Canadiens: Three Contracts The Habs Thankfully Didn't Sign

1 of 4

The Montreal Canadiens were pretty busy with player signings yesterday.

It was the first day of 2021 free agency which is always the day where the most money is agreed to between players and teams and the Canadiens were not on the sidelines.

They inked David Savard to a four year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit, Cedric Paquette came to the organization with a one year deal at just under a million dollars and Chris Wideman came over from the KHL and will earn $750,000 next year if he can make the Canadiens lineup.

Those were not the biggest contracts signed yesterday. Not even close. There was money flying around like crazy as it was difficult to keep up with everything in the opening hours of free agency. I think every team aside from the Canadiens has a new goaltender or two.

When the dust settled, there were a handful of contracts that stuck out as a few years too long and several million dollars too much. Some teams were cautious, though not many, and others appeared a little too eager to fill the holes in their lineup.

Or, in the case of the Edmonton Oilers, too eager to create holes in their lineup to then fill by paying someone too much.

Fortunately, the Canadiens didn’t sign any contracts yesterday that are going to haunt the team for the next half decade or more. That can’t be said about every team.

There were a few free agents who would have been solid fits with the Canadiens, but were paid far too much money for far too long and us Hans fans are lucky the Habs didn’t get them.

It’s impossible to know just how close general manager Marc Bergevin was to signing other players, but we can be thankful he didn’t overpay for these three free agents yesterday.

Phillip Danault

Phillip Danault was a steal for the Montreal Canadiens when they landed him and a second round pick in a trade for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. He played really good hockey for the Canadiens and was part of a terrific two-way line with Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar for the past three years.

In the recent postseason, Danault played a pivotal role for the Canadiens, by shutting down Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Kyle Connor, Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Brayden Point on the Canadiens run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Danault deservedly earned a little attention on Frank J. Selke ballots each of the past few years which is given to the league’s best defensive forward.

However, as good as he is defensively, Danault’s lack of offence was very apparent this season. He went half the regular season without scoring a goal and by the end of the playoffs, he had played 75 games with the team this season, scoring just six goals and 28 points. That’s while playing most nights with Gallagher and Tatar.

This should have limited Danault’s earning potential, but on free agency frenzy day that was not the case. The Los Angeles Kings signed the former Canadiens centre to a six year contract with a $5.5 million cap hit.

That is a lot of money for a great defensive player who put one puck in the net in 22 playoff games. Danault was great for the Canadiens, but he should be making about two million less per season and letting him go was the right decision by Marc Bergevin.

Alexander Wennberg

The Canadiens are looking for a Phillip Danault replacement and could use another centre to insulate some of their younger guys. Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling and Jake Evans could be a terrific group of NHL centres some day, but we can’t be certain it is in 2021-22 since they are so young.

Adding a veteran centre to play in the middle of the lineup would have made a lot of sense. One player that could have been a fit was Alexander Wennberg. He played his entire career with the Columbus Blue Jackets before joining the Florida Panthers last season.

Wennberg, a 26 year old centre with good size, scored 17 goals in 56 games last season. That sounds terrific, but what are the chances he repeats the feat? Wennberg scored on just over 20% of his shots on goal which is incredibly high. In his previous three seasons, he didn’t have a shooting percentage higher than 10.8%.

So, did he just get twice as good at beating goalies with his shot, or is there a bit of luck involved in last season’s goal total?

Well, the Seattle Kraken decided it was worth a three year deal with a $4.5 million cap hit to find out if he can do it again. In his last three seasons with the Blue Jackets, Wennberg scored a total of 15 goals in 198 games.

Will he be able to score like a second line centre in the future? Maybe, but I’d doubt it and I’m glad it is not the Canadiens hoping he can.

Cody Ceci

The Canadiens biggest need in the offseason was finding a right shot, top four defenceman. They are losing Shea Weber and though he is impossible to replace, they needed to find someone to step in and take on heavy minutes on the right side of the blue line.

The Canadiens ultimately decided to sign homegrown talent David Savard to fill the void. Though it would have been nice to get the 30 year old on a shorter term than the four years he agreed to with the Canadiens, it could have been much, much worse.

For example, Cody Ceci, who was run out of both Ottawa and Toronto for his defensive gaffes and lack of offence to make up for them, signed a fairly large contract with the Edmonton Oilers.

The 27 year old Ceci signed a four year contract with the Oilers that comes with a $3.25 million cap hit. Savard only costs $250,000 more, and he is a far more reliable defensive player that can take on a top four role and provide safe, shutdown minutes. Ceci on the other hand will start on the third pairing and is inked for four seasons.

Ceci scored four goals and 17 points in 53 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, bouncing back a bit after his eight point performance with the Maple Leafs in 2019-20. He is still a long way from being a safe bet on a four year contract.

Next. Molson's plan for Mailloux lacks substance. dark

Luckily, it was the Edmonton Oilers and not the Montreal Canadiens that decided to take that gamble.

Home / Habs News