Montreal Canadiens: RFA players to make decisions on before deadline

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 19: Montreal Canadiens right wing Michael McCarron (34) reacts after fighting Florida Panthers defenseman Alexander Petrovic (6) during the first period of the NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens on March 19, 2018, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 19: Montreal Canadiens right wing Michael McCarron (34) reacts after fighting Florida Panthers defenseman Alexander Petrovic (6) during the first period of the NHL game between the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens on March 19, 2018, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Today at 5 PM ET is the deadline teams have to send qualifying offers to restricted free agents and the Montreal Canadiens have several who need one.

We’ve reached yet another milestone in the 2018 offseason. Teams with RFAs have until 5 PM ET to give them a qualifying offer to have them remain in the organization. Otherwise, the player becomes a UFA and can leave freely. The Montreal Canadiens will have some decisions to make as they have nine players to hand out offers to potentially.

According to Capfriendly, the qualifying offer received is based on the player’s base salary. The max multiplier is 110% of their base salary if they made $660,000 and decreases by 5% depending on the range it falls in.

  • If salary is $660,000, then qualifying offer is 110% of salary
  • If salary is between $600,000 and $1 million, then qualifying offer is 105% of salary
  • If salary is greater than $1 million, then qualifying offer is 100% of salary

Additionally, the qualifying offer has to be a one-way deal – meaning the player makes the same amount of money whether in the NHL or AHL – if:

  • The player played 180 NHL games across three seasons
  • The player played 60 NHL games in the previous season
  • They did not clear waivers at any point in the previous season

Phillip Danault, Michael McCarron, Jacob de La Rose, Daniel Carr, Logan Shaw, Kerby Rychel, Zachary Fucale, Jeremy Gregoire, and Tom Parisi will all need these to remain with the Montreal Canadiens. Here is what their qualifying offers will look like if they get one.

Danault: Base Salary = $950,000 – QO = $997,500 (One-Way Deal)

Danault has 184 games played over the last three seasons. Additionally, he played the full season last year making him eligible for a one-way deal.

McCarron: Base Salary = $832,500 – QO = $874,125 (Two-Way Deal)

McCarron has a total of 69 NHL games played under his belt. He only played 31 last season and therefore doesn’t fall within the range to get a one-way deal.

de La Rose: Base Salary = $725,000 – QO = $761,250 (Two-Way Deal)

The 23-year-old has a total of 119 NHL games and only played 9 last season.

Carr: Base Salary = $725,000 – QO = $761,250 (Two-Way Deal)

With only 94 games played across his career, Carr is only eligible for a two-way deal.

L. Shaw: Base Salary = $650,000 – QO = $715,000 (One-Way Deal)

Shaw is right on the money here. He’s played exactly 180 NHL games in the last three seasons and also meets the requirements of not clearing waivers this year. The Habs claimed him off the wire from the Anaheim Ducks.

Rychel: Base Salary = $832,500 – QO = $874,125 (Two-Way Deal)

The California native only has 41 NHL games played across his entire career.

Fucale: Base Salary = $700,000 – QO = $735,000 (Two-Way Deal)

The goaltender has spent time on the bench as a backup in the last two seasons for Carey Price and Charlie Lindgren which count as games played in these proceedings. However, there haven’t been enough.

Grègoirè: Base Salary = $650,000 – QO = $715,000 (Two-Way Deal)

He hasn’t played any NHL games since being drafted in 2013.

Parisi: Base Salary = $675,000 – QO = $708,500 (Two-Way Deal)

It’s only been the AHL for Parisi since signing out of Providence College.

Who Gets One?

Of all the RFAs on the Montreal Canadiens, Danault, de La Rose, Carr, Rychel, and McCarron are the most likely to get them. The jury is still out on the team’s first-round pick from 2013, but they may try to give him one more shot with a prove-it deal of some sorts.

Rychel had a nice debut for the Habs after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was able to bring his grinding power game up to Montreal in the latter stretch of the season scoring his first NHL goal in almost two years.

The other three may have found themselves out of sorts in the organization. Fucale is a victim of being surrounded with talent in net. Lindgren and Michael McNiven are the start of it, but there’s also Cayden Primeau playing at Northeastern University. The signing of goaltender Ètienne Marcoux may have been the final nail in the coffin for Fucale.

Next: 2018 NHL Draft Class

It’ll be interesting to see who gets a QO and who doesn’t. After that is out, the next step will be to figure out what their next contracts with the Montreal Canadiens will look like.

Acknowledgements: Qualifying offers calculated using Capfriendly’s QO Calculator