Montreal Canadiens: Addressing the Max Pacioretty Rumours

Another trade rumour involving the Montreal Canadiens is out and about and this time it may involve team captain Max Pacioretty.

It wouldn’t be the offseason if there weren’t trade rumours right? Fortunately there haven’t been too many revolving around the Montreal Canadiens. However, in the final month before training camp and the rookie tournament, we have one more to discuss.

Ekblund from hockeybuzz.com tweeted a possible trade involving the Habs on Sunday. According to Eklund, the Montreal Canadiens are in trade talks with the Philadelphia Flyers. The trade would the Canadiens acquire prospect Travis Sanheim and a third-round pick for Max Pacioretty.

Initial thoughts from this are probably, “yeah right”. The deal would make sense for the Flyers though. Wayne Simmonds led the team in goals this past season with 31. After him was Brayden Schenn with 25 goals, but was traded to the St. Louis Blues at the draft.

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Pacioretty has been a consistent 30-goal scorer for the past three seasons and would be solid addition to the team considering their lake of elite scoring anywhere else.

The Flyers have hopes that Sanheim can be a top-four defenceman for them in the future. That being said, he is still a prospect and hasn’t played a single game in the NHL yet. Sanheim just finished his first pro-season with the Leigh Valley Phantoms putting up 10 goals and 27 assists. It’s very possible that Sanheim makes the team out of camp though.

Breaking Down the Trade

There are a few reasons why this trade wouldn’t make sense for the Canadiens. It would be an ideal trade for Philly considering their second-line left-winger looks to be Valtteri Filppula based on roster projections.

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If the Montreal Canadiens are trading Pacioretty, you better believe they’re getting a top-line center back. A trade like that would be based on crossed fingers for the Habs opposed to the Flyers who would be getting a sure-thing.

The return on the trade rumour is pretty one-sided and the Habs wouldn’t be getting fair value. Pacioretty is well into his prime at 28-years-old. Additionally, he’s on a very team-friendly deal only making $4.5 million for the next two seasons.

That being said, the Canadiens have prospects in the system that can hopefully be goal-scorers one day.

You can make an argument as to why this trade may work for both sides. At the end of the day, Philadelphia would win this trade and the Habs’ problems still wouldn’t be solved. Keep in mind that it’s just a rumour. If I could bet on it, that’s all it will be.

Next: Prospect Competition at Training Camp

Do you believe these rumours and what do you think of the return? Let us know your thoughts down below!