Canadiens Re-Sign Artturi Lehkonen
The Canadiens have re-signed one of their pending restricted free agents, announcing the re-signing of winger Artturi Lehkonen to a one-year, $2.3MM contract. He was eligible to file for salary arbitration on Sunday.
The 26-year-old has spent his entire five-year NHL career with Montreal who selected him in the second round (55th overall) back in 2013. He recorded 18 goals in his rookie campaign but hasn’t been able to duplicate that mark and was only able to tally seven goals and six assists in 47 games last season while spending some time as a healthy scratch. That continued at the start of the playoffs although he managed to get into 17 contests where he added three goals and an assist with one of those tallies being the overtime winner to send the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final.
The deal actually represents a lower AAV for Lehkonen whose previous cap hit was $2.4MM. However, it’s still a small boost on his $2.2MM qualifying offer which was also his salary in 2020-21. Lehkonen will still be eligible for restricted free agency next summer and while he has shown himself to be a capable checker, he’ll need a bounce-back season offensively to have a shot at cashing in with a bigger deal next summer.
Montreal now has just one NHL restricted free agent remaining in Jesperi Kotkaniemi who is coming off his entry-level contract and isn’t eligible for salary arbitration. They currently sit roughly $2.3MM over the salary cap, per CapFriendly, but with Shea Weber out for the season and Paul Byron out for the start of the year after hip surgery yesterday, they’ll be able to get back in compliance by placing them on LTIR.
Paul Byron Undergoes Hip Surgery
The Montreal Canadiens will be without Paul Byron for the start of the 2021-22 season after the veteran forward underwent hip surgery earlier this week. Though expected to make a full recovery, Byron is facing a recovery timeline of five months.
It was a difficult regular season for Byron, who was placed on and cleared waivers three separate times. The Canadiens were doing it in order to move him back and forth between the active roster and taxi squad to accrue cap space, but he was still technically available to the rest of the league for nothing. Instead of changing addresses, he remained with the Canadiens and played in 46 of the team’s 56 regular season games, scoring five goals and 16 points. His role on the team at even-strength has diminished, but Byron was still a regular on the penalty-kill, providing speed and fearlessness at the bottom of the lineup.
On Montreal’s underdog run to the Stanley Cup Finals, he averaged 14:35 through 22 games. He scored two game-winning goals, including an incredible short-handed effort from his knees at the very beginning of the postseason.
Now, as he works his way back from major surgery, it’s unclear if there will even really be a spot waiting in the Montreal lineup. The team added Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette in free agency for the bottom-six, not to mention Mike Hoffman taking a spot somewhere. Cole Caufield should be with the team from the start of the regular season, meaning it’ll be a crowded group upfront. Perhaps injuries will have taken their toll by the time Byron is ready to return, but he could find himself on waivers once again.
Of course, Byron’s $3.4MM cap hit is what protects him from being nabbed off waivers, especially since it extends through the 2022-23 season. The Canadiens will actually be able to move him to long-term injured reserve for the early part of the year, giving some added flexibility, but would need to have that much cap room left when he’s healthy enough to continue his career.
Mathieu Perreault Signs With Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have landed an experienced veteran at a tremendous discount. Coming off of a four-year, $16.5MM contract with the Winnipeg Jets, forward Mathieu Perreault has settled for a one-year, $950K deal with the Habs, reports TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. The 33-year-old Quebec native and former QMJHL star returns home after a dozen years away with three different NHL teams.
Lavoie notes that Perreault has always wanted to play for the Canadiens and his new contract says the same thing. Perreault is an incredibly effective defensive forward who often doesn’t get enough credit for excelling at the little things. That value alone exceeds his low-money deal, but Perreault’s willingness to play physical and his offensive contribution make the deal a steal. Perreault is no longer a perennial 40+ point player, but he has quietly kept up a .34 points per game pace over the past three seasons which would put him back in 30-point contention with a full season.
