Montreal Canadiens: Three Trades the Habs Could Make To Shake Things Up
Dylan Strome
The Canadiens have a couple of specific needs but one is certainly help at centre. This was a need for a very long time in Montreal but they appeared to have filled the void last season.
Nick Suzuki was blossoming into a top line centre, the likes that haven’t been seen in Montreal in decades, Phillip Danault was perhaps the best defensive centre in the entire league and we had high hopes for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who most Habs fans once believed would develop into a solid two-way second line centre.
There was also Ryan Poehling and Jake Evans in the organization and Eric Staal was in town to add some depth.
Then, the offseason saw Danault and Staal leave as free agents and Kotkaniemi get scooped up by the Carolina Hurricanes via an offer sheet.
The Habs brought in Christian Dvorak from the Arizona Coyotes, but the losses appear to have outweighed the gains down the middle. Dvorak is struggling, Evans was asked to replace the best shutdown centre in the league and just can’t fill those shoes and Poehling was not ready to start the year at the NHL level.
Poehling is back up now, but help is wanted at centre. Especially a centre that can score some points. Right now, the Habs have played 17 games and Suzuki leads the centres in points with 14. Dvorak is second on the team in points by centres with five. Five! He has one goal and is the second best offensive centre on the team.
It is time to find an offensive centre, but that is difficult at this time of year. Not many teams are looking to move out offensive centres in November. Either the team wants to keep them and make a run at the postseason, or they want to wait until closer to the trade deadline to make a deal because they will get more in return.
The only offensive centre that might be available right now is Dylan Strome. The Chicago Blackhawks centre is not off to a great start, but he has been pushed down the lineup with the emergence of Kirby Dach, the return of Jonathan Toews and the acquisition of Henrik Borgstrom.
Strome has just two points in eight games played, but he has not been given a real chance to show his offence. When he first arrived in Chicago, Strome scored 29 goals and 89 points in his first 116 games over parts of two seasons. That was when he was primarily playing with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.
Since then he has been moved down the lineup and has just 19 points in his last 48 games playing with the likes of Dominik Kubalik, Mattias Janmark, Mike Hardman and Mackenzie Entwistle.
Strome wouldn’t be playing with Patrick Kane if he was traded to Montreal but he would likely come cheap and he would play with good offensive wingers like Jonathan Drouin and Mike Hoffman possibly. Put into an entirely offensive role, Strome could find some of the success he had recently with the Blackhawks.
His $3 million cap hit makes him tough to fit for the Habs, but with all of their long term injuries and LTIR usage, they could squeeze him in if they move out a couple of million in return. They have plenty of depth, defensive wingers and could move one to add an offensive centre.