Montreal Canadiens Trade Rumors: Marc Bergevin is “All In”
General Manager Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens is rumored to be very active in trade discussions.
The Montreal Canadiens have had a fantastic opening quarter to start the season, and are currently first overall in the NHL standings. The Habs have a solid nucleus of core players centered around Goaltender Carey Price, but are rumored to be in the trade market.
Marc Bergevin has already made huge trades in the off-season. Bergevin acquired Defensemen Shea Weber from the Nashville Predators and Forward Andrew Shaw from the Chicago Blackhawks. However, Bergevin is apparently not finished trying to upgrade the roster.
Friedman’s Comments
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Sportsnet’s Insider Elliot Friedman was on NHL Now discussing the potential trades that could happen and this is what he said:
"“I think one of the more interesting teams is going to be Montreal. They’re a team that clearly is in the playoffs. I think they see themselves as kind of being in go for it mode. We’ve talked in the past about them being interested in getting another Defenseman, I think there’s more.I think they’re looking at potential forwards too. I think they’re one of the teams that’s definitely interested in Martin Hanzal from Arizona if the Coyotes do decide to make that move.I see the Canadiens as a team that are kind of all in, and I think they’re going to see what they can look to add somewhere down the line to make themselves better. And Marc Bergevin is a guy, if you look at his history he likes to try and act early.”"
Top Four Defensemen
Montreal’s current defense corps has been terrific, and is playing a vital role in the Canadiens goal production. Currently, the Habs defense corps has scored 16 of the teams 65 goals. This is 24.6 percent of the teams total goal production.
However, a few Canadiens are getting older, like Andrei Markov whose 37 years old, and Shea Weber at 32 years old. Head Coach Michel Therrien may not want them playing too many minutes down the stretch because he’ll want them fresh for a Playoff run.
Also, outside of the Habs top four defensemen, the bottom pairing lacks experience and hasn’t played many playoff games. If the Canadiens could add a more experienced defender it would take a lot of pressure off of Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn.
Related Story: Montreal Canadiens Rumour: Targeting A Top Defenseman?
Power Forward and Martin Hanzal
Friedman also stated that the Canadiens are interested in acquiring a power forward and have interest in Arizona Coyotes Center Martin Hanzal. Around the middle of November the Habs were reported to be close to negotiating a deal for Hanzal. Sportsnet’s beat reporter of the Canadiens sent out this tweet on November 17th:
Told this morning Martin Hanzal could be on the move soon from Arizona. Activity heating up. Canadiens among a few teams in the hunt.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) November 17, 2016
Acquiring Hanzal or some other big Power Forward would be filling a great void for Montreal. Centers like Tomas Plekanec, Torrey Mitchell, Andrew Shaw, and David Desharnais are all under six feet tall and weigh less than 200 pounds. Having a bigger presence up the middle could make things more difficult for opposing teams.
Hanzal isn’t the most physical player, but plays a sound two way style that the Habs value in Centers. Martin is also a towering Center as he stands at 6’6″ and weighs 226 pounds. He wouldn’t be considered a top line scorer, but more of a secondary contributor.
Related Story: Canadiens Should Avoid Martin Hanzal
Bergevin’s All In
Bergevin has obviously been working the phones tirelessly trying to gauge the trade market. Friedman made it clear that Bergevin would like to make a trade sooner rather than later. Many teams though are still bunched together in the standings and their aren’t many sellers this early in the season.
Next: Montreal Canadiens Shouldn’t Trade Tomas Plekanec
However, with a healthy Carey Price and a great core of players in their prime, the Canadiens time to win is now. They have a great shot at winning the Stanley Cup, as they’re clearly one of the best teams in the league. Bergevin’s next trade could push the Canadiens over the top.