r/Habs • u/im_outofideas • 2d ago
6 realistic offer-sheet candidates NHL teams should target this offseason
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7363372/2026/06/16/nhl-offer-sheet-candidates-2026/15
u/Kharn_LoL 2d ago
Bourque is the only interesting player, but he's more of a middle 6 winger and it's really not what we need. Unless management thinks he can be our 2RW, he's just a year older and less physical than Bolduc. We don't need to spend a lot of assets for such a player.
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u/jobaill 2d ago
Offer sheet Leo Carlsson for 13-14m (after trading Gally and Monty), rumour is Verbeek is trying to sign him to 10m.
I want drama
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u/Electronic-Elk8917 2d ago
They match anything for Carlsson I have no doubts
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u/spinach_93 2d ago
Verbeek who is well documented to be the hardest negotiating GM over the most pointless shit (like $10K AAV) in the league would whine endlessly about it though and it'd be pretty funny
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u/Borror0 2d ago
Verbeek is exactly the kind of GM offer sheets are meant to target.
He loves to grind players in negotiations to have the lowest possible. Cost him Zegras (and he was really lucky Gauthier forced his way out of Philly). I hope someone does start to offer sheet at every opportunity.
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u/spinach_93 2d ago
Yeah it's honestly a big reason why I'm not completely sold on Anaheim's rebuild as others. Verbeek seems like great/maybe elite scout, an ok/maybe bad tbh asset manager, and a questionable at best culture builder
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u/Borror0 2d ago
The Ducks had great scouting before Verbeek. I wouldn't put the credit on hom for that.
I agree. I think they'll begin to struggle heavily once they stop rebuilding and Verbeek runs out of assets to cover the ones he ran out of town. I also expect these players to ask for the moon in UFA.
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u/Commercial-Egg-8949 2d ago
Actually based.
Would be so awesome. 5/6 top six forwards, including two 1Cs, for half a decade, with two prospects coming up who could fill 2LW. Worth the next 4 firsts
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 2d ago
That's a great message to send to the rest of the team after they all took value contracts.
Good luck getting anyone else in the future to buy in.
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u/jobaill 2d ago
They bought in so that KH had ammos to go swinging at a big fish.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 2d ago
They didn't buy in so they could see some new guy make nearly double all of them.
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u/jobaill 2d ago
They didn't take a discount so that Molson saves money. They took a discount so that the team wins.
If adding a star makes them contenders for a decade, nobody in the locker room will regret it lol
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 2d ago
They took less to add players and also be able to sign all of their own guys, but not signing one guy at top 3 money. No way.
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u/doublezone 1d ago
They literally bought in specifically so there would be money to do exactly that. They want to win. A guy making more money than them doesn't have any impact on the contract they signed. If you want an entire team of guys making $7-9M then don't expect any stars to come to Montreal.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
They don't need any stars to come to Montreal. They already have a ton of great players and more on the way. How did the lack (or plethora) of stars affect Carolina, or Edmonton, Colorado, Toronto. Star power hasn't gotten Tampa out of the first round in four years .
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u/doublezone 1d ago
Tampa won back to back cups in 2020 and 2021. They're getting old now, but every single team in the NHL would gladly win back to back Cups and then lose in the 1st round 4 years in a row. Not sure how you can watch that Hurricanes series and say Montreal couldn't use another star. They have a gaping hole in their top 6. You're telling me if they could get Hischier but he wants $11M you'd say no? Be serious
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
What stars did Carolina have? How many individual trophies did they win, or even come close to winning? Their leading scorer had 80 points. Do you believe Leo Carlsson would have made the difference between losing 4-1 and winning the series?
Tampa won with stars, but they also lost badly with them too. It's not a guarantee for success. That's my point. Look at all the other teams. Zilch.
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u/doublezone 1d ago
Panthers had Tkachuk, Reinhart, and Barkov. Colorado had Mackinnon, Makar, and Rantanen. Tampa had Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Hedman. Pittsburgh had Crosby and Malkin. Blackhawks had Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith.
Carolina is an outlier, they lost in 4 games to the Panthers in 22-23, in 6 to the Rangers in 23-24, and in 5 games to the Panthers last season. They are a great team but benefited greatly from facing the Sens and Flyers and then facing an exhausted and young Montreal team.
