The Montreal Canadiens were playing Stanley Cup Final games just six weeks ago, so it seems a bit odd to be looking forward to next year’s trade deadline.
But it has been six weeks since we have seen them play, and it will be another five more before we are in the midst of the preseason schedule. So, why not take a quick peek ahead and see what could happen at the 2022 trade deadline?
First, we have to consider that the upcoming season could go a couple of different ways for the Montreal Canadiens. For now, we are just going to look at the possibility of them becoming sellers. We will take a deeper look at potential trade targets in another article tomorrow.
It is possible that the Canadiens fall back in their tough division and miss the postseason altogether after their lengthy run. There is no doubt the Habs benefitted from being in a weaker division than usual and they still just snuck into the playoffs. We could see this team sitting fifth in their division with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of them.
If that is the case, I would expect Bergevin to just ship out expiring contracts for draft picks like we saw him do in the past. In 2020, the Canadiens were well outside the playoff picture and Bergevin dealt recent acquisitions Ilya Kovalchuk and Marco Scandella as well as Nick Cousins, Nate Thompson and even Matthew Peca who was playing in the minors.
Who could they trade away next season? What could they get in return for players currently on their roster? Let’s take a closer look.