Canadiens: 10 Potential Trade Deadline Acquisitions

1 of 12

There are 3 certainties in life: Death, Taxes and Marc Bergevin’s inability to be honest.

Barely 24 hours after stating that the team’s roster will remain intact for the playoffs, Bergevin traded a 3rd and 5th round pick in 2021 to the (insert derogatory word here) Buffalo Sabres for veteran Eric Staal with 50% salary retention.

Clearly, he isn’t done adding depth to an already deep Montreal Canadiens roster. Also the man can’t lie for squat.

With the April 12th trade deadline rapidly approaching, you can bet teams are waiting to the last minute to free up as much cap space as possible and make a move. Quarantine rules be damned.

The main argument against any trade would of course be cap space. So let’s assume any of these trade happening would involve salary going back and retention on the other end.

With trade rumors swirling this season involving Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron, Victor Mete and to an extent Joel Armia, let’s take a look at 10 potential players the Habs might target at the trade deadline.

Mattias Ekholm

Nashville Predators

Age: 30

Position: LD

Contract: $3.75 million until 2021-2022

Let’s get the obvious candidate out of the way. Mattias Ekholm has been linked to the Canadiens for a while now and with reason. The smooth skating defenceman would no doubt be a huge upgrade on the left side and can not only play big minutes, but would be an asset on both the powerplay and penalty kill.

The asking price would no doubt be steep. Most likely a first round pick and either a prospect or young NHLer. He’s a top 4 defenseman at a friendly contract with 1 year left remaining. Predators GM David Poile knows what he has in his hands and will no doubt maximize the return.

This one is a little unlikely, but one can’t help but wonder what a left side of Ekholm, Chiarot and Edmundson would look like.

David Savard

Columbus Blue Jackets

Age: 30

Position: RD

Contract: $4.25 million, UFA

Savard would check off a lot of boxes. A right-handed defenseman to stabilize that right side. Big body at 6’2″ and 229 lbs. He’s also a local boy hailing from St. Hyacinthe so that would obviously make a few fans happy.

This is a big physical defenceman that Marc Bergevin no doubt loves. He’s got a great first-pass mentality and vision of the game all the while being an amazing team player. More than once has he stuck up for his teammates, rookies and veterans alike. Having him would give big relief to Shea Weber and Jeff Petry and would give loads of pairing options down the stretch.

There’s been a lot of talks of him testing free agency in the summer so Jarmo Kekalainen would most likely listen to offers. However with Columbus in a 4-team fight for the last playoff spot in the Central Division, the decision to whether or not to move Savard will most likely come in the final hour.

Marc Staal

Detroit Red Wings

Age: 34

Position: LD

Contract: $5.7 million, UFA

Without much surprise, Detroit is going to have a yard sale and will try to move any pending UFA they have for picks and prospects.

Enter Marc Staal in that list most likely to be moved at the trade deadline. The veteran blue liner offers playoff experience and leadership to what will most likely be a depth role wherever he ends up. Detroit is almost guaranteed to eat up most of his contract to facilitate any trade.

A reunion with his brother Eric would make this a fun scenario and possibly serve as motivation for both of them to give it their all and have a dream end to their respective careers hoisting the cup together.

Ryan Murray

New Jersey Devils

Age: 27

Position: LD

Contract: $4.6 million, UFA

There’s no word out of New Jersey on whether or not Ryan Murray will accept a contract extension with the Devils. With the team in the middle of a rebuild, there’s no doubt if talks are stalled that they will try to get assets in return.

When healthy, Murray is a reliable defender. The former #2 overall pick in 2012 has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his career before the injury bug hit him hard. This year however, he’s shown to be a solid defender posting a +/- of +4 with 7 assists on the scorecard.

Even as a rental, he can be a solid addition to a contender who could use him against the opponent’s top forwards and on the penalty kill.

Jon Merrill

Detroit Red Wings

Age: 29

Position: LD

Contract: $925,000, UFA

Back to Detroit we have Jon Merrill who will no doubt be an attractive depth addition mainly due to his very affordable contract but also due to his reliable play in Detroit.

