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Subban ‘can’t really envision’ Habs without Markov

Edmonton Oilers v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 06: Andrei Markov #79 of the Montreal Canadiens speaks with teammate P.K. Subban #76 during the NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre on February 6, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

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The Montreal Canadiens’ defense looks a lot different than it did two years ago.

For the second offseason in a row, the Canadiens have walked away from a seemingly important puck-moving defenseman. Last summer, they traded P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber, and yesterday they announced that they were parting ways with Andrei Markov.

Markov and Subban played a lot of minutes together during their time time in Montreal. The two even became good friends (Subban attended Markov’s wedding earlier this month).

Needless to say, when Subban found out that Markov wasn’t going to be returning to the Canadiens, he was pretty surprised.

“I can’t really envision the Montreal Canadiens without Andrei Markov on the blue line. That’s No. 1. Even before I played for the team, I watched him play for the team and be their best defenseman,” The Preds defenseman told NHL.com’s Arpon Basu. “Even while I was there, I still thought he was our best defenseman, even though a lot of people thought because of what I got paid it was me. You can’t really put a price tag on how he plays because he’s so smart, the way he sees the ice.”

With those two players no longer on the team, it’ll be interesting to see who moves the puck for the Habs. Shea Weber is still playing at a high level, but carrying the puck up the ice isn’t his strongest attribute.

GM Marc Bergevin added Mark Streit, Karl Alzner and David Schlemko this offseason, but none of those guys can do the things Markov is capable of doing when it comes to moving the puck efficiently.

Is there another move on the horizon?

Well, Montreal has a huge hole on the left side of their defense and they have over $8 million in cap space. Maybe there is something brewing.

Related:

--Andrei Markov opts for KHL after saying goodbye to Canadiens

--Habs president pens glowing farewell letter to Markov

--Habs sign Streit--is he Markov’s replacement?