Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Canadiens.
Key Restricted Free Agents
G Jakub Dobes – Dobes’ NHL career couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. He won his first NHL start against the eventual Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers, stopping 34 of 34 shots. He finished the season with a 7-4-3 record in 15 starts with a .909 SV% and 2.74 GAA. If he were allowed to remove three difficult starts against the Rangers, Kings, and Kraken, Dobes would have finished the year with an impressive .924 SV%. Unfortunately for Dobes, with Sam Montembeault signed through the 2026-27 season and prospect Jacob Fowler rising through the ranks, he likely doesn’t have a long-term future with Montreal.
F Emil Heineman – Heineman came exactly as advertised to the Canadiens this season. Despite missing a chunk of games due to injury, the Leksand, Sweden native scored 10 goals and 18 points in 62 games, while averaging 11:24 of ice time per night. He was one of the most physical forwards on the team and managed solid possession metrics. Like many younger players, he has a few things to clean up in the defensive zone, which he’ll want to prioritize during offseason training if Martin St. Louis continues to utilize him in a defensive role next season. 
D Jayden Struble – Struble serves as one of the more obvious non-tender candidates on the Canadiens’ roster. Montreal already has six defensemen signed through next season, and that’s without taking into account David Reinbacher competing for a spot on the roster during next year’s training camp. Still, Struble is an effective depth option, scoring two goals and 13 points in 56 games this past season while averaging nearly 15 minutes of ice time, with 124 hits.
Other RFAs: F Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, F Sean Farrell, F Xavier Simoneau, D Gustav Lindström, D Noel Hoefenmayer, D William Trudeau, G Cayden Primeau
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Christian Dvorak – Before the 2024-25 campaign, the Canadiens had been looking to offload Dvorak and his $4.45MM salary. Dvorak rewarded Montreal for keeping him, scoring 12 goals and 33 points in 82 games, while leading the team with a 55.6% faceoff percentage by a healthy margin. He’s becoming a better defensive player as he ages, and the Canadiens could use Dvorak’s skill set as a veteran player as they become more competitive, albeit at a far lower price point.
F Joel Armia – Similarly to Dvorak, Armia has been the subject of trade rumors for the last few years. Montreal went as far as to pass Armia through waivers at the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign in an attempt to rid themselves of his $3.4MM salary. In almost identical fashion, Armia rewarded the Canadiens for keeping him, scoring 11 goals and 29 points in 81 games, with many of those points coming at even strength. Still, Armia has significantly poorer possession metrics compared to his peers, and Montreal may look elsewhere for secondary scoring this offseason.
Other UFAs: F Michael Pezzetta, F Brandon Gignac, F Alex Barré-Boulet, G Connor Hughes
Projected Cap Space
The situation in Montreal becomes more convoluted when looking at their salary cap availability. The team only has around $6MM to spend, with much of their core intact. According to PuckPedia, the Canadiens already have 13 forwards, six defensemen, and two netminders penciled on next year’s roster. Still, if the Canadiens are looking to capitalize on their surprise return to the postseason this season, they could look to trade Carey Price’s contract with it’s $10.5MM (with a sweetener, of course) to a team like the San Jose Sharks, giving Montreal the capability to pursue nearly any player they’re interested in this summer.
Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.
Photo courtesy of John Jones-Imagn Images