The Habs have had a decent regular season. Bordering around the top 10 teams in the league and been pretty good in an ultra competitive Eastern Conference where any of the top 7 teams could come out as the Eastern Conference Champs this year. Despite having a good team, the Habs management group felt that the team needed more. The has been really good at keeping the puck out of the net this year as they have the best PK unit in the league currently with a 92.5% success rate and the 5th best GA/G at 2.44. The offensive side has had mixed results with a 20th ranked PP unit at 13.4% and a 13th ranked GF/G at 3.18. The Habs don’t have an abundance of spare youth running around for a big time add with what’s on the market this season. However, they may have found a player who fits the mold for the type of player they need perfectly.

Jeff Carter was acquired from the Flames for 2 4th round picks in 2021 along with a 7th rounder in 2022. Carter is no all-star talent as he is near the end of his career, but he is still an alright goal scorer while having decent two-way ability. Carter will likely take Suzuki’s spot on the 3rd liner and will bump Brassard out of the lineup. Carter also adds a ton of experience and leadership to this young Habs team as well. Carter’s 5.27M cap hit would usually scare the Habs away, but they saved up a ton of cap this year and right now they can spend up to 98.6M of day on cap according to the GVFHL CapGeek. With that in mind, this move brings the Habs cap hit up to only 83M, so with 15M more of playing room will they make any other adds? It wouldn’t be surprising as the Habs believe they have got a good core. There may not be a ton of high end skill, but there sure is a ton of grit which makes the Habs a difficult matchup on any given night. This upcoming deadline will be interesting as the Habs have let the rest of the league know that they mean business.