Habs Lock Up Markov

The Montreal Canadiens finalized the deal that will keep defenseman Andrei Markov in the fold and it will do so for the next three seasons.

Markov and the Habs agreed upon a 3-year, $15.75 million deal on Monday, which works out to be the same cap hit that the 35-year old Russian defender had in his previous deal.  It was believed that Markov was seeking over $6 million a year, but I would wager a guess that a longer term eased the money demands a little.

In 2014, Markov finished 20th among all defenders in scoring, finishing with 7 goals and 43 points, tops among his teammates.

The knock on the deal is that it is a 35+ deal, which could backfire on the Canadiens, if Markov doesn't finish it, retiring early.  The cap hit for the Canadiens will be on the hook for Markov's deal for the remainder of term.  Markov isn't playing badly and has earned the respect of the team, but these kind of 'what if's' wreak havoc on the forward thinkers.

Markov was one of the key components to the Habs off-season, as they didn't have much for signed on talent on the blueline, at the time of their Pool Outlook earlier on the blog.  With Markov signed on, the team has $13.75 million in three blueliners, still needing three or four more to continue into the 2015 season.  That's a lot of cap space burned on three players, but it does seem rather necessary.  Overall, I have the Canadiens with seven open roster spots and $21.5 million left in cap space to use.