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Montreal Canadiens: Five Best Free Agent Fits For Habs

By Ken MacMillan

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 27: Taylor Hall on Shea Weber #6 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 27: Taylor Hall on Shea Weber #6 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEWARK, NJ – FEBRUARY 4: Wayne Simmonds on goalie Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ – FEBRUARY 4: Wayne Simmonds on goalie Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /

Wayne Simmonds

While Hall is obviously a much better player, fitting his salary into the team’s cap structure is fairly complicated. The Habs could use a first line winger who can score a point per game, but they also need some depth wingers.

The team traded away Ilya Kovalchuk, Nick Cousins and Nate Thompson leading up to the trade deadline last season. That stripped away their forward depth and they are going to need to build that back up through free agency.

There are not many internal options, aside from Jake Evans, to take on a fourth line role. Without adding anyone else, the Habs are looking at Jordan Weal or forcing Ryan Poehling into a fourth line role to start the season. That’s before any injuries occur. They definitely need to add some depth.

Wayne Simmonds would be a nice depth add. He hasn’t put up his best offensive numbers over the past two seasons, but he still plays a tough, grinding style and can bang in a few loose pucks after winning battles in front of the net.

Simmonds is 32 years old, but claims to be healthier than he has been over the past two seasons and will be looking to bounce back from an eight goal and 25 point season. Even if he scores ten from the fourth line, that would be far better production than the Habs were getting from Dale Weise in the postseason.

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