Six moves the Montreal Canadiens need to make this offseason
A month after the Montreal Canadiens season ended and Marc Bergevin is already preparing for next year, but there are six moves he must make over the summer.
Almost every fan is guilty of playing Armchair GM at some point. I mean, who doesn’t like playing General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens? With that in mind, I thought I would take a shot at it and see where it leads me and outline six moves that I think GM Marc Bergevin should make this offseason.
In no particular order here are the moves that I think Marc Bergevin needs to make this offseason:
- Sign a top-six forward
- Sign or trade for a top-four defenceman
- Do not re-sign Jordie Benn
- Sign Max Domi to a contract extension
- Draft a scoring forward and a defenceman
- Figure out what to do with Karl Alzner
First Move
The Habs need to address the glaring need for a top-six forward. According to Daily Faceoff, the Montreal Canadiens sent out a top-six forward group that looked like this in the latter half of the season:
Tomas Tatar/Phillip Danault/Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen/Max Domi/Andrew Shaw
Realistically Jonathan Drouin should slot into the top-six on a regular basis, but his play down the stretch was simply unacceptable. For me, Max Domi would ideally be put back on the wing with the addition of a true top-six centre.
If the opportunity presents itself come July 1, Bergevin should make every play possible to bring in Matt Duchene if he hits the open market. If I had my way, this would be my top-six come opening night next season:
Max Domi/Matt Duchene/Jonathan Drouin
Tomas Tatar/Jesperi Kotkaniemi/Brendan Gallagher
Realistically, I understand that this probably won’t happen. The coaching staff really likes Phillip Danault, and I don’t think they would be ready to slot him into the third line centre role which would be his ideal spot.
Even if the coaching staff prefers to keep Danault in the top-six, keeping Kotkaniemi as the third-line centre wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world. It is no secret that the Canadiens struggle and have struggled to score goals, and I think the addition of a true top-six forward such as Matt Duchene would do wonders for this team.
If Matt Duchene is available come July 1, I would be ready and willing to offer Matt Duchene a seven-year contract at $8.5-9 million per. If anyone has seen his play for Columbus during the playoffs, you’ll know he is a top-end player that immediately improves any team’s forward group.
Second Move
Second on my list is the addition of a top-four defenceman, true, proven, top-four defenceman. The Canadiens finished the season icing a defensive corps that looked like this:
Victor Mete/Shea Weber
Brett Kulak/Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn/Christian Folin
In my opinion, the Canadiens currently have three top-four defencemen on the roster in Weber, Petry, and Mete.
There is a hole on the left of Jeff Petry on the second pairing though. I really have nothing against Brett Kulak, Kulak did a fine job in that spot, but fine isn’t good enough. Fine should not be what fans are given. Fine should not be what fans accept from this team!
There are options available for an upgrade on defence. Marc Bergevin could target one via free agency, but his options there are limited. I think his only realistic option for adding a top-four defenceman would be via trade.
There have been rumblings in the past of Montreal’s interest in Pittsburgh’s Olli Maatta, and reports out of Pittsburgh have stated that the defenceman would be available for teams to trade for. The D-man struggled this season, being a healthy scratch for some of the Penguins’ playoff games this spring.
The Olli Maatta Trade Rumours. light. Must Read
To me, this could mean that he could be had for a decent return. Rumours were going around this season that Bergevin called Jim Rutherford looking into trading for Maata, but those talks evidently went nowhere. The rumoured ask for Maata from Pittsburgh started with Artturi Lehkonen and probably included a draft pick. If Marc Bergevin circles back to Pittsburgh to see if something could be worked out, I would definitely not be opposed to the team trading Lehkonen and a draft pick (I would go as a high as a third-round pick) to bring in Olli Maatta.
If the Canadiens decide not to go that route, I would love to see them target Cam Fowler out of Anaheim.
