1. Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t fire their coach while in a battle for top spot in the division because they would be satisfied staying on the fringes of the playoff race. They want to go all in and go on a deep run once again this spring. The Golden Knights went on the most unlikely run to a Stanley Cup Final we have ever seen in their inaugural season.
Last season, they looked like a good team once again but lost in very controversial fashion in Game 7 of the opening round to the San Jose Sharks. With the team spinning its wheels a bit but right in the thick of the Pacific Division race, they fired Gerard Gallant and brought in Peter Deboer to take over.
They clearly want to win the division and go on a deep run. They have an impressive group of forwards with plenty of depth up front. They have Marc-Andre Fluery in goal but could use a bit of an upgrade on their blue line.
Nate Schmidt, Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore are doing tremendous work, but they could use someone to join them in the top four that is capable of handling well over 20 minutes on a nightly basis. That someone could very well be Jeff Petry.
The Knights have a few top prospects in their pipeline but have already traded Erik Brannstrom in the Mark Stone deal and of course sent Nick Suzuki to Montreal in the Max Pacioretty trade. It would be difficult to pry a top prospect like Peyton Krebs, Cody Glass or Nic Hague out of them.
The Canadiens could look to add a few defense prospects which is where they need the most help. Vegas has tons of young defensemen in their system and would likely be willing to part with a few of them.
Kaedan Korczak was taken in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He had a strong showing for Canada at the World Under-18 Championships last spring and has 32 points in 41 games for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. He has decent size and would compare to Cale Fleury at the same age.
Xavier Bouchard is a bit more of a project but if also a right shot defender who was taken in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He is a big defender who was terrific for Baie-Comeau last season scoring 46 points in 60 games. His offence was down this season until a midseason trade to the Cape Breton Eagles where he has nine points in eight games.
It is going to take a really good offer to get Bergevin to move Petry. Bergevin believes this team can win next season and would be reluctant to trade Petry at all. However, they have several key free agents in July 2021 including Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Joel Armia and Petry.
With this season not going well, and Petry turning 33 next season before his contract is up it makes sense to look at all their options right now. Instead of waiting it out until five key players are unrestricted free agents, the Canadiens could move out a veteran and get a great return of picks and prospects.