By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

In the first segment of this article, we analyzed the Montreal Canadiens’ season thus far, highlighting the fact that they had gone through a hot streak and that more recently, they have struggled to put a consistent effort together, while allowing way too many goals in spite of some great performances by Sochi-bound goaltender Carey Price.

PENTICTON, BC. — We started looking at the team’s depth at the forward position, looking at each player and imminent prospect to help us narrow down where the most glaring needs were for the immediate future and for next season, so that the team can for one, get out of its current slump and for two, continue to progress for next year and years to come.

Let’s now have a closer look at the depth in the organization at the blue line, and we will then be able to jump right into find some potential solutions available to GM Marc Bergevin.

RIGHT DEFENSE

• I think that we can all agree that P.K. Subban will be the team’s top defenseman for a long time. It is just a matter of finding out when, for how long and for how much he will sign his deal with the Canadiens.
• Raphaël Diaz has been a disappointment this season after a good first year and there is no guarantee that the pending UFA will be re-signed, although it has been reported that both sides have been talking. Diaz being a healthy scratch recently doesn’t look too promising if he’s looking for a substantial raise from the $1.225 million he’s making now.
• There are a few players in the system that might just be ready to make a push for a spot on the big club starting next season but are they ready now? Greg Pateryn (6’2” 222lbs) has been the Hamilton Bulldogs’ top defenseman for the last two years and he has greatly improved this year. There is also 23-year-old offensive-minded defenseman Magnus Nygren who left earlier this season to return to play for Farjestads BK Karlstad in Sweden and he is having a good season. Others like Morgan Ellis and Darren Dietz will need another year or two before being deemed NHL ready.

LEFT DEFENSE

While the team is fairly deep at that position with NHL level players and prospects ready or very close to being able to step in, there are none the less a few questions remaining, none bigger than the Russian tandem.

• Andrei Markov is a pending UFA and while he has had a good start to this season, especially offensively and as the team’s quarterback for the powerplay with Subban, he has lost a step or two skating-wise. I don’t know what to think of the fact that he has dropped his agent and that he is negotiating his contract with Marc Bergevin as it could be good news or terrible news. One thing I know is that his next contract is an over-35 which means that the team will have his cap hit in the books no matter what happens to him for the length of his next contract. Scary thoughts.
• Alexei Emelin is the shadow of his old self and it’s hard to know what happened to him as he played will immediately after his return as the team went on a winning streak. Is it a matter of confidence, or the fact that he’s been playing with Markov on the right side, or as some suggested that he may not be happy that Michel Therrien decided to make him a healthy scratch, or could it be that it will take time to get back from his knee surgery? Either way, it’s not reassuring especially that he just signed a contract extension.
• Ever since going through knee surgery, Josh Gorges hasn’t been able to play the way he did prior to it and whether it is related or not is difficult to know. We do know though that it’s not from a lack of effort or good will and none works harder than Gorges and he is amongst the leagues’ leaders in blocked shots, putting his body in harms’ way every game, every shift.
• There is no doubt in my mind that neither Francis Bouillon or Douglas Murray will be back next year as they are both set to become UFAs. In Bouillon’s case, he wanted to retire as a Hab so I’m expecting him to sign his retirement papers as soon as the team informs him that he won’t be back.
• There should be one or two spots open for youngsters Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi next year and they should both be getting some looks at the NHL level before the end of the season to see where they are in their development. Both bring totally different skills sets and would be playing in different situations but would the Habs dare bringing two rookies with the big club at such an important position the same year (perhaps three if Pateryn or Nygren make it on the right side?)

POSSIBLE OPTIONS

With the exception of the draft, which is a slow process, there are only two other ways for a GM to improve his team and those two are also a lot quicker. Knowing that Bergevin has said numerous times that you don’t build a contender through free agency, it would be somewhat surprising to see him wait to July to get a big fish, especially that the impact UFAs next summer are few and far between. Having said that, I can see him trading for a pending UFA as long as he doesn’t have to stray away from his plan to keep a majority of his prospects and/or draft picks. So which free agent(s) could answer a need in Montreal and who might be made available? Here is a list of more or less serviceable pending UFAs:
On defense

• RD Matt Greene (LAK) 30 6’3″ 234lbs ($2.95M) – currently sidelined with a concussion
• RD Dan Girardi (NYR) 29 6’1″ 203 lbs ($3.325M) – rumoured to be negotiating with the Rangers
• RD Matt Niskanen (PiT) 27 6’0″ 209 lbs ($2.3M)
• RD Anton Stralman (NYR) 27 5’11” 190 lbs ($1.7M)
• RD Tom Gilbert (FLA) 31 6’2″ 204 lbs ($900k)
• LD Brooks Orpik (PIT) 33 6’2″ 219 lbs ($3.75M)
• LD Andrej Meszaros (PHI) 28 6’2″ 223 lbs ($4M)
• LD Nikita Nikitin (CBJ) 27 6’4″ 223 lbs ($2.15M)
• LD Rostislav Klesla (PHO) 31 6’3″ 215 lbs ($2.975M)
• LD Andrew MacDonald (NYI) 27 6’1″ 190 lbs ($550k)

At forward

• RW Thomas Vanek (NYI) 30 6’0″ 217 lbs ($7M – $5.75M with retained salary by BUF)
• C Paul Stastny (COL) 28 6’0″ 205 lbs ($6.6M) – should take a pay cut but who knows?
• LW Matt Moulson (BUF) 30 6’1″ 200 lbs ($3.313M)
• C/RW Ryan Callahan (NYR) 28 5’11” 190 lbs ($4.275M) – Rangers’ captain, would they let him walk?
• C Brian Boyle (NYR) 29 6’7″ 244 lbs ($1.7M) – good friend with Brandon Prust, great on faceoffs
• RW Chris Thorburn (WIN) 30 6’3″ 230 lbs ($867k) – Option to replace George Parros

I can see the possibility of Bergevin going hard after Greene, Vanek, Stastny, Boyle and Thorburn but realistically, Boyle and possibly Thorburn are, in my opinion, the true possibilities on those lists.

