I'm still in mourning over the demise (one round too early) of my beloved Montreal Canadiens. The regular season Eastern Conference champs didn't exactly have my confidence that they'd end the incredibly long Stanley Cup drought (15 years and counting), but I see the 25th title coming to the team in the not too long-distant future.
Although the required ingredients won't be easy to acquire, I think the Habs have a really short shopping list.
For starters, the club needs a big, tough forward willing to live in front of the net. I thought they had the guy in Mike Ryder. But apparently his feelings bruised easily and when last year's arbitration process went sour, his game left town a year early. He's gone, won't be missed, and takes a potential solution with him. I really believe that had Brenden Morrow worn a Montreal sweater this year, Montreal would have won it all. Heck, even a Milan Lucic would have made it close.
Can Max Pacioritty, the college wunderkind, be Montreal's big nasty crease-crasher? It takes a bit of time to grow into that role (Lucic notwithstanding). But he's got promise. He's the only Montreal property that hints at playing the role well. So, the Habs will have to look elsewhere.
Nobody stands out as available and affordable. Power forwards are just too valuable. But there ARE possibilities open to imagination. Philly's Jeff Carter has the makings of a difficult player to tangle with, but would be prohibitively expensive. Brendan Shanahan might decide New York's shot its bolt and that the Canadiens are a better fit for Stanley Cup dreams. He'd add a somewhat health-risky benefit as another leader in the room. Would Carolina part with Erik Cole? He's a younger version of Shanahan. Sliding down the reliable health scale, we would find Columbus' Fredrik Modin. Betcha the Habs could get him for Mikhail Grabovski straight up. And Grabovski has to get out of Montreal if he wants to play NHL hockey. Money and opportunity could attract the likes of Ruslan Fedotenko, Ladislav Nagy or even Ryan Malone, but I doubt it.
Okay, so we've added Modin and Pacioritty to the line-up for next year. The club needs to resign Alexei Kovalev (Please, if there is ANY chance to get his name on a one-year contract, do it) and Andrei Kostitsyn. While neither is guaranteed, both should be back. Add in Kostitsyn's brother Sergei, Saku Koivu, Thomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins, you have the makings of two scoring lines, plus most of a third line. Guillaume Latendresse will fill out that third line. The Kostopoulos-Begin-Smolinski line will be broken up unless Brian Smolinski accepts less money. Glen Metropolit is a free agent in Boston and I would covet him. But some plugger will make that line go.
So, there's your forward set for next year. On defence, the Habs have to re-sign the hockey equivalent of Tim Wakefield, Mark Streit. He simply is too valuable as a capable defender who powers the power-play AND can take a turn at the forward spot. In fact, he lets the club go with 12 forwards and seven defencemen nightly, which is a solid way to spread out minutes over a long season. He's not a six-million dollar man, but he's worth at least half of that.
Montreal will have serious cap room, even after offering raises to Kovalev, Kostitsyn and Streit. The bulk of that cash should go to getting a stud defenceman. This might be the right time for Montreal to look at defenders with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. They'll also be finishing high enough in the standings that a cost in first-round picks for a restricted free agent might not be prohibitive at all. In fact, the guy I like most, falls into that category, Shea Weber of Nashville.
Weber is the most physical of the restricted free agents and also has an offensive game. He's young and plays for a team that just doesn't have the financial wherewithal to hand seven million plus to a guy who ISN'T their best player, or even best defenceman (Dam Hamhuis). So, the Predators might just let Montreal carry off the defenceman for money and picks.
Barring that, the Canadiens should be in the hunt for Wade Redden. He's fallen far, but I think it's possible he could get back up. I wouldn't touch Brian Campbell, even though I think he's a durable fellow. He just wouldn't earn out, owing to the presence of Streit and Andrei Markov to run the powerplay. His ability to run the powerplay is what doubles his salary (and worth) to other teams.
Then there is the trade route. Would Florida seriously think of trading Jay Bouwmeester? Start with Markov, throw in Higgins, some of those Hamilton Bulldog prospects chomping at the bit and some draft picks. Sign Nagy or Fedotenko to replace Higgins and the job's done. Don't think any other young, brutish defenceman with talent is available, although I would phone Mike Gillis out in Vancouver and inquire about often-hurt Mattias Ohlund. That's some bargain-hunting that might pay off. And then there's Anaheim, who must surely realize that four alpha defencemen is one or two too many.
Okay, what to do about goaltending. I LIKE Jaroslav Halak. Problem is that he likes himself too. He just doesn't see himself as Carey Price's caddy. Ergo, you can count on him to bail as a free agent or get himself signed and traded. Better to let him go. A couple of Johan's appeal to me as the kind of veteran backup/mentor that might look good in bleu blanc et rouge. Hedberg's time is done in Atlanta and that makes him the choice over Dallas' Holmqvist, who the Stars probably need to resign. The guy I'd LIKE to see in Montreal is Chris Mason, the suddenly redundant former starter in Nashville.
As you can see, a few re-signings and some brute force additions will let this edition of the Montreal Canadiens age and improve into a championship calibre squad.
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