The Montreal Canadiens have decided to bring back Christian Folin for another year, signing him to a one-year, one-way contract worth $800K. Folin was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Folin, 28, arrived in Montreal through the trade that brought Dale Weise back to town, and he ended up playing in 19 games down the stretch. Though he and the rest of the Canadiens ended up not being able to eventually make the playoffs, he did fit in rather nicely in a depth role and added four assists in his short time with the team. Folin has bounced around the league the last few seasons because he offers a big-bodied right-handed shot, but hasn’t seemed to find a perfect situation where he can be a full-time contributor.
He’ll try to be that in Montreal next season, but a contract of this length and value certainly doesn’t guarantee him a job. The team already has two veterans locked into the right side in Shea Weber and Jeff Petry, while Noah Juulsen is working his way back from an eye injury that ruined his season and could be ready for the start of the year. Add that to several other young defensemen that will be pushing for spots, and an $800K Folin might find himself as the seventh defender more often than not.
Still, it’s always good to have veteran help on the back end and after an inspiring season the Canadiens will be looking to compete once again in 2019-20. At the very least he provides an experienced option to plug in due to injury, or an inexpensive trade chip to move at some point.
Going to be interesting to see how RD shakes out. Got Weber/Petry/Juulsen/Brook/Fleury and now Folin in the fold for next year.