Habs: Analyzing the Eller and Shaw Trades

Analyzing the Surprising Trades on Draft Day by the Habs

All of the trade rumours and speculation leading up to draft day completely revolved around the Habs P.K. Subban. Despite Bergevin trying to put an end to all the rumours they continued to persist. Then earlier on in the draft Gary Bettman announced that he had some trades to announce.

Both of the trades involved the Montreal Canadiens. The first trade sent Center Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in exchange for two second round picks, one in 2017 and the other in 2018.

The next trade had Montreal acquire the Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw. The Habs sent the two second round picks they had, picks 39 and 45 in this years draft to the Blackhawks.

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I was pleasantly surprised that the Habs were able to get two second round picks for Lars Eller. I was even more surprised when the Habs easily flipped their two second round picks for Andrew Shaw. I like Shaw but I didn’t think that he was a player the Habs should consider as a serious trade target.

I was hoping for the Habs to be able to land a legitimate top 6 forward who has elite goal scoring ability. One of the other hot rumours of the day was the Habs reported interest in Cam Fowler, and I thought that’s what one of the trade announcements was going to be about.

After the initial confusion of the trades had passed, it seemed very clear that the Habs made two very solid trades. They were able to get very good value to help the team in the upcoming season.

Analyzing the Trade Impact of Lars Eller on Habs

The last few seasons for Lars Eller have been difficult, at least from an offensive point of view. He has proven to be very inconsistent offensively and never playing up to his potential as a number two Center.

Lars has some good components to his game such as his defensive ability as a checking line Center. Lars has good size with good speed and agility which also make him a very effective defensive forward. He always seemed to play an important role on the Habs penalty killing units.

These are the components that had him rumoured to be traded around last years trade deadline. However, he wasn’t traded largely because of his 3.5 million dollar cap hit and he had some term left on his contract which would be a hard contract for a trade deadline buyer to take on.

The addition of Phillip Danault at the trade deadline added another defensively talented center. Having a player already in the organization ready to step into that spot helped convince Bergevin that Eller was expendable. The aforementioned P.K Subban trade rumours masked the Lars Eller trade perfectly for Marc Bergevin.

The trade also gives the Habs two second round picks in 2017, and 2018. This gives the Canadiens 5 second round picks in the next two years. This is gives the team a great opportunity to be extremely active in trying to create trades coming up to the next seasons trade deadline.

Bergevin has put his team in an excellent position with all these future assets. I really like this trade and if the Habs are coming down the stretch in a playoff race, Bergevin will be in an excellent position to add some reinforcements to his troops.

Examining Andrew Shaw Trade Impact on Habs

Like I previously mentioned I was very surprised the Habs went after Shaw who was not the top six forward that I had in mind. After some consideration I began to see why Bergevin would be targeting him.

The Canadiens are currently very thin on the right wing on their current depth chart after Brendan Gallagher. Not only do the Habs lack depth on that side they lack experience. Their could be a few young wingers like Michael McCarronand Sven Andreighetto who will be battling for roster spots on the right wing.

With the Habs adding a top nine player like Shaw takes the pressure off those young players to produce at a high level right away. Even though Shaw isn’t known as a goal scorer he was able to put up respectable numbers last year scoring 14 goals, adding 20 assists for 34 points in 78 games. Nothing flashy, but as a third line player, who brings a sandpaper style to his game those numbers are very respectable..

Its like adding a younger, and better goal scoring Dale Weise into the teams lineup. Also at only 24 years of age Shaw will only continue to grow in his game. Who knows maybe shaw can still become a consistent top six player.

Shaw also brings a strong work ethic and a winning culture with him to the Habs. Shaw’s Stanley Cup experience with the Hawks could prove very valuable to the Canadiens. His presence could help stabilize the team when they are facing adversity.

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Final Thoughts

All in all I view these trades as a big win for the Habs. These trades give the Habs an abundance of second round picks which could be used as trade assets to further bolster the roster. Also the addition of Andrew Shaw will help give leadership and Stanley Cup winning experience to the Habs roster.

It’s no secret that Bergevin is one of the most active General Managers on trade deadline day. In past seasons he has been able to acquire players like Jeff Petry, and Thomas Vanek. The centerpiece of both those trades were second round picks.