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Montreal Canadiens Roundtable: Moving on to the NHL Draft and Free Agency

By Emmanuel D

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: General manager of the Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin speaks with the media prior to the NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre on January 7, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Minnesota Wild defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: General manager of the Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin speaks with the media prior to the NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre on January 7, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Minnesota Wild defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 07: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens season came to an end, and after the media met with the players and Marc Bergevin for the last time, it’s time to look ahead at what is in store for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft as well as Free Agency.

1) With Marc Bergevin being given permission to spend up against the salary cap, who do you think the Montreal Canadiens should sign, if anyone?

Joshua Delorme: While there are a lot of fans who would want MB to go after Artemi Panarin, and don’t get me wrong that would be fantastic, I don’t think it’s realistic. I don’t think Panarin is coming to Montreal unless MB throws so much money at him he can’t say no. Bergevin won’t do that, and that’s a good thing.

I would love to see the Montreal Canadiens add a defenceman to this roster; a real, proven top-4 defenceman. This won’t be popular here in Montreal, but I would target Jake Gardiner.  A left-handed shot defenceman that would immediately slot into the top-4, I think he would look fantastic next to Jeff Petry. Gardiner is going to be the top left-handed defenceman available this July, with the cap space Montreal has I would not shy away from offering 6-6.5 million dollars per year. Now, I don’t think I would feel comfortable going more than 3-4 years in length.

I think Bergevin needs to do something to improve the defensive corps or this hockey team, and Jake Gardiner is a proven top-4 defenceman that can come in and stabilize the defence.

While this team does need help scoring and could use a forward, I don’t think Bergevin is going to go hard after a top available forward free agent because the cost will be too high. Look for him to expect his forward group to just continue growing and improving, don’t expect too much movement there.

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