Grading Montreal’s Moves From The Past Week

Mike Reilly

The Habs re-signed Mike Reilly to a two-year contract worth $1.5 million per year. This is the only move made by GM Marc Bergevin this week that I really dislike. Reilly has decent offensive upside, but is far from reliable defensively.

Third pairing defensemen need to be reliable in their own zone above all else. Reilly had his fair share of chances to solidify a spot in the lineup last season and failed to do so. I don’t believe it was necessary to bring him back.

Especially when you consider that Xavier Ouellet and Gustav Olofsson are players of equivalent calibre offensively whilst being more responsible defensively and both are likely to be with the Laval Rocket.

Reilly was a frequent healthy scratch in the second half of last season. He was gifted an opportunity to play top pairing minutes with Shea Weber, then second pairing minutes with Jeff Petry and finally third pairing minutes with Jordie Benn or Noah Juulsen. He dropped the ball with every opportunity and watched the playoff push from the press box.

The painful part is the salary. $1.5 million is about $700 000 more than I would have been willing to shell out for Reilly. The two years of term put salt on the wound. This move is in no way going to handicap the team going forward, but it is unnecessary and wastes a chunk of cap space in my eyes.

Grade: F

Andrew Shaw

Andrew Shaw was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks along with a seventh round draft pick in exchange for a second and a seventh round pick in 2020 and a third round pick in 2021. I love Shaw, he is gritty, beloved in the locker room and adds a scoring touch.

The move was primarily made to free up cap space for a move I will look at shortly. However it also freed up a roster spot for Nick Suzuki to step into this year or next season. Suzuki lit up the Ontario Hockey League, especially in the postseason and could be a force in Montreal within a year. Shaw had three years left on his deal which would have become an impediment eventually.

Bergevin also moved on from Shaw to capitalize on his high trade value following a career year. It’s always better to move on from a player a year too early, than a minute too late.

The main reason I’m alright with this deal is because Andrew Shaw may very well be one concussion away from being forced into retirement. The return was respectable and it took $3.9 million off the books.

Grade: B

Nicholas Deslauriers

Nicholas Deslauriers was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth round draft pick. I had a double take when I first saw this deal reported. I was, and am, astonished with the return we got for a player nearly out of the running to compete for a roster spot next season.

I am by no means trying to insult Big Nic, as he is excellent in his tough guy role. His fight against Boston last season completely changed the tide of the game and we ended up winning that encounter. That being said, he would have been a long shot to crack the Habs roster out of training camp, with Ryan Poehling, Suzuki and Nick Cousins passing him on the depth chart.

I am very much satisfied with the return.

Grade: A

Riley Barber

Barber was signed to a one year deal with a $700 000 cap hit. There is an off-chance he competes for a spot on the NHL lineup, but he will most likely bolster the revamped Laval offense. It’s a low risk depth signing, but could have a big impact in the minor league level.

Barber scored 31 goals and close to a point per game with the Hershey Bears last season. The 25 year old has played just three NHL games in his career and hasn’t registered a point. Good piece for the Rocket but don’t expect him to play many games for the Canadiens unless there are a pile of injuries.

Grade: C

Phil Varone

Basically the same thing as Barber, Varone is signed to an identical one year, $700 000 deal. He will also add scoring talent to our AHL affiliate. The depth is never a bad thing. Could help the Rocket actually play a few postseason games one of these years.

He was the AHL MVP in 2017-18 and has 97 NHL games played in his career. While he has proven to be able to score at a point per game pace in the AHL, he has only 17 points in his 97 NHL games. Another piece to help the Rocket. Meh.

Grade: C

Keith Kinkaid

Keith Kinkaid was signed to a one year $1.75 million deal on Canada Day. I’m a fan of this move as well. While Kinkaid underperformed last season, he did so behind a lackluster New Jersey defense. He is just a year removed from dragging the Devils to the playoffs along with Taylor Hall.

He’s a solid backup goalie and is miles ahead of any other option we have at the moment. Charlie Lindgren has looked decent in his limited number of NHL games, but was outperformed in Laval by both Michael McNiven and Connor Lacouvee, neither of whom are ready for a backup role yet. Cayden Primeau should spend a few years as the starter in Laval before moving on to the NHL. Thus, signing Kinkaid was a necessary move and he should be a serviceable backup to Carey Price.

