The Dream Team

Once in a while, a long-suffering fan base should be allowed to dream a little dream right?

I mean, how many of you expected Les Canadiens to go from last in the NHL in December to virtually being a lock for a playoff spot (and who knows, maybe make some noise? welcome in Ivan Demidov in the first round as reported by...no, no, no let's not go overboard..yet)? Highly unexpected events do occasionally materialize.

So let's imagine this: it's July 1st (or whenever Free Agency opens up in the NHL this summer), and, (Clark) Kent Hughes arrives at the podium and announces a double signing.

"Today, the Montreal Canadiens have decided to make a bold statement to its fan base with the signing of a couple of impactful players. We feel our fans, our players, with their quicker than expected development, earned this commitment on our part. And so, les Canadiens de Montreal, are proud to welcome......Mitchell Marner and Matt Duchene...to their storied franchise"

Boom-shaka-laka!

And just like that, Les Habitants would become a contender. Not for one season, but for 4, 5 perhaps even 10 seasons.

Now you may be wondering two things (three if you're asking if I'm drunk while writing this).

One, how the heck would the Canadiens be able to make a splash like that, there's a cap in place, Gally and Andy are signed for another 2 seasons, Price is still (kinda) on the books, Hutson will command close to 10M$ and eventually so will Demidov?

Well, trust me, the math works out. For one, Gally and Andy's contracts are set to expire at the same time a player like Demidov would likely be renegotiating his contract. So no need to count Demidov in these calculations. True, Hutson will likely fetch close to 10M$ this summer. But we have the space.

Aside from that, unless we plan on bringing back Bergevin's "coup de maitre" to replace Phil Danault, Christian "La Tortuga" Dvorak, there really aren't any notable players to resign this summer and likely the next. Armia will also be coming off the books. True, Mike Matheson will be a UFA in a year, but he loves it here, and there's a strong likelihood he would accept a hometown discount (if not, see ya, we have a lot of prospect depth at the position).

Mitch "Magic Hands" Marner 12M$ x 8 , Duchene (despite being 34 is still a highly productive center) 6M$ x 3. Have Beck/Newhook/Dach Dach Goose battle it for the 3C, and we're set.

Again, the math works out*. The cap is projected to be close to 93 million, a $4 million jump from this season's cap of $88 million (although Bettman recently stated that there was a potential of the cap going even higher pending a possible negotiation between the NHL and NHLPA).

And then the fun begins, with the cap projected to be close to 104M$ in 2026/2027 and circa 114M$ the following season.

Worse case, we would give Patrick "La Otro Tortuga" Laine his walking papers (or simply let him walk in a year, saving over 8M$).

Now let's talk about the why. OR SHOULD I SAY HOW ON EARTH CAN HUGHES AND GORTON CONVINCE A SUPERSTAR LIKE MARNER FROM SIGNING HERE? (apologies for the large caps, I think I may be suffering from Tourette's or Sindrome de la Tourrette if we're sticking to Spanish).

It's simple.

Marner loves playing in Canada, he was no doubt impressed by the unbelievable atmosphere at the Bell Center during the Four Nations Cup, he's Canadian, his wife is a francophone (I believe from Ontario), and, the piece de resistance, is he would possibly like nothing more than to stick it to the Maple Leafs who decided not to extend him last summer (worse, they allegedly offered him up one-for-one in a trade for Rantanen, just a few weeks ago).

And the Canadiens are doing things right. They are a budding powerhouse (slight exaggeration, let's stick to they're "on the way up") with more cornerstone pieces on the way like Demidov, Fowler, Hage and hopefully, David "Orvil" Reinbacher.

As for Duchene, he came close to signing here a few seasons ago, grew up adulating the Canadiens, and frankly, who wouldn't want to play on a line with Marner and Demidov (and to boot, have El Maestro, Lane Hutson, feeding them the puck on the PP)?

So pinch me as hard as you want, I'm not planning on waking up from my dream. As a long-suffering fan for the past 30 years or so, I'll continue to believe that this fantasy has the potential to become reality as soon as this coming summer.

• rough math (salaries rounded off) Slaf Suzy CC = 23M , Marner Duchene Demidov = 19M, Gally Dach Andy = 15, Heinemann Evans XX = 5 , Hutson Matheson = 14, Carrier Guehle = 9M Xhekaj Struble Reinbacher = 4M Monty + backup = 4M = 93M

• rough math in 2027/2028 114-93M + Gally and Andy's salaries 12= 33M to pay for Demidov, potentially Hage, Fowler and Reinbacher and resign 1-2 veterans