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Once the draft is over next week, all general managers will set their sights on free agency which will start October 9th at 12:00. Thanks to the global pandemic, the free agent frenzy may well be different this year. Why? Well, the reasons are twofold: the salary cap is not going up and as things stand, the teams won’t have much revenue this upcoming season (since it appears that the season will be starting with no fans in the stands). Having operated under the cap for a few years now, the Canadiens are in a good position to splash out on a big free agent if they chose to do so, but will they?
It’s right to say that the Canadiens are in an excellent position money wise for this upcoming season, with 19 of 23 roster players signed, they have just over $10.2M to work with. However, should they decide to keep Max Domi and give him a raise, whether through another bridge deal or a more long-term contract, they will be looking at a cap hit of at least $5M. Look at Jonathan Drouin’s deal, he earns $5.5M per year and has never produced as much as Domi did in his career year (while Domi produced 72 points, Drouin had 53 in 2018-2019 and in his first year in town, Drouin got 46 points). Furthermore, Domi brings grit and energy which Drouin never really brought. So, should they keep Domi, the Habs don’t actually have that much room to go free agent shopping. Let’s say that they don’t though and have a look at some of the players available on the market.
The top 3 players available in my book are Alex Pientrangelo, Taylor Hall and Torey Krug. Let’s get one thing out of that way right from the get go, as things stand, the Canadiens have $27.725 M tied up at the blue line. This is enough. This team cannot progress in the playoffs (when it makes them) because it cannot score so they need some firepower up front.
Taylor Hall
At 6’1” and 203 pounds, the soon to be 29-year-old has got the kind of size that could interest the Habs. The former 1st overall pick in 2010 received a salary of $6M per year in his last deal and will be looking for a big pay day. It’s hard to evaluate how much Hall should receive, his stats have been all over the place since he came into the league, he rarely plays complete seasons and when he does, he can land in the 50 points category but also went up to 80 points once and 93 points in his Hart trophy winning season. For me, he is too much of a gamble, his numbers go up and down and he’s missed his fair share of games because of health issues, I wouldn’t be willing to commit that much money for him and chances are he’ll be looking for a deal worth at the very least $8M per year (even though he has acknowledge that Covid might mean a lesser payday for free agents).
Evgenii Dadonov
At 31, Dadonov probably has a couple of good years left in the tank and can play both left and right wing. Since coming back to the NHL for the 2017-2018 season (he spent 5 years in the KHL from 2012) he has earned $4M a year and has produced pretty well with seasons of 65, 70 and 47 points (in 69 games). Given his age, he will more than likely be looking for a big payday as this might be his last contract, if a team gives him enough term that is. With his production, it’s easy to see him commanding a salary above $6.5M. For instance, in the last complete season, he racked up 70 points on par with Radulov ($6.25M), Backstrom ($6.7M), Kuznetsov ($7.8M) and Tarasenko ($7.5M). It’s highly likely that he will be after a long-term deal (4+ years) and I just don’t think it would be reasonable to give him that amount of money for that long, if it was for a couple of years, maybe but I very much doubt he’d be up for a 2-year pact… Unless of course the pandemic makes offers so low that players are willing to sign for a shorter term to make more money once the cap goes back up.
Tyler Toffoli
This winger is only 28 years old and at 6’0” and 197 pounds, he brings an interesting size element. His last contract had a cap hit of $4.6 M but his production has been decreasing over the years. He got 58 points in 2015-2016 and since then his output has been of 34 points (in 63 games), 47 points, 34 points and 44 points (in 68 games). To me, he doesn’t look like a possible solution to the Habs scorings woes even though he may be much more affordable than the other options mentioned. Like everything in life, you get what you pay for as they say.
Mike Hoffman
The former Senator is perhaps the most interesting option out there for the Habs. He brings size (6’0” and 182 pounds) and he can score goals and a lot of them (in his last 6 seasons, he’s lightened up the lamp 27,29,26,22,36 and 29 times). He’s a year younger than Dadonov and his last contract had a cap hit of $5,187,000M. If I’m Marc Bergevin, I think this is the guy I’m going after, he’s played in Canada before and might be willing to do so again. My only reservation comes from the stories with his wife and Karlsson’s wife back in the day in Ottawa. That doesn’t mean that there were problems once he moved to Florida though and I’m certain that Bergevin has the means to do his due diligence.
There’s one thing that’s for sure though, it’s never easy to attract free agents to come to Montreal. Free agency is a big gamble and this is the main reason why I’d rather see Bergevin address the scoring need through a trade rather than through free agency. As least, when you’re trading, you know you’ll get your mark. On the free agency market, you risk being involved in a bidding war and your offer may just be used by your target to get the same offer in a friendlier market. I’m not saying it’s impossible that Bergevin makes a big signing but I’d be surprised.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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