With defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov forming one of the more potent defensive duos in the NHL this season, it stands to reason that the Montreal Canadiens will want to retain both pending free agents come the end of 2013-14. It’s, however, much more complicated than that.
With 43 points between them entering Saturday night, Subban (24 points) and Markov (19 points) trail only the Chicago Blackhawks (Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook; 50) and St. Louis Blues (Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Bouwmeester; 44) in terms of points by two defensemen.
So, there is definite chemistry there. And, to his credit, Markov has rebounded quite well from a subpar season last year when he appeared much slower than in years past due to countless knee surgeries (on both legs).
With Markov set to become an unrestricted free agent next July 1 (Subban will be restricted), the Habs now have a difficult decision to make. Seeing as the team has established itself as a legitimate playoff contender, trading the Russian defenseman at the deadline is clearly out of the question. He’s too valuable to the Habs’ playoff hopes to even co ...
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Article written by Ryan Szporer
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December 14th, 2013 by Ryan Szporer Leave a reply »
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