Team: 2018-19 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 24, 2018

Published: Jun. 24, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I believe the rumours to be true that the Habs will be trying for Tavares, O'Rielly and others but not sure if they will be successful, so here is a safe option if those big names can't be acquired.

Plekanec comes back for 1 more year, good defence, increasingly limited offense.

Mete is not waiver eligible, and since he is young and coming off an injury, I send him to the minors to start the year for 25 games or so to get himself back up to speed, assuming a recall midway through the year. Ouellet and Reilly are giving some show-me time at LD but if either falters, they are waived or traded for a 6th rounder or something, and replaced by Mete.

Andrew Shaw and Paul Byron will both start next season on the Injured Reserve for at least a month, so Logan Shaw, despite his limitations, gets signed as a 4th liner to fill in and can be sent down or waived when others return to the lineup. McCarron also has 1 year left to prove he can play, if he works like mad on his skating this summer, he could be effective. If he doesn't, it'll be another stretch of 0 goals 0 assists and then a career exclusively in the AHL.

Lots of cap space is available. If the team is mediocre or outright bad, Pacioretty, Byron, Benn, Niemi, and Ouellet will all be UFAs rentals at the 2020 trade deadline and can be traded for picks and prospects. If they surprise and are better than expected, they have space to bring on some rental players of their own for a playoff push.

I presume that this team will be in the running for another top-10 pick next year though, still plenty of holes in this lineup.

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