NHL Free Agents 2011: Should the Montreal Canadiens Gamble on Trent Hunter?

As the summer days slowly drift by, two more unrestricted free agents will become available to NHL GM's looking to enhance their teams.  New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello has made it clear that he intends to buy out Colin White and Trent Hunter’s contracts once they clear the waivers they were placed on Monday.

I’m sure that the Montreal Canadiens have no interest in the aging White’s services, as they are very similar to those of Hal Gill’s. The 33-year-old defenceman may fetch some offers, though with the market for shutdown defensemen being where it is (Brent Sopel has signed a two-year contract in the KHL and Scott Hannan is still jobless), I’m not so sure.

With new talents like John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo emerging and a solidified core of depth forwards, the New York Islanders deemed Hunter expendable and traded him to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Brian Rolston and a jump start towards the cap floor.

The big forward’s role would be much more clearly defined on the Canadiens.

Hunter, however, brings something to the table that the Habs may be in need of.

It’s clear that Hunter will never be the player that finished third in the Calder Trophy race in 2003-2004. As a rookie, the right winger scored 25 goals and added 26 assists—the 31-year-old’s best campaign to date.

But with the departures of Jeff Halpern and Tom Pyatt, the Canadiens are in need of some penalty killing forwards to alleviate Tomas Plekanec, who, as great as he is, visibly tires out at season’s end.

Hunter is a big (6’3”, 217 lbs.) forward. He hasn’t been playing as much on the penalty kill as he has in the past, but that’s because the Islanders were probably wanting more from him—perhaps expecting him to regain the form he exhibited as a rookie when he was tied with Oleg Kvasha for the team lead in scoring.

Injuries have most certainly been a problem for Hunter. Last season, he tore his MCL and limited to 17 games. The possibility of another knee problem would be the biggest downfall to the signing.

Though his contract was for $2 million a season, I am certain that because of his declining production and injury issues, he won’t be signed for more than $800,000 on any team.

He’s a defensively-responsible—one of five forwards with a plus rating on the Isles in 2009-2010, when he played 61 games—and a big, bottom-six forward. No, he’s not young, but with a limited role on a year-long contract, age shouldn’t be much of a factor.

Is he worth a shot or is it too risky?

Follow Jason on Twitter: @jhytel