Three trade options for the Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are getting closer to the point where something has to give, and David Schlemko, Karl Alzner, and Jordie Benn look to be the options.
Saturday nights have always been a good night for hockey. Besides the lure of Hockey Night in Canada and the weekly Don Cherry rant, Headlines are one of the moments that make you sit in silence and stare at the screen to see what the NHL Insiders had to say. Last week’s had a tidbit of information that involved the Montreal Canadiens and possible future decisions.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Habs may be looking to move pieces in preparation of the roster logjam once players start to return. Marc Bergevin apparently tried to do this earlier in the season, but couldn’t, and that’s what led to Jacob de La Rose being placed and claimed off waivers.
The key returnee here is Shea Weber. The Habs captain has been out for nearly a year and is on his way to coming back to the lineup after two offseason surgeries.
Word now is if management makes a move, it’ll be along the blueline.
Granted, that was before Noah Juulsen was taken out of the lineup. The 21-year-old was taken out of the Washington Capitals game after taking two pucks to the face. Good thing for visors as it could’ve been a lot worse for Juulsen, but he will be out with a facial fracture.
Nicolas Deslauriers suffered the same thing after a preseason fight against the New Jersey Devils took him out, and he is still wearing a cage despite returning to the lineup. However, even with Juulsen on the sidelines, that doesn’t change the predicament the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in.
Something’s Gotta Give
Currently, the Habs are alright. They have 22 players on their active roster while the likes of Weber, Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Nikita Scherbak, and now Juulsen are on injured reserve.
Bergevin has room for one of those players to come off the IR and get back in without having to surpass the limit. Say that spot goes to Weber (yay). Even so, Montreal is still safe as they can clear up two more spots and send Kenny Agostino and Michael Chaput back to the minors in place of Byron and Scherbak who may be close to coming back as well.
But that still leaves Armia and Juulsen. And what if the coaching staff isn’t fond of the idea of sending Agostino back. He’s played well for the Habs with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and is using his speed to work in and around the net. He even almost scored his second of the season in New Jersey, but it was unfortunately called back.
Maybe management sends Deslauriers down instead, but Julien has valued the presence he brings on the fourth line.
And regardless of the semantics of who stays and who goes, it doesn’t make sense for the Montreal Canadiens to keep nine defencemen on their roster. Although Bergevin has more time to decide with Juulsen and the lengthy recovery time of Armia, it may be for the best to keep the phones going and move on of those defencemen.
Safe or Out?
It’s easy to start with who is safe assuming Bergevin’s trade focus remains on the blueline. Jeff Petry has taken Weber’s minutes since last season and is the team’s leading point-getter on defence (2 goals and 15 assists) and sees the most average ice time at 24:50. This is a no-brainer, but he’s safe.
The Habs acquired Mike Reilly at last year’s trade deadline, and he’s been showing off his superb skating and shot generation since. He responded well from being a healthy scratch and looks settled in. Reilly has his defensive miscues, but Montreal isn’t in any position to give up relatively young d-men who can skate. Safe.
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Victor Mete has been relegated to the bottom pair along with Xavier Ouellet. He’s had his moments of mistakes but has also made a handful of spectacular plays along the blueline. Perhaps playing him a little higher would be a good way to give him an opportunity to show more of his skill. Unfortunately, it seems like Julien doesn’t trust him to play against the opposition’s top players. Still, Mete is a growing player and will be a solid name on Montreal’s defence. Safe.
Ouellet is safe as well. Similar to Reilly, he found his way to the press box and didn’t have the best impression on the way in. Ouellet had a rough first period against the Devils, and one of his turnovers led to a goal against. That said, it’s a process with him, even though he has only this season to do it. Safe, but I’ll leave a question mark there.
The Beard
Jordie Benn went from looking like his 2016 self to a rollercoaster performer. A lot of that comes from his exposure of playing on the top pair with Petry. Julien is running him as he’s played 20+ minutes for the fifth game in a row.
Despite the skating issues, Benn does have his positives. He has an underrated shot, blocks a good deal of them against, and at times has effective gaps and aggression that separates players from the ongoing play. In most cases, Benn would be safe, but, there may be a scenario where he is left to be used in trade discussions.
