Montreal Canadiens: What Could the Canadiens Acquire at the Trade Deadline?

The Habs are in free-fall, it seems inevitable that the team will be big sellers at the deadline; let’s speculate what the Habs could add when they sell.There is no point in writing a long introduction detailing why the Habs will be sellers at the deadline, their 4-12-2 record speaks for itself and only the Arizona Coyotes and the Ottawa Senators have fewer points than the Canadiens, and both of those teams have games in hand. While Joel Edmundson is returning from injury, and Mike Hoffman should return soon enough, they won’t fix the glaring issues the team has.

As a result, Marc Bergevin (or whichever GM will be at the helm of the team at the trade deadline) would be wise to make the most of the value players on expiring contracts have and acquire foundational pieces for the future. The players whose deals expire after this season include Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Artturi Lehkonen, Chris Wideman, Sami Niku, Cedric Paquette, and Matthieu Perreault. There are a few other names that could be moved for quite the haul, however. Let us begin with the pending free agents, though.

Artturi Lehkonen

Artturi Lehkonen has never turned out to be the sniper many hoped he would become following his strong SHL career and an 18-goal rookie campaign. He has, however, been a highly consistent and reliable bottom-6 winger who gives his all every shift and can complement top-6 linemates, as he did with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher on the magical run to the finals.

This season, Lehkonen has been one of the few Habs to play in the top-9 or top-4 and retain a positive xGF%, among Habs to have played at least 10 games, Lehkonen leads the team in this metric by a wide margin, with 62.58%. Jake Evans comes in second, with 57.01%. Tyler Toffoli is the only top-6 forward above 50%, and he sits at 54.2%. Lehkonen is also on a strong run in terms of offensive output, after being limited to a single assist in the opening 13 games, he has racked up 8 points in as many games since then (including 2 goals), which certainly has to do with his promotion to the third line alongside Evans and Gallagher.

Contending teams love to add young, quick, reliable wingers for both a playoff push and depth for the future, so Lehkonen certainly holds value. How much value is likely dependent on how his production continues between now and deadline day. If it resembles his overall career production, then a 2nd round pick from a contender or a B-level prospect (think along the quality of Luke Tuch) could be achievable. If Lehkonen ramps up his production, as he has in the last 8 games, then the Habs could hope to get an extra third or fourth-round pick in the trade.