Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Montreal’s free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agent: F Phillip Danault – Montreal has been hard-pressed to find help at center in recent years with Danault being the exception. While he was expected to serve on the third line, he has spent a big chunk of his tenure in the top six and even has spent a fair amount of time on the top unit. He has held his own in that role as well, putting up reasonable offensive numbers (21-44-65 in 134 games the past two seasons).
The 25-year-old is now arbitration-eligible and is in line for a considerable raise on the $950K salary he received this past season. While the Canadiens may try to argue that he is more of a third line player, his usage and production suggest otherwise which could very well push his AAV over the $3MM mark on his next contract. As the lone full-time NHL player in restricted free agency for Montreal this offseason, he’s going to be the primary focus for GM Marc Bergevin among those needing to be re-signed.
Other RFAs: F Daniel Carr, F Jacob de la Rose, F Markus Eisenschmid, G Zach Fucale, F Jeremy Gregoire, F Michael McCarron, D Tom Parisi, F Kerby Rychel, F Logan Shaw
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Chris Terry – The Canadiens have a very small list of unrestricted free agents and with Antti Niemi off the board having re-signed a one-year, $950K extension last month, there isn’t anyone of particular prominence left.
Terry was the only one of Montreal’s UFAs to not actually see NHL action last year but he’s listed here for another reason. He led the AHL in scoring this past season which should garner him a lot of interest both from teams looking to add an elite minor league scorer but also internationally. The 29-year-old played on a one-way, league minimum contract in 2017-18 and if he decides to stay in North America, he will likely get a similar deal this time around.
Other UFAs: F Adam Cracknell, F Ales Hemsky
Projected Cap Space: Montreal wound up going into this past season with plenty of cap room as they weren’t big spenders in free agency. They never really needed to dip into that which has them set up to potentially make some noise this summer. They have a little under $63MM in committed contracts per CapFriendly with Danault being the only restricted free agent of note so they will have some money to spend before even factoring in the projected cap increase. The big question for them is whether they try to go after one big acquisition or spread their wealth and try to upgrade a few different spots around their lineup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Despite his usage and linemates, Danault’s production shows he’s more of a 3rd line guy than a 1st or 2nd line player. Is he capable of stepping into a short term top 6 role? Absolutely. But he’s a 3rd line C. With that said, he is for sure worth a 4-6 year deal in the $2.8 to $3.5 million range.
As for the other RFA’s, I only see McCarron, Rychel, de la Rose and possibly Carr coming back. For UFA’s, I could see Cracknell coming back to be a veteran voice in what will be a very young Laval team. I’d like to see Terry back too but I think he’ll get a better offer elsewhere.