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

Frederik Gauthier

Similar to the thinking of adding Biega on the blue line, a local guy could also fill in as the team’s extra centre. While the Canadiens are jammed up on either wing, they don’t really have another centre to step into the lineup if someone is injured.

So, they need to add someone. But ideally they would just add a minimum wage player on a one-year contract. Frederik Gauthier would fit that description. Though he was a first round pick in 2013 and is 6’5″, Gauthier couldn’t find a regular role in the NHL last season.

He played just eight games with the New Jersey Devils and 51 with the AHL’s Utica Comets. He scored 32 points for a strong Comets team and would be an ideal “fifth line centre” for the Canadiens next season.

Even if he really struggles and needs to be sent down, there are worse places for a good AHL player from Laval, Quebec to end up than, well, Laval. The Rocket lost top centre J.S. Dea and Laurent Dauphin last season and Cedric Paquette played centre in the postseason and is gone as well.

Gauthier would make a lot of sense as a depth centre who either plays a 13th forward role for the Canadiens or gets sent down and plays a big role for his hometown AHL team.