That leaves the option of trading for players who are still under contract, some younger assets which falls more in the optic of what Marc Bergevin has been preaching since day one. The problem with that is the fact that trades like that are extremely complex, as we’re not only dealing with trade values, but with the salary cap’s ceiling and floor, as well as with the maximum number of 50 contracts dictated by the CBA. This mean that even in the event of agreeing to a three for one trade, or player for prospects, the GMs must look at the business aspect of the trade which definitely complicates things. The good news though is that with the new CBA, teams can keep up to 50 per cent of a player’s contract, which helps floor spenders and ceiling spenders alike. Here are some players Bergevin should, in my opinion, at least inquire about:

On defense

• RD Adam Larsson (NJD) 21 6’3″ 205 lbs ($925k, RFA)
• RD Cody Franson (TOR) 26 6’5″ 213 lbs ($2M, RFA)
• RD John Carlson (WAS) 24 6’3″ 212 lbs (4$M until 2017-18)
• RD David Savard (CBJ) 23 6’2″ 219 lbs ($710k, RFA)
• RD Luke Schenn (PHI) 24 6’2″ 229 lbs ($3.6M until 2015-16)
• RD Dennis Wideman (CGY) 30 6’0″ 200 lbs ($5.25M until 2016-17) – with Flames keeping salary
• LD Brian Campbell (FLA) 34 5’10” 190lbs ($7.14M until 2015-16) – with Panthers keeping salary, great option instead of Markov

At forward

• RW Chris Stewart (STL) 26 6’2″ 231 lbs ($4.15M until 2014-15)
• RW Wayne Simmonds (PHI) 25 6’2″ 183 lbs ($3.975M until 2018-19)
• RW Troy Brouwer (WAS) 28 6’3″ 213 lbs ($3.7M until 2015-16)
• RW PA Parenteau (COL) 30 6’0″ 193 lbs ($4M until 2015-16)
• RW David Jones (CAL) 29 6’2″ 210 lbs ($4M until 2015-16)
• RW David Perron (EDM) 25 6’0″ 198 lbs ($3.8M until 2015-16)
• RW Alex Chiasson (DAL) 23 6’4″ 205 lbs ($867k)
• RW Zack Kassian (VAN) 22 6’3″ 214 lbs ($870k, RFA)
• C/RW Blake Wheeler (WIN) 27 6’5″ 205 lbs ($5.6M until 2018-19)
• C/RW Mike Fisher (NAS) 33 6’1″ 215 lbs ($4.2M until 2014-15)
• C Martin Hanzal (PHO) 26 6’6″ 230 lbs ($3.1M until 2016-17)
• C Brandon Dubinsky (CBJ) 27 6’2″ 216 lbs ($4.2M until 2014-15)
• C/LW Ryan O’Reilly (COL) 22 6’0″ 200 lbs ($5M, RFA)
• C/LW Antoine Vermette (PHO) 31 6’1″ 198 lbs ($3.75M until 2014-15)
• LW Patrick Bordeleau (COL) 27 6’6″ 225 lbs ($1M until 2015-16) – for George Parros
• LW Evander Kane (WIN) 22 6’2″ 195 lbs ($5.25M until 2017-18) – is he truly available?
• LW Andrew Ladd (WIN) 28 6’3″ 205 lbs ($4.4M until 2015-16)

Oh I’m far from saying that all of those players (if any) are available, far from there, but picking up the phone and finding out is part of a GM’s job. Of course, the asking price for some of them would be outrageously high which would make any trade impossible. In other cases, if Bergevin sees enough value, he might be willing to overpay for one or some of them. In other instances, it would be a gamble but the price wouldn’t be too high. In the first two scenarios though, it would create a lot of controversy amongst the media and the fan base, but in most cases, it would make the team bigger and tougher to play against, which is the ultimate goal.

One trade could also lead to another, as we’ve just seen the Edmonton Oilers do. For example, if the Canadiens were to trade with Colorado for center Paul Stastny, we know that the Avalanche are in dire need of defensive help so perhaps a guy like Andrei Markov (and a prospect) could be very interesting for Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy. Perhaps the Habs could add a bit and get a tough cookie like Patrick Bordeleau at the same time. Bergevin could then turn around and trade with either Florida (Campbell) or New Jersey (Larsson) by offering one of Plekanec or Eller in another deal while doing everything in his power to re-sign Stastny, who will have at least have had a chance to see that playing in Montreal isn’t as bad as some made it in the past.

Don’t pounce on me too hard here, those are only examples and I’m likely out to lunch in my values as not two fans, two GMs see the same value in the same player(s), but that’s just a conceptual idea to show the type of change that could drastically change this team, shake up the foundation somewhat without emptying the cupboards.

Either way, the ball is in Bergevin’s court and I, for one, am hoping that he puts his stamp on this team and there is no reason to believe that he won’t pull the trigger before the trade deadline, as he did last year when he sent Erik Cole to the Stars in return for Michael Ryder and a third round pick (Connor Crisp). Will it be before or after the Olympic trade freeze?

Go Habs Go!