As far as late-round draft picks have gone, Jake Evans has been a nice success for the Habs, going from a seventh-round selection to a regular. But heading into next season, the 27-year-old has a lot to prove.
Montreal’s lone remaining restricted free agent has put pen to paper on a new contract as the Habs announced on Monday that they’ve re-signed winger Jesse Ylonen to a one-year, two-way contract.
It would be fair to say that Cayden Primeau’s time as a pro has had its ups and downs to the point where he’s on the borderline of being an NHL goaltender. Unfortunately for the Habs, there are about to be even more questions for him next season.
When I looked at Montreal’s original restricted free agent list (before they picked up Alex Newhook), there was only one contract that I thought could be iffy, Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s. Instead, his was done early but there remains one that isn’t done in winger Jesse Ylonen.
Just before free agency began, the Habs moved Joel Edmundson to Washington with 50% retention for a pair of draft picks. Now that the dust has settled on the free agent market for the time being, do our writers think it was a good move, or should they have waited to deal him?
Last year, after acquiring Kirby Dach at the draft, Montreal somewhat surprisingly gave him a four-year bridge contract. They’ve taken the same approach with newcomer acquisition as the team announced on Tuesday that they’ve inked the forward to a four-year contract.
A day before the draft, Montreal made a notable move, sending picks 31 and 37 along with defenceman Gianni Fairbrother to Colorado in exchange for pending restricted free agent forward Alex Newhook. Now that Montreal’s summer activity has slowed down, our writers have mixed opinions on the swap.
It’s our centennial HabsWorld podcast, and although it’s the NHL offseason we had a lot to talk about including Montreal’s draft class, the early activity in free agency, and much more.
The Habs have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents as multiple reports indicated that they’ve re-signed Mitchell Stephens to a one-year, two-way contract.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard was one of three restricted free agents that could file for arbitration later this week but that won’t be needed now as the Canadiens announced they’ve signed the winger to a two-year deal.