Montreal Canadiens Roundup: More offer sheets and Nick Suzuki’s role

The Montreal Canadiens have been all over the headlines in the last few weeks, and we discuss whether there is more coming for them.

1) Should the Montreal Canadiens try to offer sheet someone else?

Sebastian: My quick answer would be no. Of the eight or nine offer sheets ever extended, only one has not been matched, and that was Dustin Penner. I believe that it would be much more beneficial to trade for the rights of an RFA such as Patrik Laine instead of extending an offer sheet. It would be better for Bergy’s reputation around the league (however much that’s worth) and would allow the Montreal Canadiens to give prospects, and roster players along with draft picks instead of solely draft selections.

Emmanuel D: If the Montreal Canadiens try to offer sheet anyone else, it should be Patrik Laine. There have been rumours that the Canadiens have been trying to acquire him through a trade, but if that does not work out, they would try to sign him via offer sheet. If the offer sheet is the route they take, in order to prevent the Winnipeg Jets from matching the contract, the Canadiens would probably have to offer upwards of $10.4 million to have a chance at bringing over Laine.

This is a high price to pay for someone coming off a down year, but at 21 years old, Laine is a franchise player who could score more than 30 goals per season. His biggest issue, however, is his lack of doing anything else if he is not scoring, which is something I hope he can change.

Dillon ‘Dom’ Dominique: After ultimately striking out on the Aho offer sheet,  I feel like Marc Bergevin could use the threat of an offer sheet to his advantage. Teams now know he is serious. Patrik Laine is a player that Montreal is rumored to have interest in but with Winnipeg Jets GM- Kevin Cheveldayoff being very good friends with Bergevin, I couldn’t see him sending a hostile offer Winnipeg’s way.

I could, however, see the possibility of a trade being worked out between the two clubs. Marner is another name rumored to receive an offer sheet, but I feel he will be too expensive for MB’s liking. An under the radar RFA is- Kevin Labanc who could possibly be had at the right price. He put up 56 points last season so I would expect an offer sheet of around $5.5 million which would cost us one 1st round pick and one 3rd round pick in compensation, which we could find well worth it.

Another option is using the threat of an offer sheet like I mentioned before and working out a trade for the up and coming forward. San Jose has $6.38 million remaining in cap space with 19 players signed to the roster. They may want to keep a little flexibility as their defense could use a little bit of work depth wise.

Kenneth MacMillan: I think the Habs should definitely continue to pursue the possibility of offer sheets. They just need to be careful about giving up too much compensation. An offer sheet that comes with a cap hit of $10.5 million or more would cost the Habs their next four first-round picks.

That’s too much to give up for any player available. However, if they keep the cap hit below that and target either Matthew Tkachuk or Patrik Laine the compensation would be two 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd. That’s still a lot, but when you get a game changer like Laine, it’s worth it.

Omar White: The offer sheet route has proven to be pretty messy. Mitch Marner‘s camp has been the only to publicly hint at the possibility of signing one my meeting with other teams during the restricted free agent interview period. However, the toll it takes on both player and organization isn’t black and white but instead a comfortable shade of grey.

Offer sheets are within the right of an NHL team as it’s in the CBA. The issue is with the compensation which makes going for players like Marner or Patrik Laine that more difficult, especially when you consider the type of coin they’re looking for.

The Montreal Canadiens tried with Sebastian Aho and Brayden Point has made it clear he doesn’t want to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning. Additionally, there’s been no word on what Tkachuk is asking for in Calgary as well as Mikko Rantanen in Colorado. An offer sheet does seem like the easier route as all a team needs to do is send over a compelling contract in hopes of it being signed, but making a trade seems to be the more likely scenario.

Marner and Laine could be burning bridges with their respective teams and working out a deal could be a better avenue for Bergevin and the Habs.

So no, I don’t think the Montreal Canadiens are going to offer sheet another player. Bergevin may go back to his bag of tricks if he’s not done improving the team, but all the intangibles of an offer sheet complicate the whole process.

2) What are Nick Suzuki’s chances of making the team out of camp? (Is it as a centre or winger)

S: First and foremost, Nick Suzuki is a winger, his style of play makes him much more lethal on the right wing than at the centre position. This is in no way a bad thing for the habs given their newfound depth at centre ice. While he could conceivably crack the lineup following his historic playoff display for the Guelph Storm, I think he will play in Laval, which may very well be the best thing for his development.

ED: I would say Nick Suzuki’s chances of making the Canadiens out of training camp is 50/50. While I think he is best suited to play a season in Laval, he can easily surprise management and the coaching staff and earn a roster spot. I think the deciding factor will be how Ryan Poehling plays during camp who I believe currently has an edge over Suzuki. When it comes to the centre/winger debate, the organization seems keen on using him as a centre so they should not stray from that unless Suzuki is really struggling in either the AHL or NHL.

