No room for expensive 4th liners. already have Neal.

The way I see it, the Habs both need him still and dont want to lose him for nothing.

This screams just sign him already and move him at a later date once Suzuki and Kotkaniemi officially supplant him.

Even if you slightly overpay, who cares? Habs still need him and teams are lining up for him even if he was 5.75-6M a season.

Losing him for nothing is bad management. Trading him this season before the playoffs is bad management. The answer is simple. You sign him. Deal with him in the future if necessary.

What doesn’t stop Danault from asking for a NTC NMC like Gallagher? I’m sure he’ll want to control where he lives and plays going forward.

If he doesn't resign definitely put his name out there and see what type of offers you get back. If someone over pays then I'd say do it. I know the habs are playing awesome but you can't just think about this year. A hefty haul of another top prospect and picks to go along with the young core is how you sustain this winning for years to come. But if your only offer is say a first round pick the I'd day dont do it. Needs to be a legit high return. Something similar to Pacioretty's.

Not sure he'll get a full NMC in MTL like Gally did and i think he knows it. He cant get both the term and money hes asking for AND an NMC. Hes simply not that calibre of player. He'll have to cut on cap or term to be able to get that into his contract. I imagine MB would much rather pay him a little more than grant him a full NMC.

A M-NTC is a given though but that makes things harder but not impossible. Seeing as many teams would be interested in a player like Danault, finding one of the teams not on his list shouldnt be too hard.