Montreal Canadiens trade Will Bitten to the Minnesota Wild
The Montreal Canadiens continue the trend of early season transactions moving prospect Will Bitten to the Minnesota Wild for Gustav Olofsson.
The Montreal Canadiens were expected to have several young facers on their minor league roster. Will Bitten would’ve been one of them, and considering what he brought to the table at both the Rookie Tournament and the preseason, the amount of optimism around him was warranted. But the dream Bitten has to play in the NHL for Montreal will have to be realized in another organization.
The team announced the 2016 third-round pick will be moving on to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Gustav Olofsson.
On the surface, this is shocking. Bitten was one of the prospects who easily could’ve been placed in the untouchable category. That said, considering the bulk of the team’s skill is currently on the wing, it would make sense for Marc Bergevin to feel he can move on from one of his younger forwards and continue to stockpile the defensive cupboards.
Olofsson was taken in the second round of the 2013 draft at 46th overall. He only played a single year of college hockey at Colorado College before making the jump to the pros. Since then, the 23-year-old has seen 120 games in the AHL with the Iowa Wild and 56 games in the NHL.
It’s a positive situation for Olofsson who would’ve struggled to crack Minnesota’s lineup out of the gate. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens add a left-shot defenceman to the system who could play on the team if the situation plays out right. If anything this adds more pressure on the likes of Mike Reilly, Jordie Benn, Xavier Ouellet, and maybe even Karl Alzner to an extent.
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What may be frustrating is Oloffson was on waivers not too long ago. However, the Habs have to be aware of their contract situation. Bergevin shored up an extra slot in the Brett Kulak trade sending Rinat Valiev and Matt Taormina to Calgary. The Habs remain at 47 total contracts with this transaction, but it did cost them Bitten to pull it off.