The Montreal Canadiens have long since needed a proper power play quarterback. Andrei Markov filled that role for a number of years, but he has not played in Montreal for six years and they never found a reliable replacement.
They had Shea Weber to hammer the puck from the point, but he would not be described as a quarterback who can move the puck around and carry it up ice. While there was no one better than him at demolishing a one-timer and terrifying opposing goalies, that was his sole job on the man advantage and not distribution.
Jeff Petry also stepped in when Weber proved not to be the ideal candidate to run things from the top on the power play. Again, he was fine and had his own strengths and weaknesses and was their best option for a while but not an elite power play quarterback.
It got to the point where the Habs were apparently on the verge of acquiring Tony DeAngelo. The controversial defenseman was essentially told to pack his bags and go home by the New York Rangers and the Canadiens were ready to lock him up to a new contract. However, the Rangers never terminated his contract like everyone thought they were about to so the Habs did not get him.
Tony DeAngelo rejected the #NYR offer to mutually terminate his contract which would allow him to go through waivers and become a free agent, and the Montreal Canadiens were prepared to sign him if that happened: https://t.co/ouGLQJQOND#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/OaM1rofn6D
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) April 12, 2021
This all happened during the 2020-21 season and DeAngelo played just six games that season, putting up one point. He was bought out at season’s end and would go on to sign a one year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes worth $1 million. He played well in Carolina and then became a free agent and signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers with a $5 million cap hit in the 2022 offseason.
One year later, and DeAngelo is being bought out once again. He scored 11 goals and 42 points in 70 games, so he isn’t being bought out for a lack of offensive production. From the outside, we won’t know all the reasons the Flyers chose to buy him out, or why the Rangers chose to buy him out.
However, we now have a 27 year old player who puts up numbers, but can’t finish a two-year contract without being bought out. He was a first round pick in 2014 and the nine years since then he has been traded three times and bought out twice which are a couple of enormous red flags for a young player.
Had the Rangers terminated his contract, the Canadiens were ready to pounce and sign him late in the 2020-21 season. There is no telling how the season would have played out with him in the lineup, but the Canadiens made it to the Stanley Cup Final without him.
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