A look at where some former Canadians, including Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak, will play next season when the NHL’s free agency window opens.
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After scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal for Colorado, Artturi Lehkonen will stay with the Avalanche and agreed to a five-year deal on Wednesday worth $22.5 million.
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The Avalanche acquired Lehkonen from the Canadiens at the NHL trade deadline on March 21 in exchange for defenseman justin barron and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
After posting totals of 13-16-29 in 58 games with the Canadiens, Lehkonen went 6-3-9 in 16 regular-season games with the Avalanche and added totals of 8-6-14 in 20 playoff games. Lehkonen scored the game-winning goal as the Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win the best-of-seven series.
Lehkonen, 27, was a restricted free agent and his new contract has an annual salary cap of $4.5 million, a significant increase from the $2.4 million he earned in each of the past two seasons. The Canadiens selected Lehkonen in the second round (55th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.
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Here’s a look at where other former Canadians signed on Wednesday as the NHL’s free agent period began.
Ben Chiarot
The 31-year-old defenseman signed a four-year, $19 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings that has an annual salary cap of $4.75 million.
The Canadiens traded Chiarot to the Florida Panthers on March 16 in exchange for a small forward prospect. Ty Smilenic and a fourth-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft (leftist Cedrick Guindon).
Chiarot went 7-11-18 in 54 games with the Canadiens before being traded to the Panthers. With Florida, he went 2-6-8 in 20 regular-season games and 0-1-1 in 10 playoff games.
Chiarot was coming off a three-year, $10.5 million contract with a salary cap of $3.5 million.
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Brett Kulack
The 28-year-old defenseman signed a four-year, $11 million contract with an annual salary cap of $2.75 million to stay with his hometown Edmonton Oilers.
The Canadiens traded Kulak to the Oilers at the NHL trade deadline this season in exchange for defender William Lagessona second-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft (Hutson Lane) and a seventh-round pick in 2024.
In 56 games last season with the Canadiens, Kulak went 3-10-13. He was 2-6-8 overall in 18 regular-season games with the Oilers and 0-5-5 overall in 16 playoff games.
mikhail sergachev
The 24-year-old defenseman will stay in Tampa after signing an eight-year, $68 million contract extension with an annual salary cap of $8.5 million.
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Sergachev has one season remaining on his three-year, US$14.4 million contract with a salary cap of $4.8 million. The new deal takes him through the 2030-31 season.
The Canadians traded Sergachev to the Lightning on June 15, 2017 in exchange for Jonathan Drouin.
In 78 regular-season games last season, Sergachev went 7-31-38 overall and added 2-8-10 overall in 23 playoff games. Sergachev already has two Stanley Cup rings with the Lightning.
eric staal
The 37-year-old center, who was part of the Canadiens’ trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 after being acquired before the NHL’s trade deadline, signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the Panthers. .
Staal’s brother, Marc, a 35-year-old defenseman, signed an identical contract with the Panthers on Wednesday.
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Staal played four games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild last season, going 2-3-5.
The Canadiens acquired Staal from the Buffalo Sabers before the 2021 NHL trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick (far left joseph flower) and a fifth-round pick (far left Mariala Viljami) in the 2021 NHL Draft.
erik gustafson
The 30-year-old defenseman, who was also part of the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final last year after being acquired before the NHL’s trade deadline, signed a one-year, $800,000 deal. dollars with the Washington Capitals.
In 59 games last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Gustafsson went 3-15-18 overall.
Max Domi
The 27-year-old forward signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Domi will enter his eighth season in the NHL and the Blackhawks will be his fifth team after stints with the Arizona Coyotes, Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurrianes.
The Canadiens traded Domi to the Coyotes on June 15, 2018 for Alex Galchenyuk.
In 72 games last season split between the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes, Domi went 11-28-39 overall. In 14 playoff games with the Hurricanes, Domi went 3-3-6 overall.
Domi’s best NHL season was with the Canadiens in 2018-19 when he went 28-44-72 overall while playing in all 82 games.
Charlie Lindgren
The 28-year-old goalkeeper signed a three-year, $3.3 million deal with the Capitals.
Last summer, Lindgren signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the St. Louis Blues and spent most of last season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, where he went 24-7-1 with an average of 2.21 goals against and a .925 save percentage.
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Lindgren played five games with the Blues and went 5-0 with a 1.22 GAA and a .958 save percentage.
jaroslav halak
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The 37-year-old goalie will return for his 17th NHL season after signing a one-year, $1.55 million contract with the New York Rangers.
Less than a month after helping the Canadiens reach the Eastern Conference finals in 2010, posting a 9-9 record with a 2.55 GAA and a .923 save percentage, Halak was traded to St. Louis. Blues in exchange for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. . That essentially handed the No. 1 goalie job to Carey Price, which he has held ever since.
Last season, Halak went 4-7-2 with the Vancouver Canucks, along with a 2.94 GAA and a .903 save percentage.
Dustin Tokarsky
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The 32-year-old goalie signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tokarski played five playoff games for the Canadiens in 2014 after Price was injured, posting a 2-3-0 record with a 2.60 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Tokarski replaced Price after he suffered a knee injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals when the New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider collided with him. The Rangers won the best-of-seven series in six games.
Last season, Tokarski went 10-12-5 in 29 games with the Buffalo Sabers, along with a 3.27 GAA and an .899 save percentage.
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