Montreal Canadiens: Trade rumors on the rise if things continue

Trade rumors are always around the Montreal Canadiens, but they could pick up if they don’t turn things around especially with Max Pacioretty.

It wouldn’t be the Montreal Canadiens if there weren’t any trade rumors around. Usually, they’re poorly-timed and don’t make any sense, but there are times where a few make sense. Trade talk has picked up a lot ever since Saturday’s blow out loss, and there’s been a cry for some sort of change. The obvious one has been Marc Bergevin being relieved of his duties, but player movement is the ‘easier’ option.

TSN insider Darren Dreger joined TSN 1050 radio to talk about all the buzz around the Habs. There’s been a small baseline of rumors involving Max Pacioretty. He’s the captain of the team, in his prime, and is also two seasons away from Unrestricted Free Agency.

Over the summer there was some talk about Pacioretty possibly being linked to the Philadelphia Flyers, but that didn’t make sense at the time. Additionally, Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman said a few weeks ago that the Habs and Oilers could be a possible trade partner.

Dreger told TSN:

"The Max Pacioretty rumors: If this team doesn’t turn it around very, very soon, the whispers are going to get a lot louder. A lot louder. So now you’re Bergevin and you have made some real bold trades, haven’t you? You acquired Jonathan Drouin, moving out a piece in Sergachev who is lights-out good in Tampa Bay. You made the significant deal with P.K. Subban going to the Nashville Predators. You get a good piece in Shea Weber coming back. But who’s kidding who? Shea Weber isn’t getting any younger. So the next logical piece is to do something unsettling to shake this group up, and that’s perhaps considering trading your captain."