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Montreal Canadiens: Trade rumours around T.J. Brodie and the Calgary Flames

By Omar L

OTTAWA, ON - MARCH 09: Calgary Flames Defenceman T.J. Brodie (7) takes a moment during warm-up before National Hockey League action between the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators on March 9, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - MARCH 09: Calgary Flames Defenceman T.J. Brodie (7) takes a moment during warm-up before National Hockey League action between the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators on March 9, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The latest trade rumour could have the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames coming together to find new homes for Max Pacioretty and T.J. Brodie.

This isn’t the first time the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames and the words ‘trade rumours’ have all been used together in the same sentence. Earlier in the season, there was a belief that Pacioretty could be making his way west in exchange for one of Mark Jankowski, Sam Bennett, or both.

The Flames had their hands tied at the Trade Deadline with limited assets to work with, which prevented them from making any big-time acquisitions. After a bold move made at last year’s draft, they are without their first and second-round picks in the upcoming entry draft. However, that may not change the team’s desire to acquire a top-six forward.

According to TSN 690’s Tony Marinaro, there is talk of a possible trade between the Habs and Flames that would see T.J. Brodie don the CH. Seeing as how Marinaro is not a credited insider in the slightest, we’ll take this with a grain of salt for now, but it’s still interesting to discuss the pros and cons of a deal of that calibre.

Brodie is a top-four left-shot defenceman with spectacular skating ability and offensive upside. His on-ice awareness has allowed him to command the power play when given the opportunity and effectively make plays to his forwards. Additionally, Brodie can log a lot of minutes on a game-by-game basis as he averaged 23:41 this season (23:01 over his entire career).

There’s definite potential to be a top-pairing defenceman, and he’s played in that role many times for Calgary. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. Brodie struggled defensively at times and was second on the team behind Dougie Hamilton in giveaways for d-men. When you look at the stats, the Flames allowed far more shots in the high slot and in front of the net when Brodie was on the ice than when off.

However, it’s been a rough season for many players on Calgary, Brodie included. The talent on the backend is unique and affordable with a $4.65 million cap hit. If the Habs managed to acquire the 27-year-old, the search for Shea Weber‘s partner would be solved at least for the next two years. Winning the draft lottery may ‘complicate’ things, but the Montreal Canadiens blueline would look very mobile ahead of next season.

There are a few problems with this kind of trade, assuming there is some merit to any of this. It cannot be a one-for-one. If Brodie is coming aboard that’s fine, but Marc Bergevin has to get more in exchange, and of the pieces needs to be a young centre. Trading Pacioretty has to be a hit in all aspects, and it would be difficult to appreciate the trade without that one thing.

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Which brings us to the second problem. The Habs don’t necessarily need Brodie. Yes, he adds additional skating and puck-moving ability to the backend, but with Victor Mete, Noah Juulsen, and Mike Reilly in the fold, that department may already be covered.

If I’m Bergevin and I’m committed to making a deal with the Flames, I look at player of interest from earlier in the year in Jankowski. He’s the young centre that can grow and be a top-six option for the Montreal Canadiens in the future. The 23-year-old finished his first full NHL season with 17 goals and 8 assists. Not mind-blowing numbers, but it’s a start.

Even then, the trade can’t be Pacioretty for Jankowski only. The Habs need other pieces in the process starting with the Calgary’s first-round pick which would have to be in 2019. Brad Treliving may be reluctant to part with it especially since they don’t have their second-round pick that year.

Both Brodie and Jankowski would benefit the Montreal Canadiens in different ways. Although the former would fix some of the problems the team faced this season on defence, building a foundation of centres has to be the more important priority.

Next: Music to Match

Trading Pacioretty is a paradigm shift no matter how you put it, and Bergevin needs to ensure that he makes it count.

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