Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Phillip Danault Trades

Pittsburgh Penguins

If the Habs are going to trade Danault, getting a big, scoring right winger or a minute munching left defender would be ideal. However, the Habs could also simply look to add the best possible prospect available. They have a great group of young players on the cusp of becoming NHL players, so adding another young piece wouldn’t be terrible.

The key to finding the best prospect available is identifying a desperate team. A team that has aging core pieces that wants to win again as soon as possible. A team that recently traded a first round pick and a decent prospect for a third line winger like Kasperi Kapanen.

That desperate team would be the team that the Habs kept out of the postseason this year.

The Penguins star players, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still elite players, but they are now in their mid-30’s. How many more Stanley Cup runs do the Penguins have with Crosby and Malkin leading the way? Malkin only has two years left on his contract, at which point he will be 36 years old. Does he head back to Russia then? Hard to say, so you know the Pens are all in for the 2021 and 2022 postseason.

The last time the Pens won the Cup they have Nick Bonino as their third line centre. It isn’t the most important aspect of a winning team, but having that depth down the middle is a difficult thing for opposing teams to deal with. Since Bonino left, the Penguins tried Derrick Brassard there. They puck Riley Sheahan there at times. They had Jared McCann there this season. But none of them were able to bring the reliable defensive play and decent offensive punch like Bonino.

Phillip Danault would be a terrific player for that role. Having Crosby, Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust in the top six is great, but having a third line with Danault, Kapanen and Brandon Tanev would give the Pens enviable depth up front.

To make the trade a little more enticing for the Pens, Montreal also takes on the final year of Nick Bjugstad’s contract. Bjugstad is a big, right shot centre who showed tremendous potential early in his career, but has played just 13 games this season, scoring two points. Injuries have derailed a promising career, but someone is going to have to pay him $5.25 million next season.

With the Pens looking to get better but also cut payroll, the Habs are willing to take on Bjugstad’s money if the Pens give up their best prospect in Samuel Poulin.

Poulin was the 21st overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has decent size, versatility to play all forward positions at the QMJHL level, and scored 77 points in 46 games for the Sherbrooke Phoenix this season.

Poulin is an exceptional prospect. One that many teams would never trade. However, he might not be ready to help the Penguins in a big way for the next two seasons. That is the Pens window to win another Stanley Cup before Malkin leaves, so they will be willing to move anyone to make their team better in the immediate future.