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Montreal Canadiens: Three Free Agents Who Still Make Sense For Habs

By Ken MacMillan

Jan 29, 2020; Dallas, Texas, USA; Frederik Gauthier. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 29, 2020; Dallas, Texas, USA; Frederik Gauthier. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Alex Biega. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Alex Biega. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

Alex Biega

The Canadiens are not about to go big-name hunting here in free agency. They have no cap space, and aren’t looking to put the current roster over the top heading into next season.

What they need are a couple of stopgap players that fill very specific roles and allow the younger players in the organization to develop at the right level. Having a player like Justin Barron or Kaiden Guhle play 80 NHL games next season might not be ideal. Maybe the best spot for them is on the top pairing in the AHL with the Laval Rocket.

If so, a player like Alex Biega could fit on the Habs for one season. He is a 34 year old right shot defender from Montreal, who has 243 games of NHL experience. He played most of last season in the minors, but was an NHL regular for the six seasons prior to that.

Biega would not be coming to Montreal to step into a big role. He would definitely slot in behind David Savard and Chris Wideman on the right side and give the Habs pairings that look like: Matheson-Savard, Edmundson-Wideman and Harris-Biega. Schueneman could slot in and play with Harris on occasion as well.

It would give the Canadiens a bad, but veteran defence that would allow the Rocket to have: Guhle-Barron, Norlinder-Bowey and Leskinen-Xhekaj.

It wouldn’t be a blockbuster signing, but it would ensure that young group of defenders could stay in the AHL if they need the development time, or they could leapfrog Biega who gets sent down if Barron or Guhle or Norlinder prove they have to be in the NHL this season.

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