Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec will be entering the final year of his contract in the 2015-2016 season and the question going forward will be whether or not Marc Bergevin should try to extend him or if it will be time to part ways. A ten year veteran, Plekanec has played his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens and after Andrei Markov, he is the longest serving Habs player. The final year of his contract sees him being paid $5 million dollars and Plekanec will be turning 33 years old during the season.

Reasons for the Canadiens to re-sign Tomas Plekanec:

- Steady and very dependable as he has scored 20+ goals in 7 of his 10 NHL seasons

- Plekanec has been a + player in 8 of the 10 past seasons even while playing on some weak teams

- Is a two way center and penalty kill specialist

- Averages almost 20 minutes a game, those are tough minutes to replace

- Is very durable as he has not had a major injury since the 2005-2006 season when he
hurt his knee. Since then the most games that he has missed in a season is 5.

- Still rocks the turtleneck

- Is able to produce consistently despite a revolving door of wingers.

Reasons for the Canadiens to let Plekanec go:

- What will the long term cost be to re-sign Plekanec? At 33 he will most likely be looking for his last big payday and long term contract. Plekanec is a solid number 2 center and on some elite teams would only be the # 3. Too much has always been asked of him in Montreal as the Habs have constantly lack a true # 1 centerman. Would he continue to accept an AAV of $5 million or perhaps will he be looking in the $6+ million range...

- Has not been able to step up his game in the playoffs. Plekanec is a player who gets you there but in 10 years we have not seen him reach that extra level when needed. During this past regular season he scored 26 times translating into a goal every 3-4 games. In these recent playoffs he managed only 1 goal in 12 games and that goal came in the very first game.

- If the Canadiens find themselves fighting for a playoff spot in the 2015-2016 season, Bergevin might be able to net a good return if he were to trade Plekanec. If Bergevin is able to improve the club by letting Plekanec go, that is something that is certainly worth considering.

- Of the new assistant captains he is the least likely to be eventually be named captain. The future captain of the Montreal Canadiens will be one of P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher. While Plekanec might be a consummate pro and an example for younger players on how to carry themselves and train, he does not have the ability to inspire the locker room.

At some point this season Marc Bergevin is going to have to decide on the future of the Canadiens top 3 centers. Perhaps he gave Lars Eller the long term contract last Summer anticipating that he can one day replace Plekanec. So far though that has not panned out and certainly cannot be depended on. You know that Plekanec will continue to trot along as he always does. It will be up to the younger centers such as Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller and Jacob de la Rose to force the hand of Bergevin. So far during his tenure, we have seen that Bergevin is not afraid to make room for the youth if they have proved themselves and will give the Canadiens the best chance at winning. If the younger players cannot step up, then Bergevin will have to re-sign Plekanec as those hard minutes will not be easily replaced.

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