Montreal Canadiens: Extremely Early Trade Deadline Targets

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?

They did make a run to the Stanley Cup Final, so it is certainly possible that they are buyers at the trade deadline. If this is the case, I could see them targeting a veteran centre, like when they added Eric Staal at last year’s deadline. With Phillip Danault gone, the Habs will be relying on a young group of centres to get the job done, so they could be looking for a veteran centre that can play higher in the lineup than Staal did.

The team will also certainly look to add a puck moving defenceman. General Manager Marc Bergevin already said this was an area they were trying to upgrade when he was unusually candid while meeting the media after signing David Savard, Cedric Paquette and Mike Hoffman on the opening day of free agency.

Goaltending is a strength with Carey Price being backup up by Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau guarding the net for the Laval Rocket.

While you could always see a contender adding depth pieces, especially if there are injuries, but if the Canadiens are in buyers mode at the trade deadline, I do hope they’d target a top six centre and a top four defenceman that can move the puck and join the rush.

With that being said, let’s take a closer look at players you should keep an eye on early in the season because they could be on the Canadiens radar.

Hampus Lindholm – Anaheim Ducks

Hampus Lindholm is heading into the final year of his contract with a team that doesn’t look to be quite near playoff contention just yet. There are a lot of good young pieces already in Anaheim, and they will have to decide this season to either lock Lindholm up to a long term extension with a generous cap hit, or trade him away to add more picks and prospects to an impressive system.

The 27 year old has good size, plays good defensively and has career highs of 13 goals and 31 points. As a left shot, he could fit in quite well in the Habs top four on a pairing with either David Savard or possibly Ben Chiarot if he can play his off side.

The cost would be high, really high, but so would his impact.

Mattias Ekholm – Nashville Predators

There were plenty of rumours last season that the Canadiens were one of many teams interested in acquiring Mattias Ekholm. The 31 year old has played his entire career with the Nashville Predators so far, and though he is widely regarded as a shutdown specialist, he adds plenty of offence as well.

Ekholm has good size at 6’4″ and 215 pounds and that is something the Canadiens covet. He also scored about half of a point per game while shutting down the opposition’s best players every night.

The cost would be high and the Habs first round pick would be just a starting point. But Ekholm could play top pairing minutes with Jeff Petry or form a terrific second pairing with Savard or Chiarot.

Keith Yandle – Philadelphia Flyers

If the Canadiens want to spend a little less, they could look to add a player like Keith Yandle. This would be similar to them adding Erik Gustafsson this season, as Yandle could help the power play for sure, but doesn’t add a lot of value outside of that role. He would be a third pairing guy who stars on the man advantage.

He is set to earn just $900,000 this season with the Flyers and after being bought out this offseason, he wouldn’t cost a ton to acquire.

Nick Leddy – Detroit Red Wings

Another interesting add on the blue line would be Nick Leddy. He has ties to Marc Bergevin as they both came up the system together, Leddy as a played and Bergevin management, with the Chicago Blackhawks. Leddy has played big minutes with the New York Islanders for the past two seasons as they made runs to the Eastern Conference Final. If the Habs look on the verge of making a similar run, picking up a veteran of nearly 800 games wouldn’t be a bad pickup.

He was traded to the Red Wings for depth forward Richard Panik and a second round pick, so the cost would be very similar.