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Who Should the Canadiens add Through Free Agency? |
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When Pierre Gauthier suggested the Canadiens could quickly rebound next year, he certainly opened the door for the possibility that the club would be eating unmovable contracts held by Scott Gomez and Tomas Kaberle.
Reconstructing things to turn the Canadiens into a playoff team would mean capitalizing on their high draft position and playing the market to help support the already promising core of the team.
If the Canadiens can get some grit, some size, and some scoring to place around Desharnais, Pacioretty, Cole, Eller, Emelin, Gorges, Subban and Price, they'd be inching closer to their goal of making this season a distant memory.
If the team were willing to buy out those awful contracts, they'd be giving themselves a second opportunity to reshape key positions of the team, just three seasons after their massive overhaul.
With Cammalleri and Kostitsyn already gone, and Gomez on his way out the door, the Canadiens would have to be looking at a big centre, and a scoring winger to fill their skates. And with Hal Gill gone, the team may certainly have to look at finding a suitable replacement--and one that comes with a physical dimension the team's sorely been lacking all season.
Here's a short list of players the Canadiens should be targeting through free agency--provided they're available on July 1st:
1) Shane Doan
Want an impact centreman?
He's your man.
Want a leader?
Doan's a player that would have a strong sense for what it means to wear the Canadiens sweater; a player who has ties to the team (Carey Price's cousin) and one that finally brings the element that's been lacking most from the team over the last 20 years (size up the middle).
Is Doan willing to move on from Phoenix? Is he willing to come to a Montreal team that's about to finish at the bottom of the East, instead of making his way onto a team with a chance to win the Stanley Cup?
We'll find out shortly after the season. But if Doan remains unsigned, the Canadiens should be the first in line to acquire his services.
Downside: It'll cost a lot of money to bring the 36-year old centre, who made 4.55 mil this season, over to this side of the continent. It will cost years too. It'll require convincing him that the Canadiens are prepared to make bigger, bolder moves to push this team not only towards the playoffs, but towards contending over the length of his contract.
After putting up 20 goals and 40 assists in 72 games, last season, Doan's production has slipped to 18 goals, 20 assists in 63 games, in this year's campaign. Also, after finishing as a plus over the last four seasons, he's a -7 on a pretty defensively sound team.
If the Canadiens could get him at his current salary or less, for a maximum three-year contract, he'd be worth acquiring. There aren't any other centres available on this year's market that could give the Canadiens what Doan could offer.
2) There are very few players available at the wing that could have the impact the Canadiens would be looking for.
You'd hate to see them take a chance on an underachiever like Dustin Penner just because he'll come cheap, only to see the team commit years to him and be stuck in a like-situation to the one they're currently in.
Can the Canadiens entice Zach Parise? Highly doubtful, and acquiring him would mean paying him like a franchise-player, and generally, committing to a winger as that player doesn't enable you to contend.
If you're looking for value on the market, here's a name that can provide it:
Jaromir Jagr
I have no idea why the Canadiens passed on him in the first place, but he'd only cost you a year's worth of salary, and he could be the winger Tomas Plekanec's been looking for, for well over a year.
He's put up 16 goals and 26 assists in 53 games. From a production standpoint, he's delivered exactly what was expected of him.
Why not entice him with the idea of finishing his career in Montreal where he'd be absolutely adored if he played as well as he has for Philly this year?
You have nothing to lose. If it didn't work out, he'd be gone by the end of the year.
Moving on to defense, the Canadiens have some promising players in their pipeline--Jared Tinordi, Nathan Beaulieu are a couple of players that aren't far off making a debut in the NHL.
With Kaberle gone, Campoli and Yannick Weber potentially available on the trade market, there are some spots to fill.
Gorges, Subban, Emelin and Diaz are assured positions next season. Andrei Markov--should he prove to be healthy enough--will be the anchor of this blue line.
They'll need to sign as many as three defensemen to provide the physical quotient that'll sorely be lacking on back end.
Not to detract from what Emelin and Subban bring, but they aren't the most intimidating players in front of their own net.
The team needs a couple of crease-clearing defensemen.
Here are a couple of names that fit the mold:
Top Target: Brad Stuart.
Will the Wings part ways with Stuart to make room for some promising players off the farm?
If they were willing to, Montreal should be willing to overpay to get a quality defenseman of his stature.
He's got some offense in his game, but he's mostly a shutdown defender. At 6"2, he's an absolutely punishing hitter, and though he's been susceptible defensively over the years, he's a +17 this season in Detroit.
A former #3 overall selection in the 1998 draft, Stuart brings with him Stanley Cup-winning experience. And for a guy who doesn't light it up offensively, 36 points in 119 playoff games is a bonus.
Downside: Stuart is unlikely to be available if Nick Lidstrom hangs up his skates. And the word out of Detroit is that Lidstrom is finishing up his final season, and finally intends on moving his family back to Sweden.
If he hits the market, after Ryan Suter, he could end up being one of the highest-priced assets out there.
How about Calgary's Cory Sarich?
A cup-winner; a leader; a very, very physical defenseman. The 33-year old pulled in 3.6 million dollars this season. Could he be had for less on the open market? Perhaps, but he'll be looking for security at his age, and he could be a great buy for any team that can keep him under his current cap-hit.
In any case, these are some names to keep an eye on. We know that the Canadiens will be active on the market. Whether they'll be able to adequately fill their needs is another story. If they were going to take a chance on some players--these names would help their team get to the next level.
If they couldn't obtain any of these players, they'd have to strongly consider abstaining from reconstructing their team through the UFA market.
Deciphering who will be available through trade is another exercise entirely, and it's highly unpredictable at this point.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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