At this point of the summer, most of Montreal’s prospects either know or really have a good idea of where they’re likely to be playing when training camps open up in a couple of months. However, there are a pair of youngsters that don’t yet have a place to play in 2023-24.
When I looked at Montreal’s original restricted free agent list (before they picked up Alex Newhook), there was only one contract that I thought could be iffy, Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s. Instead, his was done early but there remains one that isn’t done in winger Jesse Ylonen.
Some years, I’ve sat down and graded Montreal’s full draft class. That would be a difficult exercise this time around so instead, here are some thoughts on each of their selections.
I wanted to wait until the dust settled on the offseason activity before really deciding to dig into Montreal’s pick of David Reinbacher at fifth overall over some forwards on the board. It’s a decision I wasn’t exactly shocked by and I’m not convinced it was the wrong one either.
Just before free agency began, the Habs moved Joel Edmundson to Washington with 50% retention for a pair of draft picks. Now that the dust has settled on the free agent market for the time being, do our writers think it was a good move, or should they have waited to deal him?
The Canadiens took care of two of their remaining three restricted free agents on Thursday, announcing the re-signings of forward Lucas Condotta and defenceman Nicolas Beaudin to two-way contracts.
Last year, after acquiring Kirby Dach at the draft, Montreal somewhat surprisingly gave him a four-year bridge contract. They’ve taken the same approach with newcomer acquisition as the team announced on Tuesday that they’ve inked the forward to a four-year contract.
A day before the draft, Montreal made a notable move, sending picks 31 and 37 along with defenceman Gianni Fairbrother to Colorado in exchange for pending restricted free agent forward Alex Newhook. Now that Montreal’s summer activity has slowed down, our writers have mixed opinions on the swap.
Another day, another signing for the Canadiens. This time, it’s their top draft pick putting pen to paper as the team announced that David Reinbacher has signed a three-year, entry-level contract.
The Habs have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents as multiple reports indicated that they’ve re-signed Mitchell Stephens to a one-year, two-way contract.