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Montreal Canadiens: Five “Swinging For The Fences” Moves We Could See This Summer

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Max Domi #13 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench during the first period against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Max Domi #13 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench during the first period against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Jonas Brodin #25 of the Minnesota Wild skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Wild 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Jonas Brodin #25 of the Minnesota Wild skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Wild 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

3. Trade for Jonas Brodin

The Canadiens could use a player like Duncan Keith who has won just about everything and could eat some tough minutes on the left side. However, his age and lengthy contract are a bit of a problem. Age is certainly not an issue for Swedish defender Jonas Brodin.

The 26 year old left shooting defender brings a bit of offence for the Minnesota Wild currently, but is mostly known for terrific defensive play. He has set a career high this year for points with 27, but is not going to be running an NHL power play at any point in his career.

What he can do is play big minutes and shut things down dependably on the penalty kill. The Habs could definitely use someone who can eat big minutes on the left side of the defense next season. The Wild have been rumoured to be trading just about everyone on their roster, and finally moved Jason Zucker before the trade deadline after a few false starts.

They were also rumoured to be close to moving Zach Parise before things fell apart, and if they are willing to move the beloved American left winger, they could be talked into moving Brodin for the right price as well.

He is averaging 21:31 time on ice this season which ranks 62nd among blue liners. He plays a second pairing role on the Wild behind minute muncher Ryan Suter, but would likely be tasked with a top pairing role in Montreal alongside Shea Weber where the two would be shutting down the best players every night.

That is no small feat, but also hasn’t been a problem for Brodin in his career. He used to play his off side on the top pairing with Suter for a while when he was younger but with the emergence of Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba on the right side, Brodin was moved back to his natural left side.

The Wild were interested in acquiring picks and prospects in their recent trades. I can’t see why this would be any different than the Zucker trade that netted the Wild a first round pick and prospect Calen Addison. Maybe if the Habs offer up their own second round pick which, will be pretty close to a late first, and a really good prospect like Ryan Poehling it would be enough for Brodin.

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