Montreal Canadiens Could Be Interested In John Gilmour

The Montreal Canadiens have a need for a left defenceman who can join the team next season. They will need to go outside the organization to find an upgrade, and could find a low cost solution in John Gilmour.

The Montreal Canadiens are set to enter the free agent frenzy with plenty of cap space. They have a need for a left defenceman but may not want to break the bank to bring in Jake Gardiner. If they want to go with a more cost effective option, they could turn to John Gilmour.

Getting into a bidding war for the top free agents usually ends up with buyers remorse for the winning bidder. The rumour circulating yesterday was that Tyler Myers would be looking for a seven year deal with an annual cap hit of $8 million.

Myers is a fine defender, but he is not worth anywhere near a $56 million contract. Gardiner would fill the Canadiens biggest need, but will be looking for a contract almost identical to the one Myers is apparently expecting. That would be far too much for Montreal to commit to right now.

First of all, they have several young, intriguing defensemen who will soon be looking for ice time. Having Gardiner earning seven or eight million for the next seven years would eventually be a problem when Alexander Romanov, Victor Mete and Jayden Struble or Mattias Norlinder are all looking for ice time on the left side of the blue line.

Second, the Canadiens will have a number of large contracts to sign in the next two years. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Tatar, Philip Danault, Noah Juulsen and Victor Mete are all free agents in 2021. Depending on how the next two years play out, that could be half the team’s salary cap in 2021-22.

General manager Marc Bergevin needs to be careful with how much money he commits beyond 2021. He does need to add a left defenceman, but doesn’t want to spend a pile of money. So, who could he target?

One interesting name that is on the market is defenceman John Gilmour. He is a 26 year old who spent most of last season in the AHL, but has shown he could be a late bloomer much like current Canadiens defenceman Brett Kulak.

Gilmour was drafted in the 7th round of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames. He went to Providence College where he played four seasons and then became a UFA after not reaching an agreement with the Flames.

He spent the past three seasons in the New York Rangers system, and just had a breakout campaign. Gilmour scored 20 goals and added 34 assists for 54 points in 70 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He ranked second in both goals and points among AHL defenders.

Gilmour has only played 33 NHL games in his career, so he won’t be looking for a huge contract. However, as one of the top scoring defensemen in the minor leagues, he could prove to be a puck moving option on the third pairing for the Canadiens next season.

Obviously, I am not saying we should expect him to come in and play top pairing minutes. He could come in and take on the ice time that Jordie Benn was playing down the stretch. If he doesn’t earn that much ice time, he could be solid depth in the organization.

Signing Gilmour to a two-year deal at around $1 million per season wouldn’t stop the Canadiens from adding another more NHL proven left defenceman as well. It would just give them another option battling for ice time heading into training camp, and more depth in the organization.

Whether he is brought in for organizational depth, or given a chance to prove himself in the top six, Gilmour would be a low cost gamble that could be home run for the Montreal Canadiens.