Canadiens: Realistic Free Agent Targets For Habs

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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.

Colin White

The Montreal Canadiens were linked to Colin White dating back to the trade deadline. It didn’t really make sense to acquire him then, as he was in the third year of a six year contract with a cap hit of $4.75 million.

White earned that contract with the Ottawa Senators after scoring 41 points in 71 games in his first full NHL season. His agent at the time was none other than Kent Hughes, the current general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.

Last week, White was bought out of the final three years of that contract. That makes him an unrestricted free agent this offseason. After arguing in his favour to get that long term contract three years ago, could Hughes now convince White to take a short term deal to play in Montreal?

It is certainly possible, and White is the type of player that the Canadiens should be targeting this offseason. His value is low after being bought out, but at 25 he still has the chance to bounce back and prove why he was a first round pick in 2015.

Of course, the Canadiens are loaded with overpriced forwards at the moment, but if they can clear out a spot to find room for White on a third line, he would be worth a gamble on a short term contract with a very modest cap hit.

Zdeno Chara

Zdeno Chara is the oldest player in the league, so why would he want to sign with the worst team in the league? And why would the worst team in the league from last season be looking to sign a player like Chara when we just said played like Colin White are what the team should be after?

Well, hear me out. Actually, it is pretty brief. Chara would be a perfect mentor for not one, but two recent first round picks that are likely to be rookies on the NHL roster this season.

Juraj Slafkovsky was the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and played last season in Finland. The Slovakian native has not spent much time in North America in his life and will obviously be new to the NHL. A veteran compatriot like Chara would be the absolutely perfect role model for Slafkovsky.

Chara moved from Slovakia to North America as a teenager and could help a giant like Slafkovsky learn the ropes about being an NHL player in a new country.

Chara could also do that for Kaiden Guhle. The Canadiens large defensive prospects should be making his NHL debut this season and could use some veteran leadership from a giant left shot defender who has seen it all in his career.

Chara is 45 years old but he played 72 games with the New York Islanders and held his own last season. He could step into the Habs lineup and play third pairing minutes, and take on a massively important leadership role while helping a few youngsters learn what it takes to be a professional hockey player.

Brett Kulak

The Canadiens roster as currently built has a lot of veteran forwards, perhaps too many, and a dearth of veterans on the blue line. The team has traded Alexander Romanov already and is likely to move Jeff Petry as well.

Combine those losses with the fact they dealt Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak at the trade deadline last season and there is a lot to be expected of young defensemen heading into next season.

The team doesn’t want to be in a place where they are forced to play young defencemen way too much if they are not ready for it. They also don’t want to sign such good defencemen that there is no room for their young blue liners if they show they are ready.

It is an odd middle ground to be in but the Canadiens just have a lot of first year pro defencemen like Guhle, Jordan Harris, Mattias Norlinder, Arber Xhekak and Justin Barron is in his second pro season. You can’t have a blue line entirely built of rookies, but you also want there to be cracks for them to open up if they absolutely excel in preseason or the AHL.

What I am trying to say is, the Canadiens could use a good veteran depth defender who can play on the third pairing every night if you need him to, or be scratched every now and then in favour of Harris and Guhle if they show they are ready for the NHL.

The perfect stopgap defender is Brett Kulak. We all know he isn’t a spectacular defender but he is a quietly reliable one. He would be perfect on a one or two year contract to play minutes on the left side while Guhle and the other left shots develop in the AHL. Once the kids are ready, Kulak can be used as a 7th defender for a while, or traded for a decent draft pick like he was last season.

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