Tomas Plekanec finally comments on persistent trade rumors

He has to face the facts.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Tomas Plekanec finally comments on persistent trade rumors
Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

What is going to happen to Tomas Plekanec and the Montreal Canadiens? Even though the 35-year-old centerman played exacted 963 games with the Habs between 2003 and 2018, his future is all but certain with the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2001 NHL draft.

With the Canadiens' awful record, many experts believe general manager Marc Bergevin might be tempted to trade some of his veterans. Since Plekanec doesn't own any trade protection and is in the final year of his contract, he could be sent elsewhere for a draft pick.

Pleky confirmed yesterday that he didn't talk to his GM about a possible contract extension over the past few weeks:


He also told Montreal Gazette reporter Stu Cowan that even though he hopes he can end his career in Montreal, he has to be ready for every scenario:

I don’t know what kind of interest there will be in me,” Plekanec said when the trade deadline was mentioned. “My goal is to play in Montreal and that’s never changed. I’ve always wanted to play here as long as I could. What’s going to happen, it’s really out of my hands."

He also added that while many NHL players do not want to play for the Canadiens, he loves Montreal and wouldn't want to play elsewhere:

“There are a lot of players around the league who don’t want to play here for certain reasons, but I never found any reason not to play here,” he added. “I’ve always enjoyed coming to the Bell Centre and playing in front of the fans. You know it’s always going to be packed and there’s always going to be passion for the game and I’ve loved that since I was a kid and nothing has changed about that now when I’m older.”

Plekanec amassed four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 42 games this season. He has a career total of 597 points in 963 games.