Montreal Canadiens' Complete Guide to Free Agency

The Montreal Canadiens were one of the most active teams in the NHL at the 2014-15 trade deadline in March. Riding a superlative season in net from goaltender Carey Price, general manager Marc Bergevin made a push to improve his team at that time with the hope of mounting a successful playoff run.

Ultimately, the Canadiens ran out of steam in the second round, getting eliminated in six games by a Tampa Bay Lightning group that they swept out of the postseason one year earlier.

After a quiet draft weekend where Montreal made just five picks, here's a look at where the teams stands as it prepares for the opening of the free-agency signing period on July 1.

Here are the NHL players under contract with the Canadiens for the 2015-16 season, along with the most significant contract details:

10 Forwards: $26.7 million (after P.A. Parenteau buyout)

• Tomas Plekanec (32) is Montreal's highest-paid forward, with one more year at a $5 million cap hit before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
• Brendan Gallagher (23) will start a six-year deal with a cap hit of $3.75 million per season.
• Brandon Prust and Dale Weise are in the final year of their current contracts before becoming unrestricted free agents.
  
  
• With one year remaining on his contract with a $4 million cap hit, the Habs bought out P.A. Parenteau. The buyout will cost them $1.33 million against the cap for each of the next two seasons.

7 Defensemen: $28.7 million

• Jeff Petry (27) starts a new six-year contract with a cap hit of $5.5 million per season.
• Tom Gilbert (32) has one year remaining with a cap hit of $2.8 million before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
• P.K. Subban (26) enters the second year of an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $9 million per season.

2 Goaltenders: $7.3 million

• The Canadiens are set in net, as the tandem of Carey Price and Dustin Tokarski will return for another year.

General Fanager reports that the Canadiens currently have $66.5 million committed against the salary cap in 2015-16 for 20 players. That number will drop to $63.8 million after the site is updated to reflect P.A. Parenteau's buyout.

With a cap ceiling of $71.4 million for the upcoming season, Bergevin will have just under $8 million available to add four more players—most likely, three forwards and a defenseman.

The Canadiens are well-stocked with young prospects, some of whom could make the move up from Montreal's AHL team next season at a relatively low cost.

If Montreal doesn't make further acquisitions, Bergevin's group will enter the new season with a little breathing room below the cap ceiling.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Manny Malhotra (35) - center

• 1-3-4 in 58 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Sergei Gonchar (41) - defense

• 1-12-13 in 45 regular-season games after being acquired from Dallas on November 11.
• Did not play in playoffs

Mike Weaver (37) - defense

• 0-4-4 in 31 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Bryan Allen (34) - defense

• 0-1-1 in five regular-seaosn games after being acquired from Anaheim on November 20.
• Did not play in playoffs

Restricted Free Agents

Alex Galchenyuk (21) - center

• 20-24-46 in 80 regular-season games
• 1-3-4 in 12 playoff games

Brian Flynn (26) - center

• 0-0-0 in nine regular-season games after being acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline.
• 1-2-3 in six playoff games

Jarred Tinordi (23) - defense

• 0-2-2 in 13 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Christian Thomas (23) - left wing

• 1-0-1 in 18 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Michael Bournival (23) - left wing

• 3-2-5 in 29 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Montreal has elected not to present qualifying offers to RFAs Eric Tangradi and Drayson Bowman, which means both players will become unrestricted free agents, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. 

P.A. Parenteau will become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers and is bought out, assuming he is not claimed by another team.

Left and Right Wing

Compared to most teams, Montreal is loaded down the middle with a lineup of Tomas Plekanec, Lars Eller, David Desharnais and Alex Galchenyuk. But the Canadiens struggled to score during the regular season, ranking 20th overall in offense.

With Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher currently carrying the load as Montreal's scoring wingers, more firepower up front could be useful next season.

The cap savings from Parenteau's buyout strengthens Bergevin's position as he tries to acquire one or two proven top-six wingers.

It could be said that Bergevin got an early start on free agency this year, bringing in defenseman Jeff Petry and forwards Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn at the trade deadline back in March rather than waiting until summer to shore up his lineup.

"Jeff [Petry] and Torrey [Mitchell], that’s my July 1. I’m not going to chase players July 1," Bergevin told Arpon Basu of NHL.com at the conclusion of the June 27 draft event in Florida.

All three of Bergevin's deadline acquisitions acquitted themselves well with Montreal. As a result, he signed Petry to a five-year extension with a cap hit of $5.5 million a season and gave Mitchell a three-year deal with a $1.2 million cap hit while tendering a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Flynn.

Despite Bergevin's promises of inactivity for the rest of the summer, there could still be movement on the horizon. Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune suggests that Montreal is showing interest in Patrick Sharp, who's not a free agent but will almost certainly be traded away from the Blackhawks. He'd be a good fit as the scoring winger Montreal needs.

Other possible options on the free-agent list include Joel Ward of the Washington Capitals, Michael Frolik of the Winnipeg Jets or Matt Beleskey of the Anaheim Ducks.

After a successful season that saw Montreal finish atop the Atlantic Division, don't expect to see big changes on the Montreal landscape this summer, Marc Bergevin told Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com:

Obviously our strength is our goalie and our defense. If we could add some scoring, it would be nice. But again, there’s not much cap flexibility. We have some kids that are pushing in the minors. So we’ll see what happens at camp. But I’ll keep my ears and eyes open [on the trade market]. ... I’m comfortable with the team we have.

After coming to terms with Jeff Petry on a long-term deal, Bergevin's biggest remaining order of business will be signing 21-year-old restricted free agent Alex Galchenyuk. That should be smooth sailing compared to the P.K. Subban negotiations of the 2014 offseason.

Other than the possible addition of a piece or two on the wings, expect a quiet summer from the Canadiens.

Unless Alex Galchenyuk's new agent, Pat Brisson, raises a fuss while securing a new deal for his young client, don't expect to hear much noise from the Montreal Canadiens during the free-agency period and on through the rest of the summer.

Habs fans can spend the months leading up to the 2015-16 campaign gazing at Carey Price's impressive haul of silverware from the NHL Awards and dreaming about the return of the big prize to the league's most storied franchise.

  

Stats courtesy of NHL.com.  Contract information from General Fanager is sourced from CapGeek, a now-defunct website.