The Montreal Canadiens are far from finished making moves this offseason. Here is a trade they could make with every Central Division team.
The Montreal Canadiens appear to be preparing to contend next season. At least they are going to try and make the roster better and make a push for the playoffs the old fashioned way for the first time since 2017.
They did technically make the postseason this year, but they were the 24th best team in the league before the NHL paused its schedule due to the global pandemic.
They have brought in a couple of recent Stanley Cup winners with the St. Louis Blues. Joel Edmundson was added and will likely slot into the lineup next to Jeff Petry on the second pairing. He should help on the penalty kill and will eat some minutes at even strength but he isn’t going to light up the scoresheet or run a power play.
The Habs also brought in Jake Allen. The goaltender played his entire career with the Blues up to this point and will now take on the second fiddle role behind Carey Price. He should help ease the heavy burden Price was carrying the past few years, especially in a season that won’t start until December or January and will have a condensed schedule.
But those two moves won’t be enough to make this team good enough to compete with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. The Habs need a little more if they want to compete with the best teams in the business. Especially since two of the best teams in hockey are right in their division. The rest of the division is a little weak so a playoff spot is up for grabs, but a deep run will only happen if there are more reinforcements added.
So, we are going to help Marc Bergevin and show him what kind of trades he should be making. The Habs could really use a big, goal scoring right winger to help at even strength and on the power play. If they want to be really good they need a legit top pairing left defenceman.
Obviously this is just for kicks. We know Bergevin isn’t going to make all these trades, but it is interesting to scour the rest of the league and try to find trades that work for both sides. So, let’s continue what we started yesterday with the Pacific Division and look at a potential trade with every Central Division team.