Habs Should Not Trade P.K. Subban.

The Habs PK Subban was a topic of discussion during a TSN-690 radio segment with Tony Marinaro boldly claiming their is a 50/50 chance Subban is traded.

TSN-690 radio host Tony Marinaro had CTV Montreal’s Brian Wilde on The Montreal Forum Show on Friday April 8. The two discussed several topics covering Marc Bergevin‘s expected backing of Michel Therrien as well as expected changes to the coaching staff.

The most interesting discussion came about 7 minutes into the segment when Tony Marinaro boldly claimed their was a 50/50 chance that star defenceman P.K. Subban would be traded. Brian Wilde weighed in as well, saying he believed their was a 25-30% chance of a trade, citing obstacles like Habs owner Geoff Molson and the fact trades of this magnitude are nearly impossible to complete in today’s NHL.

TSN Insider Bob McKenzie also provided his opinion on the matter while on Leaf’s Lunch on TSN-1050 on Friday. The Subban talk comes near the end of the segment and McKenzie does not reference Brian Wilde or the prior information. What he does do though, is give his opinion on Subban and his impending full No-Move Clause that kicks in on July 1st.

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To sum it up, McKenzie firmly believes that the Habs should and will do their due diligence and entertain all possible options about the entire roster, P.K. Subban included.

So do the Habs trade P.K. Subban?

I believe that should be a firm and resounding no. Trading Subban would likely not net the proper value in return and it would leave a massive hole on the defensive end that cannot be filled by anyone in the organization or on the potential free agent market.

Subban’s value on and off the ice just can’t be measured. Yes, he has a massive contract but Subban is far and away the Habs best defender and has been their driving force on offense for a few seasons now. He is a player you build around, not one you jettison in the hopes that one of the pieces you receive provides even 50% of the value Subban brings on a nightly basis.

Subban’s off-ice contributions are well documented and what he means to the city of Montreal is unfathomable. Simply put, not many players have embraced the city of Montreal like Subban has.

I understand the reasoning behind a potential Subban trade. It would be to use him in an effort to fill other roster holes. But in this case, you would be creating one massive hole to fill 1, maybe 2, smaller holes while also getting some prospects and/or draft picks with the hope of gaining potential valuable assets.

Let’s face reality though, no team willing to acquire P.K. Subban is going realistically blow up their roster and give the Habs 3 or 4(or more) proven and cheap NHL players who are under 25 years of age. It just won’t happen. They’re going to want P.K. to anchor them into a Stanley Cup contender, not go through a rebuild and waste his prime years.

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Montreal does have a small history of dealing franchise and/or Norris Trophy defenceman and the picture is just not pretty to say the least. They have dealt Rod Langway(with 3 other players) to Washington for Ryan Walter and Rick Green in 1982 and also dealt Chris Chelios(and a 2d round pick) for Denis Savard in 1990. Both defenders won multiple Norris Trophies after leaving Montreal and the returns the Habs got failed to be worth what they gave up.

The entire issue, or non-issue depending on your point of view, is going to continue and ramp up into overdrive as we wait until Subban’s No-Move Clause kicks in on July 1st. Thankfully we have the NHL playoffs and NHL Draft to keep us occupied, and hopefully sane, until Free Agent Frenzy.

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