Montreal Canadiens: Five Worst Free Agent Signings In Habs History

Sergei Samsonov

The Canadiens surprisingly made the playoffs in 2006, and gave the Carolina Hurricanes all they could handle in the first round series. The Hurricanes ultimately won in six games, with a pair of their victories coming in overtime.

That offseason, the Habs seemed to add quite a bit of depth as they traded a fourth round pick for Mike Johnson up front, graduated youngster Guillaume Latendresse to the NHL ranks and signed Russian winger Sergei Samsonov to a two year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit.

The salary cap was barely over $40 million back then so percentage wise, it was like committing $7 million to a skilled winger today. Needless to say, a lot was expected of Samsonov.

He was coming off a season split between the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers. He scored 23 goals and 53 points in 74 games. He also had 15 points in 24 playoff games for the Oilers as they made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

He showed up in Montreal with a top six role carved out for him alongside fellow Russian Alex Kovalev and two-way centre Tomas Plekanec. It should have been a great scoring line but Samsonov ended up scoring just nine goals and 26 points in 63 games with the Habs.

He went unclaimed on waivers by February and was traded for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmelainen at season’s end. The Canadiens immediately bought out both players they acquired for Samsonov.