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Montreal Canadiens: 3 Players That Could Be Traded To Create Cap Space

By Ken MacMillan

Mar 11, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Paul Byron. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Paul Byron. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin held a press conference on Tuesday to talk about the state of the team halfway through the season.

While he kept his cards close to his vest, and didn’t say what the Habs were going to do before the trade deadline, he did say that Ben Chiarot is expected back before the end of the season.

This is important because it means the Canadiens can’t stash his cap hit away on long term injury reserve until the end of the year and acquire another player to fill that void. Even if Chiarot comes back for one regular season game, the Habs have to prepared to be cap compliant for that one game so they can’t add a player to replace Chiarot’s cap hit.

This means, to bring someone into the lineup, the Canadiens would have to trade away almost as much cap space as they acquire. According to capfriendly.com, if the Habs continue on the path they are on, they could acquire a player with a $1.7 million cap hit on trade deadline day and that would put them right at the ceiling.

So, the math is pretty simple. If the Habs want to acquire a player with a $1.7 million cap hit, they can trade picks and prospects for that player. If they want to acquire a player making more than $1.7 million, they have to make up the difference by trading away a player on the NHL roster.

Let’s say they want to acquire Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators. His cap hit is $3.75 million. To make space, the Habs need to trade away a player making $3.75 – $1.7 = $2.05 million.

If they wanted to acquire a big time goal scorer like Filip Forsberg, also of the Predators, they need to clear out a lot of cap space. Forsberg makes $6 million, so they would need to trade away players making a combined $4.3 million this season.

That wouldn’t be easy.

So, let’s say the Habs do want to add a player making more than $1.7 million. Who could be on the way out?

Let’s take a look at three players who may end up being cap casualties for the Canadiens before the trade deadline.

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