Montreal Canadiens Finally Using Cap Space, But Are They Spending it Wisely?
The Montreal Canadiens are spending plenty of money already this offseason, but are they doing it wisely?
The Montreal Canadiens allowed Andrei Markov and Alexander Radulov to walk away from the team as unrestricted free agents three years ago. Marc Bergevin spoke at the time about having the money to keep one, but not both, and he ended up losing both of them.
Then, he didn’t spend the money. Not just that summer of 2017, but he hasn’t spent the money yet. He didn’t want to give Markov a two year deal, but he could have comfortably fit the Russian into the team’s financial structure for three years.
Now, in the offseason of 2020, Bergevin appears to be ready to spend to the cap. But is he doing it wisely?
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First of all, of all offseasons to spend, this one if the most unlikely. A global pandemic has wreaked havoc on the sports world since March and crushed any revenue projections that teams and leagues had for this year. It will be interesting to see how many free agents sign big contracts early this summer and how many have to wait before finding the right deal.
A good, depth piece might just not find a fit right away and then sign a bargain contract after sitting on the sidelines for a week or two. It would be a good year to be patient as a general manager.
Bergevin has been patient for three offseasons, but he has been very busy already this year.
He traded a third round pick to the St. Louis Blues to acquire goaltender Jake Allen. The Fredericton, New Brunswick native had a great season in 2019-20, posting a 2.15 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 24 games.
Then, Bergevin traded a 5th round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for left defenceman Joel Edmundson. The 6’4″ and 215 pound physical, shutdown type will take some of the heavy burden away from Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot who were among the top 30 in ice time this season.
However, Allen will be a backup goaltender who is making $4.3 million next season in the final year of his contract. Edmundson, will be a second or third pairing guy and just signed a four-year extension at $3.5 million per year.
That is $7.8 million for a backup goalie and at best a number four defender. I’m not saying that would definitely get you a top pairing defenceman like Torey Krug, but it’s probably more than enough to get Krug to sign this offseason.
Allen had a solid year but there are a plethora of goaltenders going to be available this offseason. Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Braden Holtby, Corey Crawford, Anton Khudobin, Thomas Greiss, Cam Talbot, Mike Smith and Brian Elliott are all scheduled to be free agents. Not all of them are going to sign immediately, and a few will be forced to take one year deals with a much lower cap hit than Allen’s $4.3 million.
Allen will be a fine backup for Carey Price, allowing the Habs starter to rest more during the season. Edmundson will play a big role on the penalty kill and has won a Stanley Cup recently as a top four defender on the Blues.
But do the two newest Habs bring $8 million of value to the Habs next season? Could a goalie like Cam Talbot and a defenceman like Brendan Dillon come in at a fraction of the cost and done a very similar job?
I guess we will have to wait and see how free agency plays out this year. But with teams cutting costs and creating internal budgets well below the maximum salary cap, it could be a quiet offseason for some decent depth pieces.
2020-21 will be pivotal season for Habs franchise. dark. Next
It just seems like a really odd time for Bergevin to finally be aggressive. He sat back for three years with pockets full of cash, but now, in the middle of a pandemic that is throwing league revenues into chaos, he has to aggressively chase his backup goalie and depth defenceman?