Montreal Canadiens: Trade Targets For the Upcoming Season

Sportsnet published an article Sunday on trade targets around the league, and the Montreal Canadiens were linked to eight of them.

Player movement is one of the biggest topics in the NHL. That’s why days like the Trade Deadline or Free Agent Frenzy are circled on a lot of fans calendars. It’s rare to see moves made so early in the season, but some fans see the Montreal Canadiens being involved in some.

Why is this the case? Partly because there are some Habs fans who don’t think GM Marc Bergevin added enough to the line-up. Another reason is because of the cap space (not going to get into that again).

However, just because trades are rare around this time of year, doesn’t mean they’re not talked about. Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen published an article on Sunday on nine players who could be traded during the 2017-2018 season.

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What Montreal Canadiens fans will find interesting was that the team were linked to eight of the nine listed. These being: Matt Duchene, Jon Marchessault, James Neal, Thomas Vanek, Jason Demers, Jacob Trouba, and John Tavares. Boylen also mentioned one of the Carolina Hurricanes defencemen in particular Noah Hanifin.

Looking at the Possible Targets

Scoring help and a top pair left-shot defenceman is what the Montreal Canadiens would like to add. They’ve already started the offence process by adding Jonathan Drouin. Additionally, there’s the hope that players who had poor years offensively bounce back. In particular Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. It also would help to have young forwards like Charles Hudon make the team.

From Boylen’s list, the only forward that make sense to go for right now is Duchene. The 26-year-old has been surrounded in trade rumours for years, and after it finally looked like he would be moved last season, it never happened. A trade may actually take place now that there’s a chance he will sit out of training camp.

Related Story: Make the Trade for Matt Duchene

Tavares would also be another massive piece to add, but Montreal has a better chance of acquiring him on July 1st then via trade.

As it stands, Karl Alzner will be given the shot to be on the team’s top pair. He may not contribute much on the score sheet, but his shutdown ability will be valuable. Additionally, there’s a chance that Jakub Jerabek could exceed expectations and play higher in the line-up.

That being said, if Bergevin isn’t happy with his d-corps, then there are names who he could add for the boost. Trouba would be the better option of the two. He’s young, has excellent shutdown ability, but can also put up points.

Hanifin would make a lot of sense for the Canadiens as well. He has size, is a great skater, and can move the puck. That could be another idea for Bergevin.

For what it’s worth, I think the Montreal Canadiens are happy with what they have and will give their own players a chance before looking elsewhere. That being said, if a deal is out there, and the price is right, it couldn’t hurt to make the move.

Next: Interest in Artur Tyanulin

Should the Montreal Canadiens go for any of these players? Let us know what you think in the comments.