1) EXTEND RFA’S:
Caufield is the top priority in terms of who to re-sign this off-season. Obviously, I believe there are other good RFA’s to consider re-signing, such as RHP, Ylönen, and Pez, but Caufield is top priority.
2) ACQUIRE DUBOIS:
I know what everyone is thinking… “he wants to come to Montreal, why not just wait until he is a UFA?” The reason is simple: he wants to be here now. Sure, I doubt he’ll change his mind, but you can’t take that risk. Montreal has plenty of draft picks and prospects where they can afford to make a move for Dubois. Plus, if you acquire him now instead of waiting for him to be a UFA, he can sign an 8-year deal, which will hopefully mean a cheaper AAV cap hit. And since Montreal has potential leverage, I don’t think it’ll cost an astounding amount to get him. A first and a few prospects should be plenty for Winnipeg in return. Maybe Norlinder is dealt due to his lack of a future on this blueline? Beck since we won’t need a center prospect anymore if we get Dubois?
3) TRADING AWAY EXCESS ASSETS:
Montreal has created a good problem for themselves with all of these injuries… they now know they have many players that can play at this level. The problem with that is that you only have 23 spots on the opening night roster, and only 20 can dress for a game. The Canadiens will need to make some tough decisions on who to either keep, trade, demote to Laval, or risk placing on waivers. Potential UFA’s in 2024 such as Edmundson, Hoffman, or Wideman are trade candidates for the off-season. In Wideman’s case, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if he is still around and is either placed on waivers or edges out Kovacevic as the team’s 7th D. A younger players like Farrell, though he’s looked solid with Montreal so far, may start the year in Laval due to the lack of roster space on the NHL club. Besides, Farrell is a player who would thrive way more in a higher role with Laval than as a 4th liner or an extra forward with the Habs.
4) GOALTENDING DILEMMA?
Next year’s goalies will be interesting to see. The problem for Montreal is that Primeau will be waiver eligible. He has shown flashes of his potential, but has struggled with consistency. I’m not sure if he is quite ready for a full-time NHL spot yet. The problem is, if he is placed on waivers, there is a decent chance a team takes a chance on him. But if you decide to start him in Montreal next year, who do you get rid of? Montembeault has played great, all things considered, and some people believe he could be the goalie of the future. Though it may be early to make that claim, I do believe he is worth keeping for another season. What about Jake Allen? Though he has consistency issues at times too, I feel a veteran netminder like him who can take on a decent workload still is valuable for a young Canadiens team. I wouldn’t rule an Allen trade out fully, but I doubt it happens. Now, what happens if the Canadiens do waive Primeau and lose him to the waiver wire? As of right now, the only goaltender other than the previous three mentioned that Montreal has under contract (and no, I’m not counting Price, as I believe he will announce his retirement this off-season) is Dobes. Though I do like his upside, there is no way he should be considered the team’s #3 goalie next year. However, I also believe that he should get AHL minutes next year, or at least to start the year. How can Montreal make this work? I believe they should sign a veteran goalie, who can be a good #3 if needed, and could fit into the system if we lose Primeau, to a PTO. By signing a goalie to a PTO, Montreal can play them in pre-season and training camp and see if they’re worth it. If we lose Primeau to waivers, we sign the vet goalie from their PTO to a standard contract. If Primeau clears waivers to Laval, we release the vet goalie from the PTO. Worst case scenario for Montreal if they don’t sign a goalie to a PTO is if they lose Primeau to waivers and Dobes has to temporarily be the #3 in the organization, in which case I could see the Habs trying to trade for an AHL option.
5) BUYOUT? SIGN UFA’S?
I see Armia as a buyout option. I could see the team considering waiving him, but I feel that it could lead to him taking ice time away from the younger players in the organization. As for re-signing any UFA’s, I’d love Belzile back in the organization. There may be a few others that Montreal may think of bringing back, but with the youth being the priority for the Laval lineup, I could see Montreal avoiding bringing back some veteran skaters.
6) OTHER MOVES?
I don’t think the Canadiens will consider making any major moves this off-season, other than the potential Dubois deal we discussed. I see this team trying to have a good amount of cap space for the 2024 off-season and then trying to be a true contender again. As for this next season, it shouldn’t be one where they’re a contender, but I don’t expect them to be in the bottom of the standings again.
Vegas gets a more reliable and cheaper upgrade to their defense over Martinez. Vegas gives up a future 2nd for Edmundson and also sends a solid prospect in Chayka in exchange for taking on Martinez’s contract (which Montreal will buy out). Fairbrother is sent over for AHL roster purposes
Montreal gets their piece in Dubois. I already elaborated on this deal in the description, so I won’t much more here. I added Gustafsson to the deal as a depth piece just so Montreal got another asset in the deal. He would most likely be an extra forward for us.
There have been many trades between Calgary and Montreal in recent years, and this is one I could see happening. Calgary may want another secondary scorer, and Hoffman could be that fit. I don’t see Montreal asking for a lot for him, and it does clear cap and a roster spot.
Yes, another deal with Vegas, but hear me out on this one:
This would be after Montreal places Wideman on waivers and if he were to clear (which I could see happening). I don’t see Wideman being a fit in Laval since a guy like Mailloux (who could debut next year for the Rocket) can be a power play guy, or even Beaudin. Laval could use a more two-way or shutdown defenseman. I think a swap of Mayo for Wideman can work for both sides. Henderson gets a power play quarterback, and Vegas can call him up as cheap depth if needed. As for Montreal, Mayo has decent NHL experience with Arizona, and could be useful to the organization.
