Friedman: Canadiens weren’t only team in pursuit of Claude Julien

David Amber, Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman talk about the top headlines from Saturday in the NHL.

The Montreal Canadiens were not the only team in pursuit of head coach Claude Julien, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

“It was well known that the Boston Bruins had been asked by several teams to have permission to talk to Claude Julien,” Friedman said Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada’s Headlines segment. “One of the reasons Montreal had to move quickly was because there was at least one other team that was in negotiations with (him).”

Julien was fired by the Bruins on Feb. 7 and a week later replaced Michel Therrien as coach of the Canadiens.

Friedman said he didn’t think the mystery team was the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, but rather “somebody who has a coach right now. That’s one of the reasons Julien did so well financially.”

Julien signed a five-year, $25-million contract with Montreal. It’s a deal that, according to Nick Kypreos, is front-loaded, possibly as much as $12 million in the first two years.

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