The habs have only ten players under contract for 2006 for a total salary of 23 242 000 USD. Here are the players under contract for 2006:

Markov / Rivet / Souray / Dandenault / Koivu / Kovalev / Bonk / Zednik / Plekanec / Begin (option year)

Our 6 unrestricted free agents are:

Huet / Bouillon / Sundstrom / Bulis / Downey / Simpson. Gainey hinted that the only ones he intends to attempt to sign "right away" are...Huet and Bouillon. Let's say the other 4 won't get signed, that would leave space for 3 forwards and a "7th" defenseman.

Our 8 restricted free agents are:

Abby, Komi, Streit, Ribeiro, Ryder, Higgins, Perezhogin, Murray. Let's say that 5 of the 8 get signed (Komi, Ryder, Higgins, Perezhogin, Murray), we have space for another forward, 1 more "7th" defenceman, and a backup goaltender.

To summarize, the Habs may probably have space for 4 forwards, no starting defenseman (2,  '7th' defenseman), and a backup goaltender. The players that are in our system that may fill up those spots are Kostystin, Lapierre, Ferland, Coté, Chipchura, Latendresse, and Danis.

With the idea of picking up a true sniper, a #1 center, and a mobile defenseman...it just adds to the limited space available! This year's training camp will have a heck of a lot of competition. I don't think we'll have problems talking about the team this summer... 

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