While the Montreal Canadiens were playing, Marc Bergevin was taking in the Minnesota Wild game possibly hinting at a future deal between the two teams.
It’s never a dull moment when the Trade Deadline is a few days away. The Montreal Canadiens were at home defeating a Michael Grabner and Rick Nash-less New York Rangers team while Noah Juulsen proved that he would’ve made the team out of camp if not for his broken foot. While that was going on, Marc Bergevin attended another Minnesota Wild game.
At first, there was nothing to make of this. It makes sense for Bergevin to want to look at what other teams have and keep note of them for the future. What made it something to pay attention to was a tweet from Michael Russo. Russo writes for The Athletic and mentioned that the Habs are talking to teams in the Central Division, including the Wild.
The tweet also hints that it may be players with term and if that’s the case, any deal with Minnesota would have to wait until the summer. That also matches up with the Habs wanting to stay away from the big deals at the deadline. If that were the case, then it may be Max Pacioretty or unfortunately, Alex Galchenyuk going the other way.
From the Wild, as far as forwards go, the names who have come up the most are Charlie Coyle and Joel Eriksson Ek. Coyle has spent most of the season on the wing but has seen his best hockey when played down the middle. His speed, skill, and ability to move with the puck come to light more when he’s at centre.
It’s more than just Coyle or coach Bruce Boudreau who notice the difference in play; his teammates do as well. Jason Pominville shared his thoughts on the 25-year-old at centre in an article for the Pioneer Press saying:
"I like him at center. I feel like one of his best assets is his speed, and when he’s at center he’s able to utilize his speed a little bit more… I feel like at center he can keep his momentum going a little bit better. Maybe a little more starts and stops on the wing. He has been skating really well at center. Once he has the puck on his stick with speed he’s a dangerous player. It’s fun that he’s going again."
Coyle only has 8 goals and 16 assists in 43 games for Minnesota this season, which is a down year based on the numbers he’s put up in the past. It may be discouraging to trade for a player coming off a relatively low-point, but Coyle is young enough to learn from this season and improve. Additionally, he has another two years left with an AAV of $3.2 million which could fall into the realm of Russo’s tweet regarding the Habs looking at players with term.
Eriksson Ek is 52 games into his first NHL season and only has 2 goals and 10 assists to show for it. The 2015 first-round pick is struggling to put up numbers as well considering he just ended a 50-game goalless drought four days ago. However, Eriksson Ek has also been extremely unlucky as he’s generated a lot of scoring chances for himself and his linemates but hasn’t been able to find the back of the net as much as he’d like (sound familiar?).
More from Rumors
- Do the Canadiens Already Know Who They Are Drafting?
- Canadiens Exploring Trading Up In NHL Entry Draft?
- Kirby Dach 2.0: Names the Canadiens Could Look at this Off-Season
- Report: 95% Chance Pierre-Luc Dubois Ends Up in Montreal
- Habs Trade Deadline Takeaways
He’s too good for the AHL as he was at a point-per-game in two stints with the Iowa Wild this season putting up 3 goals and 5 assists in 8 games. Boudreau has also mentioned that the other aspects of his game are good enough to deserve praise. The 21-year-old has been manning the fourth-line with Daniel Winnik and Chris Stewart, which may or may not be part of the lack of offence.
But just like Coyle, the future is bright. His 2.2 shooting percentage is the one-off of all one-offs, and there’s no way it repeats itself next season.
Besides them, a name like Jonas Brodin makes sense as well. He is injured at the moment, but his ability to move the puck and log big minutes would be a great addition to the Habs. Granted, the blueline is starting to form with the likes of Juulsen and Victor Mete being impact players.
It’ll take some time to see if anything materializes from this. But who knows, seeing as how Bergevin has been watching the Wild for sometime now, perhaps it does happen at the deadline. Coyle and Eriksson Ek would look great in a Habs uniform, but just like anything in the NHL, the price as to be right.
Do you think the Habs and Wild could be good trade partners? Are Coyle and Eriksson Ek the players to target? Let us know in the comments.