Montreal Canadiens Trading Andrew Shaw Opens Up Cap Space, But For Who?
The Montreal Canadiens traded Andrew Shaw back to the Chicago Blackhawks, opening up nearly $4 million in cap space. Who will they use the extra cap room to acquire?
The Montreal Canadiens traded Andrew Shaw to the Chicago Blackhawks last night for second, third and seventh round draft picks. They did not bring back or retain salary on Shaw’s contract so they opened up another $3.9 million in cap space for next season.
The Canadiens already had plenty of cap room anyway. After the Shaw trade, they now have $12.6 million to spend next season. That number will go up even more once players like Dale Weise, Matthew Peca and Karl Alzner pass waivers next season and get sent to the minors. They realistically have about $15 million worth of cap space they can use.
Trading Shaw signals the Canadiens could be up to something big in the free agent frenzy. Shaw is still a very capable NHL player and fit in well in the Canadiens top six forwards when partnered with Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi.
In fact, Shaw just had the best offensive season of his career. He scored 19 goals and 47 points in 63 games. The 47 points were a career high, and he would have been able to pile up for offence if he didn’t miss 19 games with injury.
So this wasn’t a move to get rid of a bad contract. Shaw has three years left on his current deal with a cap hit of $3.9 million. At 30 years of age, Shaw’s offence and gritty style were not about to fall off a cliff either.
Losing Shaw stings. He was a solid second or third line right winger who could win face-offs, kill penalties and provided veteran leadership. The Habs are nowhere near the cap ceiling. The fact he was dealt for a few draft picks suggests that the Canadiens have something else cooking to do with the cap space.
But what could they be up to today with that cap space?
It’s possible Matt Duchene is the target. He is a centre that is also coming off his best offensive season. He tied a career high with 70 points and did it splitting the season between the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Duchene played well in the postseason as well, helping the Blue Jackets sweep the heavily favoured Tampa Bay Lightning in round one. He’s a centre that would immediately be the Habs best centre, but would quickly be blocking the path of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling from becoming top centres.
That’s why i think Duchene is not the target with all the cap space. Montreal has lots of options down the middle, including Phillip Danault who garnered Selke consideration this season and put up 53 points.
The Habs also have Nick Suzuki turning pro this season who is expected to play centre in training camp. Signing Duchene would take a massive contract, but would ultimately have him standing in the way of the impressive group of prospects that could be playing top six minutes in the near future.
Where Montreal is thin is on the wing, especially right wing and also on defence, especially left defence. That’s where the money should be earmarked, to fill specific holes and turn this 96 point regular season team into a true contender.
I think the best fit and the open cap space could be used on Joe Pavelski. The former San Jose Sharks right winger/centre is the best goal scorer on the open market and would be an absolutely perfect fit for the Canadiens.
He could step in and play with Domi and Drouin, filling the role left absent by Shaw and provide a much bigger offensive spark. Pavelski scored 38 goals for the Sharks this season, and many of them come from his providing a net-front presence. Twelve of his goals and 21 of his points came with the man advantage.
The Canadiens were a solid team at even strength last season but were abysmal on the power play. Pavelski could help fix that issue all by himself. Imagine Shea Weber blasting shots from the point on the power play and the world’s best at tipping and redirecting pucks standing in front of the net.
It would be a nightmare scenario for the Canadiens opposition. Pavelski could also allow Domi to continue playing at centre where he flourished last season. Domi is a left shot and could take all of the face-offs on his strong side and Pavelski, a right shot, could take the face-offs on the opposite side.
This would also allow the line of Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault, who were one of the league’s best trios at even strength to stay together. What a powerful top six that would give the Habs. Add in contributions from Kotkaniemi, Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Arthur Lehkonen and Ryan Poehling and the Habs forwards would be a force to be reckoned with.
Habs Save Lots of Cap Space Trading Shaw To Hawks. dark. Next
Whether Pavelski is the target or not, there is no question the Montreal Canadiens have something unique and impactful planned for today’s free agent frenzy.