Nathan Beaulieu signs a 2 year deal:
Montreal Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin signed defenceman and restricted free agent Nathan Beaulieu to a 2 year bridge contract on Saturday, worth reportedly a total of $2 million with an annual average of $1 million. This contract was excellent work by Bergevin as he continues to manage and maneuver the salary cap all while keeping his player happy. Beaulieu was vocal at the end of season about wanting to stay a member of the Canadiens for a long time. He reiterated this on his conference call last night after signing the contract:
“I wanted to be a Canadien and I wanted to stay here. There’s no other place I want to be. We have that burning desire to win. We had a special team [last year] and we still do. The great thing about us is we’re young, and we’re only going to get better from what we learned in the past. I’m very excited to move forward with this group.…
The two year deal also gives Beaulieu the time and opportunity to further grow and develop into a top 4 NHL defenceman. Beaulieu realized that he needed to mature both on and off the ice and it sounds like he has finally come to an understanding as to what it takes to be a professional full-time hockey player. His tenure thus far as a Hab could be described as a yo-yo, bouncing up and down between the Minors and Montreal. The questions of maturity started early on in training camp when then captain Brian Gionta pulled Beaulieu aside and let him know that referring to himself as N8THEggr8 was not appropriate. A bit of cockiness is fine in the NHL but Beaulieu had to learn where the line was.
“It was just about maturing and focusing and understanding it’s a process,… said Beaulieu. “Now that I feel like I’ve established myself as an NHL player, it’s time to take a big step forward in my NHL career.…
There is no question that Beaulieu’s level of play finally hit its stride once he was paired with Sergei Gonchar who took Beaulieu under his wing. Beaulieu’s own father called Gonchar a “Godsend…. While the loss of Gonchar might have been hard on Beaulieu, the re-signing of Jeff Petry was thought to be a positive for his continued development, someone to model his own game after. It is interesting to note though that in his own comments, Beaulieu only specifically mentioned:
“I have a great guy to learn from in Andrei Markov,…
This also goes to show the effect that the quiet Markov has on his teammates. He continues to be a role model and his leadership should not be discounted.
What does the Beaulieu signing mean for Jarred Tinordi?
Tinordi is also a restricted free agent but he is certainly in a precarious position, especially when compared with Beaulieu. Both were 1st round draft picks and have played the same 3 years of professional hockey. However TInordi continued to struggle and find his footing, even in his 3rd year. Worst yet, he got injured fighting unnecessarily. Since Beaulieu will be earning $1 million AAV, I expect Tinordi to receive closer to $850,000-900,000. However, I think there are two options that the Canadiens can go with for Tinordi.
1) Sign Tinordi to a one year deal for $850,000 and let him prove to the Canadiens and to himself that he has what it takes to be a full time NHL player.
2) Sign Tinordi to a bridge contract similar to what Greg Pateryn signed last Summer - a two way deal in the first year and one way in the second. This would save the Habs some cap space if Tinordi needs more playing time in St John's. The risk is losing him on waivers...
How many defencemen will the Canadiens carry on their official roster opening night?
With Beaulieu signed and Pateryn entering the 2nd year of his contract, the Canadiens have 7 one way contracts for defencemen. When the Habs sign officially sign Tinordi than they are forced into carrying 8 and any of the young defencemen would get claimed on waivers, a risk Bergevin cannot afford to take. However by carrying 8 defencemen than there is only room for one spare forward. I believe that Bergevin and Coach Therrien will take most of training camp to review the performance of all their defencemen and only then might a roster move might be made.
Does Phil Kessel want to be a Montreal Canadiens?
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Canadiens were on Kessel’s list of teams that the he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause. For Bergevin to be able to take Kessel away from the Leafs, he would have to clear some major space with the most likely contract targets being P.A. Parenteau, Alexei Emelin, Tomas Plekanec, Lars Eller or David Desharnais. Toronto though would need potential scoring to come back and so I imagine any offer would have to include Nikita Scherbak. Phil Kessel has 7 years left on his contract which as the salary cap eventually goes up, his $8 million cap hit might not seem so bad. His numbers were off this year but considering the gong show that it was in Toronto, he still managed 25 goals and 61 points which would have been good for 2nd on the Canadiens roster.
What is interesting to note regarding Kessel is that for all the talk that he doesn’t care about winning, all of the teams that were reportedly on his waive list are all tough markets to play in where the pressure is high and most have had various levels of success over the past few years: Boston; Chicago; Los Angeles; Minnesota; Montreal; New York Rangers; Philadelphia; and Pittsburgh. Personally, I think Kessel could be worth giving up Scherbak, Emelin and probably a 1st rounder (hopefully also able to throw Parenteau in as well). Kessel would certainly give the Canadiens a better chance at winning now, especially within Carey Price’s current three year contract window.
Are the Habs in on Mike Reilly?
Bob McKenzie also mentioned that the Canadiens interviewed free agent prospect Mike Reilly from the University of Minnesota during the combine. However due to the Canadiens depth on the blue line, it would be difficult to imagine Reilly choosing Montreal over somewhere where he would get the opportunity to play right away. Other teams like Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles make a lot more sense for Reilly to sign with than the Canadiens.
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