The Montreal Canadiens shouldn’t wait to trade Jeff Petry or Tomas Tatar

Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar may not be with the Montreal Canadiens for the foreseeable future. If teams are calling on them, they should pull the trigger.

An NHL seller’s bittersweet symphony is soon approaching in the trade deadline. Whether the Montreal Canadiens like it or not, they’ll be in that category less than a month from now as other teams try to bulk up for the playoffs.

There are obvious names on the roster for trades, and they’ve been talked about ad nauseam. Ilya Kovalchuk would be traded for a decent draft pick if the deadline was tomorrow. If he can keep up his production and a bidding war begins, Marc Bergevin could make things more interesting and drive the price up.

Marco Scandella, Matthew Peca, Dale Weise and Nate Thompson are other unrestricted free agents who could be on the market. Of these four, Thompson seems to be the most likely to go. His experience in the playoffs speaks for itself and adding a depth forward who can kill penalties is always a necessity for general managers.

However, there are two other players on the team who have come up in discussion: Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar. Neither of them is up this year. They both have one final year on the books with the Habs at $5.5 million and $4.8 million, respectively. The rule of thumb is to move pending UFAs in that final season as their price will be at its peak as teams will be desperate for the acquisition, but the Habs may not want to wait that long.

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Tatar has been the main source of production with all the injuries on the Montreal Canadiens leading in points with 17 goals and 27 assists for a total of 44. Shea Weber has gotten most of the spotlight with his 12 goals and 33-point campaign so far, but Petry is right there as well with 7 goals and 29 points.

Both players warrant value back in a deal. Petry is a top-four mobile defenceman who has improved his two-way play over the years. Tatar was the throw-in in that Max Pacioretty trade back in 2018 despite being a consistent 20-goal scorer in the NHL.

Teams shouldn’t be discouraged by his short stint in Vegas. The 29-year-old is versatile and can play with pace. And most importantly, he can keep his own with skilled and hard-working forwards.

If teams are calling on either Tatar or Petry, the Montreal Canadiens should go for it. Despite their individual excellencies, there’s also a value in having them on your roster for another year. The Toronto Maple Leafs paid a first and two prospects for Jake Muzzin ahead of last year’s deadline, and it’s looked like it’s worked out for them so far.

The trade has to be of value, but if first-round picks are on the table in combination with B or C-level prospects, how can you say no?

A counter to this will be that the Habs will need both of them to contend for the playoffs next season. That may be true, but Montreal should look at another season without them and give their prospects looks in the NHL. Alexander Romanov and Cole Caufield are coming.

This isn’t to say both will perfectly replace Petry and Tatar, but Bergevin has been so hard on the idea of not mortgaging the future for a quick fix. They are the future, and they need room in the lineup to play. At the same time, the Canadiens can continue to compile prospects for the Laval Rocket and have picks to make use of in front of the home crowd at the draft.

It’s something the Montreal Canadiens absolutely have to consider. Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry have been soldiers for this organization, but what’s the endgame?

You never know what will happen with either of their playing abilities in the next season and as tough as this year has been, perhaps it can result in a lot of long-term positivity.