Montreal Canadiens: Pending Free Agents They Must Re-Sign Before Wednesday

The Montreal Canadiens had a lengthy run in the NHL Playoffs and have already made tons of headlines in the offseason.

Their season didn’t end until early July thanks to a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, and then the craziness of the hockey summer hit almost immediately.

There was quickly an announcement that captain and defensive pillar Shea Weber would be out for the entire season next year and it’s likely that his career is over.

Carey Price was next as he went unprotected in expansion due to the uncertainty around his injury. He went unclaimed but then had knee surgery two days later and it appears he will be fine for next season. There were also coach re-signings with Dom Ducharme being officially named head coach, Luke Richardson sticking around for three more years and Trevor Letowski joining the organization as an assistant coach.

Cale Fleury was taken in the expansion draft and Marc Bergevin let a lot of fans down when he took Logan Mailloux in the first round of the NHL Draft.

It’s been a wild offseason, but there is no time to slow down now. Free agency begins in two days and even before it starts Bergevin should take care of some business.

As it stands today, the Canadiens have seven players who played regular minutes this season that are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. There are also two key restricted free agents that need new contracts before the 2021-22 season begins.

Who does Bergevin need to sign as soon as possible? Let’s take a look at the free agents that need to stay and the ones that need to go.