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Montreal Canadiens: Marc Bergevin’s 5 Best Trade Deadline Moves

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: General manager of the Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin speaks with the media prior to the NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre on January 7, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Minnesota Wild defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 07: General manager of the Montreal Canadiens Marc Bergevin speaks with the media prior to the NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre on January 7, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Minnesota Wild defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – MAY 03: Thomas Vanek #20 (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MAY 03: Thomas Vanek #20 (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

4. Thomas Vanek

The Mike Weaver trade didn’t quite blow up twitter. Wait, was there twitter in 2014? If there was the Thomas Vanek trade got a lot more traction on there that the Weaver deal. This one kind of came out of left field at the very last minute, but the Habs upgraded their top six at a great price.

Vanek was a hot commodity that season. He started the year with the Buffalo Sabres where he had played the first eight seasons of his career. He was an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and it quickly became evident he was not going to re-sign with the Sabres.

The Austrian winger started the year with nine points in 13 games and was then traded to the New York Islanders for Matt Moulson, a first round pick and a second round pick. He played great for the Islanders, clicking with John Tavares immediately as everyone expected he would, and he scored 44 points in 47 games.

However, for the second time that season it became evident Vanek’s team was not going to make the playoffs and he was not going to re-sign. So the Islanders has little choice but the trade him just a couple months after giving up a scoring winger and first and second round picks for him.

The initial asking price must have been enormous, but the Canadiens did not have to give up nearly as much as the Islanders did to acquire Vanek that season. The Habs picked up Vanek for the stretch drive and an actual playoff run for a second round pick and Sebastien Collberg. Collberg had been a second round pick in 2012 but wasn’t playing well in Sweden and is currently playing pro hockey in Austria.

Hey! Maybe he got the idea to go there when he was traded for Vanek.

Anyway, it was a minuscule price to pay for a first line winger that was desperately needed. Vanek didn’t light it up offensively in the postseason and was moved down the lineup at times, but played well with Max Pacioretty at other times. He scored ten points in 17 playoff games and had a huge two goal game against the Boston Bruins to help the Habs move on to the Eastern Conference Final.

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