Jonathan Marchessault adds: 'Montreal has a special place in my heart'

That said, even though Seravalli mentioned all this, we didn’t know if it was really what the main interested party was thinking… until he took his turn at La Poche Bleue last night.

Coincidence? Your guess is as good as mine.

And what’s interesting is that, as TVA Sports noted, Marchessault was asked about it… and he added a little fuel to the fire:

For sure, Montreal has a special place in my heart. – Jonathan Marchessault

Marchessault, who is still under contract for four years at $5.5 million a year, insisted that he’s still happy in Nashville, but that he “never knows what the future holds.” And that’s about all a guy can say about a team when he’s under contract to another.

At the moment, it seems as if Marchessault is playing a PR game to try to attract the interest of the Canadiens, who already liked him last year. It makes you wonder whether the club, which didn’t want to give him such a long pact last year, would be open to going after him this summer.

After all, while he doesn’t have the size, Marchessault has proven he can perform in the playoffs, and he’d be a welcome addition to the forward group in town. And $5.5 million a year for a guy who scored 21 goals and 56 points in 78 games isn’t the end of the world in the NHL’s new salary reality.

What’s interesting, though, is that the veteran isn’t doing anything to quiet the rumor that he’s headed to Montreal. Instead of saying he “doesn’t think about it”, for example, he insisted that Montreal has a special place in his heart.

Let’s see how all this progresses over the next few weeks.

Overtime

– This name comes up a lot.

– Oh how interesting it will be to follow Brendan Shanahan and Mikko Rantanen.

– Interesting.

– Will the Oilers get their ticket to the final tonight?

– Incredible.