Yesterday I looked at which defensemen the Montreal Canadiens should protect at the upcoming NHL expansion draft for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Today it is time to discuss the forwards. The following is a list of Canadiens forward that are eligible to be drafted. Not included are ECHL players or AHL players who have never played a game with the Canadiens and essentially have no hope of being protected:

Paul Byron
Daniel Carr
Phillip Danault
Jacob De La Rose
Brian Flynn
Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk
Charles Hudon
Dwight King
Stefan Matteau
Torrey Mitchell
Steve Ott
Max Pacioretty
Tomas Plekanec
Alexander Radulov
Andrew Shaw
Chris Terry

My choices to protect:

Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Charles Hudon, Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw

Alexander Radulov will not be protected as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent as of July 1st. If Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin were to sign him now, he would be forced to spend a spot protecting him. The chances of the Golden Knights selecting him without a contract in place is incredibly slim and not worth the risk. Bergevin also knows that he needs Radulov and so expect a contract to be signed by him shortly after the expansion draft. Canadiens fans would be incredibly disappointed, not to mention frustrated should Bergevin not be able to eventually resign Radulov. That is unless his salary/term demands are actually ridiculous and not worthwhile. It would be hard to imagine if the two parties could not find some middle ground.

Tomas Plekanec has one year left at $6 million US dollars and that is just too much to be paying a third line center. He is still a very useful player despite his offense having disappeared for nearly two seasons. Even at the current World Championships where Plekanec is once again the captain of the Czech Republic, he is held pointless through seven games. Nowadays Plekanec is an excellent checker and can be counted on to defend against the opposition’s best players. He could be the ideal third line centerman for the Golden Knights while providing some veteran leadership and helping the team hit the salary cap floor with his contract.

I chose Charles Hudon to protect over Plekanec because he is the best Canadiens prospect that is not automatically protected and it would be a shame to lose him for nothing without seeing if he is able to reach his potential with the club. In his limited opportunities with the Canadiens, Hudon has performed and contributed on offense despite playing limited minutes. He was the St. John’s Ice Caps best forward during the playoffs and in reality their best forward over the past three seasons. The Canadiens are already desperate for more offense in their lineup and Hudon deserves his fair chance before possibly losing him.

Before the season started few would have thought that Paul Byron and Phillip Danault would become “must protects” but their career seasons proved that they are an integral part of the Canadiens. Byron can no longer go under the radar and would be snatched up in a second while Danault was able to step up and become the Canadiens de facto number one centerman.

The Canadiens could lose Torrey Mitchell as he is a solid fourth line centerman and the Golden Knights might see value of bringing in a solid veteran who is strong at faceoffs. However, should he be taken the Canadiens have Michael McCarron who is ready to become a full time NHL player. The possibility of bringing back Steve Ott as well as a fourth line center/13th forward also exists as he performed better than expected in his short time with the team.

Jacob De La Rose will also be exposed and there is a slim chance that Las Vegas could select him if they are looking for young depth on in their bottom six or farm team. His ride to the NHL has been bumpy to say the least but he is still just 21 years old and has potential.

Dwight King will become an unrestricted free agent on Canada Day and he will/should not be brought back. He was perhaps the biggest disappointment of all of Bergevin’s trade deadline moves and he had the highest expectations due to his previous success in the playoffs with the Los Angeles Kings. Andreas Martinsen was another trade deadline acquisition who will become a free agent this Summer but perhaps Bergevin would consider signing him as he brings a physical element to the ice that the Canadiens were lacking. However, he would only be signed after the draft so as to keep that spot open for another.

Brian Flynn will also become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and it is doubtful that Bergevin will resign him at all, even after the draft. Flynn’s stock fell hard after all of the trade deadline players arrived and he fell hard down the depth chart.

I have seen some suggest to expose Andrew Shaw in an attempt to get his contract off of the books and while I can understand that train of thought, it would be quite surprising if Bergevin were to expose him. Shaw had a tough season especially under former head coach Michel Therrien but thrived once Claude Julien got behind the bench. Aside from Carey Price, it could be argued that Shaw benefitted the most from the coaching change compared to all of his teammates. His versatility of being capable of playing all three forward positions came in handy for the Canadiens although there is some concern about his longevity and health after suffering a concussion at the end of the playoffs and dealing with various injuries throughout the season. If he were making $500,000 less there would be far fewer complaints about his contract.

Who would you protect or leave unprotected?

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