Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens could help the Vegas Golden Knights while strengthening their own roster.
William Karlsson‘s name is gaining more and more traction as a candidate for the Canadiens’ second-line center position, and it could turn into a major opportunity for Montreal.
Let’s start with the salary cap picture.
According to Puck Pedia, the Canadiens rank among the top 10 teams in the league for available cap space, with just over $13 million.
Brett Berard‘s contract, which was made official on Thursday, reduced that figure slightly, but obviously not enough to create any concern about the club’s financial flexibility.
At the other end of the spectrum, Vegas is dealing with a real salary cap headache.
The Golden Knights are currently $8.61 million over the salary cap.
The rules allow teams to exceed the cap by 10% during the offseason, which buys their general manager some time.
Alex Pietrangelo is expected to be placed on LTIR to help Vegas become cap compliant, but LTIR is no longer a magic solution.Montreal knows that all too well with the Carey Price and Shea Weber situations, where the maneuver complicated the team’s cap management.
To avoid placing Pietrangelo on LTIR, Kelly McCrimmon could instead trade a player.
And one name stands out: William Karlsson.
William Karlsson emerges as an ideal short-term second-line center option for the Canadiens
The idea did not come out of nowhere. Nick Larivière brought it up on The Sick Podcast:
Karlsson checks several boxes for the Canadiens.
The 33-year-old veteran is a reliable two-way center who was injured last season but still has the potential to be a strong second-line center.
Simon Boisvert of Trust the Process recently shared the same opinion:
In 15 playoff games, he recorded nine points with a +10 rating, a very encouraging sign.
The financial aspect is not intimidating either.
He carries a $5.9 million cap hit for just one more season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
While waiting for Michael Hage to be ready, adding an experienced center would fill a genuine need in Montreal.
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics
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William Karlsson to the Montreal Canadiens proposed in trade with the Vegas Golden Knights
Should the Canadiens take advantage of Vegas’ cap crunch to acquire William Karlsson?