This week the Eastern Edge looks ahead at some expiring contracts to several key players in Montreal

Over their last 15 games, Montreal has 10 wins against five losses. Fifteen games is significant because that is when the Habs acquired Thomas Vanek. Since arriving in Montreal, Vanek has six goals and 14 points, but those numbers are a little misleading. In his first five games with Montreal, he recorded a single assist. Over his next 10 contests, he added six goals and 13 points.

The two time 40 goal scorer is on pace to finish the season with 28 goals and 70 points in 78 games. He has surpassed the 70 point threshold twice before with a career high of 84 points coming in his sophomore season in Buffalo.

The question is will Montreal pursue the soon to be unrestricted free agent? I guess the real question is CAN Montreal afford to re-sign the Austrian sniper? A quick check on CapGeek.com, shows that Montreal has plenty of work to do in the off-season with a good number of pending free agents currently on their roster.

They have some very difficult decisions to make on defense first, with only two of their top six defensemen under contract for next season (Josh Gorges and Alexei Emelin). Their top two minute munchers are set to enter free agency. The biggest ticket of course being P.K. Subban, who will receive a hefty bump on his current annual stipend of $2.875M. The team is going to have to show him the money after playing hardball and essentially forcing him to take a two year bridge contract following his entry-level deal. All Subban did in those two “cheap” seasons was lead all NHL defensemen in scoring with 91 points over 121 games and copping a James Norris trophy as top defender. Excluding Subban, who sits fourth in defenseman scoring this year with 53 points, the top five scoring defensemen have an average cap hit of $5.8 million. With the cap heading north, the Habs are looking at upwards of $6-million/per annum on a long-term deal in order to get Subban under contract. They play hardball at their own peril this time. He’s proven himself worthy of a long term commitment.

Once they get Subban’s deal in place, they can then turn their attention to seeing if Andrei Markov can be re-upped for a couple of years. I realize he is an old-timer at 35-years-old, but Sergei Gonchar signed a two year deal with an average cap hit of $5 million per season and Markov is easily a better overall defender than Gonchar was when he signed that deal at the ripe old age of 38. Interesting fact: Over the last two seasons combined, Markov sits tenth in defenseman scoring.

I see Montreal signing both Subban and Markov, considering how important they are to this team. Next up on the backend would be these three pending unrestricted free agents:  Francis Bouillon ($1.5M), Doug Murray ($1.5M) and Mike Weaver (1.1M). Bouillon will be 38-years-old at the start of next season, Weaver will be 36 and Murray 35. Still, if they can get one or two of these three guys under contract for a reasonable price, they probably will try. Jarred Tinordi will be expected to play a larger role next season.

How quickly and “cheaply” they can get the defense under contract for next year will dictate the quality of forwards they can pursue in free agency. Amongst the forwards, in addition to Vanek ($5.75M), the Habs' captain, Brian Gionta ($5M) and George Parros ($937,500) are unrestricted, while under-achieving Lars Eller ($1.325M) will be a restricted free agent.

Despite receiving the third most time on ice amongst Montreal forwards, including second unit power play, Gionta sits sixth in forward scoring. Can the 35-year-old team captain come to terms with less money to stay in Montreal? I think he stays.

What to do with Lars Eller? The talented Dane has only teased with flashes of skill over his four seasons in Montreal. Many thought, yours truly included, that last year’s 30 points in 46 games (53 points pro-rated) were a harbinger of things to come this season. Unfortunately, he is essentially on pace this season to match his 28 point performance that he had the year before last.

While it is a possibility, I think it’s unlikely that a team gives the soon to be 25-year-old an offer sheet. That said, if the Habs get too close to the cap and Eller hasn’t signed his qualifying offer ($1.5M according to CapGeek.com), then another team might try to poach Eller. A quick look at the CBA shows that compensation for a player averaging between $1,682,195 and $3,364,391 (last year’s numbers; will go up as the cap goes up) is a second round pick. Would a desperate enough team take a chance and offer between $2.5 million to $3 million per season for three years? Would Montreal be able or even want to match?

After taking five games to get used to playing on his third team of the season, Vanek has fit in very well in Montreal. Does he like Montreal enough to take less than market value (I don’t see them overpaying) or does he go to the highest bidder? Does he really want to sign with Minnesota? Do the Wild want to sign Vanek or will they try to sign someone like Matt Moulson at a cheaper cap hit? I don’t profess to know these answers, but it should be fun to watch all this drama play out during the off-season.