In a recent interview with a french magazine Gainey indicated one of his priorities was to upgrade the offense with a ufa signing. If the few quality goal scorers available (Shanahan,Carter,Samsanov,Selanne,Elias,Arnott, and to a lesser extent Langenbrunner,Savard,Sykora) are looking at teams that offer the best combination of money and competitiveness for the cup and are looking for a goal scorer as their top priority then the Habs face stiff competition from about 8 teams. Rangers have 12 players signed for 21 million: Elias would be a good fit for team Czech. Carolina: they are in great shape 18 million committed to 11 players. Nashville 10 players signed for 19 million. Calgary has 16 players signed for 32 million and may be looking for a goal scorer to complement Iginla. Colorado has 10 players signed for 19 million. Anaheim has 11 players signed for 20 million,and even though they have Selanne has an ufa and must resign restricted free agents Lupul and Mcdonald they could trade Giguere to free up more money. L.A. has 12 players signed for 24 million. Edmonton has 19 million committed to 10 players.

   Other teams with low payrolls like Buffalo, San Jose, New Jersey probably are targeting different needs such as a quality defenceman. In Buffalo's case, Regier has indicated that they will maintain a tight payroll and try to resign the majority of their 15 restricted free agents.

   Can Gainey with the same financial flexibility as the above mentioned teams make a strong enough case to sign one of the few quality forwards available, or is Montreal not a preferred destination for the high profile ufa's? Still think trying to sign a dman this season is a better option, particularly when next season Markov,Rivet and Souray are all free agents, and there will be far more quality forwards eligible for free agency.