By JD Lagrange – Ah the free agents’ market. For hockey fans, it’s Christmas in the summer. What shiny new toy will the Canadiens bring this year? Fans can already picture Kent Hughes coming down the pipe, opening a bag with pieces that will solve all of their issues. Money? Salary Cap? Taxes? Losing team? Weather? Kids’ schooling? Pressure-cooker environment? Fans will find every excuse to turn a blind eye on what is important to the players.
This year, due to the extended season caused by not one, but two COVID-filled years, the free agency period starts later than usual. It all begins on July 13th this summer, but will return to July first starting in 2023.
As it stands at the time of writing this, the Canadiens don’t have much wiggle room under the salary cap to go shopping for the 2022-23 season. While they have unloaded Shea Weber’s $7.857 million contract to the Vegas Golden Knights, they had to take back a $5 million contract in Evgenii Dadonov. Jeff Petry is still with the Canadiens and so are the other expansive contracts.
So in order to even think about being a player on that market, Hughes will have to do some serious cap gymnastics and use his creativity to unload some contracts. Going under the assumption that he manages to do just that, we have compiled two lists. The first one is a list of players the Canadiens should steer clear off, no matter what. The second consists of pending UFAs who would fill a need on the team both for short and medium term.
Do not touch list
First, the list of players the Canadiens should stay away from, for different reasons. And we start with a familiar face…
P.K. Subban
| TEAM: | NJD | ||||||
| AGE: | 33 | ||||||
| POS: | RD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 77 | 5 | 17 | 22 | -8 | 18:17 | $9M |
Those wanting Subban back are filled with nostalgia. They remember the old, flashy, risk-taking and polarizing player and person that he was back when wearing number 76 for the Canadiens. The reality is that he’s not the shadow of that guy anymore. He is slow and has become a defensive liability. That won’t improve with time. While he has likely matured with time, and the two trades he has been involved in – the second for very little return – have likely served as humbling experiences, there are much better candidates out there to fill the role of third pairing right-handed defenseman.
Kris Letang
| TEAM: | PIT | ||||||
| AGE: | 35 | ||||||
| POS: | RD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 78 | 10 | 58 | 68 | +20 | 25:46 | $7.25M |
Unlike Subban, Letang is still a very, very effective defenseman. However, his next contract will be in the category of the 35+ contracts at high dollars. This means that no matter what happens, the contract will count against the salary cap. He will come at a very expansive price tag, likely the highest of all defensemen on the free agents’ market. The Habs simply aren’t at the point in their reset to bring in that type of player, even if he’s Kent Hughes’ former client.
Ben Chiarot
| TEAM: | FLA | ||||||
| AGE: | 31 | ||||||
| POS: | LD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 74 | 9 | 17 | 26 | -14 | 22:51 | $3.5M |
Chiarot rendered some good years to the Canadiens since he was signed as a UFA back in the summer of 2019. The Canadiens certainly got good value when they traded him at trade deadline to the Florida Panthers. But the team’s position with the most depth is on defense, particularly left-hand shooting defensemen. They already have Joel Edmundson in a similar mold and role, with Alexander Romanov who has taken huge strides last season. So long Big Ben and thank you for your services.
Nazem Kadri
| TEAM: | COL | ||||||
| AGE: | 31 | ||||||
| POS: | D | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 71 | 28 | 59 | 87 | +13 | 19:14 | $4.5M |
Kadri is coming off a career year and never has he ever come close to that kind of production before. The 31 year-old had broken the 60 points mark once in his career prior to this year, and that was back in 2016-17. With over a point per game and being a center, teams will be chomping at the bit to get their hands on him, which has the potential to inflate the demand. I’m fully expecting that he will be signed for too much money and for too long and I predict that the team signing him will end up regretting it.
Marc-André Fleury
| TEAM: | MIN | ||||||
| AGE: | 37 | ||||||
| POS: | G | ||||||
| GP | W | L | SO | GAA | Sv% | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 56 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 2.91 | .908 | $7M |
With the uncertainty of Carey Price’s future and the team not knowing if his $10.5 million will count on the team’s cap or not, the Canadiens cannot afford to add another expansive goaltender. Plus Fleury’s numbers, on a good team, are not that impressive, which raises the question of how would they be on a team like Montreal, who is not as good as Minnesota?
Darcy Kuemper
| TEAM: | COL | ||||||
| AGE: | 32 | ||||||
| POS: | G | ||||||
| GP | W | L | SO | GAA | Sv% | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 57 | 37 | 12 | 5 | 2.54 | .921 | $4.5M |
While he has had a couple of decent seasons in Arizona before, Kuemper has benefited greatly from being on Colorado this year. Buyer beware with this guy as he will want starter and Stanley Cup winner money. But I have my doubts that he is worthy of it. There are much better options for the Canadiens out there, either on the UFA market, or mostly through trade.
Worthy list
At the other end of the spectrum, there are pending UFAs who would fit in nicely with the Canadiens. Remember that while the team is continuing with the reset started in 2018 by the Bergevin management group, you still need some quality veteran presence.
That serves two major purposes, often ignored by fans and even some media members. For one, it paves the way to young players, helping provide them with what it takes to be a professional in the NHL. Secondly, it buys time for young prospects to properly develop, either by sending them in the AHL or by better sheltering them on the big club until they are fully ready to take on more responsibilities.
