Links: Joni Ikonen departs In today’s links, the Canadiens will not offer a contract to Joni Ikonen before their four year exclusivity period expires, some are looking ahead to 2022 already, and Barry Trotz talks about coaching in the playoffs.<doc-sep>Tomas Plekanec was never going to be anything more than a rental for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now it is official. When the trade deadline approached, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in desperate need of some center depth. It was clear head coach Mike Babcock didn’t have any confidence in Dominic Moore as his fourth line center. An upgrade was needed. Even at a shell of his former self, Plekanec was viewed as that upgrade. It was a brief affair with Plakanec, but it was OK while it lasted. As we speculated for a while now, the Canadiens will announce the return of Tomas Plekanec today once the market opens. One-year deal. He had some serious interest from Chicago, I believe, but returns to the Habs — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2018 Tomas Plekanec appeared in 17 regular season games for the Leafs posting some very underwhelming numbers. Mustering 2 assists was disappointing, yes, but point production wasn’t why the leafs brought him in. Babcock had Zach Hyman and Leo Komarov taking PK faceoffs, because there wasn’t any other options. Leafs moving on Plekanec job was to stabilize the penalty kill and bring his 86 games of playoff experience to a young group. He did just that. Plekanec was a completely different player in the playoffs for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Registering 2 goals and 2 assists in the 7 game series against the Boston Bruins made the trade price to get him worth it. I haven’t been a fan of the Leafs giving division rivals 2nd round picks for rentals the last two years. Bringing Plekenec back as the fourth line center would have been a good option, but the writing was on the wall that Plekenec would end up back with the Habs. Sitting at 999 career games played, Plekenec will now get to play game 1000 back with the team where it all started. It had to have been weird for Plekenec to play for the Toronto Maple leafs after all those years playing for Montreal. It never seemed like he felt comfortable until the last couple games of the Boston series. If the Leafs were able to hold on in game 7, and advance it looked like Plekenec was finally comfortable. The fourth line center has been a black hole for the Leafs as of late, and with Plekenec no longer an option that will continue to be the case. But who really cares now because John Tavares is a Toronto Maple Leaf. Mathews, Tavares, Kadri is unmatched down the middle. Let the fun begin. Of course, the Leafs will need a fourth line centre, but at this point, it doesn’t seem to be a big concern!<doc-sep>Share this Story: Tomas Plekanec returns to the Canadiens as a free agent Tomas Plekanec returns to the Canadiens as a free agent Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs land John Tavares with seven-year contract worth US$77 million. Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette Article content Tomas Plekanec is coming back to the Canadiens. The Canadiens announced shortly after the NHL free-agent sweepstakes opened at noon Sunday that the 35-year-old Plekanec has agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth US$2.25 million with the possibility of earning another $1.25 million in bonuses. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tomas Plekanec returns to the Canadiens as a free agent Back to video Shortly after the Canadiens announced the Plekanec signing, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had landed the biggest fish in the free-agent pond, signing 27-year-old centre John Tavares to a seven-year, US$77-million contract after he decided not to re-sign with the New York Islanders. Tavares, who is from Mississauga, Ont., and grew up as a Maple Leafs fan, posted 37-47-84 totals last season with the Islanders, the team that selected him with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2009 NHL Draft. Not everyday you can live a childhood dream pic.twitter.com/YUTKdfMALl — John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The Canadiens also announced Sunday that they have signed free-agent centre Matthew Peca to a two-year, US$2.6-million contract. The 5-foot-8, 178-pounder spent most of last season in the AHL, posting 13-33-46 totals with the Syracuse Crunch. In 10 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 25-year-old had 2-3-5 totals. Peca’s new contract is a one-way deal, meaning he will earn $1.3 million per season whether he plays for the Canadiens or the AHL’s Laval Rocket. The Lightning selected Peca in the seventh round (201st overall) at the 2011 NHL Draft. “For us, our scouts that watched the whole year … a guy that was in the NHL this year,” Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said about Peca when he met with the media