There's a lot wrong with this. I can't even.

why does montreal do this?

Merzlikins is a huge cap dump 4 years at 5,4M for a bad back up, one of the worst contract in the league

Ooooooooooooof.

MTL turns that down immediately.
Jiricek playing his off-side on the 3rd pair just so Peeke can play over Boqvist?
Completely churning the goaltending without tangibly improving.
Noted 2nd line center Sean Kuraly.
Noted 2nd line forward Eric Robinson (over that 20-year-old punk "Johnson").
A 4th line with next to no defensive capabilities or grit.
Gudbranson banished to 7th or 8th D; wait, that's actually good, I'm okay with that.

Not to mention - the contracts.

I've defended the CBJ front office for a lot of years, but if they signed Bemstrom and Roslovic to those contracts I would lead a rebellion. Oh and let's give KJ a 4-year deal that takes him right to UFA.

Sillinger and Chinakhov at 5 years for 900k and $1m respectively... I can't fathom a universe where that happens, but it's not boring.