Montreal and The Contract Conundrum: P.K. Subban

Photo courtesy of Dave Sandford / Getty Images

 By James Stephan (@J_Habs)

Fan favorite  and Restricted Free Agent P.K. Subban is on the hunt for a new contract from the Montreal Canadiens. And many fans are clamoring at the thought of P.K. being given an offer sheet much like former Edmonton Oiler, and Anaheim Duck, Dustin Penner.

While an offer sheet would cause wide spread panic throughout the streets of Montreal, I counter the fear with the following statement. “Bring it on”.

Subban received a contract proposal this summer, speculated to be in the neighborhood of two years, 2.75 million per year as per RDS which P.K’s agent refuted and claimed the information was inaccurate. Many believe however that Subban has his sights set on a five to six year contract.

July 17^th, 2012, Nashville Predators’ Shea Weber accepted an offer sheet of 14 years at $110 million given by the Philadelphia Flyers who have been extremely aggressive in an attempt to procure another star player. With everyone ready to call Weber a Flyer, no less than six days later the Predators matched the 14-year mega deal and retained their captain. The offer sheet from Philadelphia hit Nashville without warning, and gave hockey fans around the world much to think about.

With the thought of “What if it was our guy?” fans have been screaming from the highest of mountain tops to get a contract signed with Subban before it’s too late. CTV reporter Brian Wilde mentioned his point of view on the Montreal radio station TSN990 on the Randy Tieman Show. To paraphrase what Brian said “What’s wrong with an offer sheet? Montreal would surely match it, PK would be locked up, and the negotiations would be done, yes the financials wouldn’t be on our terms, but two, three years down the line, PK will be worth the paycheck.”

I agree with you Brian.

An offer sheet wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the Montreal Canadiens, and with such a  young talent in P.K. who has already played beyond his years, it is only a matter of time before Subban holds in his hands that big contract every player dreams of.

Bergevin has demonstrated from the beginning of his tenure, his cautious and calculated demeanor when making decisions; from hiring a coaching staff -not rushing the process or succumbing to the cultural pressure of bringing in Patrick Roy, to the NHL Entry Draft, keeping his top pick selecting young up and coming star Alex Galchenyuk who many scouts had him pegged as a top talent in the draft.

With this in mind, I don’t expect P.K. Subban’s contract negotiations to be any different, Bergevin will continue to try and get the best possible value out of his young star be it short or long term, like any smart GM would.

Subban’s impact on the Montreal Canadiens has been invaluable, he has accumulated the highest time on ice average with 24:18 , produced offensively with seven goals and 36 points, while maturing and developing his game further, all at the ripe young age of 23, and with these accomplishments as strong bargaining points, it is not surprising to see the level of negotiation between the two groups.

If Subban manages to acquire a long term contract we could be looking at a five to six year deal, worth upwards of 25 million, however if a short term agreement is reached, we could see upwards of nine million over three to four years similar to Canucks Defender Alex Edler.

With August just making an entrance, and a new Collective Bargaining Agreement yet to be signed, it will be mere moments before September is knocking on the door; time may start becoming scarce with training camp around the corner, but if rookie General Manager Marc Bergevin has shown us anything it is that his decisions are made with precision and contrivance so Habs fans can be assured, that his focus with P.K. Subban will be no different.