Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin added a couple of defencemen. Who is going to be the odd man out?
The Montreal Canadiens have added several pieces to the roster over the offseason. Jake Allen is the new backup goaltender, Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli add some offence up front and Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov are joining the team on the blue line.
Allen’s arrival signals the end of Charlie Lindgren’s time in the NHL and Anderson and Toffoli will be added at the expense of Max Domi and likely Jordan Weal.
The interesting roster spot that needs to be sorted out is on defence.
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Currently, the Canadiens have too many NHL caliber defencemen. Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot played huge minutes last season. Edmundson is obviously in town now and Claude Julien spoke highly about Romanov last week, strongly implying the Russian rookie will be in the lineup. Victor Mete and Brett Kulak also played regular minutes last season and Cale Fleury and Noah Juulsen will make strong cases to be the third right defenceman on the team.
That is just too many defencemen. Well, it’s nine to be exact, but most teams only carry seven. The simple answer would be to send Romanov and Fleury down to the Laval Rocket since they are the only two players who don’t require waivers. But, Julien all but said Romanov is a lock to make the team, which complicates things for the Habs on the blue line.
If they don’t want to lose a decent defender for nothing on waivers, someone will have to be traded. But who will that be?
The definitely not being traded group
Shea Weber is the leader and top defenceman on the team and is going nowhere. I think Marc Bergevin would just quit working in hockey before he would trade Shea Weber.
Jeff Petry just signed a four-year extension and is not going anywhere either. This gives the Habs two veterans on the right side, but that is obviously the plan for the foreseeable future.
Ben Chiarot was terrific in his first year with the Habs. He played far more minutes and was way more effective than anyone could have guessed when he signed a three-year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit in July of 2019. He’s going nowhere.
Joel Edmundson just signed a four-year contract and Bergevin gave up a fifth round pick just to get his negotiating rights before free agency officially opened. He stays.
Cale Fleury was solid defensively in 41 games for the Habs last season, but he doesn’t need waivers to be sent down to the Laval Rocket. It wouldn’t help this situation at all if he were to be traded so he’s not going anywhere either.
Alexander Romanov is the team’s top defensive prospect and the only reason someone needs to be traded is because the Habs coaching staff likes him so much, they need to move someone to make room.
The probably going nowhere because they don’t make much money group
Noah Juulsen showed in the past that he is capable of playing reliable minutes at the NHL level. A series of unfortunate injuries have pretty much derailed his last two seasons. He wouldn’t have a lot of value on the trade market because of his injuries, but he does have a lot of potential if he can stay healthy. Plus, he just signed a one-year contract at the league minimum of $700,000, so even if the Habs trade him, it wouldn’t save much cap space because they would just have to call someone else up who makes at least that much money.
Victor Mete also just re-signed to a one-year contract and he is set to earn $735,000 next season. He would bring back a decent return in a trade, but again, he wouldn’t save the Canadiens that much money. I suppose it makes more sense to trade Mete than to lose Juulsen on waivers for nothing, but Mete is still just 22 years old so it might be a little early to give up on him.
The probably going to be traded because it makes the most sense group
Brett Kulak is heading into the second year of a three year contract. He makes just $1.85 million on that contract and is definitely worth the price. He played solid minutes in the Habs top four last season, but if someone has to be traded, Kulak makes the most sense.
Because of his contract, the Habs could save enough cap space to be buyers at the trade deadline. Also, it is small enough that other teams wouldn’t have to make other moves to fit him in to their lineup. Also, he played well with Jeff Petry on the second pairing, which is attractive to other teams, but he was not good on the third pairing.
Since Edmundson is likely taking Kulak’s job on the second pairing, it makes the most sense fo move Kulak. This would mean the Habs have room for Romanov and don’t have to lose Mete or Juulsen for nothing on waivers. They would still have Chiarot, Weber, Petry and Edmundson in the top four and a third pairing of Romanov and either Mete or Juulsen on the third pairing.
If Romanov is going to play in the NHL next season, someone has to go. That someone is most likely going to be Brett Kulak.