Canadiens: Three Veterans The Habs Need To Move This Offseason

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The Montreal Canadiens offseason heavylifting has begun with a few contract extensions already being put in place. One of them was a minor move, but the team already made one huge commitment to one of their core players.

Michael Pezzetta signed a two-year contract extension with a cap hit of $812,500. The gritty winger has worked his way up to become a regular on the NHL roster, though he plays a fourth line role and does still sit as the occasional healthy scratch. His hard work, easygoing nature and physical style make him an ideal 13th forward for the Canadiens for the next two seasons.

The big contract went to Cole Caufield. The young sniper signed an eight-year contract extension that comes with a cap hit of $7.85 million. The 22 year old winger has scored at nearly a 50 goal pace since Martin St. Louis was hired as the team’s head coach and will look to put it all together over a full season in 2023-24 after suffering an injury last season.

With the calendar still pointing at the middle of June, there is a lot of work left to do before the puck drops on 2023-24. The Canadiens have become a much younger team in the past few years with the departures of Carey Price, Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, Jeff Petry, Tyler Toffoli, Artturi Lehkonen, Tomas Tatar and Brett Kulak.

Still, there are a few more veterans who could be moved out to make room for younger players. The Canadiens do not need to make the playoffs in 2024, but they need to start to figure out what some of their older prospects are capable of doing at the NHL level before they become eligible for waivers.

So, what veteran players should the Canadiens be looking to move out this offseason? Let’s take a look at the top three.

Jake Allen

Jake Allen is a fine backup and a fantastic team player. He is the perfect number two option on a team with a young goalie and a great mentor to have for a younger netminder. On a young team like the Canadiens, he is a solid veteran to have in the room.

The problem is, the Canadiens now have two younger goaltenders that they shouldn’t give up on yet. Allen is 32 years old and signed for two more years with a reasonable cap hit of $3.85 million. The Canadiens are not in a cap crunch, but they need to see what they have in their two other goalies.

Sam Montembeault was claimed on waivers before the 2021-22 season and has had his ups and downs with the Canadiens. At 26 years old, he isn’t a young kid anymore, but also isn’t over the hill either. He played 40 games last season and his .901 save percentage shows a below average goalie, but the eye test keeps promising there is more there.

He had some exceptional games and great stretches of hockey and if he can find a bit more consistency he could be a solid starter at the NHL level. He needs another chance to show what he can do before the Canadiens give up on him.

Cayden Primeau is 23 years old and signed for two more years at $890,000. The problem is, he is now eligible for waivers and could be claimed by another team for nothing in return if the organization tries to send him to the Laval Rocket.

Primeau has had a few great games at the NHL level, but mostly struggled in his experience with the Canadiens so far. However, that is a total of 21 career NHL games so the sample size is too small to make any final decisions. Primeau has put together great stints of games at the AHL level in each of the past four seasons with the Rocket.

He is too young to expose to waivers and have another team take him so the Canadiens need to give him a longer look at the NHL level to see what he can do.

That means Montembeault and Primeau need more experience at the NHL level to really show what they can do. They both have shown some promise, but also don’t have a ton of trade value. The Canadiens just need to play them both about 40 games each next season to see what they really have in goal.

That leaves no room for Allen and he should be on the trade block at the NHL Draft to make room for Montembeault and Primeau in the Canadiens crease.

Joel Edmundson

Joel Edmundson was on the trade block most of last season, but when he was hurt midseason a trade failed to materialize. He is a big, rugged defender that many teams would love to have in their lineup in the postseason.

As we have seen with the Vegas Golden Knights this spring, a gang of large, physical defensemen get the job done in the playoffs. The NHL is a copycat league and general managers will be looking at the hulking blueliners in Vegas and hoping to add a few of their own this offseason.

Edmundson is 6’5″ and 221 pounds and won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. Experience, leadership and grit go a long way in general manager circles and there will be teams looking to deal for Edmundson at the NHL Draft. He is entering the final year of his contract with a $3.5 million cap hit and the Canadiens could easily retain 50% of that to make a trade much simpler for the acquiring team.

The biggest reason to trade Edmundson is to make room for younger players. Just on the left side of the blue line alone, the Canadiens have Michael Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj in addition to Edmundson. It’s crowded and there needs to be more room for these young players to play every night and develop their game.

If healthy, trading Edmundson should be able to fetch a return like Ben Chiarot did which was a late first round pick,a fourth round pick and a B-level prospect which was Ty Smilanic. Edmundson finished the season healthy, but there are questions about his back so the Habs should be able to deal him for a late first or a second round pick.

Mike Hoffman

Mike Hoffman never really seemed to fit properly on the Canadiens. He was signed after the team made a run to the Stanley Cup Final, and the only winger they lost was Tomas Tatar, though he barely played in the playoffs that year.

With Cole Caufield, Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen on the team, there really wasn’t a guaranteed spot on the top three lines. There was room on the power play which was mostly ineffective at the time, but that was it.

After two years of his three-year contract, Hoffman has put up back to back seasons of 67 games played and has 34 and 35 points in that time. He has scored at an 18 goal and 43 point pace per 82 games with the Canadiens, which is actually better than he often appears on the ice. He can go quiet for long stretches and is not the best defensive winger on the team either.

Still, that isn’t terrible production so maybe the Canadiens can get a return on Hoffman if they retain 50% of his $4.5 million and are essentially trading a $2.25 million player who scored half of a point per game.

The biggest reason for the Canadiens to trade Hoffman is to make room for younger players. Much like Edmundson and Allen, Hoffman is standing in the way of younger players who need a chance to prove what they can do before they hit waivers.

Young wingers like Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen played well for the Canadiens when called up last season, but aren’t guaranteed a spot next year. There are just too many veteran wingers already signed to ensure these young players can get a long look in 2023-24.

Harvey-Pinard had 20 points in 34 NHL games and Ylonen scored 16 points in 37 games which isn’t far off Hoffman’s production. 24 year old Harvey-Pinard and 22 year old Ylonen have played exceptional at the AHL level and have proven they deserve a longer look with the Canadiens.

The Canadiens need to ensure there is room for them on the roster. Trading Hoffman, even if they retain money and get a later draft pick back, would open up that room and give younger players a bigger role next season to prove what they can do at the NHL level.

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