Montreal Canadiens: Why The Habs Are In The Perfect Position To Sign Alex Pietrangelo
The Montreal Canadiens biggest need may not be a stud right defenceman. However, when a player as good as Alex Pietrangelo comes available, you have to look into it.
The Montreal Canadiens biggest need for the longest time was centres. The last time they were in the playoffs, their best centre by far was Phillip Danault and he scored 40 points playing on the top line with Max Pacioretty and Alex Radulov. Finding four people to play down the middle in that series without putting Torrey Mitchell on the third line was difficult.
With the Habs trading for Max Domi and Nick Suzuki and drafting Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling, depth down the middle is no longer a major issue. The biggest hole in the lineup has opened up on left defence. Ben Chiarot, Victor Mete and Brett Kulak don’t provide the deepest punch on the blue line in the league. Alex Romanov is coming over next season to help patch it up, but trusting a rookie to play a huge role is always risky.
The Canadiens are deep on both wings, so even with Romanov added to the roster, their biggest hole is probably a left defenceman who can play top pairing minutes on a nightly basis. That, or a backup goaltender who can play 30 or so games so Carey Price does not have to lead the league in starts again next year.
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However, if the Habs are going to spend big dollars on a free agent this summer, it shouldn’t be a left defenceman, or a centre, or a winger. If the Canadiens plan on using a large chunk of their available cap space on a free agent, they should be chasing Alex Pietrangelo.
Pietrangelo just turned 30 and was the number one defenceman on the Stanley Cup winning St. Louis Blues roster last spring. He led all defencemen in scoring with 19 points on that journey to the Cup and averaged well over 25 minutes per night, playing in all situations and leading the Blues in ice time.
Pietrangelo has played over 24 minutes per night this season and has looked just as good as he did on the Blues Cup run. He is sixth among defencemen in points with 52 and his 16 goals are more than any defender except for Zach Werenski. He was just two points off a career high and had 12 games left on the calendar when the NHL season was stopped.
The 6’3″ and 210 pound defender plays an exceptional two-way game and is sure to get some Norris Trophy attention this summer. He is finishing up a seven-year contract he signed after his entry-level contract that has paid him $6.5 million per year. You would think the Blues would prioritize bringing him back for next season, but they have not done that.
In fact, the Blues may have added his replacement shortly after he led the team to the Stanley Cup. Already equipped with a second elite right-shot defender in Colton Parayko, the Blues added Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes during training camp. They immediately signed Faulk to a seven-year contract extension that kicks in next year with a $6.5 million cap hit.
Yes, that is literally the exactly the same contract that expires on Pietrangelo at the end of this season. It left the Blues with very little money to bring back their star defenceman. They already have about $79.5 million committed to next year’s salary cap and need to sign restricted free agent Vincent Dunn. With the salary cap set at $81.5 million this season and the uncertainly of where it will go next year after so much missed revenue due to the global pandemic, the Blues might have no money at all left to offer Pietrangelo.
If he does become a free agent this offseason, whenever that is, not many teams will have the chance to offer what the Habs can. First of all, Pietrangelo is from Ontario, but there is no chance the Toronto Maple Leafs can find the cap dollars to sign him. He could look to the Ottawa Senators or Detroit Red Wings who would be the next closest teams to his hometown, but they are also the two worst teams in the league.
Montreal is an hour flight away from Pietrangelo’s hometown of King City and with him in the lineup, could become a Stanley Cup contender pretty quickly. Pietrangelo saw first hand what Carey Price can do with a solid defence in front of him at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 when the pair helped Canada win gold medals. Shea Weber was also a big part of those teams and the trio could be the veterans that lead the Canadiens back to the postseason next year.
Pietrangelo would immediately become the Habs top defenceman. Yes, he plays the right side of the ice where the Habs already have Weber and Petry, but you can’t really have too many great defencemen on a hockey team. Also, with Parayko and Faulk behind him on the Blues depth chart this season, Pietrangelo was sometimes moved to the left side. He could do the same thing for the Habs, or Petry could become trade bait as he is entering the final year of his contract.
As for fitting in Pietrangelo’s contract, moving out Petry would free up a large chunk of that. Considering the Habs have played the past few years a few million below the cap, just moving Petry for picks or prospects would make the deal work financially.
Bringing in Pietrangelo would also really help Weber long term. The 34 year old Habs captain saw his play dip this season as he was leaned on heavily by the Habs. He started the year on fire but slowed considerably after Christmas. With Pietrangelo sharing that load on the right side, Weber would be able to slot in as a second pairing defenceman who kills penalties and unleashes his bomb of a point shot on the power play.
Speaking of the power play, the Habs haven’t had the right quarterback for the man advantage since Andrei Markov left. Well, they would have that if Pietrangelo was in town. Imagine Pietrangelo at the top of the power play with Weber making his way a little closer to the goaltender to unload his terrifying one-timer.
It would cost a pile of money to bring Pietrangelo to Montreal. But maybe not quite as much as you would think. With the league on hiatus and losing money every day, the salary cap is decreasing. How many teams can realistically offer a $9 million contract to someone after this?
Not many, and if the Habs trade Petry and buyout Karl Alzner‘s contract, they would be adding enough space to bring in Pietrangelo. Most teams will be out of the bidding before it even begins. The Habs won’t be, and there is a very real chance they will not be out of the bidding until Pietrangelo signs to join his buddies from Team Canada.
Next. Romanov will ease burden on veteran Habs D. dark
Price, Weber and Pietrangelo did a lot of winning together on the international stage. There is a decent chance they could be taking a shot at a Stanley Cup in the near future if the Blues let their stud defenceman become a free agent.