No action on July 1: The CH is in a league of its own

Félix Forget
No action on July 1: The CH is in a league of its own
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

The Canadiens didn't have a particularly busy day on the free-agent market today. The club signed Ivan Demidov to a long-term deal (at a good price)… but other than that, they haven't been very active.

They signed Alex Belzile, Kaapo Kahkonen, Samuel Poulin, and Ethan Samson… but we're talking about guys who, barring a huge surprise, will spend the next year in Laval.

So, when you look at it objectively, the Canadiens didn't land a single NHL-caliber player today. And if you compare that to the rest of the league, you'll see that's the case… for only three other teams.

We're talking about the Flames, the Hurricanes, and the Stars (who must be busy with the Jason Robertson situation). Otherwise, every other team has made at least one signing to bolster their main roster.

Of course, one might wonder whether the Habs did the right thing by sitting this round out. Because it's true, in fact, that you could argue the Canadiens simply avoided bad contracts.

But once again, while many people would have liked to see Kent Hughes strengthen his roster (and take advantage of the flexibility provided by players leaving money on the table), the Habs sat this round out. And they did so even though the Canadiens have $15 million in cap space.

There are a few restricted free agents to sign (Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach, and Arber Xhekaj), but a lack of salary flexibility wasn't the issue today.

We know that the current front office seems to have very little interest in the free-agent market. It's been a fairly clear trend for the past few years… and once again today, that was the case.

They generally seem to prefer the trade route: will they be able to pull it off this summer?


In Brief

– Anders Lee is heading to Utah.

– Kasperi Kapanen is staying in Edmonton.

– Names to watch.

– Major trade in the NBA.

– The Mets' owner is worried about his team.

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