NHL Free Agency: The three best fits for defenseman Keith Yandle

2. Montreal Canadiens

With Shea Weber out for the 2021-22 season, and potentially beyond with his NHL career in doubt, the Montreal Canadiens need a point man on the power play and Keith Yandle could be the perfect candidate.

Granted, the Habs do have Jeff Petry who recorded 15 points (4 G, 11 A) on the man advantage in 55 regular season games last year, but the absence of Weber will hit Montreal’s power play hard and his production will need to be replaced.

While he doesn’t boast a lethal shot like Weber does, Yandle can make things happen on the man advantage and 18 of his 27 points in 2020-21 came on the power play for the Florida Panthers, including 17 assists.

He can create opportunities by firing the puck towards the net and he’s also got elite vision which opens up the ice, so a one-two punch of Yandle and Petry quarterbacking the power play for the Habs in 2021-22 could be a deadly combination.

Yandle will greatly help Montreal’s transition game, he’s good for at least 20 assists a season and, as backed up by his hugely-impressive ironman streak, he’s incredibly durable and can be relied upon on a nightly basis.

The Habs have around $14 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, but that will only increase once Weber is placed on LTIR, so they will have the means needed to get a deal done with Yandle if that’s the direction they head in.