1. Niederreiter is a cap casualty out of Carolina, who look to add cheap scoring to come into the season as serious contenders. Adding Tomas Tatar, a left winger on a 74 point pace at 2.4M for another season would be huge. Of course, there would have to be a premium to pay to acquire his services. Nino may have value, but after a rough season and a pretty big contract, the Canes must let go of prospects Jake Bean and Jamieson Rees in the deal, along with giving up a 2021 2nd round pick. An expensive, but fair price to pay. MTL throws in bottom-6er Jordan Weal in the deal as well.
2. MTL acquire Nikolaj Ehlers from the Jets, who appears on the latest trade bait list. The Habs may have landed a star, who not only could truly blossom here, but who’d also help former teammate Drouin find his game again, but of course, for such a good player on a good contract, a price must be paid. The Jets have a big hole to fill at 2C, so getting Winnipeg-born Max Domi in part of a deal for one of their quality wingers is big for WPG. Mete is also involved, a young defensemen with an already decent amount of NHL experience, he’d be very serviceable on Winnipeg’s thin blue line. MTL also add Charles Hudon, a small sniper who’s dominated the AHL and needs a change of scenery in the big leagues, he could surprise. A 2020 3rd is also added. Lowry is thrown in as a cap dump, a 4th line player making 3M off the cap would be smart for a team like the Jets, Habs can afford it too. Sure, MTL is getting the best player in the deal, but as we’ve seen time and time again, positions matter. Getting a young top 6 C and potential top 4 D are critical needs addressed by the Jets in this deal.
3. Lindgren to Minnesota for a 2022 5th round pick. Gets to his hometown and can help their shaky G depth. MTL also fix their overcrowded goalie problem and put their trust in newly signed Demchenko as the backup for now.
4. Mikael Granlund signed at 3x4M. Granlund’s play style fits extremely well with Montreal’s. A good number of fellow Finnish players and a young up and coming team might convince him to join the team as a UFA. This contract can look like a steal and quick, as Granlund has had history being a top scorer in the league. Struggling in Nashville allows MTL to secure him on a team-friendly deal.
5. Czarnik signed 1x1.25. Czarnik is a gamble Bergevin would love to take, we saw him do it with Peca, and we can hope Czarnik looks better. He’s probably a depth signing from the start, but when injuries occur, he’s a good option to play up and down our lineup. Could be a sneaky good addition.
In my opinion, these moves might not put the Habs over the hump right away, but that’s good news if anything. MTL can afford to be patient for another year and draft another top player before making a real impact when the young guns and new players get it all together by 2021-22. Throughout the season, we may see deals with guys like Armia and Byron too. However, if all goes well, this team, on paper at least, could pull off upsets just like Vegas did in their first year. I guess we shall see.
BTW I have Olofsson as the 7th D but it can very well be anyone out of Fleury, Juulsen, and Ouellet too. Olofsson to me just seems like a better option as allowing the first two to further develop wouldn’t hurt.
Put this together extremely late at night so disregard any typos LOL.
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