Montreal Canadiens: 10 Best Free Agents You Know Marc Bergevin is Targeting

9. Zach Bogosian

The Canadiens have lost a lot of depth from their blue line in the past couple years. Last season, Noah Juulsen was lost on waivers at the beginning of the year and Victor Mete was plucked by the Ottawa Senators on waivers just before the trade deadline.

Then, Cale Fleury was taken by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. Also, Shea Weber will be gone for next season and probably the rest of his career with injuries. Zach Bogosian certainly wouldn’t fill Weber’s skates, but he would be able to take on Weber’s penalty killing role while providing serviceable defence on the third pairing.

The Canadiens have a lot of prospect defensemen on the blue line who won’t be ready next season. Mattian Norlinder and Jordan Harris will likely be on the team in 2022-23 and Jayden Struble and Kaiden Guhle might not be far behind.

However, the Habs need a short term bridge to get them to Harris and Norlinder. Bogosian would be the ideal candidate to come in, play defensive minutes on the third pairing and kill penalties.

You know Bergevin likes a defenceman that can use his  6’2″ and 200 pound frame to push people around and regale teammates with stories of his 2020 Stanley Cup triumph with the Tampa Bay Lightning.