Just like a year ago, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes faces a quiet 2024 offseason, without having to re-sign any unrestricted free agents (UFAs) of note. This time around, he’s got more of a prerogative to raise the volume, expectations having been heightened heading into 2024-25.
Related: Top Canadiens Priorities that Remain for 2023 Offseason
Whereas in 2023, the Canadiens and free agency were a bad mix, it’s more of an option this time around. That far from makes it a certainty or necessity, though.
For example, they’re more in a position where they have to unload defensemen than add. Plus, some may argue the defenseman they need to trade the most is 30-year-old Mike Matheson. However, signing someone of his calibre for his cost-effective cap hit ($4.875 million) is just about the best-case scenario available. In net, they could maybe use an upgrade, but the only goalies available don’t necessarily reach current starter Samuel Montembeault’s level. That brings us to up front.
Seemingly set at centre and on the top line, the Canadiens could undeniably use an upgrade on the wing on the second line. Several intriguing options admittedly exist. Keep in mind though that Tyler Toffoli is one of them. Obviously, Hughes traded him a few seasons ago despite him having been a good all-around fit in the interest of going all-in on the rebuild. There are several questions to mull over then:
- Is there anyone who’ll offer as much bang for their buck than Toffoli and can the Canadiens justify trying to ink him again after having traded him?
- Are they ready to commit to a veteran, who’ll surely find himself on the decline before the end of the term they’ll inevitably demand?
Finally, with the Canadiens still one of the teams near the admittedly set-to-increase cap ceiling, how will they make room, if they do decide to go that route? Enter the next-highest projected priority on Hughes’ list for the 2024 offseason:
5. Trade a Non-Top-Six Forward (a la Christian Dvorak)
Last offseason, Hughes worked his magic to trade Mike Hoffman who had been entering his last season under contract and hadn’t really fit in with the Canadiens. That seems to also describe Christian Dvorak, who impressively returned from injury late this season, hopefully setting the stage for another deal. Other potentially outgoing options exist for a team that, despite needing more forward depth, is jam-packed with NHL players up front. So, someone needs to go one way or another.
There are undeniable cases for the team’s other forwards on expiring contracts (in 2025). However, Jake Evans is a fourth-liner with a less-than-exorbitant hit. Meanwhile, coming on like he has in 2023-24 after having gotten initially cut, Joel Armia has impressed enough to return. You can’t say the same for Dvorak.
4. Determine What to Do with Jesse Ylonen
Jesse Ylonen is one player whose contract is expiring in the coming months. However, he’ll only be a restricted free agent (RFA), meaning the Canadiens hold all the cards. They just may not be sure how to play them at this juncture, because the backstory is somewhat complicated.
Hughes re-signed Ylonen to a one-year, two-way deal last summer. To his credit, Ylonen stayed in the NHL all season (no longer exempt from waivers). He also underwhelmed as a fourth-line mainstay, where he halved his output from 2022-23, despite playing 21 more games.
Undeniably, Ylonen’s skillset is more in line with that of a top-six forward. So, there is an alternate reality where he is the answer to the Canadiens’ need for more offensive punch. There’s also one where they cut bait, making him the cap casualty instead.
3. Re-Sign Justin Barron
Defenseman Justin Barron is in a similar situation as Ylonen last summer. Next season will be the first he will no longer be exempt from waivers. With that, it stands to reason the Canadiens will re-sign the RFA despite how he’s largely underwhelmed.
Ultimately, Barron is still a former first-round pick with a lot of upside, which puts locking him up at a higher priority level. He also plays on the right side, which isn’t as clogged as the left, despite other prospects having arguably eclipsed him there on the depth chart.
2. Draft a Forward with First, First-Round Pick
One of those prospects is obviously David Reinbacher. The Canadiens used their fifth-overall pick last summer to take him, despite arguably higher-end talent up front still being on the board. So, all things taken into account, seeing as Hughes arguably drafted for need then, he’ll stick with the strategy and draft a forward.
Talking to TSN, Hughes echoed that sentiment, saying: “We’re deep on ‘D.’ We’re certainly deep on left-shot ‘D.’ So, in all probability, if we felt we were in that type of situation [where the best player available was a defenseman], we’d probably consider a trade [to move down].”
1. Re-Sign Arber Xhekaj
To be clear, Hughes doesn’t absolutely need to draft a forward. Having finished fifth last in the standings for the second straight season, it might make more sense for them to draft a defenseman, as there are a number of high-end ones set to be available around there. In a worst-case scenario they can always trade the player they draft in the future, which oftentimes gets lost in the shuffle as a possibility.
The same holds true for restricted free agents, like Ylonen above. No team should want to lose an asset for nothing. With all that in mind, defenseman Arber Xhekaj looks to be carving out a place for himself on the team into the long term. So, it’s hard to conceive of a scenario in which the Canadiens don’t re-sign the RFA.
That’s taking into account the logjam on Xhekaj’s left side, the fact the Canadiens demoted him early in the season, his season-ending shoulder injury and the possibility they draft another defenseman, like the similarly lefthanded Zeev Buium (for one example).
Xhekaj’s rise up the ranks from having gone undrafted to having established himself as arguably a member of the team’s core has been nothing short of impressive. And, as a part of that core, in the absence of any UFAs of note to pursue or re-sign, re-signing him must be the top priority.