One of the longest-standing issues for the Montreal Canadiens has been the lack of a left-handed defenseman to play with either Shea Weber or Jeff Petry. Signing Mikko Lehtonen would guarantee one of these two players gets a chance to play with him to find the ideal pairing.
The Montreal Canadiens have been looking for a high-end left-defenceman since Andrei Markov’s last season with the team in 2016-17. Attempts were made at signing Mark Streit, which quickly faltered and then signing Karl Alzner to a questionable contract at a time when the game was changing, and teams needed fast and skilled players on the blueline to succeed.