For many years, the Montreal Canadiens have not had a player that could be considered a superstar in the NHL, besides Carey Price. What I mean by superstar, is a player like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Nathan MacKinnon.
General Manager, Marc Bergevin has built a team around Carey Price. He built a defensive team with no real goal-scorer, except maybe Max Pacioretty that was traded to the Golden Knights in 2018 in exchange for Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, and a second-round pick.
As of right now, we don’t have any player that can play the role of superstar. Nick Suzuki is not the next McDavid. He won’t be the type of player to score 40+ goals in a season. The games against Winnipeg in the past week were the type of games where a star player would have made the difference.
Montreal had many opportunities, but they couldn’t score. Our best goal scorer, Tyler Toffoli, is playing very well and he’s proving to the fans that his signing was a great move by Bergevin, but he hasn’t been the type of player that will challenge for an Art Ross or Rocket Richard Trophy over a full season.
Un séjour à domicile de trois matchs débute ce mardi.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/fzWBGm1PXl
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 28, 2021
With Price’s slow start to the season, it has been difficult for the team to collect wins because there have been many games where the Habs allowed four or five goals. Hopefully, when it’s Cole Caufield’s time to make the jump to the NHL, he will provide that superstar, goal-scorer aspect and he will be able to make a difference. However, we have no idea if Caufield will live up to the hype.
The best solution to fill up the superstar hole in the roster is to add players already established in the NHL like Jack Eichel, who doesn’t have the best teammates surrounding him, and who is quite possibly looking for a trade. Not only would Montreal Canadiens have a superstar, but the Habs would finally have a true number one centerman.
At 24-years-old Eichel has played six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, after being drafted second overall in 2015. In his last two seasons, Eichel accumulated 160 points in 145 games. The American-born player signed an 80 million contract for 8 years in 2017 and is now in the third year of the contract.
There are obviously issues with the salary cap in Montreal, and this contract would be too high for the Habs, but trades can be done to make him room for him in Montreal. The other issue is that if Montreal were to acquire Eichel, there would be a two-week quarantine, which means that the centreman could miss up to 7 to 8 games.
Eichel is a great power forward capable of scoring goals when needed. His stickhandling and shot bring the offensive boost Montreal needs. He’s a great passer and could form a powerful trio with any wingers on the Canadiens roster. He would also fill a spot on the first powerplay and be a great shooting option in addition to Shea Weber.
The Canadiens need a player like him because he’s already established in the NHL and he is filled with talent.
Here’s an example of a trade. It would most likely be expensive, but a player like Jack Eichel is very important for the offense. Canadiens get: Jack Eichel Buffalo get: Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, 1st round-pick, and a young prospect like Kaiden Ghule.
The situation in Buffalo is a bit catastrophic and a team like Montreal that is developing good young players such as Kotkaniemi, and Romanov could be a great environment for an established player like Eichel.
Jack would be surrounded by great veterans like Weber, Price, and Gallagher so he wouldn’t be asked to take on a leadership role off the ice and could focus on the great things he does on the ice.
He would definitely be a game-changer that helps Montreal in the playoffs this year and the years to come. If the trade is to happen, it would most likely happen during the trade deadline, but for now, these are just rumors.