Habs sign P.K. Subban to one year deal.
So far we have Jeff Petry being traded away but no big name free agents being acquired. Montreal isn’t a great free agent destination at the best of times, and they were just the worst team in the league.
The Canadiens dealt away veteran defenders Brett Kulak and Ben Chiarot at the trade deadline, and lost Shea Weber after the 2020-21 season. So, if they move Petry, they need to bring in a veteran who can eat some minutes in the short term.
There is an impressive group of prospect defenders on the rise. Kaiden Guhle, Logan Mailloux, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron, Mattias Norlinder and Jayden Struble could all join the team in the next couple years, but there is no rush.
The Canadiens don’t want to rush their young blue liners, but they also have to be realistic in knowing that next season isn’t going to be a year where they contend for a division title in the regular season. So, they need a stopgap.
A player like P.K. Subban would be perfect on a one year contract to fill a void. He has played here before so he knows the market and though he was a bit polarizing at times, he had and still has a ton of fans in the city of Montreal.
He also isn’t coming off the best couple of seasons of his career so he won’t be fending off huge contract offers from other teams. He had 22 points in 77 games this season while averaging 18:17 per night.
#NJD Subban invokes Kevin Garnett’s “Anything’s possible,” regarding his future, when asked about a potential return to #Habs as a UFA. “You wanna’ play where you’re wanted,” says Subban, who appreciates NJ trading for him, adding, “Montreal will always be a home for me.”
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) February 8, 2022
Coming in to Montreal to play one last season here would allow him to play a little closer to 20 minutes per night, while the Habs top prospects like Guhle and Barron stayed in the minors and developed at the AHL level for one final season before taking on full time NHL roles the following season.