The Canadian | Five free agents that the Canadian should have in mind

The market opens for free agents on the 1st^er July, and there will be a lot of moves. The Canadiens are not used to spending too much, but here are a few names that could interest the Montreal club regardless.

Matt Duchene

Matt Duchene finished his playoffs at the center of the second line for the Dallas Stars. At 33, he is coming back from a great 65-point season, but he only got 6 points in 19 playoff games. In Dallas, he said yes to a one-year contract for $3 million, and if he wants another similar contract, the Canadiens’ management should at least find out about him. It should be remembered here that the Canadian already flirted with Duchene in 2019 – he finally opted for Nashville –, and that this veteran was once a CH fan, to the point of offering The sweater hockey from Roch Carrier to his young son. It’s unclear whether the scent of nostalgia could attract him, but if the asking price is reasonable, hiring Duchene could allow the Canadiens to add a quality forward to their top two lines. It wouldn’t be a luxury for a club that will need to score more often to hope to advance.

Brett Pesce

This is a name that fits much more into the category of dream than reality, but hey, if Wayne Gretzky has already played for five different clubs in his career, anything is possible. In Brett Pesce, 29, the Canadiens would get their hands on a reliable but especially right-handed defenseman, and everyone knows that the Montreal organization is not overflowing with right-handed defensemen. In addition, here is a veteran who would be able to properly coach the club’s young defenders who aspire to something. The reality now: Pesce was earning a salary of $4.25 million last season in Carolina, and this amount will be revised upwards, probably around $6 million per season, not to mention that all the rumors, or almost, send him to New Jersey. Kent Hughes would have to be very convincing.

David Perron

The 36-year-old Quebecer is coming off a 47-point season with the Detroit Red Wings, where he earned a salary of $4.7 million last season. As a third-line player, also capable of playing on the power play, David Perron would be a prime candidate for the Canadiens… provided his salary is revised downwards for the duration of a short-term contract. The forward has already indicated that he wants to stay in Detroit but that he also dreams of Montreal, which means, basically, that anything can happen. But if the Canadiens want to get into this race, they will have a tough rival: the Leafs and their new coach Craig Berube, with whom Perron won the Stanley Cup in St. Louis in 2019.

Teuvo Teravainen

There were already whispers that the Canadiens had their eye on this forward at the time of the 2012 draft. But while everyone was wrong, including the Canadiens with their disastrous first-round pick, Teuvo Teravainen was moving back to the 18th overall pick.^e rank, ending up with the Blackhawks in Chicago. Now, after eight seasons in Carolina, the Finn may have to move again. Of course, the current Canadiens management wasn’t in place in 2012, but they should probably be interested in this 29-year-old player, who is coming off a 53-point season, including 25 goals. He earned a salary of $5.4 million last season.

Anthony Duclair

Another player who has already interested CH, during the previous administration. He played last season receiving a salary of 3 million dollars, and in exchange, he offered 16 goals to the San Jose Sharks, and then 8 goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He will be 29 years old when the next season begins, and the Canadian would do well to give him a call, since there aren’t that many 20-goal scorers at the Bell Center. Duclair finished last season on the left of the Lightning’s second line.