Montreal Canadiens: Five Best Free Agent Fits For Habs

The Montreal Canadiens enter free agency with some cap space and some specific needs to fill.

The Montreal Canadiens have already been very busy this offseason. After a year where they were included in the postseason solely because the NHL wanted to bring in as many big markets as they could and expanded to 24 teams so the Habs could be one of those markets.

Of the 24 teams to qualify for the postseason, the Canadiens ranked 24th in the regular season standings.

So, their general manager, Marc Bergevin has wisely decided that wasn’t good enough and has been trying to improve his roster as much as possible. He didn’t waste any time. Free agency doesn’t begin until later today, but the Habs have been quite busy.

First of all, the Habs went out and acquired Jake Allen who should provide Carey Price plenty of nights off to rest and keep the big man fresh for the postseason in 2021. Then, Joel Edmundson was added to bring some depth, physicality and winning pedigree to the left side of the blue line. The Habs also traded Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Josh Anderson who is a huge right winger that is a power forward who scored 27 goals in 2018-19.

The Habs have changed the look of their team quite a bit considering free agency has not opened yet. That’ll change in a few hours, but I wouldn’t expect Bergevin’s aggressive approach to improving him team to change.

The Habs currently have about $5.5 million in cap space. They will have to re-sign Victor Mete which will cut that down a bit. Still, with $4 million or so to spend, and some trade options if necessary to clear out more cap space, the Canadiens can be in on just about any free agent.

But who will they target? They are already set in goal at the NHL and AHL level. They have a plethora of left defencemen in the organization but none that I would consider top-pairing quality. They have Shea Weber and Jeff Petry on the right side but there is some debate who fits in best as their third pairing guy on the right side.

Up front, the Canadiens appear content to let Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault battle for ice time as the top three centres. Jake Evans is next in line but I could see Bergevin adding a veteran centre to give Evans some competition.

On the wings, the Habs have a lot of good options, but again, no stars. Tomas Tatar had a great season and Brendan Gallagher can snipe 30 goals, but neither is likely to score at a point per game pace.

Jonathan Drouin, Paul Byron, Joel Armia and Josh Anderson give the Habs options for the second and third line, but Artturi Lehkonen could use some help on the fourth line. An upgrade over Jordan Weal is necessary and some extra depth up front is a need for sure.

So, who will the Canadiens target in free agency today? Let’s take a look at the five best fits.