Canadiens: Three trades Habs Need to Consider with Sabres

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Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has a lot riding on this season. He pretty much went all in when he spent over $100 million of the owners money last offseason, in the midst of a global pandemic.

Then, when the Habs hit their first rough patch of the season, he fired head coach Claude Julien and assistant coach Kirk Muller. A few days later he also fired goalie coach Stephane Waite and replaced him with Sean Burke.

He hasn’t made any trades yet, but that will have to be his next maneuver.

Bergevin hasn’t been the wildest of dealers at trade deadlines recently. He likes to tinker a bit with a roster that appears headed to the playoffs, and he sells off the obvious veterans on expiring contracts when he is not going to qualify for the postseason. This year, with his job likely the next to be vacated if the Habs miss the postseason, we should see a slightly more aggressive general manager.

The trade deadline is still more than a month away, but Bergevin will likely be looking to make moves early. Any player acquired from outside Canada would need to quarantine in Montreal for two weeks before joining the team for practice. So, if he waits until the April 12 deadline to acquire a player, they won’t be eligible to play until the last handful of regular season games.

The Canadiens have been up and down this season, but surely look like buyers when you look at the Canadian Division.

One team that is certain to be a seller is the Buffalo Sabres who are struggling mightily once again. The thing about the Sabres is they have tons of individual talent, but don’t appear capable of putting it all together on the ice.

So, they are likely to sell off several assets. The Habs are one team that should be looking closely to see what they can land to help their team. Who could they target? Let’s take a look at three realistic trades that the Habs could make with the selling Sabres.

Eric Staal

The Canadiens first need to establish what exactly they need before they target specific players. I think, based on their play this season, the Habs biggest needs that could be filled at the trade deadline are a top pairing puck moving, smooth skating left defenceman, a veteran fourth line centre and maybe a top six left winger that can score on the power play.

The top pairing left defenceman would be the hardest to find at the trade deadline, but the fourth line centre might be the easiest.

Eric Staal might not have much experience playing on a fourth line but he is a veteran who has put up solid offensive numbers every season of his career until he landed in Buffalo this year. Last season, he had 19 goals and 47 points in 66 games with the Minnesota Wild, but he has just three goals and eight points in 23 games with the Sabres this season.

He has been getting decent opportunity playing on their second line most of the season, but nothing is working in Buffalo right now and it might do a veteran like Staal some good to be traded to a team that actually has a chance at the postseason.

Staal wouldn’t cost a ton considering he hasn’t exactly taken off with the Sabres, but he would provide good veteran depth down the middle of the ice. Right now, if the Habs were to get an injury to a centre, they would have to call up Ryan Poehling or Jordan Weal to play centre and put them on the third line or move Jake Evans up to the third line role and leave Poehling or Weal on the fourth.

Staal would likely slot in on the fourth line if everyone is healthy, but could move up to the second or third line in case of injury. He should definitely be a target of Bergevin’s as the trade deadline approaches.

Brandon Montour

I know, I know. I just said the top targets should be centres, left defensemen and scoring left wingers and now I’m saying they should target right shooting defender Brandon Montour. But this one comes with a bit of an asterisk.

That asterisk is, Montour would have to be the third pairing right defenceman, which means Alexander Romanov would have to move up the depth chart. This trade only makes sense if head coach Dominique Ducharme is willing to shake up his defence pairings quite a bit.

That would mean Romanov moves up the depth chart to play with Shea Weber and Ben Chiarot moves down the lineup to the third pairing. Then, Montour would play the right side on the third pair with Chiarot, or Brett Kulak if he outplays Chiarot.

Montour is a good skater and has shown plenty of offensive ability in his career, though not this season. Of course, no one is showing much with the Buffalo Sabres so it’s quite likely his production would increase quite a bit if he were to be traded.

In Montour’s first two full NHL seasons, he scored 35 and 32 points. He is down to 22 points in his last 75 games over the past two seasons, but would make a perfect partner for Chiarot as he can skate, move the puck up ice and transition zones while Chiarot does the heavy lifting in the corners and battling in front of the net.

Montour was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks for Brendan Guhle and a first round pick in 2019. He isn’t going to cost that much today, as he will be a UFA after this season and isn’t playing his best hockey at the moment. Still, the Sabres won’t give him away and will want a decent draft pick in return.

Victor Olofsson

I did say realistic trade targets right in the title so that’s why you aren’t seeing a Jack Eichel or Rasmus Dahlin deal here. Even the Sabres are smart enough to keep those two cornerstones. There are a lot of problems in Buffalo, but they can’t be blames on Eichel and Dahlin.

Also, Taylor Hall makes way too much money to try and fit under the Habs salary cap.

Though the Sabres won’t trade those two, they could and should look to move just about everyone else. sam Reinhart would be great but as a right winger he doesn’t really have a place in Montreal’s lineup. Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Gallagher already take on those roles.

One thing the Habs could use is a goal scoring left winger, especially on that scores on the power play. Well, that just so happens to be Victor Olofsson’s specialty.

Olofsson’s six power play goals this season are fifth in the league and his 12 points with the man advantage rank 6th in the league this season. The Sabres power play is completely run through the left shooting wingers excellent shot. Of their 19 power play goals, Olofsson has been in on 12 of them.

The 25 year old left winger scored 11 goals with the man advantage last season which put him 11th in the league. The Canadiens best power play threat last season was Tomas Tatar who had eight and Nick Suzuki who scored six. No one else on the team had more than three power plays goals all of 2019-20.

Olofsson’s offence at even strength is just okay, while his power play production is excellent. The Canadiens are already great at even strength and don’t need any help there. It’s the special teams that need work and adding an elite shot like Olofsson’s would be huge for the Habs.

Of course, the Sabres don’t need to trade him as he has a cap hit of just over $3 million for this season and next before becoming a restricted free agent.

Giving up a first round pick is something that Bergevin has never done during his time in Montreal as general manager. However, he likely doesn’t run another draft as the Canadiens GM if the Habs miss the playoffs this year.

Next. Strong play reignites Tatar, Danault UFA debate. dark

So, he should consider offering it up for someone who can turn this Habs power play into a major threat. The Canadiens are already great at even strength, but they need some help from their power play in order to win games. Victor Olofsson would give them an elite power play.

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