The first day of free agency came and went and the entertainment factor did not disappoint. Many names are calling a new city home and Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin made sure he got what he wanted out of this free agency pool.
This year’s contracts, however, came with more term than usual. With the flat salary cap still glaring at the horizon, many players got an extra year on their contracts in order to stay within their preferred financial parameters.
With a mix of NHL and AHL signatures, the Montreal Canadiens roster for 2021-2022 is starting to shape up. At the moment of writing this, the Canadiens have $973,630 of cap space according to Cap Friendly and still have fellow Finnish countrymen Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Artturi Lehkonen to sign as they are restricted free agents with Lehkonen holding arbitration rights.
Once Shea Weber hits the Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), the Canadiens will save $7,857,143 in cap space giving them roughly $8.8 million to work with and that includes Karl Alzner’s buyout hitting the team at $1,958,333 this year before dropping to $833,333 for the following two seasons.
Once KK and Lehkonen are signed, the team will likely sit a shade under $4 million of cap space. Unless a surprise trade or another depth signature, this will likely be it.