at 3 p.m. Sunday in Brossard. “For us, it was our best upcoming (player). He’s 25 years old. Obviously, the open market you have to top the other teams. The agent was up-front and honest with us. He had an offer that was higher than ours. We put another year to bring the (average) down and that’s what we did. It’s short-term, he’s still young. And then if he performs the way we think he might be able to … we always gamble a bit, but for us it was a good gamble.” We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Bergevin didn’t have to gamble on Plekanec because the GM knows exactly what he’s getting from the veteran centre who can still play a solid defensive game but has seen his offensive production dry up with age. The Canadiens traded Plekanec to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 25, along with forward Kyle Baun, in exchange for forward Kerby Rychel, defenceman Rinat Valiev and a second-round pick at this year’s NHL Draft. The Canadiens used that pick (56th overall) to select Swedish centre Jacob Olofsson. Plekanec became an unrestricted free agent after completing a two-year, US$12-million contract last season. In 60 games with the Canadiens last season, Plekanec posted 6-18-24 totals. In 17 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, he had only two assists before posting 2-2-4 totals in seven playoff games. Tomas Plekanec meets with media in Brossard after re-signing with #Habs as a free agent #HabsIO pic.twitter.com/UroGOPnipu — Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) July 1, 2018 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Plekanec will now hit the 1,000-game mark in the NHL in a Canadiens uniform when they play their second game next season on Oct. 6 in Pittsburgh. In 998 career regular-season games, Plekanec has 232-375-607 totals. Tavares will play his first game for the Maple Leafs when they open the season against Plekanec and the Canadiens on Oct. 3 in Toronto. After being traded by the Canadiens at last season’s NHL trade deadline, Plekanec made it very clear he wanted to return to Montreal. When asked at the time about the possibility of playing his 1,000th game in a Canadiens uniform, Plekanec said: “That would be pretty special, of course.” Now it will happen. scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/StuCowan1 Related Share this article in your social network Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Montreal Gazette Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. 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MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 23: Look on Montreal Canadiens Center Tomas Plekanec (14) during the Colorado Avalanche versus the Montreal Canadiens game on January 23, 2018, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) The Montreal Canadiens bring back long-time centre Tomas Plekanec to a one-year deal after spending the rest of the 2017-18 season as a Toronto Maple Leaf. It’s official! The turtleneck is back with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs announced that it will be a one-year deal for Tomas Plekanec seeing him make 2.25 million. His contract will also see him make $250,000 for each 30, 40, and 50 games played and another $250,000 for 10 goals or 25 assists and if the team makes the playoffs. In 60 games with Montreal this season, Plekanec scored 6 goals and 20 assists. He only added 2 assists with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the regular season but scored 2 goals and 2 assists in their 7 playoff games. With offence being an element of his game that’s been on the decline, Plekanec’s role of being the reliable centre shouldn’t change. Perhaps who he plays with will get more points under his belt, but we’ll have to wait for training camp to see those combinations in play. The transition of Plekanec with the team this past season was interesting. His contract status wasn’t talked about as much until it was apparent Montreal wouldn’t be a playoff team. If things were different, Marc Bergevin would’ve definitely kept the 35-year-old past the trade deadline as he was a staple on the team defensively. However, the Montreal Canadiens found themselves at the belly of the beast and got assets for Plekanec instead of keeping him for the rest of the season. Those assets – Kerby Rychel, Rinat Valiev, and Jacob Olofsson (the second-round pick in the trade) – don’t look too bad. With the Czech native back, he and the Habs will be getting that 1000 game celebration in the 2018-19 season. Plekanec is sitting at 998 regular season games played and will now reach the milestone as part of the organization. Based on the schedule, October 6th against the Pittsburgh Penguins is the special day. The team will most likely plan a pre-game celebration for the accomplishment at their home opener against the Los Angeles Kings on the 11th. Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team! Write for us! With Plekanec on a contract, who, if anyone, is next?