In his first season on the job, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin helped bring the organization back to respectability.
After restructuring the front office, hiring a new coach, and re-signing P.K. Subban, the Habs went from bottom-feeders (finished 15th in the East in 2011-12) to Northeast Division champions before laying a complete egg in the playoffs.
Now comes the hard part for the Canadiens and Bergevin — sustaining their surprising turnaround from last season.
It’s much easier to perform when expectations are low and any sort of success is considered to be progress.
But now when the Canadiens will be projected a playoff team, it’ll be up to Bergevin to continue to add to a group that appeared to falter down the stretch and may have been exposed after defenceman Alexei Emelin went down with a season-ending injury.
Montreal has most of its core players (P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Andrei Markov, Brandon Prust, and Carey Price) in place heading into the summer, and the team could look to add more size in the top six and depth on the blue line.
WHO SHOULD RE-SIGN?
Projected cap space: $4,774,167 (via capgeek.com)
Despite inheriting a messy roster, Bergevin should be pleased with his team’s financial situation moving forward.
The Habs were able to use an early compliance buyout to get rid of Scott Gomez’s excuse of a contract and could do the same this summer with Tomas Kaberle, who has just one year remaining at a salary cap hit of $4.25 million.
Fairly steep price tag for a guy who spent a significant portion of last season in the press box.
One of Bergevin’s most impressive moves last season was finding a taker for the declining Eric Cole (two years left at a cap hit of $4.5 million). He was able to pick up an expiring contract from the Dallas Stars in Michael Ryder – who turned out to be a more productive player and a better fit in the offensive scheme.
Now with limited cap space, the Habs have to determine whether it’s worth bringing back some of their veteran players at forward or moving on and replacing them with a younger, cheaper option.
Players like Michael Ryder, and Colby Armstrong each proved valuable in their own way but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if the Habs moved on and brought in a player from their minor-league system to fill their roles.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
Michael Ryder, forward: Ryder was a solid secondary scorer for Montreal, potting 10 goals and 21 points in 27 games after a midseason trade from Dallas. Would be welcomed back at the right price, but the team should look to upgrade this spot.
Colby Armstrong, forward: Considering his health concerns in the past, it was surprising Armstrong made it through 37 games last year. Despite his solid presence in the locker room, Montreal could look to bring in another grinder with less wear and tear on his body.
Jeff Halpern, forward: Halpern hopes to return to the team but at age 37, the feeling might not be mutual from Habs management. His offensive skills have rapidly declined, and it’s hard to imagine him catching on the roster next season.
Petteri Nokelainen, forward: The Finnish forward spent the 2013 season in the AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs. We can’t imagine the Habs have much confidence in the 27-year-old as anything other than a depth player in the organization moving forward.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
Ryan White, forward: The 25-year-old grinder is a bottom-of-the-roster player who isn’t expected to draw significant interest on the free agent market. His price tag should be reasonable enough for the Canadiens to bring him back to compete for a spot.
Yannick Weber, defence: Weber spent most of last season recovering from a knee injury. He only suited up for six games for Montreal last season, and he’s still young enough (24) to hold onto for another season. He still has room to grow, and the Habs could use more solid blueliners.
FREE AGENT FITS
Pierre-Marc Bouchard, forward: Bouchard would be a logical replacement for Ryder as a secondary scoring winger. He is four years younger and is an obvious fit in Montreal with his Quebec ties. He never quite lived up to his draft status in Minnesota (No. 8 overall in 2002) but is still a serviceable forward who can score at a decent clip.
Pascal Dupuis , forward: If the Canadiens decide to buy out Kaberle, they could have the space to make a run at Dupuis after a career year in Pittsburgh. He would add solid speed and scoring to the forward group, but it may be risky to invest in a player who had his best season playing beside Sidney Crosby. Buyer beware on the 34-year-old.
Mark Fistric, defence: The Habs could use size and toughness on the back end to complement their outstanding speed. The Oilers aren’t expected to bring back Fistric –and he could be a solid fit as a potential option on the third pair for Montreal. One of the hardest-hitting blueliners in the league would make sense on a short-term deal to fill in while Emelin continues to rehab from his season-ending injury.
