Does This Montreal Canadiens Team Have What it Takes to Have Another Deep Playoff Run?
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.
So let’s say this is the roster that will hit the ice in front of a (hopefully) packed Bell Centre for the 2021-2022 season. This is what the starting lines should look like.
Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Hoffman-Kotkaniemi-Anderson
Drouin-Evans-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Paquette-Armia
Byron/Poehling
Chiarot-Petry
Edmundson-Savard
Kulak-Romanov
Wideman
Price
Allen
The glaring difference in the forward crew is the loss of Phillip Danault to free agency making the centreline a lot weaker than it was, at least on paper. Although Danault did show that he can skate with the best in a role reminiscent of Guy Carbonneau or Bob Gainey, the fact of the matter is he doesn’t see himself as that kind of player. Los Angeles gave him the role he wanted and the money he wanted, in the form of a second-line centre with powerplay minutes. He was also quoted a few times in the offseason that he found it hard to play under the scrutiny and pressure that is the Montreal market. In the end, he wanted to leave and we thank him for the good times and good luck in the future.
Nick Suzuki is slowly establishing himself as a #1 center in the league but still needs another solid season in the NHL to claim that throne. With Danault gone, is Jake Evans going to be called upon to play shutdown minutes against the opposing team’s best lines? While he did show promise last season and especially in the playoffs before he went down with a concussion, there’s still a huge question mark in regards to that role. The addition of Mike Hoffman is purely to boost up the powerplay numbers and make up for the goals Tomas Tatar would have given us, but make no mistake, replacing Hoffman for Tatar is a “4 quarters for a buck” type move as Hoffman will be counted on for his offensive skills only. This is not the kind of player you want to give defensive responsibilities to, hence why he’s being lined with Kotkaniemi and Josh Anderson, with “Power Horse” expected to continue his net crashing ways.
Then, we look at Jonathan Drouin who is expected to show up to training camp healthy and willing. If Drouin comes to camp with a clean slate, i’m sure he will embrace a new role being lined with Evans and Brendan Gallagher. His speed and on-ice vision would compliment this type of shutdown role perfectly with 2 guys who have shown they’re willing to sacrifice their bodies every game.
Rarely does the question of the 4th line raise so much interest but this year it certainly does. The signature of Cedric Paquette was made as such that he would play center and he’s coming to Montreal foaming at the mouth at the idea of being the team’s 4th line center, with most likely Ryan Poehling challenging him for the job. The winger spots are filled with Lehkonen and Joel Armia which leaves Paul Byron as the odd man out.
So where does that leave Corey Perry who also hit free agency and openly said he wanted to come back to Montreal? After the professionalism and effort he gave all year, Paul Byron can’t be sitting in the stands with an “A” on his shirt and a $3.4 million cap hit. So the time on the left side will likely be split between him and Lehkonen. On the right side, Armia has re-upped for 4 years at $3.4 million so his seat is glued in as well. I hate to say it but unless he re-signs for ultra-cheap again and accepts a 13th or even 14th forward type role again, there’s no space for regular play for Corey Perry on the Canadiens depth chart.
We’re going to see another even spread of minutes among the top 2 lines with line 3 playing the heavy minutes against the opposing team’s best players. This is a lineup that can beat you in many ways provided they stay healthy and that their ice time is closely monitored.
The only addition I see is either Bergevin is willing to sacrifice Kotkaniemi, prospects and extra picks in order to throw in Byron’s salary in order to get a bonafide centerman, or the more likely scenario they will sign a veteran center like Mathieu Perrault or Derick Brassard to split time with Paquette in the event management doesn’t feel that Poehling is ready to ride with the NHL squad. Paquette plays a hard-hitting game so he will need those occasional days off.
The big story of course is without a doubt the situation involving Shea Weber. Our captain has declared tapped out for the 2021-22 season and Marc Bergevin went as far as publicly declaring that the Mountain Man’s career is likely over.
Signing David Savard pays a perfect compliment to both Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson since we’re looking at the same kind of hard-hitting defenceman but on the right side. Focusing only on the physical side, adding the hulking 6’2″ 229 lbs Savard will be a more than adequate replacement.
Your core 4 of Chiarot, Petry, Edmundson and Savard will be adequate enough, but in no shape, way or form can they take on the bulk of minutes like they did last playoffs. Savard is good, but he’s not Shea Weber good. He’ll give you 20 minutes if needed, but anything over that and he becomes a liability, which is often seen in very physical players.
So the question will now lie on whether the team actually trusts Alexander Romanov or not. With a season now under his belt and the early chemistry he seemed to have formed with Brett Kulak, it’s safe to say that Luke Richardson won’t have a choice but to give them more minutes. With Chris Wideman given an opportunity to crack an NHL roster again after being named the defenceman of the year in the KHL last season, popular opinion would be that this is a much weaker team on the back end.
We all love Shea Weber. It’s almost impossible to not like him with the effort and leadership he provides this team night after night. However, even before last season, he has shown signs that his body is failing him so it was only a matter of time before this situation would happen.
Unless a flyer is taken on someone like Jason Demers or dare I say, a 44-year-old Zdeno Chara (wouldn’t that be weird), this is likely what we’re going to see.