The Montreal Canadiens could be in line to sign one of the marquee free agents this offseason.
The Canadiens made the playoffs last season and will look to be aggressive this offseason in landing more talent. Former NHL player and now insider Jannik Hansen believes Montreal could land Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency.
Ehlers completed his seven-year, $42 million deal with the Winnipeg Jets and is one of the top free agents available. Hansen, who is also a close friend to Ehlers, links the winger to Montreal.
“Do I think he would come here? No. To be said, that’s rough,” Hansen said on Canucks Central on Sportsnet690. “Yeah, he would pick Montreal before here. He’s great friends with Laine. He played out in Quebec Major Junior League back in juniors. So he’s familiar with that. He wouldn’t scoff that plane in Canada. He likes that pressure. So that’s not an issue.”
Hansen makes some good points that Ehlers played his junior hockey in Quebec and has some friends in Montreal.
Ehlers would be a top-six forward in Montreal and add some more offense to the lineup. He recorded 24 goals and 39 assists for 63 points in 69 games last season. In the playoffs, he added 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points in 8 games.
Winnipeg Still Hopeful to Re-Sign Ehlers
Ehlers is arguably the second-best free agent available behind Mitch Marner.
Although Ehlers could hit the open market on July 1, the Jets are hoping to re-sign the star winger and make him a Jet-for-life.
“Nikolaj has been a player that has grown up in our organization,” Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. “Drafted, developed him, someone that we think the world of. We obviously went into this year eyes wide open that he was a potential unrestricted free agent. Players earn that opportunity. When we get a chance to talk to him, we’ll put our best foot forward with him to try to make our case to be a unique Jet-for-life-type player and we’ll see where it all goes there.”
Ehlers was selected ninth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. He’s played his entire 674-game career with the Jets.
Canadiens GM Says Summer is Key For Team
Montreal made the playoffs as the youngest team this past season.
The Canadiens have been building something special, and general manager Kent Hughes believes the summer is key for the team.
“I think when I said (last year) 2024 would be a big summer, I also said 2025 would probably be bigger,” Hughes said. “And I would assume that will continue to be the case, meaning each subsequent summer, until we arrive and we feel like we’ve got a team that’s capable of competing every year for a Stanley Cup. I think we can all agree, although we took strides, we’re not there yet.”
Montreal doesn’t have much cap space, but could trade some players to create more room. But the focus for Hughes is building a Cup contender this summer.
“I think when you have the good fortune of living through the playoffs and chasing winning a Stanley Cup one day, I think that really helps young players take more and more ownership of the team, and not just themselves. So, our hope is that that will be the case here,” Hughes said.
Montreal was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Washington Capitals.
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