Despite Bergevin’s moves so far, the Habs are still lacking a puck moving LD and an offensive threat to complement Kotkaniemi’s line if they’re willing to seriously compete next season.
As for the PMD, Vince Dunn would fit the bill perfectly and St. Louis’s cap situation can be taken advantage of. An offer sheet around 4.95M might get it done. (Dunn’s projected next contract seem to be evaluated in that range.) Alternatively, the Habs could offer a comparable package for him centered around a 2021 2nd round pick, Mete/Kulak (cheap bottom-4 D) and a prospect filling a positional need for St Louis instead of the compensation picks resulting from the offer sheet (1st and 3rd round picks).
As for the middle-6 forward needed to give some offensive punch to the Kotkaniemi and Armia duo, I guess Caufield could be an internal option if he can play on his offside (not usual for snipers), but maybe it would more prudent to let him develop further considering his small stature.
For the purpose of this exercice, I would target Erik Haula, who I deem maybe more cost efficient than Mikael Granlund. But if Grandlund can be signed around 3.5M instead of his projected terms (5M), I would opt for him instead. Unfortunately, this signing of a middle-6 winger is impossible without shedding salary first. Byron is the obvious candidate to be a cap casualty, but his terms make him near impossible to move without assets to sweeten the deal; here, I’m shipping to Buffalo along with 3 mid-round picks.
As for the Kulak trade, he is a worthwhile asset for teams looking for a cost efficient bottom-4 D who performed well in the bubble; his value will never be better than this. Considering Mete’s terms (700K) and versatility (LD/RD), the latter is a better fit for 6/7D, making Kulak expandable to make room for Romanov.
To deepen the roster, I’m also signing Frederic Gauthier to share 4C duties with Evans, on the assumption that Poehling might need another season in the AHL.
In the end, even if the Habs can somehow shed Byron’s 3.4M, I doubt however that the Habs could adequately fill both their need for a PMD and LW with these moves; Haula/Granlund being at best cost efficient stop gap rather than what is truly needed; a clearly better LW than Tatar/Drouin for the top-6.
But since Bergevin spent too much money on G2 and bottom-4 Ds, obtaining such an impactful forward is now impossible, unless Tatar/Drouin is part of the package to acquire said player.
Indeed, the Habs’s back loaded salary structure (15M in G and 25M in D) makes it so that signing a impactful forward at 5M+ without shedding players is impossible in the near future.
This being said, Dunn is my main target since a PMD who can quarterback a PP wave is more pressing need than a complementary forward, especially since the latter position could in theory be fill internally. Actually the Habs can also fill the PMD-LD position internally, but they are probably 2 years away from the NHL (Norlinder/Harris, etc).
As for the 2021-2022 season, Tatar’s (UFA), Allen’s (UFA) and Edmunston/Chiarot’s (Expansion casualty) cap space can be use to give raises to Gallagher (6.5M) and Danault (5.75M) ; sign Kotkaniemi to a bridge contract (3M) and maybe keeping Armia if he’s willing to sign for reasonable terms (3M) as well.
As for replacing the aforementioned UFA; Primeau takes over Allen’s role; Caufield replaces Tatar and Edmunston/Chiarot is replaced by promoting one of Montreal numerous D prospects (Juulsen/Fleury/Norlinder/Harris).
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