PAT HICKEY, The GazettePublished: Tuesday, July 04, 2006

When Bob Gainey delivered his post-mortem after the Canadiens were bounced from the playoffs, he talked about selling free agents on the benefits of playing in Montreal.

After three days of what appear to be unproductive negotiations, the quick assessment would be that Gainey isn't a very good salesman.

But it might just be that, assuming the Canadiens have been in the ballpark during what appears to be a return to boom times for the players, the cons of playing in Montreal far outweigh the pros.

We're all aware of the cons. High taxes, political uncertainty, the language question and English schools, which are closed to some. This year, Canadiens captain Saku Koivu was questioned about his reluctance to speak French. It would be easy to dismiss the resultant media flap as the work of zealots, but the question of language is never far from the minds of many Quebecers.

It would also be easy to say debates over language have no place in sports, but the reality is that Koivu's discomfort was felt by many players in the National Hockey League. The Finnish forward is one of the most respected athletes in the world and his problems did not go unnoticed among players trying to figure out where to play next season.

Another factor weighing against the Canadiens is the team's record. While Habs fans are optimistic the team is heading in the right direction, there's no evidence that a 25th Stanley Cup is around the corner.

Perhaps the Canadiens would be well-served by borrowing a page from the hated Toronto Maple Leafs' playbook. The Leafs put together a DVD outlining the benefits of playing in the centre of the universe (Canadian version) and sent it to representatives of key free agents.

It's difficult to tell whether the DVD helped attract any free agents, but the Leafs shored up their defence by signing Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill.

Devils nearing cap: Lou Lamoriello,the general manager of the New Jersey Devils, expects to go over the cap this summer. Lamoriello, who is handicapped because he has to count $7.1 million charged against the retired Vladimir Malakhov and the demoted Alex Mogilny, has signed only 14 players for a total of $37 million. That doesn't leave him much room to fill out his roster.

Teams are allowed to sign players up to 110 per cent of the cap, but must trim to the $44-million limit by opening day.

Savard overpaid? The Boston Bruins will pay free-agent centre Marc Savard $20 million during the next four seasons and it might be the dumbest deal in Beantown since the Bruins beat out the Canadiens in the race to sign Martin Lapointe.

Savard is coming off a career season with the Atlanta Thrashers, but that might have been because he was playing between Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa. The supporting cast isn't nearly as good in Boston, where the two best wingers, Glen Murray and Brad Boyes, will probably be flanking Patrice Bergeron.

Weight goes home: Now that Doug Weight has his Stanley Cup, he's heading home to St. Louis to resume his career. Weight and Mark Recchi proved to be the quintessential rent-a-players, helping the Carolina Hurricanes win the Cup and then moving on. The Hurricanes declined to pick up the option on Recchi's contract. Look for the 38-year-old to follow Weight's lead and head back to Pittsburgh, the team that traded him at the deadline. It's a perfect fit because the young Penguins can use veterans like Recchi and John LeClair as stabilizing influences.