This offseason, one of the areas the Montreal Canadiens might have wanted to address was to add a right-handed defenseman. Last season, they only had two in Alexandre Carrier and Noah Dobson so bringing some balance to their blueline would have made sense.
Unfortunately, right-handed defensemen are tough to find, and the best option was thought to be John Carlson. He is a veteran who wouldn't require a long-term deal but is still playing at a high level and would be an upgrade.
That dream seemingly went out the window when John Carlson's negotiating rights were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. However, the two sides didn't reach an agreement, and he was exploring other opportunities.
Montreal Canadiens miss golden opportunity to sign John Carlson
Eric Engels mentioned after news broke that he wouldn't sign with the Hurricanes that the Montreal Canadiens had interest in him. However, Carlson would slip past them once again, but this time signed with a division rival in the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The contract that he ended up agreeing to was a two-year deal with an AAV of $8.5 million. This wasn't too big of a deal, and the Canadiens certainly could have offered such a deal with the cap space they have. They also could have reached out to Carlson to gauge his interest, and Carlson decided the Tampa Bay Lightning was a better fit for him.
Regardless of the decision, the Canadiens still have an imbalance on their blueline while the team they knocked out in the first round of the playoffs got better. General manager Kent Hughes talks about the frustration of trying to get a trade done, and the lack of moves has to be frustrating for the fan base as well.
The Atlantic Division was already one of the toughest divisions last season, and it has seemingly only gotten tougher. Last season, the Canadiens were competing with the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning for the division, and this season those teams are likely to be joined by the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Canadiens appear to be trusting the development of their young core to continue to improve and get better. For a rebuild, this makes perfect sense, but when there are chances to support that group with a veteran like John Carlson, teams can't afford to miss that opportunity.
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