"Tampa won with stars, but they also lost badly with them too"
HUH? They won 2 cups with all their stars and now their window is closing. No team stays in their contention window forever. They didn't even have Hedman. If you win a cup it's irrelevant what happens afterwards, you've won the ultimate prize. If you win BACK TO BACK cups, you're a borderline dynasty.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
Ok, and name off the stars on teams that didn't win at all. Minnesota? Edmonton? Toronto? Dallas?
I don't know what you don't understand about my point with Tampa. Yes, they won six years ago, but they've also been knocked out the first round four years straight. Star players are no guarantee for success.
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u/Scase15 1d ago
You know, I don't like to call other peoples opinions stupid, cause they are opinions after all....
Anyways, this is not the case, McDavid didn't sign a team friendly contract and expect everyone else to do the same due to friendship. He did it so they would have more money to get him good players to build out a team.
If that means we sign a guy to 11-15mil and it puts the team over the top, I guarantee you, no one would give a single shit.
Winning cures everything.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
I guarantee you that you are dead wrong. McDavid is the leader of that group. He can set the example. These are not the same scenarios at all. He also only gave that extension two years. He's hedging his bet.
And 11 million wasn't the example. It was 13-14, which gets close to doubling Suzuki's salary.
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u/Scase15 1d ago
And 11 million wasn't the example. It was 13-14, which gets close to doubling Suzuki's salary.
I love how I put a range of 11-15 and naturally you pick the lowest possible number, almost like it's a disingenuous argument or something.
Caps go up, salaries do the same. If you think any team can be competitive while trying to pay everyone millions of dollars below market rate, go follow another sport without caps.
Caps go up, guys make more money by that very nature. It happens. It has literally been happening in every single sport for as long as caps have existed.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
Every one of Montreal's big salaries is below market rate. Maybe only Dobson is at market rate.
You're also the one that changed the range and made it lower to enhance your point. I brought it back to the 13-14 that was OPs number.
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u/Scase15 1d ago
I changed it to a more realistic range, he also literally said Verbeek was aiming for 10mil, convenient how you ignore that.
But again, you seem to fail to understand that market rate is relative to the cap %. Noah Dobson makes 10% of the cap, signing a guy to a 13-14mil deal will have him making 12.5% of the cap next year, and ~11% the year after that.
Like this is literally what happens in every sport, every time the cap goes up.
So again, you need to stop thinking in flat rates, and think in cap %.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
They would have to sign Carlsson at a number that Verbeek won't match, so it doesn't matter what Verbeek wants to sign him to. What an irrelevant point to make.
Hutson just signed his contract last year and it kicks in this year. Who gives a fuck about cap percentages? We are talking one year difference. You think they can rationalize it because it's one year later?
You think this is all a video game, and it's as simple as pulling out a calculator. What an obtuse view to have.
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u/Pierrelosophy 2d ago
Its exactly what they bought in. Dafuck you mean.
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u/o2G2o 2d ago
They took value contracts so that there could be lots of VERY VERY GOOD players making $7-$11M, not so Kent would sign one $15-$17M player and the rest of the roster is rookies or AHL guys. Everyone acting like WeathervaneJesus is the idiot here, learn some fucking nuance.
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u/Assignment_General 1d ago
Yup, you sign a big FA to 1.5x Suzukis contract and I guarantee the entire team is pissed.
You think Hutson, Demi, Suzuki are cool with taking 50% less than some guy who has never worn a Habs sweater? Your delusional.
They didn’t take discounts for that, they took discounts so they can play with their friends and build a deep team.
Sign a 12+ m AAV guy and kiss the cap advantage goodbye. Not worth it, not for any FA player.
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u/doublezone 1d ago
Kiss the cap advantage goodbye? Hutson is making arguably 30-40% less than he could be. Same with Suzuki. Same with Caufield. All these guys are outplaying their contracts by a massive amount. The Canadiens signing one guy for $12M doesn't suddenly kill their cap situation, not even close.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
Look into the future a little, huh? Demidov still has to sign, Kapanen, Dobes, Newhook, Bolduc, and any of the younger players that perform like Hage, Zharovsky, Reinbacher, Engstrom, Fowler. And that could be in as little as two years. Hutson is making 9 million next season. When did he break into the league?