Related Story. Three Anaheim players to target. light
It seems everyone is available out there and Bergevin has a history of trading with Bob Murray. Obviously, the price to acquire Fowler would be higher than Maata’s, but you have to give something to get something. I am so sick and tired of this General Manager telling us how hard it is to make trades in the NHL! It is hard for every other General Manager out there, but the good ones don’t hesitate to improve their team! DO YOUR JOB, MARC!
Third Move
Third on my list would be not to re-sign Jordie Benn. Benn had a strong season for the Habs this year rebounding quite well after a disastrous season last year and a pretty bad start this season.
With that being said, Benn’s contract expires July 1, and he will definitely be looking for an upgrade on his current $1.1 million AAV. I think he is going to get that upgrade likely around $2.5 million AAV. I just don’t think the Montreal Canadiens should be the team to give him that contract.
If Marc Bergevin succeeds in doing his job and adding a top-four defenceman to this roster, then Kulak, who is an RFA this summer, could be slotted nicely into the third pair with Noah Juulsen while Christian Folin is serving as the extra D-man.
There is a log-jam of depth defencemen on this team, and there simply aren’t enough minutes to go around for everyone if Bergevin adds an established top-four.
Fourth Move
Fourth on my list is signing Max Domi to a contract extension this summer.
Without factoring in Domi’s 72-point season, his importance to the Canadiens hasn’t been hard to miss. It is so easy to see how happy that kid is to be a Montreal Canadien, and in a short amount of time, he has come in here and embodied what it means to be a Canadien, and the pressure of playing in the Hockey Mecca of the world hasn’t fazed him one bit.
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He goes out there every night and gives it his 100%. He leaves everything he has on the ice each and every shift. He is hard working in the defensive zone, strong away from the puck, doesn’t shy away from hard puck battles and playing physical along the boards, and he always seems to be in the right place in the offensive zone.
Then when you factor in his breakout season of 72 points, he seems primed to truly establish himself as a legitimate top-six forward in the NHL. This is the type of player Marc Bergevin is always looking for when he speaks of character players and players with the right attitude.
Don’t be surprised if Bergevin and I see eye-to-eye on this one (this doesn’t happen very often), and the Habs GM does his best to lock Domi up long term. It also doesn’t hurt that Domi said at the end of the season that he hopes to be a Hab for life!
Fifth Move
Fifth on my list is the draft. As things stand right now, the Canadiens will head to the draft in June with three picks in the first two rounds: the 15th pick in the first round and two picks in the second round.
Related Story. The location of the Columbus draft pick. light
There are two scenarios here for me. I have said in the past that I would be in favour of trading the 15th overall pick to bring in immediate help, whether that be a top-six scoring forward or an established top-four defenceman. The second scenario – and when looking at Bergevin’s track record, the most likely – would be the team keeping the picks they have right now.
Regardless of whether the team has three or two picks in the first two rounds, I would like to see the team address two of their biggest needs by drafting a scoring forward with and a left-handed defenceman who both have the potential to be key contributors in the NHL.
If the team stands pat and holds on to the15th pick, I would love to see them draft Philip Broberg if he is still available. I think Broberg would be a perfect fit for the Canadiens moving forward. The left-handed smooth-skating defenceman handles the puck very well and comes with a heavy shot that can get pucks through in the offensive zone. Did I mention he was left-handed?
Sixth Move
The last thing on my list would be to figure out what the team is going to do with Karl Alzner.
I don’t think there is a team out there that would be willing to take Alzner off the Canadiens’ hands without Montreal including a top prospect and a draft pick. That really isn’t worth it.
I think the most likely and logical outcome is that the Canadiens are going to buy out Karl Alzner this summer. His signing simply hasn’t worked out, and it is time to cut their losses and buy him out. Ken MacMillan recently wrote a piece outlining what an Alzner buy out would look like the for Canadiens, I’d like to invite you to go check it out.
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Who knows whether Bergevin attempts any of the moves here, but it may be advantageous too if he wants to guarantee the Montreal Canadiens a spot in the playoffs next year and for the years to come.