38-year old Andrei Markov spoke to reporters today as the Montreal Canadiens cleared out their lockers. He was clear in his future commitment to the squad as Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports, saying that he wants to play next year and finish his career with the Canadiens. The longtime NHL defender is an unrestricted free agent this summer, coming off the final season of a three-year, $17.5MM deal he signed in 2014.
Despite Markov’s advanced age, he remains an excellent puck moving defenseman that can contribute both at even-strength and on the powerplay. His 18 even-strength assists easily paced the Canadiens’ defense despite playing in only 62 games and recording the lowest average ice-time since 2011-12 when he was dealing with a devastating knee injury that stole over a year from his career. While he can’t be relied upon to log 25+ minutes anymore, he is still an effective option on the left side for a team that has had trouble creating offense quickly.
Markov actually only earned $4.25MM in salary this year as his contract was front-loaded, and that is much closer to the number he’ll have to accept to remain a Canadien. The team also can’t afford to commit to him for very long, as Alexander Radulov will likely require a long-term deal and Carey Price is a free agent after next season. With Shea Weber earning almost $8MM for the next nine years (assuming he doesn’t retire), the Canadiens can’t be throwing $5MM at Markov to keep him around.