Montreal Canadiens Trade Options: The Cost of John Tavares

Examining what the cost would be if the Montreal Canadiens were to acquire New York Islanders Forward John Tavares.

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin has been rumored to be “All In” in trade talks over the past few weeks. This definitely makes a ton of sense, considering how well the team has performed this season. The Habs are looking like clear cup contenders and they currently sit atop the Atlantic Division standings.

One player that the Habs have been rumored to have an interest in is Arizona Coyotes Center Martin Hanzal. The Canadiens do need help down the middle of the ice, but Hanzal has never been an elite point producer. So it wouldn’t make sense to give up prospects and picks in order to land him.

Tavares Available?

Brenden Kelly of the Montreal Gazette wrote an interesting article about what acquiring John Tavares would cost. Here is what he said about the idea of trading for Tavares:

More from A Winning Habit

"How about the notion of John Tavares in a Canadiens jersey? There is all kinds of media chatter that the New York Islanders star is potentially on the trading block given the Isles’ mediocre start and for some reason — most likely the invention of the Loafs-obsessed Toronto hockey media mob — the Maple Leafs are most frequently mentioned as a potential destination for Tavares."

Obviously, Kelly wasn’t indicating that Tavares is definitely on the trade market. However, there have been speculation over the past few months.

Islanders Downfall

The New York Islanders haven’t gotten off to a fast start, and are currently in last place, in the Eastern Conference. Also, the Islanders haven’t been able to resign key players to contract extensions. The most recent example is Kyle Okposo who left to sign with the Sabres.

If the Islanders continue to stay in last place two things will likely happen. First, the Islanders will want to rebuild and accumulate as many draft picks as possible. Second, trading Tavares out of fear that he won’t want to resign with the club and because Tavares would bring a ton of picks and prospects in return.

Also, Tavares hasn’t had many opportunities to play for a cup contender and would likely jump at the chance to do so. Tavares is only under contract until the end of the 2017-18 season and will be in for a huge raise. Many teams would be willing to pay Tavares top dollar and it would make sense that the Islanders would try and move him.

Pacioretty for Tavares?

In Kelly’s article he went on to say what the Canadiens should give in return to acquire Tavares. Here is what he said:

"Max Pacioretty for Tavares, with presumably Montreal throwing in someone else to sweeten the deal. Patch is having a sad-sack season, but maybe what he needs is a change of scenery to kick him out of his funk. The one thing for sure is that it’s not clicking for him here and hasn’t for a while."

Pacioretty does have goal scoring pedigree, but he isn’t the type of franchise player that Tavares is. However, the Islanders may like his low cap hit and the fact he has a longer term than Tavares. It seems very unlikely that the Islanders take on a player with term some term when they could rebuild.

Another issue for the Canadiens in this scenario would be a huge void created on the Left Wing. After Max, the Habs just don’t have much scoring depth on the left side.

Also, Bergevin and Head Coach Michel Therrien have defended Pacioretty again and again as their Captain. So it seems unlikely from the Canadiens perspective that they would want to move Max.

What Could Interest the Islanders

With the scenario of the Islanders in the role of “sellers”, and the Habs in the role of “buyers” would make more sense. With the Islanders in this role, they would be interested in adding high draft picks and top end prospects.

Marc Bergevin says he doesn’t want to trade top prospects but he did trade Sebastian Collberg to the Islanders (ironically) as part of the Thomas Vanek trade. Bergevin said that the Habs had rated Collberg as a first round prospect but still ended up trading him.

The Canadiens have Forward Nikita Scherbak and Goaltender Charlie Lindgren who are lighting it up for the St Johns Ice Caps. Also Michael MacCaron has a ton of size and potential as a future second line Center. Defensemen Noah Juulsen has been very productive in Junior and was recently named to the team Canada Junior Selection camp.

Another Trade Scenario

All of these players would likely interest the Islanders if they wanted to rebuild their roster. The Habs prospect with most coveted is probably Scherbak. The Habs may have to add another prospect and a couple of picks, plus one roster player so the move could work financially.

Here’s what a hypothetical Trade could look like:

Habs Should Trade for Tavares

This trade would essentially be, the Habs trading their future for just one player, but players like Tavares don’t come around that often. The Habs may even have to add something else to sweeten the pot.

Next: Canadiens Should Have 5 Players at the All Star Game

The Canadiens roster is built to win right now, and Tavares has a very cap friendly deal until it expires. If the Canadiens make a deal for Tavares it would give them the luxury of having two number one centers, in Tavares and Galchenyuk. This is something the Canadiens haven’t had since the teams glory days in the 50’s and 70’s and could help them raise their 25th Stanley Cup banner.

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