Montreal Canadiens: 3 Players That Could Be Traded To Create Cap Space
Artturi Lehkonen
Another player that could be on the way out and that has to be almost expecting a trade at this point is Artturi Lehkonen. He makes $2.4 million this season but plays a terrific defensive game.
However, thanks to the strong play of Corey Perry, there just isn’t room in the lineup for Lehkonen anymore. Much like the two other Habs forwards mentioned already, Lehkonen plays a smart game, but lacks any finish in the offensive zone.
Having Lehkonen as an extra forward that can slot into the lineup when necessary is nice depth to have, but his salary cap money could be better used elsewhere.
I hate to keep banging the same drum here but if the Habs want Mattias Ekholm, they need to move out at least $2 million in salary from the current roster. Well, Lehkonen’s cap hit is $400,000 more than that and he has found himself as a frequent healthy scratch lately.
Trying to make a trade work for Forsberg, or any player making north of $5 million, is going to require the other team retaining salary and taking on Byron’s contract. When asked by Bergevin to so this, they will likely just look elsewhere to make a deal happen.
However, Lehkonen has some value and is an NHL caliber player. He is just best used as a fourth line winger and penalty killing specialist. Lehkonen is still just 25, was a second round pick not all that long ago and has played 312 NHL games without looking lost or in over his head.
He just can’t score.
The Habs have enough bottom six wingers who play a smart, defensive role in Byron, Armia and Perry. Even Tomas Tatar has found himself on the third line lately. That’s plenty of depth. Losing a player like Lehkonen makes the most sense.
Next. Mete scratch could be final straw in Montreal. dark
Lehkonen is a restricted free agent at the end of this season so he has value to another team. They can use him in a depth, defensive role for the next few seasons and hope he finds some of that offence we have been hoping for in Montreal for years. If someone has to be a cap casualty before the trade deadline, I think it’s going to be Artturi Lehkonen.