Montreal Canadiens: Hypothetical Habs Trade With Every Atlantic Division Team

Ottawa Senators

There is not a lot to like when you look at the Ottawa Senators roster trying to find a trade. They have an enormous crop of excellent prospects and are sitting on seven picks in the first two rounds of the NHL Draft this year.

But, as a rebuilding team, why would they give any of that up?

They won’t, so you have to look for more of a veteran to make things work. There isn’t a lot to like there either. Bobby Ryan, Artem Anisimov and Nikita Zaitsev are all well overpaid and not that attractive. The Sens have a number of restricted free agents, so maybe they move one of them?

If they are going to do that, Anthony Duclair would be the player I’d target. He broke out last year scoring 23 goals and 40 points in 66 games. However, he stormed out to 20 goals in no time and then couldn’t buy a goal the second half of the season.

In his last 29 games, he had just two goals and eight assists. That is not very impressive, but it also means he had 21 goals in his first 37 games which is incredibly impressive. Even if he can just balance that production out and finish with 25 goals again next year, he would bring a lot of value.

The trouble is trying to figure out what his value is in a trade right now. The Duclair who played the first 37 games of the season is worth a boatload. The Duclair who played the last 29 games (and most of his career before that) isn’t worth nearly as much.