The Montreal Canadiens are headed for another season of losing players at the trade deadline (TDL). Last season, they could have sold a few, but due to injuries and poor play, the returns were not worth the effort to trade the available players. This season, the team is better positioned to move players for high-quality assets in return, as long as they stay healthy. The Sports Network (TSN) has four Habs players on their trade bait top 20: Sean Monahan, Mike Matheson, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau.
The Canadiens could be big players at the TDL; with many prospects close to making the jump to the NHL as early as next season, it would be the perfect time to move players and create roster space while also giving the team high-end assets to use at the draft or trade for a much-needed highly skilled forward. In fact, Montreal could have more than four players made available before the deadline.
Canadiens Need to Make Room On Their Defence
The Canadiens have drafted a lot of defencemen recently, trying to ensure that their backend is fully stocked with top-four talent for the future. They already have a long list of NHL-ready left-handed defencemen, including Lane Hutson, who they hope will be in the NHL next season. When he gets acquainted with the NHL, Hutson could be an offensive dynamo.
However, the team will have to make room for him, and the team already has Arber Xhekaj waiting to be recalled from the Laval Rocket, the Canadiens farm team in the American Hockey League (AHL). With Matheson, Kaiden Ghule and Jordan Harris already secured on the left side and Jayden Struble proving he’s NHL-ready with every game he plays, a move has to be made for Hutson and Xhekaj to be on the roster next season.
The Canadiens also have room on the right side to move some players. David Savard is a prime candidate, as well as Jonathan Kovicevic. Trading them would free up room for David Reinbacher and possibly Logan Mailloux to join the club next season while also bringing fairly good assets in return.
Moving Matheson and Savard would probably provide the Habs with top prospects and first-round picks each; in Savard’s case, teams are always willing to overpay for a playoff-type defenceman, and this alone gives them at least three players who could be trade bait on defence alone. Another defender who could be moved for top-tier assets or a highly-skilled player is Harris. He is young and could become a solid top-four D-man, but he is falling down the depth chart in Montreal behind Ghule, Struble and soon Hutson.
Canadiens Need More Talent in Forward Group
Undeniably, the Canadiens lack high-skilled talent in their forward group: Cole Caufield has elite sniper ability but can’t always find the room to use it, and while Nick Suzuki is a very talented center, he’s not elite. Montreal has solid top-end talent, including Kirby Dach – if he can stay healthy – and Alex Newhook, but no player who can break open a game just with his talent, and management has the power to fix that.
Montreal has three unrestricted free agents (UFA) forwards next season: Monahan, Tanner Pearson and Mitchell Stephens. Monahan and Pearson will draw interest from many Stanley Cup-contending teams, while Stephens might get them something, but it’s doubtful he’s moved. If he keeps playing well and stays healthy, Monahan could grab the Canadiens a first-round pick, while Pearson, if he can return in time to get a few games in before the deadline, could also bring in a draft pick, albeit not in the first round.
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Creating space for young players to join Montreal next season isn’t as much of an issue with the forward group as it is on defence. They only have two, maybe three prospects who are ready to make the jump. Of those, only one has a realistic chance of being a Canadien, and that’s Joshua Roy.
Trading their forwards would simply be for asset management and to get the most out of the trade for the draft, their prospect pool, or to have more ammunition to make a trade in the future. If Monahan can garner a first-round pick and Pearson a possible second or third-round pick, that would give Montreal two firsts and two seconds or three thirds to go along with whatever they can get from trading their defence. They could also move a player like Josh Anderson to free up cap space to sign a high-priced, highly skilled UFA. Yes, Anderson has scoring issues, but he has been putting in an effort, and a change of scenery might be all he needs to get going again.
Canadiens Goaltending is Crowded, and a Move Needs to Be Made
Everyone’s been talking about the Canadiens’ goaltending this season, and it’s not due to poor play. The problem is that they have a three-headed snake and can’t find playing time for all of them. Allen and Sam Montembeault have been the tandem for the past two seasons, with Cayden Primeau waiting in the wings and playing in Laval.
Primeau is no longer waiver-exempt and would need to clear waivers to be sent back to Laval. Management is worried they would lose him, so they kept him in Montreal and have been trying to get all three goaltenders playing time ever since. Montembeault just signed a contract extension, indicating he is the go-to goalie of the future. Primeau is finally getting a few more starts closer together, meaning that Allen could be on the move.
Allen and Primeau have one year left on their contracts after this season, and a few teams have issues with their goaltending, including the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Allen is the most logical player to move due to his experience, which is what a contending team would want over an unpolished player like Primeau. So, it would make sense that Allen is the one to be moved if the team decides to move one this season.
There you have it. TSN has four players from the Canadiens in their top-20 list of trade bait, but the team could have as many as seven players available to be moved between now and the TDL. I don’t expect Anderson, Primeau or Matheson to be traded, but I think the interest is there, and if Hughes gets what he wants in return, they are viable options. I would even say Matheson could be a significant player in trade talks next season or during the offseason because room will have to be made for Hutson. Management has an excellent opportunity to improve the team significantly this offseason, but trades and sacrifices must be made.