Montreal Canadiens: Five Worst Free Agent Signings Since 2000

#5: Mark Streit signs one-year, $700,000 contract

Giving less than a million dollars to Mark Streit in 2017 wasn’t an albatross of a contract that tied up too much cap space and prevented the Habs from doing other moves. Still, it is one of the worst signings we have seen from the Habs in the past 20 years.

Again, it’s not because the deal was too much, it is the fact the team thought a soon-to-be 40 year old Mark Streit was the answer after letting Andrei Markov walk away as a free agent. Markov headed back for Russia as the Habs best defencemen in the past several decades and the team’s general manager argued over a one or two year deal.

When he ultimately left to sign in the KHL, the Habs signed Streit to take on his power play responsibilities. Markov was coming off a season where he scored six goals and 36 points in 62 games. Streit was a healthy scratch for all but three playoff games as the Pittsburgh Penguins marched to the Stanley Cup.

Streit played two games in his second stint with the Habs before his contract was terminated. He retired shortly afterward. The contract itself didn’t become a hurdle for the Habs, but the ideas that led to the signing of this contract paved the way to three straight years without playoff hockey in Montreal.

#4: Georges Laraque signs three-year, $4.5 million contract

Having an enforcer on your team was all the rage ten years ago. The Toronto Maple Leafs had Colton Orr. The Boston Bruins had Shawn Thornton. Every team had their guy who played six minutes per night as a fourth line winger and every now and then got in a fight with the guy on the other team who played six minutes per night.

So, the Habs figured they had to get their own enforcer. You could do a lot worse than Georges Laraque if you are looking for a fighter. In fact, for a time, no one could both wear skates and punch people in the face quite like the Montreal native.

It should have been a perfect fit, even at the inflated salary of $1.5 million and lengthy term of three years.

The problem was, Laraque quickly forgot he was an enforcer when he came to Montreal, and it seems he eventually convinced his coach he wasn’t. Laraque played 33 games in his first season in Montreal, scoring zero goals and two points. Yet, for some reason, he was on the first line with Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev when the postseason began.

Laraque played 28 games the following season, had just 28 penalty minutes as he refused to fight and then was released from his contract. He hasn’t played since.

#3: Sergei Samsonov signs two-year, $7 million contract

While the Streit and Laraque signings were doomed to fail from the start, this signing at least came with some promise. Samsonov was a small winger, but was highly skilled and had a pretty impressive resume during the first eight years of his NHL career.

Then he arrived in Montreal.

Samsonov was immediately placed on a second line with Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev. The Habs newcomer scored 23 goals and 53 points in 74 games. He was the 8th overall pick in the 1998 NHL Draft and was just 28 years old when he showed up in Montreal. Kovalev was coming off a season where he scored 65 points in 69 games and the pair had played together internationally.

It seemed like a perfect match, but it proved to be far from it. Samsonov scored just nine goals and 26 points in 63 games, was a healthy scratch at times, passed through waivers without being claimed and just never hit his stride in Montreal.

After just one year, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for two players who would never play in Montreal. The signing should have been a great fit, but it never worked in Montreal.

#2: Daniel Briere signs two-year, $8 million contract

Daniel Briere would have been an awesome fit in Montreal when he was a free agent in 2007. Instead, he passed on his “hometown” team and signed an eight year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. Six years later, after the Flyers benefited from the best years Briere had left in him, they bought him out.

This made him a 35 year old free agent. He scored just six goals and 16 points in 34 games in the lockout shortened 2013 season before being cut by the Flyers. The Habs decided to hand him a two-year contract worth $4 million per season, though all the signs were there to suggest he had declined.

The other factor that made the signing somewhat headscrathcing, was there wasn’t really a fit for Briere on Montreal. He was an over-the-hill centre, but they already had David Desharnais playing with Max Pacioretty on the top line, Tomas Plekanec playing excellent second line minutes and Lars Eller firmly in place as the third centre.

That left Briere to bounce between fourth line centre and second line winger. He scored 13 goals and 25 points in 69 games before being shipped out of town for P.A. Parenteau, another Quebec born player whose best days were behind him.

#1: Karl Alzner signs five-year, $23.125 million contract

While signing Mark Streit to replace Markov’s power play minutes in 2017 was a bad decision, it was not even close to the worst decision made on left defence that summer. The Habs rarely dip in to the free agent pool in July, as prices become extraordinary and most teams end up regretting their decisions in no time.

That is exactly what happened when the Habs finally signed a big ticket free agent in July of 2017. Karl Alzner was coming off a lengthy run as a solid defensive defenceman for the Washington Capitals. He was never a great skater at the NHL level, but he played a smart, gritty, defensive style for nine seasons.

Part of the allure to Alzner was he did all the difficult things every night. He blocked shots, killed penalties, battled hard in the corners and in front of the net and he still never missed a game. In fact, he had played eight full seasons to that point in his career, and by “full” seasons I mean he literally played every single game for eight consecutive years in Washington.

It was thought Alzner would be a great addition to the penalty killing unit in front of Carey Price. He was expected to play heavy minutes at even strength, perhaps with Jeff Petry on a second pairing but definitely on the top pairing with Shea Weber when defending a lead.

Alzner did play all 82 games in his first season in Montreal. He definitely did not live up to the expectations placed on a free agent earning $4.625 million per year. In the Habs season opening game of Alzner’s second season in Montreal, he was a healthy scratch. The ironman streak was over and for all intents and purposes, hit time in Montreal was coming to a premature close.

He played just nine games that season in Montreal and the rest were with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. This season was no different as he played 53 AHL games before being called up for four NHL games late in the season.

That was not what the team envisioned when they finally threw out big money for a free agent. Every year fans want Marc Bergevin to sign a big ticket free agent to improve the team. In 2017 he signed a big ticket free agent, but unfortunately, he didn’t improve the team.