4 Free Agents The Montreal Canadiens Should Consider Signing

The Montreal Canadiens are missing a big piece of the puzzle: a top-9 winger who brings size and scoring. Here are four free-agent targets that Marc Bergevin should consider signing.

With the 2020 NHL Draft over and done, the Montreal Canadiens must shift their focus on free agency. This year, the Habs have the luxury of choosing from quite a healthy crop of unrestricted free agents.

Though the team’s search for a backup goalie and defensive depth has been arguably quite successful, the Canadiens need to address their lack of depth, size, and secondary scoring on the wings.

No matter where you stand on the Max Domi–Josh Anderson trade, the fact is that the Habs still have a gaping hole in their top-9. With no obvious solutions in the minors, the team must rely on free agency – an endeavour which has often proved problematic for Marc Bergevin.

It might be helpful to keep in mind, however, that Bergevin doesn’t necessarily need to add a marquee name like Taylor Hall to improve his team.

For the first time ever, I recommend that Bergevin should do his favourite thing ever…bargain hunting.

As the frozen salary cap is forcing teams to make difficult personnel decisions and the pandemic making a team’s financial decisions all the more urgent, the last thing the Montreal Canadiens need is to sign a depth player with an inflated contract.

What Bergevin needs to consider before agreeing to any deal is the team’s prospect timeline. Ideally, this free-agent signing would come in on a stop-gap deal to address the team’s lack of depth and size before players like Jesse Ylönen, Cole Caulfield, and Ryan Poehling are ready to join the NHL on a full-time basis.

Furthermore, this player shouldn’t expect to play top-6 minutes unless absolutely needed. All the more reason Bergevin should consider looking for a more veteran option to round out the Canadiens top-9. In a perfect world, this player has some decent skill and at least some playoff experience. If there was one thing that seemed to be sorely lacking from the Habs’ forward corps in the playoffs was a reliable veteran presence that could play tough minutes.

Luckily, there’s a bevy of free-agent wingers that fit the bill and the Canadiens have ample cap-space to take advantage of.

Here are five free agents that Bergevin and the Montreal Canadiens should consider signing.