DD:  I think his chances are pretty high. I think we will give him every opportunity to prove he is capable of playing at the next level, it’ll be up to him to show what he can do. As we saw last season- we are prepared to move out players if a young guy proves to be the better player (Karl Alzner and Thomas Plekanec).

Suzuki will start his career on the wing as we are stacked at centre both in the NHL and farm team. We are lacking a number one centre at this very moment but to expect him to come in and fill that hole wouldn’t be realistic. Suzuki has made it clear that the coaching staff and management see him as a centre and will develop him as such when he starts at centre in the NHL is anyone guess.

KK:  I think Suzuki has a chance to fill the roster spot opened up by the Andrew Shaw trade. Shaw had a great season and was playing with Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi for long stretches. With him back in Chicago, who is a better option to fill that role on right wing in the top six?

Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen and Jordan Weal are the only options, and none of them scream “top six winger.” If we don’t see another acquisition, there is a huge opportunity for Suzuki to jump right to the NHL after dominating the OHL this season.

OW: Suzuki was one of the league’s top forwards in the OHL playing down the middle, but his style of play is more favourable on the wing. That’s not to knock him as a player whatsoever.

Playmaking wingers are a hot commodity in the NHL nowadays, and Suzuki’s skillset and vision will be a massive strength along the wall. Especially if he’s paired with a shooting centre once he’s on the Montreal Canadiens. Generally, a player at centre is the puck distributor who tries to find a player on the wall as much as they can. But the league has its fair share of examples of those roles being reversed and working out fairly well.

With that said, it’ll be harder for Suzuki to make the team out of camp over someone like Ryan Poehling for example, given the number of built-in excuses. Some will say Suzuki will be better off in the AHL as he’ll get top line minutes, others may believe he needs a year to dominate in the minors, and of course when it comes to Claude Julien, if his play away from the puck isn’t as strong, that’ll be another reason to hold him back.

Suzuki will really need to impress in the preseason, so much so that the Montreal Canadiens will have no choice but to keep him on the team. At this moment, I say he doesn’t make it, even though he should, but fingers crossed that I’m wrong.

3) Are you satisfied with what Marc Bergevin has done with the roster and how will you feel if Ben Chiaro is his final add?

S:  I would be extremely disappointed if Bergevin does not add a big name this offseason without subtracting a big name currently on our roster. I quite like Chiarot, but he is not the solution for a first-pairing left defenseman. With all the teams around the Canadiens improving exponentially, Montreal needs to improve to b in the playoff dogfight.

ED: As of right now, I am satisfied with what Marc Bergevin has done this offseason. Although I was a big fan of Andrew Shaw, they were able to get good value out of the deal. Even though it was probably to free up space for the Sebastian Aho offer sheet which did not work out the way they expected, that space can be used on other players later on.

Drafting Cole Caufield was a big win for the organization, and they made the right call doing so. I think Ben Chiarot fits the second pairing with Jeff Petry rather well until they get a bigger name, but if this were Marc Bergevin’s last move of the offseason, I would not be happy. The Habs still need to improve their defense as I don’t think Victor Mete is ready for a full-time top pairing role, but I’ll be happily surprised if he is and the Canadiens still need to acquire a top-6 forward whose primary role is to score goals which would also improve the powerplay.

DD: I am satisfied at the moment knowing the summer is over yet. On the other hand, I will be quite upset if Chiarot is the final move of the offseason. With the loss of Andrew Shaw through trade, I don’t think we can just stand pat on the offense. Even with the kids coming, Marc Bergevin owes it to Carey Price and Shea Weber to add a player who can contribute to the success of the team now.

More from Editorials

• Montreal Canadiens: Senators Rebuild At Crisis Point As Kent Hughes Moves Forward
• Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin Continues Charity Work In Montreal After Leaving Habs
• Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Lineup Going To Be Must Watch
• Montreal Canadiens: Jesse Ylönen Contract Extension Analysis
• Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #31 Quentin Miller

An offer sheet or trade for Laine or Labanc are options that should be seriously considered. Names like Ryan Dzingel and Micheal Ferland are interesting options left on the UFA market that should be explored, and one player in Nikita Gusev who’s rights are owned by the Vegas Golden Knights could be a home run option through trade. Acquiring one of these players will make this offseason a total win in my book.

KK: I don’t think Bergevin has made the team any better this summer. At least not yet. If Ben Chiarot is the final addition, then I would be optimistic heading into next season, but I would not be satisfied with Bergevin’s work over the summer to make the team any better than it was last year.

There would be tons of cap space left on the table for the third straight year, Chiarot would be a slight upgrade over Benn, but LD would be a question mark. Shaw leaving only to hopefully replaced by Suzuki would be putting a ton of pressure on the young forward. So, no. I would not be satisfied if this is the team we head to camp with.