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Back in 2021, the Florida Panthers struck a deal with the Buffalo Sabres to acquired defenseman Brandon Montour. At the time, nobody really knew the type of player Montour would evolve into. He was playing on a contract worth $3.85 million and signed a three-year extension with Florida at a cap hit of $3.5 million. Now, the Panthers are champions and Montour is heading to free agency expected to get a big pay raise. Below we’re going to go over the best potential fits for Montour’s next team.
NHL Free Agency Predictions: Brandon Montour
Toronto Maple Leafs
There are reports going around that the Leafs are interested in Montour. There’s also a lot of moving parts to Toronto signing Montour. The Leafs have 10 forwards and four NHL defensemen under contract for next season. Their only goaltender is Joseph Woll. The team has around $18 million in cap space. The first big domino expected to fall is a potential trade of Mitch Marner out of Toronto. If that happens, the Maple Leafs should have plenty of cap to work with assuming they don’t take on much salary. Trying to fit Montour’s contract on top of Marner and John Tavares while filling out the roster could be difficult, but not impossible.
As for team fit, Montour is exactly what the Maple Leafs need: A strong two-way defenseman. He can provide offense on the first or second power-play unit and isn’t afraid to throw his body around and play physical. Adding Montour would give the Maple Leafs another dynamic defenseman to go with Morgan Rielly. Expect new head coach Craig Berube to build his Maple Leafs team from the blue line and out.
Nashville Predators
The Preds could use another elite defenseman to go with Roman Josi on the blue line. Nashville should be active in the free agent market given the team has around $26 million in cap space. Some of that could be used to sign Juuse Saros to an extension, but that wouldn’t kick in until after 2024-25. The Predators can bring in Montour on a contract around $9 million per season and still have cap flexibility while not having to sign many players long-term. The Preds desperately need a 1B option on the blue line, someone who can play on the PP2 and provide some offense outside of Josi and Forsberg.
Utah Hockey Club
Utah will have a ton of money to throw around this offseason and the team has no defensemen under contract as we approach the draft. Sean Durzi, JJ Moser and Juuse Valimaki are all restricted free agents and should be on the team for 2024-25. But aside from that, Utah will need to fill out the blue line. Montour could be signed for a bit more given Utah’s situation, which could be appealing to him. Montour would be the clear No. 1 defenseman, can play on the top PP unit and get all the playing time in the world. Eventually Utah will start to get competitive with this core, so Montour can look forward to that down the line.