The Montreal Canadiens don’t have many contract negotiations with unrestricted free agents to deal with this summer. Most players whose contracts were going to expire at season’s end were dealt at the recent trade deadline.
Ilya Kovalchuk, Marco Scandella and Nate Thompson were playing for the the Habs two weeks ago, but with their pending UFA status at season’s end, they were all shipped out for draft picks. Nick Cousins was going to be a restricted free agent and he also found a new home. Even Matthew Peca, a pending UFA who was playing for the Laval Rocket was traded to the highest bidder.