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Montreal Canadiens: Three High Scoring UFAs Habs Habs Realistic Chance Of Signing

By Ken MacMillan

Jun 13, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault (81) shakes hands with Gary Bettman Commissioner of the NHL prior to receiving the Conn Smythe trophy for Most Valuable Player after defeating the Florida Panthers in game five of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 13, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault (81) shakes hands with Gary Bettman Commissioner of the NHL prior to receiving the Conn Smythe trophy for Most Valuable Player after defeating the Florida Panthers in game five of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Montreal Canadiens are in a bit of a tailspin as we speak. They pulled out a huge win over the Boston Bruins on November 11th, but then lost four consecutive games, including a rematch with the Bruins on Saturday night.

It is not just that the team has lost four games in a row, but they are pretty much done after 20 minutes in a couple of them. The Bruins loss is one example where they just looked completely outmatched from the drop of the puck. The play was mostly in the Canadiens zone for the first period and Jake Allen faced a barrage of Bruins shots.

The same could be said for Cayden Primeau when he was facing the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. There was a total of 19 shots fired his way in the first 20 minutes of the game and he was worn out by the time the final buzzer sounded. The Canadiens defense just couldn’t slow down those two Stanley Cup contenders, and their offense was no match for the opposing team’s attack either.

We can expect plenty of natural growth on the blue line as the young players already playing like Kaiden Guhle, Justin Barron and Jordan Harris get better and are also joined by even more highly touted youngsters in the near future like Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher. That will take time but the team has the makings of a great defense in 2025-26, they just need to gain experience and mature as players.

They are showing they may need some help up front. Scoring has long since been an issue in Montreal and while Cole Caufield will be a big help, the team still has zero goal scorer Josh Anderson on the top power play because there really aren’t many other options.

Dipping into free agency is a risky venture, but there are some upcoming free agents who could help put pucks in the net and also could reasonably choose to join the Canadiens next season. Let’s take a look at three players who fit that description.

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