The Montreal Canadiens locked up two familiar faces Wednesday, re-signing forward Alex Belzile to a one-year contract.
General manager Kent Hughes also signed goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to a matching one-year deal, confirmed directly by the team.
Both moves landed on the opening day of free agency, a sign Hughes wanted this business finished before the market got loud.
Belzile, 34, put up 62 points in 66 games with the Laval Rocket this season.
That kind of production from a bottom-six lifer at his age says something about how much the organization still trusts his game.
Kahkonen, 29, went 21-9-7 in net for Laval, backing it up with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.
Neither deal moves the needle in Montreal's crease battle at the NHL level. But it keeps Laval stocked with a goalie who wins.
Why the Canadiens still needed Kaapo Kahkonen in net
The team didn't have to bring Kahkonen back. He tested the open market Wednesday morning and came right back to Laval anyway.
Think of it like renewing a spare tire you hope you never need. Hughes would rather have it in the trunk than get caught flat.
That says as much about Kahkonen's comfort in the organization as it does about Hughes not wanting to gamble on an unproven goalie.
Nobody's throwing a parade for a depth signing like this, and they shouldn't. But it buys Hughes room for bigger business elsewhere.
Belzile's return locks in a veteran voice for a Laval group that will lean on him again to mentor the organization's younger forwards.
Montreal finished the season 48-24-10, good for 106 points and a plus-27 goal differential, sixth overall in the league.
Where do Belzile and Kahkonen actually fit going forward? Neither profiles as more than an emergency call-up option in Montreal right now.
Still, keeping a winning goaltender and a productive veteran instead of losing them elsewhere is the quiet value Hughes keeps building on.
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Whether either one gets a real look with the Canadiens next season is a different question entirely, and nobody in Montreal is answering it yet.
Is re-signing Kaapo Kahkonen instead of chasing a bigger goaltender the right move for Kent Hughes?
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