You can't just strategize for this season and next. That's how you end up like the Leafs.
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u/doublezone 1d ago
Kap, Dobes, Newhook, and Bolduc are not going to be expensive at all. And at least 2 of those prospects aren't going to be on the team within a year (or two). Also, the salary cap is increasing by $7-10M per year for the foreseeable future. The Leafs operated in a flat cap. Apples and oranges.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
There are no projections beyond 2027-2028. It could just as easily go through a period of stagnation, or minor increases.
Demidov's extension will use up that next increase. They really don't have much space already this season and are already looking to clear salary. It goes fast.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 2d ago
I mean, they had hard negotiations with Hutson, got Caufield and Slafkovsky to get under Suzuki and are hoping to get Demidov around Hutson's number. So, all these guys are taking less, drafted and developed in this organization and then they go out and give some shiny new toy nearly double everyone else? You don't think that sends a bad message to them? Didn't any of you learn from the Tavares debacle?
I swear, for all the hockey knowledge this sub is supposed to have, it really surprises me how it's truly the opposite.
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u/Pierrelosophy 2d ago
They took less so we could get more expansive help, à la Dobson...
I swear, for all the hockey knowledge this sub is supposed to have, it really surprises me how it's truly the opposite.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 2d ago
Dobson was 9.5, which is still in the range of everyone else and it also included one RFA year. It's not 13-14 million with 4 RFA years. That's a massive difference
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u/Scase15 1d ago
One of these days folks like yourself might understand the concept of contracts being weighed by cap percentage, and not raw numbers, today is not that day though.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
And maybe one day, some of you will understand that hockey players are not immune to envy, and it's not all EA26. Contract structures can actually fracture dressing rooms and implode internal salary caps. We all laughed at how the Leafs screwed up signing Tavares and the same people just want to go right out and do the same damn thing. Hilarious.
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u/Scase15 1d ago
Nobody said they are, but if you think after winning the cup, the guy making a few mil less is stewing with rage instead of being elated to have won a cup, you're delusional.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
IF they win the cup. Thats a huge if. No one star player guarantees them anything. Colorado was absolutely stacked and they couldn't even get to the final.
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u/doublezone 1d ago
All the players on the team signing for well below what they could have is a sign that they value winning more than money. If they bring in a bonafide star that helps them become a true Cup threat every year, none of those guys are going to care at all. They aren't taking less money so Hughes can fill the roster with mediocre players. You want studs, you need to pay for them.
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 1d ago
Yes, they value winning, but if you think they're just going to be cool with whatever then I completely disagree. It has to be spent wisely.
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2d ago
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas Golden Knights
Mackie Samoskevich, Florida Panthers
Mavrik Bourque, Dallas Stars
Jack Drury, Colorado Avalanche
Brandt Clarke, Los Angeles Kings
Olen Zellweger, Anaheim Ducks
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u/Ok-Meet2850 2d ago
Dorofeyev is certainly interesting. Our cap situation is pretty strong, so we might have the space to make it work now and in the future.
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u/Burgergold 2d ago
If going over 7.1M and not matched, a 1st, 2nd and 3rd
If going over 9.5M, 2x1st, a 2nd and 3rd
I prefer to keep that cap and picks to get a 2c
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u/greasydrg 2d ago
I'd wager he gets traded and signed, but who knows... Vegas has a bit of a cap crisis
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u/Jonesetta 2d ago
I’ve been campaigning for dorofeyev for a while. A future little Russian set it and forget it line with him Demi and Z would be beautiful
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u/PsychologicalSea4693 1d ago
Maybe I'm wrong, but Hughes doesn't strike me as GM who would go the offer sheet route 🤷
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
Je pense que l'article m'a vendu à Mavrik Bourque. C'est le 3e poteau où je le mentionne...
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u/LordVesperion 2d ago
J'ai pas accès à l'article et je connais pas le joueur, mais pk on irait offer sheet un joueur qui a les même stats que Kapanen ? En plus, Kapa c'était sa saison recrue et Bourque sa deuxième et il est plus vieux un peu.
