After a season filled with struggles, injuries, and healthy scratches, it seems like the Montreal Canadiens are done with P.A. Parenteau, as they have placed him on waivers with the intention of buying him out of his contract. Parenteau has one year remaining at $4M in both salary and cap hit.
According to General Fanager’s buyout calculator, the Canadiens will have a cap hit of $1.33M for two years if they buy out Parenteau, which isn’t super expensive, but seems unnecessary considering the Habs’ extreme need for scoring.
Parenteau had an undeniably disappointing season, however his season pace would still put him at 32 points over 82 games, sixth on the team among forwards. It may have been Parenteau’s struggles in the playoffs though, that did him in. The Canadiens seemed to heavily value playoff performance in their 2015 draft class, and the team’s struggles to score were well documented.
Even if the 32-year-old Parenteau is in a steep decline instead of just having an off year, this move doesn’t make much sense unless the Habs are trying to add a big piece offensively, which may be why there were rumours that the Habs were after Patrick Sharp.
