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First things first, fresh off signing his new contract, Josh Anderson spoke to the media about his decision to stay in Montreal long term. The new highest paid forward with the Habs (tied with Drouin), said that playing in Montreal is a lot of fun and such a great franchise. He also insisted that he is 100% better and he feels strong and raging to go. Clearly, he’s got a lot of self confidence and really believes that he’ll be able to step-up and deliver after singing such a contract. Furthermore, he added it was a no brainer to sign because the team is heading in the right direction, its got a winning culture and they are right there and ready to win. He says that you have to thrive under pressure in this type of market and that if you’re consistent, you’re going to succeed, he’s actually looking forward to experiencing that pressure. In readiness of the next season, he says he’s working on getting faster (even though he is already fast) and getting his shot back to where it was before the shoulder injury. He also said something that may give hope to all short young men out there, he actually grew 8 inches in 2 years during a growth spur…wonder if it’s too late for Cole Caufield…
7 years wearing the 🔵⚪ï¸ðŸ”´ with the @CanadiensMTL!! Very excited to get things going
— Josh Anderson (@joshanderson_77) October 9, 2020
Secondly, Marc Bergevin also signed Victor Mete to a one-year cap friendly deal worth $735,000 M which is actually a small pay cut for him. Considering how he’s been used though, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Before the free agency market opened, the Canadiens therefore had roughly $4.6 M in cap space to work with.
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with defenseman Victor Mete.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/W62ZxHivO9
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 9, 2020
That being sorted, Habs nation was anxiously waiting to see if the Habs would be able to sign any of the free agents today. At the time of writing, we are still waiting… Considering the space left on the cap, it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone but Marc Bergevin did take the time to address the media this afternoon and we learnt that even though he hasn’t made a major signing, it’s not because he hasn’t tried. As I’ve been mentioning lately, the Habs did go after Wayne Simmonds and offered him a bit more money than the Leafs did, but the attraction of going home was too much. To be honest, even if I thought they would go after Simmonds, I’m actually glad he opted to go to TO. I believe the money could be better invested on someone else.
As I’ve said, the Habs have roughly $4.6 M in cap space but Bergevin made sure to mention that he intends to keep a safety cushion in case of injury or to have the possibility to add to his team in season. He spoke of the $1.5 – 2 M range as the kind of cushion he needs. Furthermore, Bergevin did confirm that the Habs have interest in Taylor Hall, but of course it all depends of the cap hit and the term. Mathematically, the Canadiens could sign Taylor Hall but they would have to make some room under the cap. During the offseason, teams are allowed to go 10% above the cap as long as they sort it out before the start of the season. Thing is though, if you do that, you are definitely not trading in a position of force. Other teams will be well-aware that you are above the cap and that you must shed salary. Furthermore, many teams are trying to shed some money right now and it may be had to find a trading partner. I’ve said it before, I don’t see Hall landing in Montreal even with the rumours going around. The way I see it, once again, the Habs are being used as a negotiating tool more than anything else so I wouldn’t hold my breath for that signing. If it was to happen though, the likes of Tomas Tatar and Paul Byron would probably have to make way. All we can do is wait and see for now...
In closing, never has a free agency day been so calm. Sportsnet put some stats out there and it’s interesting to note that in 2019, during the first hour of free agency, $393.2 M had been spent. This year? The first hour saw only $42M awarded in contracts. The flat cap and the fact that there was no negotiating period prior to free agency certainly didn’t help. After 5 hours “only… $182 M have been spent. As for the Canadiens, well, while they didn’t pick up any free agent (aside from Brandon Baddock for the Rocket), Marc Bergevin has been very active this offseason and one might even say aggressive. The return to play format has allowed the GM to see the the future might be now and his action showed that: he went out and got Jake Allen giving the Habs quite possibly the best goalie tandem out there, he got Edmundson and signed him, making his blue line heavier and painful to play against and he got himself a power forward, something the Habs haven’t had since John Leclair. There are outstanding needs of course, the Canadiens still need more scoring but the work done so far allows us to at least be optimistic.
Edit: The Habs now announced that they’ve signed Xavier Ouellet to a two-year two-way contract extension worth $725 000 in the NHL and $425,000 in the AHL the first year and $750,000 vs $425 000 in the second year (although he is guaranteed to make at least $475 K in the second year).