As the Stanley Cup Finals get to set finish (probably) tomorrow night in Florida, we’ll look at one of the players that is a big part of the team that is about to win the Cup (I assume).
Brandon Montour
Position: Defense
Shoots: Right
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 190lbs
Brandon Montour is the only defender that’s still not signed for next season that can be considered a top pair defender on just about every team in the league. He’s a safe bet to play 23 minutes a night and is used in much the same fashion as Morgan Rielly, with the majority of his time spent at 5v5 and on the powerplay. Also like Rielly, he isn’t going to log a ton of hits, but his defensive positioning and play in his own end is superior. He doesn’t block a ton of shots and the rest of his raw defensive stats aren’t ones that will impress you at a glance, but his ability to drive play, combined with his grit and determination would be a welcome addition to the team.
The Oshweken, Ontario native is certainly in the prime of his career, but he shouldn’t be expected to amass the 16 goals and 73pts he posted over the 2022-23 season again. Instead, he’s an elite two-way defender that can help all over the ice and seems to take things to another level once the puck drops in the playoffs. The Panthers weren’t considered a serious contender until he was thrown into top pairing situations, which was something that went hand-in-hand with the fight-to-the-death attitude that the Panthers bring to the ice during the spring.
I’m wasting my time writing about Montour for anybody that has watched even the smallest amount of Florida’s playoff hockey over the past two seasons, as most know what they’re getting with the player, so we’ll talk about the 6 year, $7.7M projection that @AFPAnalytics has placed on his next contract instead. That’s a number that his agent would likely want to raise if he’s to join a Canadian team, as is the way in today’s NHL thanks to Gary Bettman’s hard cap that doesn’t allow for teams in poor tax situations to have any type of advantage. It’s more likely that if Toronto were able to sign him that it would be for the max 7 years, with a caphit closer to $8.5-9M. I’ll admit that’s pure speculation on my part, but what isn’t speculation is that Canadian teams have to pay a little more in order to attract and retain players. The good news is that the Leafs are in a position to offer that type of contract, although it would restrict their ability to add more depth to the blueline if they aren’t able to move on from Mitch Marner and his $10.9M caphit this summer.
Also, what isn’t speculation is that the Leafs have long looked for a replacement for Morgan Rielly on the top powerplay unit. From Tyson Barrie to John Klingberg, it would seem that Toronto’s long time powerplay quarterback isn’t providing the type of dynamic offense they’re looking for and the smooth skating Montour could help in that regard.
The long and short of it is this. If the Leafs are able to make a good trade with Mitch Marner that provides depth around the lineup and frees up some capspace, while also obtaining the rights to a player such as Montour, they would likely have a much more well rounded, deeper and better team. If Marner does stay I would have to wonder if signing a big ticket player would be putting too many eggs in one basket.