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Montreal Canadiens: Which Unrestricted Free Agents Would Habs Be Pursuing Today?

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 08: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the Montreal Canadiens. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 08: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the Montreal Canadiens. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Andy Greene. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Andy Greene. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

3. Andy Greene

If there is one type of player that Marc Bergevin likes to acquire it is players who played the game like Marc Bergevin. The Canadiens general manager had a long career as a defensive defenceman in the NHL. He played close to 1200 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, Hartford Whalers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks.

In his best season, he scored 24 points and finished his lengthy career with 181. Pretty safe to say he was a defensive guy. Average size, limited offence and good in the room would be the best description of Bergevin’s resume and he likes to bring that type of player into his team.

This isn’t a bad thing, but it is definitely a thing. He was obsessed with signing Francis Bouillon to contract extensions when he first arrived in Montreal. He brought in Doug Murray, Davis Drewiske, quickly re-signed Alexei Emelin a few times, and much more recently he targeted Ben Chiarot in free agency.

Let’s just say, he likes that type of player and if anyone on the free agent market fits that prototype its Andy Greene. The 5’11 and 190 pound left defenceman signed with the New Jersey Devils as an undrafted free agent way back in 2006 and played his entire career with the Devils until he was traded to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline.

He is not a huge scorer, and never was, but he has played 933 games in the NHL as a defensive specialist. Learning the ropes in the Devils system when giving up scoring chances on Martin Brodeur was punishable by death probably helped him hone his defensive skills quickly.

When he was picked up by the Islanders, Greene was used as a third pairing defender, but he immediately took on a role on the team’s penalty kill and averaged over two minutes per game while shorthanded with his new club. In 53 games with the Devils, he played 3:25 per game on the penalty kill and finished the regular season in the top ten of shorthanded ice time.

Greene wouldn’t be the perfect fit on the Habs, but you can’t have too many experienced, defensively responsible players on the team. With Ben Chiarot, Victor Mete, Alexander Romanov and Brett Kulak already on the roster on the left side, it would create quite the battle for ice time.

However, the Habs used 13 different defensemen this season, so I don’t think going into next year with six guys is the right idea. Adding some depth with the 37 year old Greene for a decent price on a one year contract seems like something Marc Bergevin would do.

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