How Montreal decides to utilize Perreault will be the interesting part of this deal. The Stanley Cup finalists appear set in their top nine with most of their roster returning and Mike Hoffman joining the fold and Perreault is able to play a fourth line role, but could certainly push his fellow forwards for ice time and responsibility. At the very least, he is high-end replacement option in case of injury in the top nine while anchoring the fourth line.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Mike Hoffman
The Montreal Canadiens are adding some serious goal-scoring to the top-nine, signing Mike Hoffman to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.5MM. PuckPedia reports that Hoffman will earn $3.5MM in 2021-22 and $5MM in each of the final two seasons.
Hoffman, 31, is one of the most lethal powerplay weapons in the NHL, and should immediately help Montreal with the man-advantage. Even more than that he adds another legitimate offensive weapon to a team that struggled to score goals in 2020-21. Even in a down year by his standards, Hoffman’s 17 goals would have tied him for second on the Canadiens, behind only Tyler Toffoli. His 36 points would have been behind only Toffoli and Nick Suzuki among the forwards, and more than replaces the numbers that Philipp Danault provided (though obviously not his defensive or positional abilities).
The question now is where Hoffman fits exactly, given the current makeup of the team. The Canadiens already have Toffoli, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Joel Armia and Cole Caufield on the wing, not to mention Jonathan Drouin who is expected to ready to play again at the start of the upcoming season. Hoffman will have to find fit somewhere on those top three lines, or likely won’t be able to provide enough offense to offset the hefty cap hit he just received.
Still, there’s no doubt that Hoffman can score, and that alone made him an interesting target in this year’s free agency. He ranked 12th on our list of the Top 50 UFAs, with a prediction of three years and $12MM for the Canadiens.
Chris Wideman Returns To NHL, Signs With Montreal Canadiens
TVA’s Renaud Lavoie has reported that the Montreal Canadiens inked defenseman Chris Wideman to a one-year deal. It’s a league-minimum contract at a $750,000 cap hit. Wideman returns to the NHL after a season abroad in the KHL.
Wideman is one of the lucky few who left the NHL hoping that his accomplishments in Europe would earn him a second look back home, only for it to work out exactly that way. After two solid seasons with the Ottawa Senators to begin his pro career, Wideman had lost his footing in the NHL, bouncing around to several clubs – including the AHL – without much success. He turned to Russia this past season, signing on with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod for one year, and made the most of it. Wideman recorded 41 points in 59 games, leading the entire KHL in defensive scoring. The Canadiens, and surely others, took notice and now Wideman is back in North America.
While Wideman will likely still have to battle for starts, if not a roster spot, his scoring prowess last season showed that he is capable of making a difference. The 31-year-old brings experience to the table as well with 181 NHL games and 280 AHL games. This should position him to be one of the top options to replace any Habs defenders in case of injury or slump.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Louis Belpedio, Cedric Paquette, Jean-Sebastien Dea
The Montreal Canadiens have snatched up another depth defenseman, signing Louis Belpedio to a one-year two-way contract according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K, an AHL salary of $225K and a minor league guarantee of $300K. Belpedio was a Group VI unrestricted free agent. Not to be forgotten is the bottom of the forward group, which has also added Cedric Paquette on a one-year contract. Paquette will earn $950K according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Jean-Sebastien Dea has also been signed to a two-way deal according to Renaud Lavoir of TVA Sports.
Of the three, Paquette is the name likely to be seen in the Montreal lineup most often. The physical forward is a good fourth line checker and can hold his own at the face-off dot as well. A veteran of 424 NHL games, Pacquette has logged over 1,000 hits and a +38 turnover differential as a disruptive defensive presence.
Dea, 27, is a journeyman forward who is capable of contributing as an NHL substitute, but has spent the majority of each of his pro seasons in the AHL. Dea is a well-rounded offensive player, but lack high-end skill and upside, making him an experienced minor league option, but not a player that should be pegged for a regular NHL role.
Belpedio, 25, was once a highly-regarded prospect defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, but has not panned out. The 2014 third-round pick and Miami University standout has only played in four NHL games over four pro seasons. His AHL production has left a lot to be desired as well. Montreal hopes that a move to a new organization could help to jumpstart his career.
