A Winning Habit
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2021 will be the year the dynamic of the Montreal Canadiens changes

By Omar L

OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 20: Montreal Canadiens Right Wing Joel Armia (40) and Montreal Canadiens Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (15) celebrate a goal during first period National Hockey League action between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators on October 20, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 20: Montreal Canadiens Right Wing Joel Armia (40) and Montreal Canadiens Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (15) celebrate a goal during first period National Hockey League action between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators on October 20, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 17: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens have been defined by a few players over the years, but the 2020-21 season could be the year all that changes.

Marc Bergevin had five key restricted free agents to make decisions on in Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen, Charles Hudon, Mike Reilly, and Brett Kulak. Many thought Michael McCarron wouldn’t be part of that group, but the Montreal Canadiens decided to qualify him ahead of the deadline while leaving the likes of Daniel Audette, Hunter Shinkaruk, and Brett Lernout out on the sidelines to pursue other opportunities.

Since then, four of those six RFAs have been extended. Kulak was one of the first getting a three-year deal worth $1.85 million per season. Reilly was next with a new $1.5 million AAV over two years with Lehkonen and Armia being the most recent news breaks.

Bergevin once again worked his bridge power and got both to sign for two years for $2.4 million and $2.6 million respectively. Lehkonen and Armia weren’t the best offensively this season, and the jury is still out on whether the former can turn that around for himself, but their roles on the Habs specialty teams has made them important pieces of the roster down the line.

A total of $5 million for the both of them is perfect value and still gives the Montreal Canadiens room to work with (a little over $4.8 million to be exact). McCarron and Hudon shouldn’t be too difficult to work with considering how little they were used on the main club this past season. Both are in a ‘prove it’ phase of their career with the Habs, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them get one-year deals.

But that’s a different conversation, something to notice however is what is coming for the Canadiens down the line, especially when you look at when a lot of these deals are set to expire.

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