Arizona gets a guy in Pitlick who can be a solid point producer and was a good waiver pickup a few years back by Montreal. However, there isn’t much of a fit for him anymore. And even if he clears waivers, he would likely be buried in Laval’s lineup, or he would take away valuable ice-time from a young player. So, Montreal sends him somewhere where he can get a good opportunity, and in return get a physical AHLer that can be useful to a young Laval lineup.
Buying out Armia makes more sense than sending him down.
Primeau will get traded for a bag of pucks or put on waivers. I dont think the org will move Allen or Montembeault anytime soon and Dobes needs starts in the AHL
Beck should be an untouchable. They can never have too many good centers especially a center that looks to be on the same upswing as Shane Wright and could be their answer to losing Phil Danault. The kid dominates the face-off dot and is one of the smartest prospects in any pipeline.
Ylonen, Heineman, Struble are your prospects that you can move in a PLD deal with the Cats pick. Any more and Chevy can look elsewhere for less.
I dont see Caufield making more money than Suzuki. He will probably take a 6 year deal at less money leaving some UFA years on the table.
I can see a bad contract for bad contract trade with either one of Armia or Hoffman.
Eg: Lucic for J. Neal trade.
I think Armia back to the Jets would help him regain the form he had earlier in his career.
I know it's too soon, but a perfect one for one trade for PLD is K. Dach.
Buying out Armia makes more sense than sending him down.
Primeau will get traded for a bag of pucks or put on waivers. I dont think the org will move Allen or Montembeault anytime soon and Dobes needs starts in the AHL
Beck should be an untouchable. They can never have too many good centers especially a center that looks to be on the same upswing as Shane Wright and could be their answer to losing Phil Danault. The kid dominates the face-off dot and is one of the smartest prospects in any pipeline.
Ylonen, Heineman, Struble are your prospects that you can move in a PLD deal with the Cats pick. Any more and Chevy can look elsewhere for less.
I dont see Caufield making more money than Suzuki. He will probably take a 6 year deal at less money leaving some UFA years on the table.
buying out armia does not makes sense he is on the books for too long then and we dont have issues with cap this season so if he outlplays the kids he stays and if not you send him down and save 1 mil on his cap hit...then if he plays well you call him up when injuries occur and if he is a dud down there you leave him there like we did with alzner.. The following season we might buy him out are it will be for fewer years.... never know somone might pick him up on waivers if they get alot of injuries... Buying himmout for
too many trades really wideman either sticks as the eight defenseman or gets sent to laval and comes up when we have injuries.. same idea with pitlick i think yes someone might claim him and that is fine but if not then laval will be stronger and we want laval to be a top team next year.
Hoffman will get traded but who know where and we will retain money so they will need to give up a late pick... edmundson too will get traded
I can see a bad contract for bad contract trade with either one of Armia or Hoffman.
Eg: Lucic for J. Neal trade.
I think Armia back to the Jets would help him regain the form he had earlier in his career.
I know it's too soon, but a perfect one for one trade for PLD is K. Dach.
never happen as montreal does not improve with that trade and dach is signed for 3 more years at 3.6 mil so that would never happen that contract is awesome and dubois contract will not be awesome
There isn't enough there for the Jets to throw in Gustafsson, so they're him out and change Norlinder to Roy our something that Winnipeg would need or at least want.
-In what world is Vegas the one adding to a Martinez for Edmundson trade? Martinez might make more money but he is leaps and bounds above Edmundson in terms of on-ice production. Edmundson has some of the worst defensive metrics in the league this year; Martinez meanwhile helps Vegas drive play and suppress chances at a very high level. Absolutely terrible deal for the Knights, no chance they would make this.
-The issue I take with your reasoning on the PLD trade is that it doesn't hold up if the main reason to give up prime assets for him is to give him the 8th year - if you sign him to a 8 year deal this summer as an RFA after a trade, or a 7 year deal next summer, you're still only going to have him through 2030-31 - so, the 8th year technically would be 2023-24. I don't think adding PLD to this squad turns them around into an instant contender, so by your logic, you're giving up Norlinder/Beck/FLA's 1st to save $1-1.5M on the AAV. Is that really going to be worth it in the long run, especially if the cap pops up in the next couple years the way it's been rumored to?
-Calgary can't afford Hoffman, even with retention. I think the move with him is to send him out with full retention - I think he still only gets back a mid-round pick at that point, but he has done a good job becoming a better two-way player this year and I think he could be an asset to a contender at at $2.25M cap hit.
-Mayo's AAV is only $950K and he has an extra year of term (in addition to being 6 years younger than Wideman.) I don't see any reason for Vegas to do this one - it saves them, at most, $188K against the cap for an older, arguably worse player.
-Don't see the reasoning for Arizona here, either. If I'm the Coyotoes, I just sign one of the 100 or so UFA guys that will be available for $1M instead of giving up an interesting young player like the 6'9" Douglas for a guy who's practically the definition of a replacement level player. Wouldn't you rather have a guy like Derek Stepan signed for $1M (and potentially flippable at the deadline for a pick) & Douglas than just Pitlick?
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