Problems with UFA's in Montreal
Player Agent Enrico Ciccone said: ”It’s close to impossible to see Brendan Shanahan in Montreal”
Rumors are going around regarding the possibility of making offers to Quebec native RFA’s like Simon Gagne or Patrice Bergeron.
Other rumors involves the departure (through an exchange) of David Aebisher (who wishes to have a #1 goalie job), Sheldon Souray (who would like to go west with his fiancee), Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro (as soon as the Habs signs a centerman, this one is out).
Taxes
It seems that high taxes would be the first item inline why no free agent wants to sign in Montreal.
A Montreal worker making over 100K/year will pay around 55% of his salary in taxes.
In comparison with Calgary and Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) taxes are less than half of that (around 20%). That means a guy like Pronger would have close to 3M$ less a year in his pockets if he played here…
Furthermore, players in Canada always had their salaries paid in US currency, when the exchange rate was 0,70/1.00 it was cheaper to live in Canada. Now that it’s getting close to parity between Canada and US (0,90:1.00) the everyday costs are about the same, giving them no monetary advantages playing in Canada.
Media
Another big thing that is playing against the Habs is the media attention/pressure that players get as soon as they have a cold streak…