Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Jonathan Drouin Trades

The Montreal Canadiens have a few young forwards pushing to make the lineup this year. Due to that, a veteran may need to move out in a trade. If that is Jonathan Drouin, here are some potential deals for him.

The Montreal Canadiens are making their way through training camp and have uncovered a few pleasant surprises with just two more exhibition games before the real season begins. There are several young players that have stepped up and forced the Canadiens management team to take notice.

On defence, Cale Fleury has played very well throughout camp and is starting to look like he could start the year with the Canadiens at the age of 20. He played well for the Laval Rocket last season, but seemed to be stuck behind Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Christian Folin and Noah Juulsen on the depth chart.

An injury to Juulsen and mediocre play from Folin, combined with an impressive performance by Fleury has him pushing away veterans as he makes his case to be in the opening night lineup. The same thing is happening up front.

Ryan Poehling had a great start to camp and showed there is not much need for minor league seasoning. He is a poised, two-way center that is skilled and smart enough to handle minutes in any role at the NHL level, even at the age of 20.

A third 20 year old is making a case to become a fixture in the top six this season and that is Nick Suzuki. He started camp centering a line with Charles Hudon and Jordan Weal, but played his most recent preseason game with Tomas Tatar and Phillip Danault on his line.

The influx of youngsters has led to a bit of a logjam in the Habs lineup, especially up front. It appears there are seven players: Tatar, Danault, Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher, Max Domi, Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin fighting for the six spots on the top two lines. Add in Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Poehling who will soon be looking for bigger roles, and the Habs have a plethora of options up front.

So much so that, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Habs could be looking to trade a forward in the near future.

Friedman also mentioned that it was worth noting how little Drouin was used in the Canadiens 3-0 loss to the Maple Leafs on Monday night. It does beg the question, if they do decide to move Drouin, what would a trade look like?

Now, I’d like to point out that Elliotte Friedman did NOT say that the Canadiens are going to trade Drouin. He simply said they have a couple of young forwards looking for big roles and they can’t fit everybody into the lineup. He also pointed out that Drouin did not see a ton of ice during a preseason game. That could be because the Habs know what they have in Drouin and wanted to play younger players a bit more.

It’s possible their answer to this logjam is to trade Charles Hudon to the Dallas Stars for a sixth round draft pick. That’s not as fun for us fans to banter about in late September though, so let’s ponder the possibility, no matter how slight, that Drouin could be the odd man out.

So, let’s take a look at three potential deals involving Jonathan Drouin.

Minnesota Wild

If the Canadiens are going to move Drouin due to a logjam up front, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to swap him for another winger one for one. However, Zucker is a much different type of winger than Drouin and would bring a physical edge to the Habs forwards that is currently lacking.

The Canadiens saw some nastiness leave when they traded Andrew Shaw to the Chicago Blackhawks on the eve of free agency. They brought in Nick Cousins, but he will play a depth role. Nick Suzuki appears ready to take on a top six role, but he is a slick playmaker that doesn’t have a gritty side to him.

Zucker on the other hand would bring a punch to the Habs lineup that is needed when the going gets tough late in the season and into the playoffs. We all know what happened to Drouin as the games got more difficult down the stretch and the Habs were in a heated race for the postseason.

The Wild made a few trades last season that saw them get younger and also gamble on skill above all else. They sent 27 year old Charlie Coyle to the Boston Bruins for 23 year old Ryan Donato. They also swapped 27 year old Mikael Granlund for 22 year old Kevin Fiala.

Trading 27 year old Jason Zucker for 24 year old Jonathan Drouin would definitely follow in the same line of thinking. Not to mention, by all accounts Zucker was very nearly dealt twice by the Wild in the past few months. A trade deadline deal with the Calgary Flames fell apart last minute and a draft trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins also fizzled at the last moment.

The Wild have since fired general manager Paul Fenton and replaced him with Bill Guerin. That may deter them from moving on from Zucker, but after being all but shipped out of town twice, perhaps Zucker would wish to move on.

Zucker and Drouin both have four years left on their deals at exactly $5.5 million per season so there are literally no cap implications to this deal. Zucker set career highs with 33 goals and 64 points in 2017-18, but dropped to 21 goals and 42 points last year.

This deal would provide a fresh start for two talented players, and Zucker’s flexibility to play either wing could see him play anywhere from first line left wing to third line right wing. The style of game he plays would be a huge boost to the Habs late in the season and into the playoffs.

Zucker would bring the physicality that left town with Shaw, but also has the potential to score more than the 57 points Drouin put up last season.

Winnipeg Jets

In this trade scenario the Canadiens absolutely swing for the fences. They take advantage of a team that has gone through tremendous turnover in the past few months and is having a hard time negotiating a new contract with their star player.

Laine is one of the best goal scorers in the National Hockey League. He had a “down” season last year and finished with 30 goals, which would have put him second on the Montreal Canadiens behind Brendan Gallagher.

During his three year entry level contract, Laine has scored 110 goals. He has the potential to be the top goal scorer in the league over the next decade, given that he is just 21 years old and still trying to find a level of consistency.

The Finnish winger struggled at times last season, but scored 18 goals in one month, showing the tremendous talent that he has. Adding him to the lineup would immediately fix the awful power play and give the Habs one of the best goal scoring threats in the league for the first time since Guy Lafleur was in his prime.

The Jets are currently far apart in negotiations with Laine. He also mentioned to reporters in Finland last week that he was not really happy with the linemates he was given in Winnipeg the past three years. That would not exactly endear him to his teammates and could potentially lead to a trade.

In this deal, the Jets add a top six winger in Drouin to replace Laine. Drouin would be reunited with Nikolaj Ehlers who he played with while a member of the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. To say the pair dominated together would be a massive understatement. They could do serious damage for the Jets.

Winnipeg also lost Tyler Myers to free agency, Jacob Trouba to trade and possibly Dustin Byfuglien to retirement. That means they went from the deepest group of right defensemen in the league to absolutely nothing. Acquiring Cale Fleury gives them a 20 year old who can step into the lineup right away and be a mainstay for a decade.

The Jets also acquire a first round pick from the Canadiens for next season and a second round pick that was originally owned by the Chicago Blackhawks. It provides the Jets with a left winger to immediately step into the lineup, and though he won’t replace Laine’s goals, he would have immediate chemistry on the second line with Ehlers. Add in a potential top four defenceman and a pair of good value draft picks, and the Canadiens could have a future Rocket Richard winner.