Nothing flashy here, but he’s the kind of reliable depth defenceman you would want if someone were to get injured or in this year’s case, hop in to give a teammate a break with the crazy schedule up ahead. Think Brett Kulak at half the salary.

Alex Edler

Vancouver Canucks

Age: 34

Position: LD

Contract: $6 million – No Movement Clause, UFA

This one is sure to raise a few eyebrows. However, there’s a little bit of chaos in Vancouver right now. The team has been underperforming all year and there’s a lot of pressure being put on GM Jim Benning to shed some salary and look towards the future.

Edler has openly said that he’s open to a trade to a contender if the opportunity were to present itself. We all know what he can do and this season is clearly an anomaly in his case.

There would be however, a few obstacles to consider when trying to acquire Edler. The obvious would be his salary and NMC. With the Canucks up against the cap it’s unsure how much salary, if any, Vancouver would want to retain.

Vancouver’s season is up in the air more than ever with the recent COVID outbreak that has hit the team. So we’ll definitely have to keep a close eye on that.

Erik Gudbranson

Ottawa Senators

Age: 29

Position: RD

Contract: $4 million, UFA

Ottawa might not be willing to trade one of their native-sons to a division rival, but this might be what we can get for Paul Byron, another Ottawa native.

Gudbranson offers a towering physical presence on the right side of the blue line. Although there’s nothing flattering about his statistics with his eye gouging +/- of -15, and also falling victim to being a healthy scratch despite being an alternate captain on a young Senators squad, Gudbranson can still bring a stable presence on the right side in the right environment.

With the Habs clearly giving it their all to create a winning culture this year, this change of environment might be what Gudbranson needs to strive and also create value as he hits free agency this summer.

Anthony Mantha

Detroit Red Wings

Age: 26

Position: RW/LW

Contract: $5.7 million until 2023-2024

Oh you thought this list would only have defencemen on it?

Mantha has been rumored to be on the trade block even before he put pen to paper on a 4 year $22.8 million contract. Steve Yzerman knows what he has in his hands and can use him to get a good haul in return.

Having him linked with the Canadiens is almost too good to pass up. The power forward would be a perfect fit for the Habs as he can play both sides of the wing and plays a similar game to Josh Anderson. As most players of his style, at 26, he’s just on the cust of reaching his full potential.

We’ve seen what Anderson can do when he gets a sneaky pass from Nick Suzuki. Mantha and Kotkaniemi on the same line anyone?

Oh, obligatory mention that he’s a French guy from Longueuil.

Vince Dunn

St. Louis Blues

Age: 24

Position: LD

Contract: $1.875 million, RFA

It’s a mystery as of why Dunn‘s name is running around the rumor mill but here he is. The 24 year old pending RFA is said to be available and i’m sure many teams would be willing to take the chance on him.

Dunn has shown a steady and reliable dose of offensive help 24, 35 and 23 point seasons in his first 3 years with the Blues. This year, Dunn has posted 12 points but is on pace to have his first negative +/- season of his career.

This is someone who might benefit from a fresh start with a new time. Kind of like Victor Mete. Hint.

Patrick Marleau

San Jose Sharks

Age: 41

Position: LW/C

Contract: $700,000

The main story with Patrick Marleau has been his chase for the all-time games played record of 1,767. A secondary story would be his quest to reach 1200 career points.

What’s on Marleau’s mind however is another shot at the Stanley Cup.

Marleau has stated that he’s willing to be traded to a contender for one last shot at the ultimate prize.

Having someone as reliable and respected as Marleau in the locker room can only be beneficial for any team even if he is a shadow of his former self on the ice. You just can’t help but cheer for the guy.

Make all the jokes you want, but you can’t help but think that a 4th line of Marleau-Staal-Perry would be pretty cool. If only this were 10 years ago…

Taylor Hall

Buffalo Sabres

Age: 29

Position: LW

Contract: $8 million, UFA

Once again Taylor Hall is on the trade block…

…and we don’t care.

Home / Editorials