Montreal Canadiens: Pursuing Andreas Athanasiou

Contract talks with Andreas Athanasiou aren’t going well, and with the Detroit Red Wings in cap problems, the Montreal Canadiens could take advantage of it.

Cap space is an important but dangerous thing. It’s always a team’s best interest to give themselves enough flexibility to make moves. On the other hand, if you have a lot of cap space, your team is more likely to be involved in trade discussions. The Montreal Canadiens fit the bill in terms of the flexibility, but it makes even more sense when a center is involved.

It’s weird actually when you compare the Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings cap-wise. Montreal has a decent amount of cap space but are in more of a “win-now” state of mind. The Red Wings are at the beginning of a much-needed rebuild, but are about $4 million over the ceiling. Not really a great position to be in.

To make things worse, Detroit has a young RFA that still needs to be resigned in Andreas Athanasiou. Red Wings GM Ken Holland has expressed the team’s need to make a move to stay cap compliant, but they have much bigger problems on their hands now.

Craig Custance from The Athletic reported on Twitter that Athanasiou had received a significant offer from the KHL. Now this could just be a tactic to push the team to get something done. However if it’s not, it would be very poor asset management to lose a young player with so much skill for nothing. And not just any young player, but a center.

Related Story: Trading For Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

This is where the Montreal Canadiens come in. The word “center” always makes the ears prick up as that’s a position of need on the team. Perhaps there could be a fit.

Scouting Report

Athanasiou was originally drafted back in 2012. He was taken in the fourth round from the London Knights where he had 37 points in 63 games. Whatever the Red Wings saw in Athanasiou came out in the following years as he was over a point-per-game with a new team in the Barrie Colts.

It was only a matter of time before he made his professional debut. Athanasiou was the top-line center on the Grand Rapid Griffins along with Mitch Callahan and Anthony Mantha in 2015. He made his NHL debut with the Red Wings that same reason putting up nine goals and five assists in 37 games.

This past season was his chance to be a full-time NHLer as he made the team out of camp. He missed some time dealing with both a knee and upper body injury, but still had a solid rookie season.

He finished with 18 goals and 11 assists splitting time between the second and third lines as the left-winger. Athanasiou has the speed and skill to be dominant force in the NHL for a long time. Additionally, he was committed to the defensive side of the game.

He has yet to play center in the NHL, but the hope is that one day he could. Whether it will be with the Red Wings or a different team is the question.

Should the Montreal Canadiens Pursue Him?

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The appeal to acquire Athanasiou makes sense. What changes things is what the Habs would be bringing him on to do. Despite his experience playing center in the minors, we’ve yet to see that in the NHL. The problem of finding a number one center wouldn’t be solved at all.

Nevertheless, it may still be a good idea to take this opportunity to acquire a young talent such as Athanasiou. Some fans have suggested singing him to an offer sheet. I’ll admit that I’ve pitched the idea offer sheeting players, and Athanasiou may be worth the draft picks. Of course it would depend on what the eventual contract would be.

Here are the compensations for offer sheets this year (via Capfriendly.com):

Say the Canadiens gave him a five-year $17.5 million, the compensation would only be a 2nd round pick. Not bad right? Unfortunately, if he wanted a $20 million deal instead the compensation would be a 1st and 3rd round pick which would be a tougher pill to swallow.

However, offer sheets are a thing of the past and don’t happen anymore. A trade would be more likely. The Montreal Canadiens have good players on low value deals which would be appealing to the Red Wings considering their cap situation.

Even still, it wouldn’t be in the team’s best interest to acquire him. It would cut into the cap space they have that could be used for known top-line center, and may make waivers more difficult if he’s not ready to play the position.

I understand the interest in Athanasiou, but I also doubt the Canadiens have considered it. Additionally, he may not even be moved. This is another small fish possibly available (relatively speaking), and the Habs are probably still waiting for the bigger one to pursue.

Next: Early Standing Projections

Do you think the Canadiens should pursue Athanasiou? Will it be an offer sheet or a trade? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!