Montreal Canadiens: Is It Time For Habs To be Aggressive and Contend?

The Montreal Canadiens have been patient the past few years. Is this the right year to go for it?

The Montreal Canadiens have been pretty patient the past three seasons. After losing Andrei Markov and Alexander Radulov in the summer of 2017, the Habs have been extremely cautious with their money and haven’t made any big trades to try and make the team better.

Being stuck in the same division as the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning have made it difficult to contend for even a division title. Of course, refusing to spend to the salary cap didn’t help either.

Even when the Canadiens were in the running for a playoff spot in 2018-19, they were pretty careful as they approached the trade deadline. Marc Bergevin acquired Jordan Weal, Nate Thompson and Christian Folin. He didn’t exactly sell the farm for those guys.

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As a result, they missed the playoffs by two points, but kept all of their future picks and prospects. So far this offseason, Bergevin has been aggressive in acquiring the players he wants. He traded three picks in separate deals to land Jake Allen and Joel Edmundson. Also, he is rumoured to be willing to move the team’s first round pick for the first time since he arrived eight years ago.

That would be quite the departure from what we have seen from Bergevin in the past three years. He has added draft picks as often as he possibly could and completely avoided moving out prospects.

But it sounds like that plan is changing. Is it right for Bergevin to try and go for it this year?

Well, he does hold a pretty big advantage as far as attracting free agents. Montreal is one of the few teams that can spend on players and hand out big signing bonuses in the midst of a global pandemic. Their financial situation should allow them to approach free agents like it is business as usual. Most teams literally can’t afford that luxury.

So maybe that puts them on a short list for Alex Pietrangelo or Taylor Hall. That would be a “go-for-it” move.

Also, the 2020-21 season might not be a great one for the Atlantic Division. The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning have been dominant for years, but is that changing?

The Bruins are likely to lose Zdeno Chara to retirement and Torey Krug to free agency. That puts a big hole on the left side of their blue line. The Lightning are going to lose one or two key players at least because of the cap. They simply don’t have the space they need to re-sign Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli. Will they lose one of them? Or is it Alex Killorn? Yanni Gourde? Ondrej Palat?

A step back from the Bruins and Lightning may be inevitable. Also, the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings are building impressive pools of prospects. How soon before they start to climb the rankings? It won’t be 20-21, so maybe putting all the chips in now is a wise move for the Habs.

However, it does lead to some complications. The Canadiens entire first line is entering the final year of their contracts. Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher has been the best possession line in hockey for two years, but they could all be free agents in the 2021 offseason.

What if the Habs trade their first round pick for a top six forward and sign Pietrangelo as “all-in” moves and then it doesn’t quite work out? Let’s say they are sitting in a wildcard spot the day of the trade deadline. Do they trade Gallagher, Tatar and Danault? Do they keep them and try to make the playoffs? What if that means losing their entire first line for nothing as free agents?

So, should they re-sign all three now like they did with Jeff Petry? Well, that would make it really difficult to add a big free agent because Danault, Tatar and Gallagher will all be getting raises in 2021-22. But if they re-sign them all and can’t afford to bring anyone else in, aren’t they just trying to win with the same team that is now a year older and more expensive?

The fact their entire first line are on the last year of their contracts makes it a risky year to “go for it.” If they are aggressive in free agency but the team is middle of the pack, they risk losing several key players as free agents.

They would be better off trading Danault, Gallagher and Tatar now rather than losing them for nothing in a year.

The Habs were awful in 2017-18 but it got them Jesperi Kotkaniemi. They were not quite good enough in 2018-19 but they didn’t lose any key players to free agency at the end of the season. They were just good enough to get in this season (because of a pandemic) and got some good experience out of it.

With so many key free agents next season, the Habs can’t afford to be middle of the pack. Going all-in and getting Pietrangelo would make them a contender in the east. Trading a few key veterans a year from free agency would make them worse but ensure a great draft pick. Adding more depth and mediocre pieces that keep them in the mix for a wildcard spot would be the worst case scenario.

Bergevin needs to be aggressive the rest of this offseason. He either needs to make this team considerably better or appreciably worse. Staying in the middle of the pack and scrathcing and clawing for a 2021 postseason berth could result in them keeping their first line past the trade deadline and losing them to free agency.