The Montreal Canadiens are in undeniably better salary-cap shape than it looks like at first glance. For example, goalie Carey Price’s $10.5 million hit is projected to go on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), giving general manager Kent Hughes much-needed breathing room in the process. A slew of good contracts also lessens the blow. There’s still always room for more to be done.
Related: Best Bang-for-Buck Canadiens Contracts for 2023-24 Season
You have to believe, if Hughes had the power to, he’d trade away any if not all of the five below deals… and may yet still. However, seeing as four of the five are repeat entries from last year’s list (Price included), no one should really hold their breath.
It’s maybe telling how the one name to make his way off is Mike Hoffman, not because his deal got better, but because he’s on an expiring contract. It begs the question, though: Who takes his place having earned the dubious distinction of owning one of the Canadiens’ five worst contracts for the 2023-24 season:
5. Carey Price ($10.5 million cap hit)
The Canadiens dealt “retired” Shea Weber’s contract to the Vegas Golden Knights for a reason. As Hughes put it, it “benefits us certainly from a longer-term perspective” and “I don’t think the system is really made to have $20 million [representing Weber’s hit alongside Price’s tied up in LTIR].”
With that in mind, it’s a logical assumption Hughes would ideally trade Price’s contract too. However, it’s undeniable and perhaps ironic Price’s deal would be worse if he were healthy enough to play, as the Canadiens wouldn’t be able to spend that space like they did last year, acquiring Sean Monahan and a conditional first-round pick, simply because they could.
As it stands, with Price hurt, his deal is more so a mental albatross than a tangible one. Nevertheless, it’s one the Canadiens can certainly do without, as they try to move on in net.
4. Josh Anderson ($5.5 million)
There’s little denying Josh Anderson’s value… right now. The 29-year-old is a 6-foot-3, 218-pound power forward who creates space for his linemates. The question is, who are those linemates and, more specifically, who will they be closer to the end of his contract in 2027?
Anderson was Nick Suzuki’s second-most-common right winger, but the underlying numbers say the two and Cole Caufield don’t fit together. The phenomenon perhaps forced Hughes’ hand to re-sign Monahan and then acquire another center in Alex Newhook as a contingency, enabling them to continue to put Kirby Dach back in that first-line spot instead (when Dach had initially been acquired to play center below Suzuki).
That technically makes Anderson a $5.5 million middle-six forward, and there’s nothing wrong with that in principle. However, when he’s only scored 32 points with the Habs in each of the last two seasons (69 games) and has maxed out at 47 in his career, it should present some doubts regarding his ceiling in terms of production.
The simple fact is Anderson isn’t getting younger. Any suggestion he’s going to suddenly hit another gear as he exits his prime is, respectfully, wishful thinking, especially when all signs point to him staying away from the top line. And, as he exits his prime, it’s logical his current production will drop too, making him a potential $5.5 million bottom-six forward instead.
3. Joel Armia ($3.4 million)
In a similar vein, Joel Armia makes for a $3.4 million bottom-six forward, probably a fourth-line one in all likelihood, based on the depth the Canadiens have on either wing. And, it’s not that Armia is a waste of space. He does have a role to play as a defensive/penalty-kill specialist and he does it effectively too. However, it’s not necessarily worth his hit.
Now, Armia is arguably in a position to rebound in 2023-24, but that’s in large part due to him having put up such disappointing numbers. He finished with 14 points in 43 games, which included just three points (all assists) in his first 26 games. In his defense, he did finish the year strongly, but that only really matters if he’s able to keep it going.
One way or another, this will likely be Armia’s last appearance on this list. Like Hoffman for this coming season, Armia will be a pending unrestricted free agent in 2024-25. So, his contract won’t be nearly as daunting in another calendar year, at which point Hughes will be getting it off the books eventually. Preferably, it’s via trade… and as, unlikely as it seems, as early as in 2023-24.
2. Jake Allen ($3.85 million)
Jake Allen’s hit is perfectly reasonable, were he the No. 1 (or No. 1A) goalie he was when he signed his extension at the start of the last season. A lot can change in one year though, which does at least instill hope he can jump back to the top of the team’s goaltending depth chart, Samuel Montembeault having leapfrogged him for all intents and purposes.
However, realistically that’s just not going to happen. It’s not as much a testament to Montembeault’s work as it is an indictment of Allen’s statistical performance. He’s played relatively well on a bad team, but his numbers have gotten worse each passing year with the Canadiens. He’s also going to be 33 and is undeniably on the back nine holes of his career.
So, the Canadiens are at a point where, to make Allen’s hit worth it, they simply have to play him as much as possible, which would be fine… if the figurative goal posts weren’t constantly moving. The Habs want to get better and the aforementioned Monahan extension is a sign they want to at least make a bid for a playoff spot. In a world where Allen is the team’s starter, that only happens if they’re starting up a DeLorean at the same time.
All due respect to Allen, it probably makes more sense for the Canadiens to bury his contract and give the waiver-exempt Cayden Primeau a shot alongside Montembeault instead. That isn’t to say that’s what will happen, but the fact it’s at least a possibility worth considering shows Allen is no longer as useful as he once was, which should be a tough pill to swallow the first season in which his new, higher-paying contract kicks in.
1. Brendan Gallagher ($6.5 million)
While Allen has a chance to outperform expectations in the first year of his new deal, Canadiens fans have reason to be pessimistic, looking no further than Brendan Gallagher.
Gallagher also signed an extension with one year left on his last deal. Gallagher also disappointed in that final season, en route to posting numbers that were even more disappointing in the first season of his new six-year, $39 million deal. That 2021-22 season, Gallagher scored 24 points in 56 games.
Unfortunately, last season didn’t exactly go better. He scored a career-low 14 points in 37 games, as his injury history seems to have caught up with him. Now 31, Gallagher has four more years under contract, each with a modified no-trade clause to boot. However, it’s highly unlikely the Canadiens would be able to trade him even if they wanted to, so it’s more of a make-the-best-out-of-a-bad-situation uh, situation.
Gallagher still holds value as an alternate captain. However, the fact the Canadiens played him a 23rd-ranked 14:17 per game (when he was healthy) last season, below names like Jake Evans and Evgeny Dadonov, shows that they at least acknowledge he has limitations. Unfortunately, his contract falls into the same if not a similar category.