The Montreal Canadiens may have been the talk of the 2022 NHL Draft, but it is unlikely they are among the busiest teams when free agency opens.
The Canadiens selected first overall in the draft, in their own building, and surprised many when they chose Juraj Slafkovsky and not Shane Wright with the first overall pick. There was some murmuring leading up to that selection that it’d be Slafkovsky, but most thought it was a smokescreen to try and get the New Jersey Devils to trade up from number two.
Shortly after that selection was made, the Canadiens pulled off a pair of deals that resulted in Alexander Romanov heading to the New York Islanders, the 13th overall pick passing through Montreal on its way to the Chicago Blackhawks and Kirby Dach heading to the Canadiens.
The Canadiens made a total of 11 picks over the two day event, adding some highly ranked prospects to their system in the process. The team now has its development camp underway and it has all made for a very busy few days in the city of Montreal and the organization.
However, free agency is about to kick off and the Canadiens just don’t seem to be set up to be big players in that market.
First of all, the team just doesn’t have the cap space to go out and sign one of the big free agents. They are already pushing up close to the cap just to get their own free agents signed for next season and can’t spend big on new players.
Speaking of next season, it shouldn’t be a good one for the Canadiens. They finished last in the 2021-22 standings and should be better than that next season, but aren’t going to push for a playoff spot in all likelihood. So, now is not the time to sign a monster contract with a top free agent.
But, the Canadien’s won’t be completely shut out of the market. Who can we expect them to sign tomorrow? Let’s take a look at three free agents that realistically could agree to sign in Montreal and would make sense for the team to bring in.