Montreal Canadiens: Three Free Agents The Habs Could Still Target (and afford)

Trevor Lewis

Trevor Lewis was a first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2006 and he hasn’t joined another organization since that day. He has played every one of his 674 career games with the Kings and has won two Stanley Cups in that time.

He has never been an offensive force, but Lewis carved out a nice depth role on some fantastic teams because of his intelligence on the ice and defensive awareness. He set career highs in 2017-18 when he scored 14 goals and 26 points, and he dipped to six goals and 12 points this past season.

The Canadiens would not be bringing Lewis in to play a top six role, or even a top nine role, heck maybe not even a top 12 role. What he would bring is experience, depth and an ability to jump into the lineup at any forward position. He would be the perfect 13th forward and he would come at the lowest possible price an NHL player can cost.

The Habs need someone to be their extra forward and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a young player like Ryan Poehling on the roster but being scratched every night. Lewis could serve as the healthy scratch when every single forward is healthy, but he could step in and provide reliable, defensive minutes at centre or either wing when a Habs regular is inevitably on the shelf with an injury.

He would come at a low cost, would bring tremendous experience and could be a leader and voice in the dressing room that has been through it all in the NHL. The 33 year old wouldn’t be asked to provide any offence, but would be a nice depth piece for a team hoping to quickly transition from the bottom of the standings to contender status.