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Montreal Canadiens: Five “Swinging For The Fences” Moves We Could See This Summer

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Max Domi #13 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench during the first period against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Max Domi #13 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench during the first period against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on October 14, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Blues 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 14: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on October 14, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Blues 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Go hard after the top unrestricted free agents

The most common way general manager’s try to upgrade their team in the summer time is through free agency. Teams can get a little silly that time of year but there are going to be some significant pieces available as free agents this summer that could improve the Habs overnight.

The one way Bergevin can make the Habs better without subtracting anything from his own organization is through free agency.

He could make a huge pitch for Alex Pietranglo who would immediately be the team’s number one right shot defenseman. This would allow the team to ease off Shea Weber’s minutes next year and also give them the chance to trade Jeff Petry an add a few assets in the form of prospects and draft picks.

Sure, Pietrangelo would cost more than Petry, likely asking for more than the $8 million per year that John Carlson recently signed for, but he would be a huge upgrade as well.

Bergevin could also target Torey Krug. The Boston Bruins left defenseman may be a more logical fit than Pietrangelo since there is a bigger immediate need for a top pairing left defender instead of someone on the right side. Krug with Weber would be an excellent top pairing and would allow Ben Chiarot to play on the second pairing with Petry. This would allow a young, but reliable and sturdy third pairing of Alexander Romanov and either Cale Fleury or Victor Mete.

If a forward is at the top of Bergevin’s wish list he could target Taylor Hall. He seems to have been an awkward fit everywhere he’s been aside from one magical season in New Jersey when he won the Hart Trophy. It’s extremely unlikely he re-signs in Arizona where the Coyotes are struggling since acquiring him, but he may be a better fit with workhorse linemates like Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher or Joel Armia.

Where Bergevin needs to target a free agent is in goal. The perfect backups are available and the Habs general manager needs to pony up the cash and bring in either Jaroslav Halak or Anton Khudobin to play 30 games next season and lighten Carey Price‘s workload. There is no sense in “swinging for the fences” if your plan includes playing Price 70 times in the regular season.

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