John Klingberg
| TEAM: | DAL | ||||||
| AGE: | 29 | ||||||
| POS: | RD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 74 | 6 | 41 | 47 | -28 | 22:12 | $4.25M |
Klingberg won’t come cheap and there are no guarantees that he would even consider Montreal as a destination. But he fills a huge need on the Canadiens: a veteran right-handed puck-moving defenseman to replace Jeff Petry. He would allow Justin Barron and Logan Mailloux to properly develop at at 29, Klingberg has several good seasons ahead of him. A solid veteran to help groom the young players.
Josh Manson
| TEAM: | COL | ||||||
| AGE: | 30 | ||||||
| POS: | RD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 67 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -11 | 18:58 | $4.1M |
I see him as a plan B if the Canadiens can’t afford Klingberg. In these playoffs, many fans in the East have discovered what we, out West, have known for a long time. Manson is a solid right-handed defenseman who is not only rugged like his father Dave was, but skates quite well and is better offensively than he’s given credit for. I would have no hesitation whatsoever to sign him, but at the right price. For those wondering, yes, he’s a big improvement over David Savard, although he’s more of a second than first pairing guy.
Anton Stralman
| TEAM: | ARI | ||||||
| AGE: | 35 | ||||||
| POS: | RD | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 74 | 8 | 15 | 23 | -16 | 21:20 | $5.5M |
Plan C right here. It would have to be a signing for a year or two, maximum. Often underrated, he still has some good hockey left in him and provides that veteran leadership. He’s not the type to ‘wow’ you, but he does everything well and efficiently, and can man the point on the power play. Again, it’s all about having defensemen playing on their natural side, particularly the young ones, allowing them time to properly develop.
Filip Forsberg
| TEAM: | NAS | ||||||
| AGE: | 27 | ||||||
| POS: | LW/RW | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 69 | 42 | 42 | 84 | +12 | 18:05 | $6M |
Do I really have to explain why or are there some fans back East who really don’t follow the West at all? I can hear it now: “Oh but he will cost too much on the cap… the Habs aren’t there yet.” If you sign a 27 year-old for 7 years, he will be there when the Canadiens are competitive and he will help them be competitive! You can’t find 40 goals scorers at every street corner so if one is available, you try to get him. Period.
Valeri Nichushkin
| TEAM: | COL | ||||||
| AGE: | 27 | ||||||
| POS: | LW/RW | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 62 | 25 | 27 | 52 | +21 | 19:01 | $2.5M |
A jack-of-all-trades, Nichushkin showed, in this Stanley Cup run, why he will be sought after this summer. Standing at 6-foot 4-inches and 210 lbs, he’s a big body who skates well. He is a powerful skater with skill and scoring ability, exactly what Jeff Gorton and Hughes are looking for.
André Burakovsky
| TEAM: | COL | ||||||
| AGE: | 27 | ||||||
| POS: | LW/RW | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 80 | 22 | 39 | 61 | +12 | 16:15 | $4.9M |
I have Burakovsky and Nichushkin pretty even on my list. Much like his teammate, the big, fast forward can play on either wing and will pinch in with 20 some odd goals per season. He appears to be thriving as he gets more (and better) ice time, especially on the power play.
Andreas Athanasiou
| TEAM: | LAK | ||||||
| AGE: | 27 | ||||||
| POS: | LW/RW | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 28 | 11 | 6 | 17 | +7 | 15:14 | $2.7M |
I see Athanasiou as a project. If he stays healthy (a big IF), he has the talent, size and other attributes to be a good player. He has scored 30 goals with Detroit four years ago, but has struggled to stay healthy since. The 6-foot 2-inches winger can skate with anyone; he has speed to burn. This might be a low risk, high reward situation.
Nino Niederreiter
| TEAM: | CAR | ||||||
| AGE: | 29 | ||||||
| POS: | LW/RW | ||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | TOI/GP | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 75 | 24 | 20 | 44 | +29 | 14:50 | $5.25M |
You know what you’re getting in Niederreiter. the 6-foot 2-inches winger is a good skater who is more than willing to go to the high-traffic areas around the net. He can usually be counted on for 20-25 goals per season and can be used in all situations. He has lots of similarities with Josh Anderson.
Ville Husso
| TEAM: | DAL | ||||||
| AGE: | 27 | ||||||
| POS: | G | ||||||
| GP | W | L | SO | GAA | Sv% | 2021-22 CAP HIT | |
| 40 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 2.56 | .919 | $750,000 |
Relatively unproven, Husso might just be starting to come to his own. Something tells me that there might be several teams wanting his services but he would be a very good candidate to split the work with Jake Allen if Price can’t go, and if Carey returns, the Canadiens could then trade Allen and get something decent in return.
Getting busy
Between the NHL Draft on July 7th and 8th, the free agents period and the trades between now and the end of the month, July promisses to be scorching hot for everyone in the Canadiens’ organization. Then, they will let things cool off a bit in August, in preparation for the announcement of a new team captain (likely at the team’s annual golf tournament), and the preparation for the Development Camp, the Rookie Camp and of course, the Main Camp in preparation for the 2022-23 season.
Of course we, at Cheering The Logo, will be there helping you go through that exciting time, providing you with the same quality content.
More reading…
- Habs Fans – A Camp Divided by Bob Trask
- LeBrun: Habs Open To Dealing With The Devils in Rumour Mill
- A Summer Wish List by Bob Trask
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