Montreal Canadiens Holding All the Cards in Rebuilding Strategy
By John Wiens
The Montreal Canadiens hold all the cards for the first time in 30 years.
So much has been made of a rebuild being a risky thing, but the Canadiens are uniquely positioned to build fantastic organizational depth over the next few seasons. Given the composition of the prospect pool (Joshua Roy, Kaiden Guhle, Riley Kidney, and Jan Mysak are all having good years), the rebuild may be quicker than anticipated.
And a rebuild is necessary. The top scorer on the team stays put if not for the need to rebuild. Some might have hoped for more for Tyler Toffoli, but opinions of his play vary. He is an opportunist, a really smart player who only needs one chance to make a team pay using a heady game similar to Luc Robitaille.
And yes, he can play in many different situations, but in Calgary he plays on the third line 5 on 5. Let that sink in for a moment… This is the return for a player who will play on the third line?
BOOM.
Kent Hughes deserves a round of applause for this trade. The buyers market at this years trade deadline might define things differently than past years. Most of the buyers are up against the cap and struggling to find a way to add players. The returns will need to have a certain amount of flexibility on both sides, but draft picks will flow. Thankfully, gone are the days when Alexei Kovalev could be had for Jozef Balej and a second.
Try to recall, if you might, when the Habs ever setting the price point in the marketplace while having the best options available. The last time the Habs set the marketplace at the deadline Serge Savard was the GM, but both at once?
What a terrific situation.
This transaction signalled a very different way of doing business. This was a proactive, market setting trade based on a philosophy of play. With a first round pick a foregone conclusion, they targeted a prospect they felt was undervalued who plays the kind of game they are looking for and managed to clear some salary for next season, when UFAs will struggle to find teams willing to pay them market value. Contenders are already up against the cap for next season as well.
And though this fact seems lost in the shuffle, Ben Chiarot is the best UFA defenseman on the market for a team looking to make a deep cup run. He can eat 22 minutes a night on the top defensive pairing and look like a rock doing it. He plays a hard and uncompromising game—over a 7 game series he won’t be the one wearing down.
Every other UFA is playing for a team that wants to win the cup already, save P.K. Subban. And lets be real—No team will choose PK over Chiarot. The salary is off the charts and the recent winning pedigree means too much.
If trading Toffoli set the price for Chiarot here is the return we can predict with a certain amount of confidence: A first round draft pick – the Canadiens will get the higher of 2022 and 2023, a second round pick, a high end prospect, and a player with salary but no term—OR— an elite level prospect, a second round pick, and a bad contract with one to two years left on it.
It will be interesting to see how many of the Habs core get traded in the next few weeks. It seems like Chiarot and Jeff Petry are going for sure. At least two of Artturi Lehkonen, Mike Hoffman, Joel Armia, Brendan Gallagher and Mathieu Perreault will have new homes.
Given current prices that can be commanded for these players, this is not a time to be sentimental. The Canadiens have wingers on the Rocket that are NHL ready in Vejdemo, Ylonen, and Harvey-Pinard. The time is ripe to build organizational depth and graduate younger, cheaper, hungrier players to the NHL.
*Congratulations to the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team on their Olympic Gold medal. What a wonderful accomplishment.