Yes, there is Ryan Suter and Dougie Hamilton, but there will also be Tony DeAngelo on the free agent market on July 28. Barring a major management change, DeAngelo's contract will be bought out by New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury within hours, making him available to the other 31 NHL organizations.
DeAngelo is not unanimous in the locker room, but according to player agent David Ettedgui, we should not be surprised if the Montreal Canadiens fall back on him. We know that David Savard and Rasmus Ristolainen are certainly potential targets for Marc Bergevin, but we can now add DeAngelo.
So, if I understand correctly, the Habs will be interested in a player who has often bickered with teammates, who has already made racist comments and who is not well liked by his peers. To handle him, it takes strong leadership, which the Habs could still have with the return of Corey Perry... but without Shea Weber, DeAngelo may be hard to keep tied down...
Last year, he was suspended from the team and didn't report to their AHL affiliate because they didn't want him there. He only played six games with the Rangers, where he picked up one assist. However, in the 2019-20 season, he scored 53 points, including 15 goals, in 68 games. Yes, that's colossal, but at what cost? He's enigmatic, so will he really receive substancial offers? Will he sign at a discount? Most likely!