Montreal Canadiens Sign David Savard
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that David Savard has signed a four-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens. He’ll be making $3.5MM per season on this contract, which could take him through retirement at age 34 when the deal expires in 2025.
Savard will join the team that his Tampa Bay Lighting just knocked off in the Stanley Cup Final, but more importantly the team from his home province of Quebec. The St. Hyacinthe native is yet another player who signed with his hometown team when the market opened today, though he didn’t exactly offer a hometown discount. The veteran is still a solid defensive defenseman and was highly sought-after at the trade deadline, but once he arrived in Tamp, the career Columbus Blue Jacket failed to make much of an impact. Savard was held scoreless and recorded a team-worst -8 rating in 14 regular season games for the Bolts, leading to a severely limited role in the playoffs of just 14 minutes per night. Montreal has to hope that they get the dependable defender they saw in Columbus over the last decade and not the non-factor from Tampa Bay.
If Savard declines, his contract will hurt the Habs quickly. However, if he returns to form then Savard will be a big help in making up for the long-term and possibly permanent absence of Shea Weber. At his best, Savard can provide the shutdown defense that Montreal has chased in years past with additions like Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson. It’s that depth in sound defensive players that allows someone like Jeff Petry or Alexander Romanov to jump into the play as dangerous offensive threats. As Montreal tries to maintain that balance on their blue line, Savard will come in handy.
Offseason Checklist: Montreal Canadiens
The offseason is in full flight with free agency almost here. We continue our series which examines what each team needs to accomplish over the coming weeks and months. Next up is a look at Montreal.
The 2020-21 season was a strange one for the Canadiens. They were one of the top teams early on before things started to go off the rails. The end result was head coach Claude Julien, associate coach Kirk Muller, and goalie coach Stephane Waite being let go with Dominique Ducharme taking over on an interim basis. They continued to struggle in the second half but once the playoffs came, they were much better, making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final despite only winning 24 of 56 games during the regular season. Ducharme had his interim tag quickly removed but GM Marc Bergevin has plenty of other work to do this summer.
Add Scoring Help
Last fall, the Canadiens added Tyler Toffoli in free agency and he responded with the best season of his career with 28 goals in 52 games. They added Josh Anderson in a trade with Columbus and he was second on the team in goals. They signed Cole Caufield late in the season and he gave their attack a boost down the stretch.
And yet, even with those moves, Montreal is still not a particularly strong offensive team. They were hovering near four goals a game early on but by the end of the year, they were in the bottom half of the league and were struggling to score more than two per night late in the season. A lack of reliable scoring also hurt them in the Final against Tampa Bay. They’re about to lose one of their better regular season offensive players in Tomas Tatar to free agency and Shea Weber, one of the bigger offensive threats from the back end, is done for at least the year and his career may very well be over.
Even with a full season of Caufield who is an early Calder Trophy candidate, this is an attack that remains decidedly mediocre. While they hope the return of Jonathan Drouin will help, he only scored twice in 44 games so they can’t count on him to be a difference-maker at this point. While there are other holes to fill, Bergevin will be looking for a top-six piece to deepen his attack.
Replace Weber
This is one of those tasks that sounds simple enough on paper but is going to be quite difficult to accomplish. While Montreal’s captain was undoubtedly starting to decline compared to his level of play in his prime, he was still a key cog on their back end last season. Weber logged nearly 23 minutes per game and was only two seconds behind Jeff Petry for the team lead in ATOI, finished tied for third in power play goals, played more than anyone shorthanded, and was his usual physical presence. Finding a player that can check off all of those boxes is a nearly impossible task for Bergevin; even if he was to sign the top UFA defenseman in Dougie Hamilton, there are elements that Weber provides that he can’t (and vice-versa).
It appears that the Canadiens will instead have to try to fill that void by committee. They’ve been linked to David Savard and Chris Wideman as potential free agent signings and each of them could replace a part of what Weber has given them – Savard can play a physical shutdown role while Wideman is coming off a strong season offensively in the KHL and it appears their hope is that he could help on the offensive side of things.
