Flyers' Weise wasn't going to take less to sign with Canadiens

In the end, Dale Weise chose the better deal over the opportunity to return to the Montreal Canadiens.

Hopeful of making a return to the bleu, blanc, et rouge as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, the 28-year-old ended up signing a four-year, $9.4-million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers after not liking what he saw in Montreal's offer.

"When the negotiation period opened up, we put a call into (Montreal) because we figured they’d have some interest," Weise told Stu Cowan of Hockey Inside/Out. "We didn’t talk all week long until the morning of July 1, and then they made an offer. But it wasn’t really a substantial one and that was kind of the only one they made and we said: 'OK, that’s not going to work.' And that was kind of the extent of it.

"It was a three-year deal, but it was nowhere near what I was getting paid in Philly," added Weise. "So I said: 'You guys are going to have to come up a lot more.' I’m not going to take less money to play there."

A Canadiens fan growing up, Weise played 152 games over parts of three seasons with Montreal before being traded to Chicago prior to the 2016 trade deadline.