Montreal Canadiens Should Offer Jake Gardiner Short-Term High-Salary Contract

The Montreal Canadiens have dipped their toe into free agency but haven’t really improved the team from last year. They should offer Jake Gardiner a “prove it” contract.

The Montreal Canadiens  have tinkered slightly with their roster this offseason. The roster was not quite good enough to get them into the playoffs last season, so it was hoped they would improve the look of the lineup by now.

So far, they have brought in a depth piece up front in Nick Cousins and also re-signed Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson. On defence, they inked bruising left-shot defender Ben Chiarot to a three-year contract and they also re-upped Christian Folin before he could hit free agency. In goal, Keith Kinkaid was brought in to give Carey Price more nights off than Antti Niemi afforded him.

They also sent out Andrew Shaw and Nicolas Deslauriers via trade and saw Jordie Benn sign with the Vancouver Canucks. All in all, they didn’t really bring in any big upgrades, just replaced Shaw with Cousins, Benn with Chiarot and Niemi with Kinkaid. Overall, that is a slight improvement, but will it be enough to clinch a playoff spot in the tough Atlantic Division?

The Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs qualified last season, and none of them took a huge step back. The Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres made some juicy improvements to their lineups and could be knocking on the door for a playoff berth.

The Canadiens can not be all that comfortable today. They should see some internal growth from players like Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Victor Mete, Ryan Poehling who will join the team after making his debut in Game 82 and even Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi are just 24 so theoretically could be better.

However, there isn’t a new player on the roster that fans can point to and say, “he’s the guy that makes the team better.” There is no single addition that should lead us to believe the team will definitely have more than the 96 points they had in the standings last season.

With the calendar getting ready to be flipped over to August soon, there are few players available. Early July is one of the busiest times of the year for player movement. That first week of July we see a flurry of signings, a plethora of trades, and a pile of recent draft picks getting contracts.

Once we get to the final week of July and into early August, the transactions page starts to get a little stale.

However, there is one difference maker still available on the free agency market that would without a doubt make the Canadiens a better team next season. That player is former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake Gardiner.

Gardiner is an offensive-minded defenceman who can skate as well as most players in the league. His agility and quickness on his skates make him a terrific puck-moving defenceman and perfect for the modern game of hockey.

He scored 30 points in 62 games last season but had a career high the season prior when he scored 52 points. HIs ability to skate the puck out of his own zone, jump into the rush and send breakout passes up ice to his teammates make him a very valuable commodity in the NHL.

Now, the question is, if he is so valuable why is he not under contract on July 23rd? I suppose the answer is that he narrowly avoided back surgery a few months ago before returning to the lineup in time for the postseason. He didn’t look at his best in the playoffs, and played mostly on the third pairing with fellow offensive defenceman Travis Dermott.

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Before missing time in the lineup, Gardiner had proven himself as a valuable top-four defenceman who can certainly help on the power play. His defensive mistakes were highly scrutinized by Maple Leafs fans and certain media as well, but Gardiner’s teammates and coaches trusted him to do his job and he did it quite well.

Gardiner was likely expecting several teams to be offering him long-term contracts with hefty cap hits. Tyler Myers is a different type of player, more physical and less speedy than Gardiner. There have been questions about Myers ability to defend in the past as well, but there is no question Gardiner is a superior offensive player. Myers signed a five-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks at $6 million per season.

You could argue Gardiner is a better all-around player and deserves more. However, he is clearly not getting those offers because he has not signed anywhere yet.

What if the questions about his back are holding him back? Would it make sense for Gardiner to take a short-term deal to prove he is still a capable offensive defenceman?

If so, the Canadiens should vault to the top of his list of suitors. With all of their players currently signed, and Dale Weise and Karl Alzner ticketed for the minors, the Canadiens have slightly more than $6 million in cap space for next season.

The Canadiens did not use all of their cap space for the past two years, and I truly hope they don’t plan on banking that extra money for a third straight season.

Why not offer Gardiner a one-year deal between 5 and 6 million dollars? This would give him a chance to re-establish his value and prove he is not hindered by his injuries. Then, he would hit the open market again in a year’s time but without the lingering questions about his health.

The Canadiens could certainly use a player like Gardiner. They did not get much offence from their blue line last season and their power play was embarrassingly bad throughout the season. Gardiner could step in and play a top four role with either Shea Weber or Jeff Petry and take the power play quarterback role away from Jonathan Drouin who struggled in that position last year.

Gardiner would carry the puck up ice on the power play and then feed passes to Weber on one side or Max Domi on the other. He also has a knack for getting pucks on net where Brendan Gallagher would be screening the goaltender and looking to tip the puck in or bang in a rebound.

The Canadiens scored the fifth most goals in the league at five on five last season. Their forwards can create plenty of chances at even strength, and Gardiner would just improve that by moving the puck up ice and jumping into the rush.

Signing with the Habs would provide Gardiner a perfect opportunity to prove he can still contribute like he always has. It would be a disappointment for him to only get a one year deal out of free agency this summer, but in the long run he would hit a home run.