Is there room for another impact addition? Montreal’s back end wasn’t the most mobile to begin with and bringing Savard or a similar player in for Weber doesn’t really change that. How much can Wideman be relied on considering he has been out of the NHL the last two years? If the Canadiens are opting to replace Weber with a by-committee approach, the committee coming in to replace him is going to need to be a big one. Weber will be eligible for LTIR, giving them up to $7.857MM in space to work with to replace him.
Center Decisions
This one is three-fold. First, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is a restricted free agent this summer and will need a new contract. The third-overall pick in 2018 has shown flashes of top-six upside but has been inconsistent as well to the point where he was a healthy scratch at both the start and the end of their playoff run. While they’re still hoping that he can be a core player for them down the road, he isn’t quite there yet and accordingly, a short-term bridge contract makes sense for both sides.
The second pertains to their other young center in Nick Suzuki. He is eligible to sign a contract extension as of Wednesday and while Kotkaniemi’s development has been spotty, that isn’t the case for Suzuki. He played well during the regular season and stepped up in the playoffs for the second straight year while showing some chemistry with their top prospect in Caufield. If Bergevin believes the best is yet to come from the 21-year-old, working to get a contract extension done now before it gets more expensive would be a wise course of action.
The final element pertains to Phillip Danault. He has been a fixture down the middle for them for the past five seasons and has become one of the stronger defensive forwards in the league along the way. He’s coming off a strong playoff showing in terms of shutting down top opponents (though he only scored once in 22 games) and between that and his age (28), he’s likely to be the most sought-after center on the open market. A long-term extension was rejected last offseason and there have been no contract talks since. Assuming he’s leaving, how will they replace him? Jake Evans and Ryan Poehling are both young pivots but are they ready to step into a bigger role? If not, Bergevin will have to add a veteran center to his shopping list as well.
The Canadiens are coming off an improbable playoff run but as it stands, the roster will look quite a bit different next season. Finding the right mix of returnees and newcomers will be the key task for Bergevin this summer as Montreal moves back into the Atlantic Division.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Montreal Canadiens Re-Sign Joel Armia
The Montreal Canadiens have made a mark on free agency before it even gets started. Joel Armia has agreed to terms with the club on a new four-year contract extension that will keep him away from the open market. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.4MM and keeps Armia under contract through 2024-25. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the deal does not include any signing bonuses or trade protection.
Armia, 28, may not create a lot of offense, but he’s still a valuable contributor to the Canadiens that can be used in a variety of ways. One of the best penalty killers in the league, he scored two short-handed goals in Montreal’s 21-game playoff run while lining up against some impressive competition. His 6’4″ frame allows him to get a stick in passing lanes or easily strip players of the puck, all helping Montreal’s identity of a tight defensive group with a penchant for the counter-attack.
The Canadiens, who also have Corey Perry, Phillip Danault, Eric Staal and Tomas Tatar scheduled for unrestricted free agency, were going to need to add some forwards at some point this summer, so why not bring back a player you know and like. The risk involved in a four-year deal is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Armia is still just 28, though he did get a pretty substantial bump in pay. If his defensive ability declines at all, it’s hard to see how Montreal would get their value back from a player that has only hit 30 points once in his career.
Still, the team has cap space to burn, given Shea Weber‘s likely placement on long-term injured reserve for at least this season. Even with Armia back in the fold, Montreal has close to $20MM in room to add in free agency and just a handful of spots left to fill on the roster.
Montreal Canadiens Linked To Chris Wideman
- After an outstanding season in the KHL, Chris Wideman could be returning to North America to join the Montreal Canadiens. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Wideman is a “good bet” to end up in Montreal when free agency opens. The 31-year-old defenseman led all KHL defensemen in scoring this season with 41 points in 59 games and then helped the U.S. win bronze at the World Championship. He last played in the NHL during the 2018-19 season and recently opened up about the Uber incident while with the Ottawa Senators that may have considerably changed his career path.