The Montreal Canadiens should make a deal with the Arizona Coyotes

The Montreal Canadiens are full to the brim with trade assets, and with the Arizona Coyotes confirming a rebuild, the two teams could work out a deal.

When it comes to looking for trade partners in the NHL, it makes sense to start with teams who are in opposite situational schemes as you. That’s where the coined terms ‘buyers’ and ‘sellers’ came from. One team is willing to part with assets for instant roster upgrades while others move on from roster players to add picks and prospects for the future. The Montreal Canadiens are in a weird limbo as they could either do both even though recent events hint at them heading towards the buyer realm.

It’s already happened with the Jake Allen trade.

They were only draft picks, but Marc Bergevin parted with two of them this year in the third and seventh round of the 2020 NHL Draft. That said, the Habs got a seventh back two years from now, but it’s still a buy for all intents and purposes.

If the Montreal Canadiens want to continue adding to their roster over the offseason, they’ll need to identify those teams who are in a position to give up players to recoup assets. That exact description screams the Arizona Coyotes.

The dog team in the dessert has had a rough couple of months. Former general manager John Chayka left the organization, layoffs are underway, and the team got slapped with a significant penalty amid the prospect testing scandal losing their 2020 second and 2021 first-round pick. Because of all of that, the Arizona Coyotes are rebuilding, but it’ll be tough to do that without one of the most key things needed in a rebuild: high draft picks.

The Habs shouldn’t be parting with first-round picks unless it’s for impact players. However, with Bergevin and Trevor Timmins having three second-round picks – one from Chicago, one from St. Louis, and their own – to work with, they could help the Coyotes out with their rebuild.

Right now, Arizona doesn’t have a selection in the 2020 Draft until the fourth round, and that’s far from the best place to start when you’re rebuilding.

The plan is likely to build around Clayton Keller, which should make their older yet useful players expendable. Could a Michael Grabner be appealing to the Montreal Canadiens – a fast and very effective player at 5v5 and the penalty kill? What about the signing rights to Taylor Hall? And of course, this is galaxy brain stuff, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson may be willing to waive his no-movement clause if it meant going to a team that was actively competing for a Stanley Cup.

The possibilities are endless, and who knows what will happen over the offseason. But for a team like the Arizona Coyotes who is on the build, having a few conversations with the Montreal Canadiens makes a lot of sense.