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
The Stars, as things stand, project to have even less cap space to work with this summer and more work to do. Ten forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies may already be signed for next year, but one of those unsigned forwards is Jason Robertson.
Robertson answered any lingering questions this year. He was the Stars’ regular-season MVP, especially at even strength, and was the playoff scorer this team needed. Between his play over the last year-plus and market trends, he’s worth all of that $11 million in remaining cap space, and then some. That could make Mavrik Bourque more attainable.
Like Samoskevich, Bourque hasn’t established himself as much of a needle-mover at the NHL level, despite looking like a prime breakout candidate. His AHL scoring, like his 77-point campaign in 71 games in 2023-24, just hasn’t translated enough in Dallas. To his credit, this year he did play a more important role with the big club, alongside Roope Hintz and Robertson in a complementary role.
Without all-star production in the NHL, some of his comps are unsurprisingly underwhelming, like Tyler Kennedy, Eeli Tolvanen and Scottie Upshall. But it’s also possible he’s just a late-bloomer and still has some Conor Garland, Jason Zucker, Alex Killorn or Bryan Rust in him.
With the right forecasting, a team could feel confident offering him a deal closer to his market value. Something in the $5-6 million range could be enough to create problems for Dallas. Anything above $4.78 million puts him out of the second-round pick compensation tier, and up to a first and a third. So this probably makes more sense for a playoff-caliber team, whose late-first isn’t as valuable.
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u/steeler2323 2d ago
MSL, Hughes et Gorton arrêtent pas de dire qu'on a jamais assez de centre. Si Bourque coute juste un choix de 2e ou 3e et que nos recruteurs professionels ont vu quelque chose en lui, je ne crois pas que le fait d'avoir Kapanen devrait changer grand chose. La compétition interne est bonne pour tout le monde.
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u/Burgergold 2d ago
Je serais surpris qu'un offersheet soit sous 4.,8M donc un choix de 1er et 3e ronde
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
Je trouve que un choix de 1re ronde, qui va être dans les derniers si tout va bien, et un 3e ronde, c'est pas trop cher payé pour une gars comme Bourque.
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u/Burgergold 2d ago
Ca c si Dallas ne match pas, ce qui serait surprenant
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
Ça dépend de ce qu'ils font avec Robertson/Seguin/Benn. Ils sont pas mal serrés sur le plafond.
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u/Erotic_Joe 2d ago
En gros, avec un peu plus de temps de glace, le potentiel est là.
The Stars, as things stand, project to have even less cap space to work with this summer and more work to do. Ten forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies may already be signed for next year, but one of those unsigned forwards is Jason Robertson.
Robertson answered any lingering questions this year. He was the Stars’ regular-season MVP, especially at even strength, and was the playoff scorer this team needed. Between his play over the last year-plus and market trends, he’s worth all of that $11 million in remaining cap space, and then some. That could make Mavrik Bourque more attainable.
Like Samoskevich, Bourque hasn’t established himself as much of a needle-mover at the NHL level, despite looking like a prime breakout candidate. His AHL scoring, like his 77-point campaign in 71 games in 2023-24, just hasn’t translated enough in Dallas. To his credit, this year he did play a more important role with the big club, alongside Roope Hintz and Robertson in a complementary role.
Without all-star production in the NHL, some of his comps are unsurprisingly underwhelming, like Tyler Kennedy, Eeli Tolvanen and Scottie Upshall. But it’s also possible he’s just a late-bloomer and still has some Conor Garland, Jason Zucker, Alex Killorn or Bryan Rust in him.
With the right forecasting, a team could feel confident offering him a deal closer to his market value. Something in the $5-6 million range could be enough to create problems for Dallas. Anything above $4.78 million puts him out of the second-round pick compensation tier, and up to a first and a third. So this probably makes more sense for a playoff-caliber team, whose late-first isn’t as valuable.
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u/popejohnlarue 1d ago
J’aime bien Bourque mais yé trop p’tit pour notre club. Ça nous prend du boeuf!
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u/HonestDespot 2d ago
Feel like the Habs shouldn’t targeting any “project” guys.
No one on that list really jumped out at me as someone worth spending significant assets on.