With the NHL Expansion Draft on June 21st, the Montreal Canadiens writers on Last Word on Hockey are going into depth to see which players the Habs should expose or protect. With Carey Price and Jeff Petry having no movement clauses in their contracts, they are automatically included in the protected list. After having already done a couple of players, the next guy on the list is Andrew Shaw.
Montreal Canadiens Expose or Protect: Andrew Shaw
Player Profile
Position: Right Wing/ Centre
Age: 25
Height/Weight: 5’11” 180 Pounds
Cap Hit: $3.9 Million for five more years
Why Expose Him
Andrew Shaw was brought in from the Chicago Blackhawks to be a playoff performer for the Habs. However, he never showed his playoff abilities in his five games that he played in the playoffs. In those games, Shaw didn’t put up a single point. He did put up 12 goals and 29 points in 68 regular season games, which is a decent number of points by a third liner in today’s defensive first NHL, but he was paid for playoff production. $3.9 million per season, isn’t given to just any third liner.
The reason Shaw was given a nice pay was for his previous playoff performances. Prior to joining the Canadiens, Shaw put up just over 0.50 points per game during the playoffs with 35 points in 67 games. Although his stats may been inflated by playing on the top line with Jonathan Toews, his individual contribution was much greater in Chicago than in Montreal.
Shaw has had more trouble with his discipline in Montreal. In his first season with the Habs, Shaw led all players in penalty minutes with 110. That was over 30 minutes more than second place Alexei Emelin who had 71. Sometimes it can be good if a player takes penalties to protect his teammates. The problem with Shaw was that he took too many penalties that cost the Habs. If Shaw is to stick around, he will need to make better disciplinary decisions.
His contract pays him $3.9 Million for the next five years. He is making $150K more than the more skilled, super-pest Brendan Gallagher. While, they had similar seasons production-wise, Gallagher had an injury-plagued season that slowed down his impact. It can also be said that Gallagher took a big discount to sign long-term. Nonetheless, Shaw makes more than he’s worth, and the Canadiens could be looking to get his contract off the books.
Why Protect him
Andrew Shaw was acquired to change the Canadiens image as being soft to play against. He has lived up to making the team tougher as he’s often seen in the middle of scrums protecting teammates. He is certainly a team player and will do whatever it takes to help a teammate.
Another reason would be that he just needed some time to get his feet wet in Montreal. Having spent the previous five seasons in the Blackhawks organization, Shaw may just need more time to adjust to playing for the Habs system. He has proven to be a great playoff performer, having played significant roles on two Stanley Cup playoff teams. The skill and grit is there to be a great performer. It could only be matter of time before he is that player again.
He has claimed to love the city of Montreal. That being said, he will do whatever it takes to help his team win.
Verdict: Expose unless Radulov isn’t signed
Shaw’s decision could hinge on whether or not Alexander Radulov re-signs. It would be hard on the Habs if they decided to protect Radulov and he did not re-sign with them. The reason Shaw is the player that would be on the bubble is mainly due to his pricey contract. For what he produced this past season, he hasn’t shown that he is worth almost $4 Million dollars.
Another problem is, while Shaw is the type of player that would do anything to help his team win, he put the team in trouble on many occasions throughout the season. Nonetheless, a player of his grit can be hard to let go if he regains his form from Chicago. However, it might not be enough to get protected. With Brendan Gallagher already on the Habs, it makes Shaw expandable. Gallagher has served the Canadiens better than Shaw.
Ultimately, Radulov’s potential contract could be difference in the case of Andrew Shaw. However we will suppose to make things interesting in that a Radulov contract gets banged out on time and Shaw will be exposed.
Next up in the series will be Phillip Danault.
Protected List 7 Forwards, 3 Defensemen, and 1 goalie:
G: Carey Price (NMC)
D: Jeff Petry (NMC)
D: Shea Weber
D:
F: Max Pacioretty
F: Brendan Gallagher
F: Alex Galchenyuk
F:
F:
F:
F:
Expose:
Tomas Plekanec
Andrew Shaw
Main Photo:
