The Montreal Canadiens are sellers leading up to the trade deadline today. One player who is most likely to be traded is Nate Thompson. Apparently he is getting interest from the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Montreal Canadiens have entered the sellers pool leading up to the trade deadline. They traded Marco Scandella and Ilya Kovalchuk in the past few days and are looking to acquire picks and prospects as the deadline nears and their season begins to wind down.
The postseason is fading further from reality with each loss. When a team has two eight game losing streaks and a five game losing streak, their chance of moving on to the playoffs are unlikely.
With that being the case for the Habs this season, they traded away pending unrestricted free agents Scandella and Kovalchuk to acquire second and third round picks and could add another fourth round pick if Scandella re-signs with the Blues or they advance to the Western Conference Final.
The next most logical player to be moved would be Nate Thompson. He is a veteran centre who is a great face-off player and can kill penalties. He brings great leadership qualities to a dressing room and a veteran presence that is an attractive commodity this time of year.
The Philadelphia Flyers will be the next landing spot in the career of Thompson. He has bounced around the league quite a bit during his career and that continues. Thompson was moved to the Flyers just now for a fifth round draft pick in 2021.
It makes sense to go to the Flyers as they are without the services of Nolan Patrick who would have been their third line centre. Not that Thompson is going to bring the exact same qualities as Patrick, but he helps fill a depth role at centre in the organization.
Thompson is a 35 year old who has played over 750 games in his NHL career. The Hans originally acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth round draft pick. To get a fifth back for him today is a solid return.