The possibility of a hostile takeover bid is a real possibility from July 1, if Kent Hughes still hasn't reached an agreement with Cole Caufield. The excellent Marco D'Amico of <i>Montreal Hockey Now</i> has revealed what such a scenario could cost another NHL team, and it would appear that a 12th of teams are in a position to pay that price. <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>Only a third of teams can afford it 😲🏒 <a href=https://t.co/k9ou2fD0rC>https://t.co/k9ou2fD0rC</a>- TVA Sports (@TVASports) <a href=https://twitter.com/TVASports/status/1663666203963826181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>May 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> Returning to the price to be paid, it would be between 6.5 and 8.6 million per year. D'Amico explains this analysis by the fact that this is the maximum salary margin ($8,580,250) so as not to have to give away more than one first-round pick. At this salary, the team making the offer would have to give the CH a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick in 2024. By comparison, an offer of up to $10,725,314 would cost two first-round picks, one 2nd and one 3rd. Beyond that, the price would be four first-round picks. <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>In this week's Canadiens Wrap-Up<br><br>-<a href=https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHabsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>#GoHabsGo</a> offseason strategy with UFAs, RFAs and trades.<br>-NHL draft odds indicate surprise could be in store.<br>-The potential of a Cole Caufield offer sheet.<br><br>That and more Habs news you may have missed below:<a href=https://t.co/XIbxsH5fSh>https://t.co/XIbxsH5fSh</a>- Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) <a href=https://twitter.com/MTLhockeynow/status/1662776228032524290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>May 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> However, the League's general managers are not fooled. Kent Hughes won't let Caufield go for an $8.6 million offer, and offering him more would be overpaying for such a young player. This scenario is therefore unlikely.