Pierre Lebrun did a spot on Melnick in the Afternoon on TSN 690 and shared that there could be teams who are interested in Benn saying:
I know of some teams that are monitoring Jordie Benn because they see the minutes that he’s played this year.
Lebrun also hinted towards the slim chances that Benn is placed on waivers and that teams are waiting to see what the Habs do once Weber comes back. That could be an option there if Bergevin makes that decision.
The 31-year-old is in the final year of his deal that has him making $1.1 million. A team that is up against the cap who want to bolster their defence could benefit from having Benn on their blueline. And not as their top guy, but as someone who will play well as a third-pair option and perhaps kill penalties.
Montreal could very well keep him and move on to the other two options. However, the fact that others are looking at Benn may entice the Montreal Canadiens. As for his safe rating, I’ll say one foot in but one foot out for now.
Here is where things get interesting. Karl Alzner is in a position this season that he’s never been in, a player struggling to get into the lineup. He’s played in only six of the team’s 21 games, and they’ve looked better for the most part without him.
It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. The massive problem with this scenario is Alzner’s deal. The Habs aren’t benefitting at all from having a $4.625 million player sit for nearly 30% of the season so far. And with the motive to move a d-man in place, you have to think Alzner is a name that’s been brought up in management’s morning meetings.
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The same goes for David Schlemko, but the difference between them is that he’s playing. The 31-year-old has had flashes and other moments where it’s been a struggle for him to get in the right position to defend a play. Schlemko clearly isn’t a long-term option for Montreal on defence and his name being in the ‘moving on’ mix makes sense.
Here’s where the ‘but’ comes to play. Alzner’s stock is taking a hit. Not only did he have a bad debut season with the Canadiens, but he’s also not getting too much of an opportunity to right any wrongs. And when he does, it doesn’t help his cause. The cap-hit is one thing, but the term is another that could hurt potential talks.
Alzner’s contract lasts for another three years after this season wraps up. There’s also a seven-team no-trade list attached to the contract, but it wouldn’t be surprising for the veteran to waive it if it means him moving to a place where he can be used. Where though?
Teams such as the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Islanders all have the space to take on a deal like that right now. But they probably wouldn’t. It’ll take a strategic deal where the Habs may have to take back a bad contract as well to get the money to work.
Schlemko would be easier even though his contract isn’t ideal either. He’ll be making $2.1 million for this year and the next which a team could stand, especially if he winds up improving in the new location. Montreal could also place him on waivers and bury the money in the minors.
The Laval Rocket has taken hits along their blue starting with Gustav Oloffson. Schlemko may not be the best defender in the NHL, but his experience could be very valuable on a team with a lot of youth.
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As for Benn, if the Montreal Canadiens trade him, the Edmonton Oilers make the most sense. The Oilers are struggling defensively and need a bit more character in that locker room. Additionally, they have limited cap space and would appreciate the relatively cheap AAV.
Then there are the practical things that come into play. Firstly, Peter Chiarelli is desperate to get Edmonton into the playoffs. Firing Todd McLellan was one of his final moves, and he knows the next one will be him unless he gets some success out of this team. You think it’d be easy with Connor McDavid on the roster, but I digress.
Another thing is the new head coach Ken Hitchcock who probably knows Benn very well. He did coach against him during his days with the St. Louis Blues back when Benn was on the Stars. Hitchcock has gravitated towards defensive play, and he could get that out of him if he’s played in the right situations. And the fact that Benn can log minutes if asked on occasion is a bonus.
The Montreal Canadiens could end up getting a decent pick from it and perhaps another player to work with or just be sent down to play in Laval.
As I mentioned earlier, Bergevin has time to choose whether he wants to make a trade or not. Armia still has a decent number of weeks left to recover from his lower-body injury, and there isn’t a clear timeline on the returns of Weber, Scherbak, or Bryon. That said, the day will come where the Habs need to move someone.
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Trading Benn is the easiest of the three defencemen, and it helps that other teams are seeing value in him. Bergevin was able to convert cap space over the summer and Simon Bourque, a player who wouldn’t see time on the main club, into Armia and a pair of draft picks. There’s a strong chance he can get some decent value for Benn, especially if the demand is high.
But for now, it’ll be a game of patience even though it has a shelf life.