by Corey Desormeaux , Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

OTTAWA, ON – With the draft wrapped up and free agency officially underway, the NHL offseason is in full form.  Teams have put together their wish lists to fill gaps in their rosters and work diligently to fill them either with current personnel or via the open market.

The Montreal Canadiens are yet to make a big splash and if you’ve been paying attention to Twitter at all, most Habs fans are getting more anxious for their team to make a major move as each signing is announced.  Since free agency opened on July 1, the Habs have extended Greg Pateryn, re-signed Christian Thomas, inked a few players likely to play in the minors and brought in hometown depth on the left side of the defence signing Mark Barberio.  For a full recap of each Canadiens signing thus far, check out the All Habs News section.

Bergevin also traded Brandon Prust to the Vancouver Canucks for Zack Kassian and a fifth round pick.  Although tough to see fan favourite Prust leave Montreal, the deal is a good one for the Montreal Canadiens as they acquire a younger, stronger, more skilled player in the deal and a draft pick.  J.D. Lagrange wrote a piece this week that gives Habs fans an idea of what we can expect from Kassian.

On day two of free agency, Marc Bergevin met with the media to discuss the signings, trade and upcoming plans for the team.  I thought there were a few interesting themes from Bergevin’s comments, most of which are summarized in an All Habs Headlines post from this week.  One of the points Bergevin was adamant to get across was that young prospects would get a chance to prove that they are NHL ready.  Only time will tell whether that holds true or not, but I sure hope it does.

The Habs haven’t spent cap space signing one of the “big fish” free agents, and that’s okay.  The Habs have some strong prospects at the wing position and it seems like the organization feels as though some of, at least one of them is NHL ready.  With development camp starting today we should start getting an idea of who is standing out within the pool of prospects.  Charles Hudon, Sven Andrighetto, Christian Thomas and Nikita Scherbak seem to be the consensus early front-runners amongst fans to make the opening day roster.  In fact, development camp opened yesterday and Scherbak is already turning heads…

For those asking Nikita Scherbak was 6'1", 175 lbs at the 2014 #Habs development camp. Now clocking in at 6'2", 204 lbs. #gohabsgo

— All Habs (@AllHabs) July 5, 2015

Bergevin’s comment was a big bode of confidence for the young crop of Canadiens and should be seen as a positive by fans.  The best way to build a team is building within it and I much rather see the Canadiens do that than spend millions of cap space on free agents that may or may not help them.  This season’s free agent crop is weak so spending money and term on mediocre free agents isn’t in the team’s best interest.  With his recent moves, Bergevin has managed to wiggle himself enough cap space to sign remaining restricted free agents, including Galchenyuk, and the potential to bring in cap space via trade.

A trade may be the avenue Bergevin tries to upgrade his team.  In fact, the Habs have been rumoured to be one of the front-runners to land Patrick Sharp from the Chicago Blackhawks.  However, Bergevin’s trade history tells us that he isn’t likely to move high-end prospects or core roster pieces, especially for aging veterans.  I strongly believe that the Canadiens will take a good long look at their prospects this week at development camp before making a trade, and that’s the right call.

Hypothetically, let’s assume the Canadiens brass isn’t pleased with what they see at development camp.  At that point, the “top-tier” free agents will no longer be available (pretty much already reality) and potential trade partners may be slim to none.  Who are some under the radar free agents that may still be on the market that could help the Canadiens on the wing?

Curtis Glencross

Age – 32

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $2,550,000

Games Played: 71

Goals: 13

Assists: 22

Corsi For % (5vs5): 45.73

Individual Point Percentage: 64.8

Jiri Tlusty

Age – 27

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $2,950,000

Games Played: 72

Goals: 14

Assists: 17

Corsi For % (5vs5): 54.15

Individual Point Percentage: 67.4

Lee Stempniak

Age – 32

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $900,000

Games Played: 71

Goals: 15

Assists: 13

Corsi For % (5vs5): 50.50

Individual Point Percentage: 70.0

Brad Boyes

Age – 33

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $2,750,000

Games Played: 78

Goals: 14

Assists: 24

Corsi For % (5vs5): 51.65

Individual Point Percentage: 62.3

Thomas Fleischmann

Age – 31

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $4,500,000

Games Played: 66

Goals: 8

Assists: 19

Corsi For % (5vs5): 52.13

Individual Point Percentage: 60.0

Martin Erat

Age – 33

2014 Salary Cap Hit: $4,500,000

Games Played: 79

Goals: 9

Assists: 23

Corsi For % (5vs5): 53.20

Individual Point Percentage: 60.4

Honestly, I don’t see any of these players being viable solutions.  Other than Tlustly, these players are exiting their prime years and their best seasons are behind them.  If Bergevin is unable to wheel a trade to upgrade his scoring, I would argue the Canadiens are in much better position to start next season with one of their young prospects in the line-up.  I would much rather see a young player from within the system get a chance to play at the NHL level and frankly could be just as, if not more effective than the remaining free agent options.

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