The Habs made a big splash last week with the acquisition and subsequent signing of Josh Anderson with Max Domi and a third-rounder going to Columbus. Now that the dust has settled on the draft and the start of free agency, our writers have had a chance to offer up their thoughts on the move.
Charles Hudon, Montreal’s lone remaining restricted free agent had until 5 PM EST on Saturday to file for arbitration. Somewhat surprisingly, he has opted not to do so.
The Habs are quickly whittling down their list of restricted free agents. After re-signing Victor Mete earlier in the day, they announced that they’ve inked Xavier Ouellet to a two-year, two-way contract.
Just before the free agent period opened up, the Habs took care of another one of their restricted free agents, re-signing Victor Mete to a one-year deal at his $735,000 qualifying offer.
The Habs have wasted little time getting a new contract in place for Josh Anderson, signing their newest winger to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract.
Karl Alzner’s time with the Canadiens has come to an end as the team announced on Wednesday that after he cleared unconditional waivers, they bought out the remainder of his contract, making him a free agent.
While GM Marc Bergevin wasn’t hiding the fact that he was open to trading the 16th pick, he opted to keep it as the Canadiens selected defenseman Kaiden Guhle from Prince Albert of the WHL.
The Canadiens pulled the trigger on a long rumoured trade, moving centre Max Domi to Columbus for right winger Josh Anderson on Tuesday. To complete the transaction, Montreal sent a third round pick (78th overall) in the 2020 draft.
At the NHL level, right wing isn’t the deepest position for the Habs with left wingers often playing out of position. However, there is help on the horizon in the prospect cupboard.
The Habs aren’t waiting for Wednesday’s deadline to tender their qualifying offers. Instead, they announced on Saturday that five of the eight eligible players received an offer to allow Montreal to retain their rights.