An offseason checklist for the Montreal Canadiens

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t playoff-bound.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  First up is a look at Montreal.

While reasonable expectations heading into this season wouldn’t have been for the Canadiens to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final, few would have had them bottoming out completely as they finished dead last in the standings.  They’ve already made significant changes, including a coaching and general manager switch, while several trades were done in-season.  Even so, there is still plenty to be done over the summer.

Re-sign St. Louis

One of the biggest surprises of Montreal’s season came when the team named Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis as their interim head coach to take over from Dominique Ducharme, who was let go after getting just eight wins in the first 45 games of the season.  St. Louis had minimal coaching experience, primarily coaching his children, so to throw someone that raw behind an NHL bench carried some risks.

While the Canadiens still struggled under their new bench boss, they were much more competitive under St. Louis, compiling a 14-19-4 record down the stretch, while rookie Cole Caufield went from scoring one goal under Ducharme to being one goal off the NHL rookie lead by the end of the year.

However, since his contract was only for the rest of this season, GM Kent Hughes needs to get St. Louis signed to a new deal.  Both sides have indicated a willingness to get a deal done and speaking at the end-of-season press conference, Hughes stated a desire to get a contract that’s at least three years in place.  This seems like a formality, but it’s something that will need to be completed over the next few weeks.

Get clarity on Price’s future

This one isn’t entirely in their hands, but the playing future of Carey Price is certainly in question.  After missing most of the season due to knee trouble, he was able to play a handful of games last month, but swelling continues to be an issue.  He went as far as to mention that he prepared for his last game as if it would be his last in the NHL, suggesting that if things don’t improve on that front, he may not be able to play again.

That isn’t to say that it’s a given that the 34-year-old won’t return as the veteran also suggested that another surgery is an option and that he’s certainly not giving up on playing again.  If he does, however, it’s highly unlikely he’ll be able to log the heavy minutes that have made him the most used goaltender in franchise history.

Price still has four years remaining on his contract at a $10.5M AAV, the highest cap hit for a goalie in NHL history.  If he’s able to keep playing with a reduced workload, his deal will be considerably overpriced and an anchor on their books.  However, if he winds up in a similar situation to Shea Weber where it’s ruled that he won’t be able to return, they will be able to place him on LTIR. That would give them some extra flexibility, but it will also result in them having to search for a new starter unless they’re OK with Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault for another season.

A lot of what Montreal will or won’t need to do hinges on happens with Price, both in terms of roster composition and salary-cap compliance.  However, unlike many things that would typically be on the checklist for a rebuilding team, this one is pretty much out of their hands.  Price is expected to undergo further testing in the coming weeks, and the Canadiens will undoubtedly be hoping to have clarity on his future by the end of the playoffs.

Find a Petry trade

While Montreal moved some notable players in the days and weeks leading up to the trade deadline, one veteran who wound up sticking around was Jeff Petry.  The veteran defenseman had requested a trade well before the deadline, and Hughes indicated they tried to find a deal that worked for both Petry and the Canadiens — although clearly, they didn’t find one.

That might prove to be a blessing in disguise for the team as Petry fared much better under St. Louis than Ducharme, notching 21 points in his final 30 games of the season.  While the caveat about evaluating players based on meaningless games in the standings with no pressure certainly is valid, the fact that he was more like the player who received a four-year, $25M contract a year-and-a-half ago certainly can’t hurt his trade value and could help it.

Last weekend, Petry didn’t go as far as walking back his trade request but acknowledged a scenario where he could return to Montreal.  But with the team squarely committed toward a rebuild and a youth movement and the fact that the veteran is 34, a move makes sense for both sides.

While he’s coming off a down year overall, Petry is still a capable top-four defender who plays on the right side, the one that’s typically in low supply and high demand.  Among their veterans who could be candidates to go, Petry might be the one who carries the potential for their best return.  With three years left on his contract, this is a move that will be a lot easier to make this summer than it would midseason as well.  This should be fairly high on their priority list as a result.

Clear out contracts

By the time you factor in their bonus penalty on top of their contractual commitments for next season, the Canadiens are already over the $82.5M upper limit.  Yes, Weber being LTIR-eligible again gives them a bit of wiggle room, but Price’s uncertain situation makes it difficult for them to rely on full-season LTIR relief on his deal. Not to mention the challenges with trying to be compliant with the summer spending limit, which is set 10% above the cap without going into offseason LTIR.

Suffice it to say, the Habs are in a spot where they’re going to need to clear out some money this summer.  Weber was speculated to be heading for Arizona at the trade deadline, but they weren’t able to work out the insurance elements in time.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see those talks rekindled at some point, which should allow them to keep compliant with the summer cap without needing offseason LTIR.  Petry moving would help in that regard as well.

But there are other candidates to be moved to save cap space.  Wingers Jonathan Drouin ($5.5M) and Paul Byron ($3.4M) will be on expiring contracts next season and could be of interest, while winger Mike Hoffman ($4.5M) has two years remaining.  None of them had particularly good years but have had success in the past that should generate a little bit of interest as long as the acquiring team is able to at least offset some of the money (by retention or by sending a player back).  Winger Joel Armia ($3.4M) and center Christian Dvorak ($4.45M) could also attract some interest, but Armia had a rough year and might need to build up his value first.  Brendan Gallagher (five years, $6.5M) is unlikely to move due to his contract.

This summer, the list of players to re-sign isn’t overly high with the most notable players being RFAs Alexander Romanov and Rem Pitlick.  However, Caufield is in line for a significant raise in the 2023 offseason, while Allen will be unrestricted and will need to be re-signed or replaced.  Caufield’s deal, in particular, will serve as a pressure point.  Getting out of some of their commitments now would not only buy them some flexibility now but take the pressure off in a year.  Montreal is firmly committed to a rebuild, and when that happens, there’s usually an exodus of veterans on their way out.  That should be the case for the Habs this summer.