MONTREAL - Andrei Markov's agent Don Meehan says he has scheduled a meeting with Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier for the end of the month to discuss a new contract for the All-Star defenceman.

Meehan relayed the news in an e-mail to The Canadian Press.

Markov will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The 32-year-old Russian is the Canadiens highest paid defenceman at US$5.75 million, but he only played seven games this past season. He underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee twice in a span of just over seven months, having missed the first 10 games of the 2010-11 season while recovering from the first surgery. He reinjured the same knee on Nov. 13 when he collided with Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal, leading to another surgical procedure that cost Markov the rest of the season.

Though rookie P.K. Subban made great strides this season, Markov remains the Canadiens best defenceman and there is little doubt that Gauthier wants to settle his case before making other decisions on the makeup of his team for next season. The Canadiens have nine defencemen who are without contracts for next season.

Aside from Markov, Roman Hamrlik, Hal Gill, James Wisniewski, Brent Sopel and Paul Mara will become unrestricted free agents July 1, while Josh Gorges, Yannick Weber and Alexandre Picard will become restricted free agents.

You can read Arpon Basu's take on what the Canadiens should do with Markov at The Daily Hab-it by clicking here