Team: 2017-18 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: May 28, 2017

Published: May 28, 2017

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

LA Trade:
- At 32 years old, carter only has maybe 2 more good years left before he starts declining and his cap hit makes him become negative value. Brown's is also 32 and his cap hit has made him negative value for the the past 3 seasons although he is coming off his best season of the 3. I expect he could replace what shaw brings to the habs for the next 2 years before he too declines even further.
The benefit for LA is obviously freeing up aprroximately $4 million in cap space (after resigning Beaulieu) and getting younger in general. This is a way the habs could acquire a number one center without having to give up 1st round picks or top prospects which the habs can't afford to give up. LA gets a young defenseman who doughty has high praise for, and a young goalie who would've been a better backup goalie than Montoya next year for the habs but he is already signed. Beaulieu and Lindgren are good players but they don't fit into montreal's plans in my opinion. Sergachev and the signing of Jerabek make Beaulieu expendable and Lindgren will never get a shot in the NHL once montreal resigns price. McNiven (CHL goalie of the year) and Fucale could split time in the AHL next year. McNiven is the more likely replacement for Price as opposed to Lindgren because of his age. Shaw is the final piece in the trade included simply because Brown is a RW and the cap hit will need to be offset somehow. Shaw is a huge upgrade over brown consider his contract expires when he is 29 and brown's expires when he is 37.

Dallas Trade:
- Roussel would be a good fit for montreal and would bring grit and offense. He could play alongside Galchenyuk and gallagher at 5-on-5 like prust did in their rookie season. Lehkonen would step in on the 2nd powerplay unit to utilize his shot. The cheaper Benn makes emelin expendable, but he is a D that can be very tough to play against which would benefit Dallas. Matteau is included to potentially play a bottom 6 role for Dallas. He finished the year strong in the AHL playoffs, but it is rumoured he has some attitude problems. This trade doesn't necessarily have to happen, Lehkonen could play 2nd line and carr, De La rose, martinsen, or matteau could play 4th line. The trade would be made after the expansion draft so neither team has to worry about protecting their assets.

Arizona Trade:
- Hudon will be drafted by Vegas if he is left unprotected in montreal. The habs should try to get something for him. They need another RHD to solidify there depth in case weber or Petry goes down. Schenn could be that guy and his physical play would help replace the loss of emelin. The 6th round pick would help montreal replace some of the late picks they traded at the TDL.

Expansion Draft:
- Protected Pacioretty, Carter, Radulov, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Danault, Byron, Weber, Petry, Benn, Price.
This leaves Davidson as the most likely choice because he is a cheap RFA. If plekanec or emelin were chosen instead that would be considered a positive.

Drafting and Development:
- In the AHL, play De La Rose, McCarron, and Scherbak together as much as possible. They will be called up throughout the year in case of injury and could potentially solidify spots on the team in 2018-19. I would not trade juulson, I think he will be ready to step into the NHL in 2019-20 after 2 years of AHL seasoning. He projects to be the eventual replacement for Petry. Focus on drafting primarily centers and then wingers, the D and goaltending prospects are solid right now. Hire Larry Robinson as a consultant to work with the team's young D.

Managing Brown and Carter's cap hits:
- Danault, Price and potentially Jerabek and Schenn will be getting raises next year and assuming markov gets replaced with an equal cap hit. Danault @ 3.5, price @ 8.5 jerabek or Schenn or another UFA D @ 3.5... approximate increase of $7 mil. Roussel would probably leave via free agency and be replaced by de la rose and McCarron would replace plekanec therefore additions = $9 mil and subtractions + cap space = approx 12 so projected ca space would be $3 mil.

The following year pacioretty, Lehkonen, and Benn are free agents. Assuming markov retires the cap space would be approximately 8 mil to give raises to the 3 and replace markov. I think that is manageable. Then the only thing montreal has to worry about after that is sergachev. He can be signed to a bridge contract that would align with carter and brown's contracts expiring. The point is, browns contract is manageable for montreal, and it is worth it to get a 6'4" C like carter who can get 60 pts and 25 goals a year.

Vision:
- Carter is the 1C for the next 2 seasons before becoming the 2nd C after being replaced by galchenyuk and finally becoming 3rd C during his decline. Brown is middle 6 RW for next 2 seasons before becoming bottom 6/4th line for the remainder of his contract. Sergachev plays on the top pair with weber in 2018-19 or 2019-20.

1.

2.

3.

4.