Montreal Canadiens: Doors are open to re-sign players for the future

All teams in the NHL are now free to resign players signed to one-year deals, and the Montreal Canadiens have a few that fit the bill.

A lot of Montreal Canadiens fans are already looking towards the off-season. There’s the upcoming NHL Entry Draft which will draw interest, but also a chance for some significant moves to be made.

Contract extensions aren’t too much of a discussion anymore since Marc Bergevin took care of Carey Price’s contract last summer, but players such as Phillip Danault will need a new deal assuming the Habs plan to keep him around.

However, with the contract status of others in the organization, management could start getting to work on extensions right now. Capfriendly tweeted on Tuesday that players signed to one-year contracts can now re-up with their teams.

The Habs have four players who fit into this category: Jacob de La Rose ($725,000), Joe Morrow ($650,000), Jakub Jerabek ($925,000) and Charlie Lindgren ($700,00).

Montreal has a level of control on de La Rose, Morrow, and Lindgren who will be restricted free agents (RFA), leaving Jerabek as the only unrestricted free agent (UFA). Additionally, all three pending RFAs are eligible for arbitration if they choose to go down that route. However, that won’t be an option if management gets them on a contract before the qualifying deadline.

Who Gets the Early Deal?

Even though the Habs can sign these players now, it wouldn’t be surprising to have them wait until the season is over to do it. Jerabek could be a player that they wish to get taken care of before then though. The 26-year-old has adjusted well on the Habs blueline and is the type of defenceman they should want to keep.

We can’t gauge from the outside what kind of money and term Jerabek would even be looking for, but the latter may be more important to him. Puck movers are a premium in this league, and the Habs were lucky to get one without giving up any assets. Regardless of what the mindset is, Jerabek should be resigned.

On the RFA end, all eyes will be on Lindgren. He displayed in Price’s absence that he has the capabilities to become an NHL starter. That could make negotiations with his camp difficult if they are looking for that kind of value in a future deal.

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Habs Eyes on the Prize made a good point in November that management may choose to deal him instead of looking for an extension, and there’s a good chance of that happening, especially when you already have Price for the next eight years.

Morrow and de La Rose are definitely playing the waiting game until the off-season. Claude Julien has been trying to build Morrow into a better defenceman all year. Sometimes it looks like it’s working but other times the 25-year-old watches as the puck goes into the back of his net. Consistency was one of the main concerns when the Montreal Canadiens chose to sign him in the first place, and unfortunately, that hasn’t changed.

However, at least Morrow is in the lineup while de La Rose hasn’t played a game since December 7th. It’s partly because of the way he was playing before that, but someone had to sit when Artturi Lehkonen returned, and Julien was reluctant to split up the fourth line back then.

It’ll be interesting to see how Habs management handles these contracts and others that are set to expire at the end of the season. Based on how things have gone for the Montreal Canadiens in the past, there are never any guarantees.

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Do you think the Habs will sign any of those four players before the offseason? Are any let go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.