Three Outside Of The Box UFA’s Canadiens Could Look At

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes dropped a mini bombshell on Thursday, saying that the team will in the end, not be gunning for high priced free agents.

It was just a few months ago that Hughes publicly stated that the Habs were going to be talking to some of the superstar free agents available, including Kristopher Letang, Patrice Bergeron, and Evgeni Malkin. With the salary cap climbing only one million dollars this offseason, and with that million already spent on salary overage penalties due to bonuses, this news hardly comes at a surprise.

Hughes most likely said this to lower fan expectations as the pressure will already be reaching tumultuous heights as this year’s NHL draft is in Montreal with the Canadiens having the best odds of drafting first overall. The Canadiens have 18.5% chances of drafting first overall followed by the Arizona Coyotes with 13.5% and the Seattle Kraken at 11.5%. The Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Nights have the lowest chances at 0.5%.

The announcement might also have been a result of the Canadiens’ inability to trade Shea Weber’s contract at the trade deadline. There were reports that for whatever reason, a trade involving the Coyotes and Canadiens was nixed, with the Coyotes instead turning towards Winnipeg and picking up Bryan Little’s contract.

Unless Weber’s contract as well as Jeff Petry gets traded before the opening of free agency, don’t expect huge splashes when the free agent trackers get going.

That being said, there are roster holes to be filled. The Canadiens like to think “outside the box” with the new management in place so here are three free agent candidates the Habs might take a serious look at.

On an NHL level, there is nothing appealing about Jaskin if you only look at his stats sheet. The 29 year old winger totalled 27 goals and 43 assists for 70 points in 315 career games. Nothing eye popping for sure.

This past season, Jaskin returned to the NHL after a two year exodus in the KHL where he became a point per game player with the Dynamo Moskva. He own MVP honors in 2019-20. His comeback would be short-lived as after 12 games he suffered an lower body injury that put him on the shelf for the remainder of the season. The injury came after he was kneed by Nashville Predator Mark Borowiecki.

Where Jaskin may become attractive is that he has shown moments that he can be a very good player. He exploded on the North American scene in his lone season with the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL where he registered 46 goals and 53 assists for 99 points in 51 games.

At 6’2″ and tilting the scale at 216lbs, Jaskin also has the size the Canadiens desperately needs. He’s also capable of playing both sides of the wing. If he can stay healthy, he might greatly benefit from Martin St. Louis’ style of play and become a sort of late bloomer.

At 28 years old it’s safe so say that Ryan Murray will never live up to the hype when he was drafted 2nd overall in 2012 by the Columbus Blue Jackets. That being said, this doesn’t mean he’s a bad player.

You might be scratching your head as to why a left sided injury-prone defenceman who hasn’t scored a goal in three years would make this list. The answer is simple – when Murray is on, he can be an extremely effective shut down defenceman.

The left side of the Canadiens’ blue line is already clogged with Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov. The final spot will be a brawl between Kaiden Guhle, Kale Clague, Mattias Norlinder and Corey Schueneman. So again, why Murray?

First it all comes down if Murray lifts the Stanley Cup this year with the Avalanche. If he does, he becomes a lot easier to attract. He’s an extremely intelligent athlete who doesn’t need to play 82 games a year. Having a rotation between Murray and rookies would benefit everyone.

A one year deal can re-up Murray’s value if he’s used properly and he can easily be flipped at the trade deadline.