Ron Francis is planning a last-minute offer for Carey Price!
The Seattle Kraken have exclusive signing rights with unrestricted free agents and available restricted free agents until 10 a.m. today, and the team must also submit its list of 30 expansion draft picks to the NHL by that time.
And it appears that the Kraken is holding off on making an offer to the Montreal Canadiens until the very last minute. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, general manager Ron Francis will make his choice on whether or not to pick star goalie Carey Price from Montreal until the very last minute.
Furthermore, on last night's episode of TSN's Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun said that Francis will speak with Habs GM Marc Bergevin to see what he is ready to give up in order to prevent the Kraken from selecting Price in the expansion draft
This is the most exciting type of poker game: who can bluff the most? If Bergevin becomes panicked, he may collapse and give Francis some prospects in order to ensure Price stays in Montreal; yet, Francis may not even want Price to begin with and may be trying to extract something from the Habs in order to construct a future!
«From the standpoint of this, I believe there is an anticipation that Seattle will come in at the eleventh hour and ask Montreal for a price in order to avoid taking Carey Price, no pun intended. How does GM Marc Bergevin react if that's the case? If we stick with the poker theme, Marc Bergevin appears to be pot committed. Price is in on this, and I don't think you pay a price because he revealed Carey Price. I believe you should call Seattle's bluff and say, "Take him or don't."
Without a question, the Canadiens are taking a significant risk by doing so. We'll all be looking to see if Price stays with the Canadiens tonight.
| POLL | ||
Will Seattle grab Price? | ||
| Yes | 64 | 50.4 % |
| No | 63 | 49.6 % |
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