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Should the Montreal Canadiens sign Matt Duchene or Jake Gardiner?

By Emmanuel D

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 21: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs ties up Noel Acciari #55 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 21: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs ties up Noel Acciari #55 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 23: Matt Duchene Jake Gardiner Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

The second issue is the fact that the Canadiens have several roster players as well as young prospects who play at the centre position. On the current roster, the Habs already have Max Domi, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Philip Danault and Ryan Poehling who played in the final game of the regular season. Max Domi can be moved to the wing and Ryan Poehling still has to earn a roster spot, so there is a spot for Duchene if he does sign. With Suzuki also competing for a spot next season, things become more complicated.

An important issue to keep in mind though is that there is no guarantee that prospects such as Poehling, Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki will reach their full potential so signing Duchene would make sense in a worst case scenario where the prospects do not pan out.

This scenario would no doubt lead to Marc Bergevin having to move out players to accommodate this signing. Whether those would be good or bad moves remains to be seen. However, if these moves were to benefit the team, it’s hard to see Marc Bergevin not taking the chance to sign Duchene.

Is Jake Gardiner a Fit?

If the Montreal Canadiens want to have any chance of competing into the post-season, the issue on defense will have to be solved. Going into next season with Brett Kulak, Mike Reilly and the young Victor Mete as three LD’s will not be enough. If the Canadiens were to sign Jake Gardiner, he would quickly become their top left-handed defenseman. Gardiner recorded 3 goals and 30 points in 62 games. He missed 20 regular season games due to a back injury.

The 28-year old defenseman will be looking for a significant payday with some saying he can get a long-term deal getting paid upwards of $7 million a year. This a big price to pay but if Marc Bergevin cannot solve the defense issue through a trade, signing Jake Gardiner may be the best option.

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