It’s been clear for a few years that the biggest hole in the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup is at the second-line centre position. Kent Hughes attempted to solve the problem immediately upon being hired by trading for Kirby Dach at the 2022 NHL Draft, and while that was looking like the answer early into a four-year contract, last season saw Dach struggle at the position with one of the worst goal differentials in the league at -29.
There aren’t many fits at centre on the free-agent market this summer, and that’s especially true for a Habs team that is trying to assemble a young group of players to have a long window of Stanley Cup contention. Nevertheless, they need some type of solution after Nick Suzuki’s line, so the management team will need to explore the options available to be signed.
One that appears to be a good fit for a club hoping to improve is Mikael Granlund. The 33-year-old centreman had two productive seasons with the noncompetitive San Jose Sharks before being traded to the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline. He followed up a 60-point season in 2023-24 with a 66-point year (in 83 games played), and contributed 10 points (5G, 5A) during the Stars’ post-season run.
Offensively it seems that there’s still quite a bit left in the tank. But offence isn’t the greatest concern for the Canadiens at this stage. In 2024-25 they finished 17th in goals scored with 243, just under three per game, and that number should only rise with the addition of Noah Dobson, a full season of Ivan Demidov, and another year of experience for all the young players. Only nine teams allowed more than the Habs’ 261 goals, however, and they were the only team outside of the top 16 in goals against to make the playoffs, needing an incredible end to the season to make that happen.
In that aspect, Granlund is much less skilled, and poor defensive play is a long-term feature of his game dating back to even before his arrival in San Jose. Using Evolving Hockey’s regularized adapted plus-minus (RAPM) metrics that attempt to isolate a player’s individual impact by factoring out team and opponent quality, you can see that Granlund’s defensive play isn’t just poor, but among the worst in the NHL. For a pertinent comparison, Dach’s defensive numbers, despite his obvious struggles through the entire season, weren’t nearly as bad in 2024-25.
Dallas was able to take advantage of Granlund’s offensive play in the post-season by giving him the heaviest skew in offensive-zone starts among the forward corps, (63% of his shift starts), and that on a team with offensive stars like Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston. The deployment wasn’t as extreme in San Jose, but the Sharks still provided Granlund with more offensive shifts than young star Macklin Celebrini received, perhaps in a bid to boost his deadline value.
Granlund could find a fit on a team that is confident in its defensive play but needs someone to help the offence. Perhaps a team like the New Jersey Devils (240 goals for, 220 against this season) or the Los Angeles Kings (203 against, 249 for) could offer him the type of shifts he needs to be effective and boost their chances of getting through the first round of the playoffs with a few more goals.
The Canadiens, however, aren’t one of those teams. The ideal centre would be someone who is at least as good defensively as on the offensive side. They need someone who is going to help Demidov get as much time in the offensive zone as possible, and Granlund isn’t that option without just taking shifts away from the top line that ranks as one of the best in the league at generating scoring chances.
