Dumont A Possibility, And That's All
We all know that J.P. Dumont is now a unrestricted free agent, the question now is what team will he decide to sign with.
There have been reports that Montreal is Dumont’s premiere option and would take a deal worth less than his salary arbitration award to sign with the Habs. This is true, however the Habs aren’t as interested in Dumont as Dumont is in them. Yes the Habs would like to add Dumont to their lineup but financially they cannot do it. They have about $41-42M spent at this point and Gainey has said he does not want to spend any more money as he wants to keep his options open for late season acquisitions. The only way I believe that the Habs would sign Dumont is if they trade away Bonk to Washington as rumoured that the Caps arent interested in Bonk. Bonk is getting $2.4M and if the Habs could sign Dumont for that same amount it would be a perfect fit on the lineup without spending any more money. This is some what farfetched but I wouldnt be so surprised if the Habs do trade Bonk to the Caps, and if this does happen before Dumont is off the market then why not sign him if he is willing to sign for around the same amount as Bonk’s salary as his No.1 choice to play is Montreal. Other teams reported to be interested in Dumont are the Senators, Kings, Thrashers, Maple Leafs if they can’t sign Carter, Penguins, Red Wings to replace Shannahan and, theVancouver Canucks. Spector’s trade rumours has also reported that a Canadian team has put in an offer for Dumont, and it’s not the Canadiens. The unamed Canadiand team, could be either the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers or Toronto Maple Leafs, all three of which are believed seeking an experienced offensive winger.
Here’s the link for mroe info on Dumont:
http://spectorshockey.tripod.com/spectors_trade_rumours.html