Rearranging

Created by: HabsCanucks

Team: 2023-24 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 30, 2023

Published: Jun. 30, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

The more I look at the roster and prospect pool, the more I like what Hughes did with this draft. It's not what I would have done, but I can see the logic in what he did.
Montreal needed:
-A top pair RHD (Reinbacher)
-An elite top 6 forward, ideally with size (Didn't manage this, which was the one key failure of the draft)
-A good second line forward (Newhook)
-More options in net (Fowler, Miller, Volokhin)
-More depth at RHD (Konyushkov)

Top line worked well last year with Dach on it.
Second line is weak for now, but hopefully they work hard to earn the opportunity.
Third line should give Slafkovsky a chance to develop with some veteran linemates to help him out. Ideally he earns a spot on the second line by the end of the year. Monahan probably shouldn't play too much to limit the chance he gets injured.
Fourth line takes the tough defensive match-ups.

Hopefully he can sign Newhook to a longer deal that will age well by the time they enter their competitive window in 2026-2027. I've used the Kotkaniemi deal as the model for what that contract could look like.

Over the next few years, prospects are in place to replace the key veterans and placeholders still on this lineup:
Beck replaces Monahan
Kapanen replaces Evans
Roy replaces Anderson
Slafkovsky and RHP swap places
Heineman replaces Dvorak
One of Anderson or Gallagher probably stays in that fourth line role until their contract is up, while the other is bought out or traded away. If both are gone, Ylonen, Mesar, or Mysak could take that spot.
Hutson replaces Matheson
Reinbacher replaces Savard
Fowler replaces Allen

The missing piece is one player in the top 6, which Montreal has lots of assets to try to address. I don't see Pitlick as a good option there long-term.
Remaining assets can be used to upgrade where possible or continue to build up the prospect pool, so we don't have to watch them be terrible again after this team starts to decline.

Free Agent Signings

RFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Harvey-Pinard, Rafaël		6	$3,160,000
Newhook, Alex		8	$4,840,000

Trades

MTL

2024 3rd round pick (TOR)

SEA

Edmundson, Joel ($1,500,000 retained)

Buyouts

Karl Alzner: $833,333

Retained Salary Transactions

Joel Edmundson: $1,500,000 (171.43%)

Buried

Mike Hoffman: $3,350,000 ($4,500,000)
Joel Armia: $2,250,000 ($3,400,000)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$76,034,166	$1,170,000	$4,210,000	$7,465,834

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Caufield, Cole $7,850,000$7,850,000 LW, RW UFA - 8	Suzuki, Nick $7,875,000$7,875,000 C UFA - 7	Dach, Kirby $3,362,500$3,362,500 C, RW RFA - 3
Harvey-Pinard, Rafaël $3,160,000$3,160,000 LW, RW RFA - 2	Newhook, Alex $4,840,000$4,840,000 C, LW RFA - 4	Pitlick, Rem $1,100,000$1,100,000 LW, RW UFA - 1
Slafkovsky, Juraj $950,000$950,000 ($3,500,000$4M) RW, LW RFA - 2	Monahan, Sean $1,985,000$1,985,000 ($15,000$15K) C, LW, RW UFA - 1	Anderson, Josh $5,500,000$5,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 4
Dvorak, Christian $4,450,000$4,450,000 C M-NTC UFA - 2	Evans, Jake $1,700,000$1,700,000 C UFA - 2	Gallagher, Brendan $6,500,000$6,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 4
Pezzetta, Michael $812,500$812,500 LW, RW UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Matheson, Michael $4,875,000$4,875,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 3	Savard, David $3,500,000$3,500,000 RD UFA - 2	Montembeault, Samuel $1,000,000$1,000,000 G UFA - 1
Guhle, Kaiden $863,333$863,333 ($420,000$420K) LD/RD RFA - 2	Barron, Justin $925,000$925,000 ($275,000$275K) RD RFA - 1	Allen, Jake $1,925,000$1,925,000 G M-NTC UFA - 2
Harris, Jordan $1,400,000$1,400,000 LD/RD RFA - 2	Kovacevic, Johnathan $766,667$766,667 RD UFA - 2
Xhekaj, Arber $828,333$828,333 LD/RD RFA - 1	Wideman, Chris $762,500$762,500 RD UFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
		Price, Carey $10,500,000$10,500,000 G NMC UFA - 3

Top Comments

Jun. 30, 2023 at 5:29 p.m.

BorisBagel

Boris Bagel

Joined: Oct. 2016

Posts: 2,918

Likes: 630

Pitlick is more likely in the AHL than the 2nd line

Habs4ever liked this.

Jun. 30, 2023 at 5:57 p.m.

Billy739

Joined: Dec. 2017

Posts: 6,590

Likes: 1,629

Quoting: BorisBagel

Pitlick is more likely in the AHL than the 2nd line

Faceoff support is why we use him
Otherwise we got many forwards who are better.
Newhook needs faceoff support

That said RHP-Suzuki's Chemistry tells me he'll likely be on top line instead of Dach
Newhook-Monahan -Dach on 2nd until TDL then whomever's thriving most at the Center position under Monahan mentorship gets 2nd C

Caufield-Suzuki-RHP
Newhook-Monahan-Dach
Slafkovsky-Dvorak-Anderson
Pezzetta-Evans-Gallagher

HabsCanucks liked this.

Jun. 30, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

HabsCanucks

Joined: Dec. 2022

Posts: 469

Likes: 145

Quoting: BorisBagel

Pitlick is more likely in the AHL than the 2nd line

Probably, but I'd rather give him a shot on that line and see what he does with it. He's a creative player, so he might be able to help Newhook's production a bit. If not, they can always send him down and call up Hoffman, Armia, or Farrell.

Jun. 30, 2023 at 6:08 p.m.

HabsCanucks

Joined: Dec. 2022

Posts: 469

Likes: 145

Quoting: Billy739

Yeah, I debated between Dach and RHP a lot for that top line role. I wouldn't be surprised to see both of them spend a fair amount of time there this year, but I think it looked best with Dach on it.
I don't like sticking Slafkovsky with Dvorak again. I think he looked much better with Monahan, and there's not a huge need for another centre on that second line if Newhook and Dach are on it.

Billy739 liked this.

Jun. 30, 2023 at 6:28 p.m.

Billy739

Joined: Dec. 2017

Posts: 6,590

Likes: 1,629

Quoting: HabsCanucks

I cant argue with that logic but to me i think
Monahan was brought in to help Dach again
When they were together The Athletic did a write up about how much Dach's game improved overall as a 200ft player.
I think Newhook coming in at a similar position but slightly ahead of Dach means the 3 will end up together.

While Dach 100% is logical
RHP didnt score that much away from Suzuki

That all said i heard them talking on TSN690 and they suggested Caufield-Suzuki staying together isnt a guarantee.
They pointed out Rantanen and Landeskog dont always play with Mckinnon 5v5 but on PP they unite.
We could be looking at this whole thing wrong still
Its hard to really know until Camp is the frustrating thing
Thats before someone stands out and forces us to make added moves like Suzuki did (Shaw was traded to free a starting position i believe it was)

I cant wait until Camp!

HabsCanucks liked this.

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