Should Canadiens commit three more years to Markov?

Andrei Markov will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and Pat Hickey of The Montreal Gazette lays out a case of why the Canadiens should be willing to give him a three-year contract. Risk vs. reward is debated, including the health questions and the perils of relying on an unknown commodity via the free agent market.

Bergevin, Markov and his agent, former NHL player Sergei Berezin, are understandably mum about the state of contract negotiations, but there have been reports Markov rejected the Canadiens’ offers of one- and two-years deals, but that the defenceman has moved away from his original unrealistic hopes of a five-year contract.

Source: Pat Hickey, Montreal Gazette