Grade: B+

Ben Chiarot

This is the move that is most difficult for me to grade. Chiarot was signed to a 3 year contract with an AAV of $3.5 million. On one side, we get a left-shot younger replacement for Jordie Benn who is more physical and more composed. On the flip side, this signing in no way solves our search for a top-2 left defenseman.

Unless such a player is acquired, Victor Mete will most likely play next to Shea Weber in 2019-20. Mete has a lot of potential, but he is not the ideal first pairing defenseman on a contending team. Nonetheless, Chiarot is a capable defenseman, and a big one at that. He may very well mentor Noah Juulsen, Josh Brook or Cale Fleury this upcoming season, depending on which one of the three wins the third pairing right D spot in camp.

While he may be slightly overpaid, UFA’s almost always are, especially those signing in Montreal, and $3.5 million is not a bad contract if he is able to thrive in a shutdown role-playing on the second or third pairing while also getting some time on the PK. His booming slapshot doesn’t hurt either, it was clocked at 107 miles/hour a few years ago.

Grade: B+

Nick Cousins

I like this signing a lot, of course, it goes without saying that signing a fourth or maybe third liner will not put the Canadiens over the edge or immediately make them a contender to win the Stanley Cup, but at $1 million for a single year, signing a perennial 27 point scorer is a great way to replace the outgoing Nicholas Deslauriers in the bottom six.

It also means that if Artturi Lehkonen or Joel Armia ask for too much, they are not irreplaceable and Cousins could thrive with third line minutes. His metrics are outstanding. His Corsi For stood at 52.0% last season, meaning that he made his team much better when he was on the ice.

He seems to be of the Jordan Weal mould, in that he is able to provide solid depth scoring and that he was also gifted to us by the Arizona Coyotes, we really should keep dealing with them, it’s helping the Habs out a lot.

Cousins adds grit to the lineup, and while he is not a particularly big body, he is defensively responsible. Even if this Cousins fails to impress in camp, or is beaten out by others, he will provide a whole lot of offense to a stacked Laval Rocket team.

Grade: A

Sebastian Aho

What an intriguing move this was. The Habs extended an offersheet to RFA Sebastian Aho, offering 5 years with an AAV of $8.454 million. Bergevin front-loaded the contract with maximum bonuses in the first 12 months totalling $21 million.

While Carolina has yet to officially match the contract at the time of writing, it is a foregone conclusion that they will. I’m not so secretly hoping that a hurricane will sweep through Raleigh (injuring no one of course) and take out the electricity if the Hurricanes decide to wait until the last moment to actually match. Of course that is but a pipe dream, but wouldn’t it be incredible if we get Aho from the Hurricanes because of a hurricane?

Anyway, the contract was always going to be matched because it just wasn’t high enough. However I’m glad Bergevin went out there and tried something. It’s an unconventional method, and this may just open the floodgates for offersheets this year and for years to come. By this I mean we may begin to see one or two offersheets extended per year.

It didn’t end up helping the Canadiens roster. However, it shows Bergevin is trying everything he can to do so. Maybe there was only a 5% chance the Hurricanes wouldn’t match, but why not take the chance?

Grade: B-

Overall

I think the team is marginally better than it was last season at this moment in time. However with the rest of our competition improving greatly this offseason, a playoff spot would be a real challenge to obtain with our current roster.

I like a lot of the depth moves, as they render current roster players expendable in some cases, who in turn can be traded for picks or other assets. Trading Deslauriers for a 4th round pick for example and then replacing him with Cousins who is probably a better player anyway.

However, barring a major acquisition (I am hearing rumblings of a Laine trade in the making, but will only believe that once it’s made official), this free agency period will be deemed a failure.

The Aho offer sheet was a nice attempt at luring a superstar to the Montreal Canadiens. However, it did not work out and did not result in the Habs improving their roster. The Shaw trade brought back a nice haul of picks, but they don’t make the team any better heading into 2019-20. It’s hard to say what the future holds for draft picks.

My grade will be for what is done as of this moment.

Final Grade: C-