenceman before Christmas.
Labels: Ian Palmer