After my Craig Rivet trade tree success I kept digging to find more trees to do with the Montreal Canadiens from our day and age but sadly couldn't find much to be fair, so I've decided to expand my search criteria and came up with the idea of doing a trilogy of trees! First we've had the traditional trade tree with Rivet but up next you'll get this UFA signature tree and a draftee tree! The two latter aren't as big or interesting as the Rivet one but this is a long a** offseason so I decided to go through with the idea, enjoy!

May 12, 2011: Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced Friday the signing of free agent defenseman Raphael Diaz to a one-year contract.
-An obscure signature of an eight year veteran defenseman from the NLA (EV Zug) is made that day, Diaz is a middle of the road defender playing an all-around game without much flash but he's effective. Throughout his three seasons in Montreal everyone could see he had offensive flair on the powerplay but he's never been able to establish himself as a steady top four defenseman with the Habs. He ends up playing 128 games -and 41 points- in Montreal before being sent out of town.

Feb 3, 2014: Canadiens acquire forward Dale Weise from Vancouver in return for Raphael Diaz.
-Diaz hasn't done much in Vancouver and was flipped later the same year to the Rangers for a 5th round pick (FYI: It became Adam Gaudette). He played one more year in the NHL with Calgary and is nowadays still with the ZUG at age 34.
-Weise, from the get go, flourished in Montreal. Scoring three goals in the last 17 contest of the 2013-14 season was already more than what they asked for from this fourth line grinder, but his highlight reel in Montreal really started in the playoffs that year. After scoring an overtime goal to seal game one against Tampa Bay the Dutch Gretzky wasn't done! His first year was topped by that memorable beef with Lucic -and much of the Boston team-, from the chest pound to the handshake, he single-handedly revived the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry. Enough said about ''Weiser'', he finished his time in Montreal with a whooping 59 points in 152 games played.

Feb 26, 2016: Canadiens trade Weise, Fleischmann to Blackhawks for Danault and a 2018 2nd round pick.
-Paired with Fleischmann, Weise took the Chicago train but it hasn't been for the best. Both players were moved up and down the lineup throughout the rest of the season with the Hawks and none resigned with the team.
-You knew where I was going with that. Montreal took a chance on a Danault that was having a hard time getting minutes in a deep Blackhawks roster, but when given the chance in Montreal never looked back. Transitioning from a 3C two-way prospect to a first line center is what Danault ended up doing between 2015 and 2018, he is -and should be- a core player in Montreal for years to come. Notable stats up to this day with the Habs; 307 games, 170 points and finished 7th in Selke votes.
-The Montreal Canadiens are proud to select with the 38th pick, Alexander Romanov. Timmins goes off the board and pick a defenseman ranked #115 among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting but our GM assistant clearly saw the potential in this kid, Romanov has yet to play a minute in the NHL but a pair of highly touted WJC run quickly made him a top prospect in Bergevin's pool.

And there you have it, a single* international UFA signature came to that. If it wasn't for this Montreal would still be looking for a shutdown center and a -potential - top four LD prospect.
*Pair if you count Fleischmann