Canadiens: Habs Come Out Way Ahead In Trade Deadline

The trade deadline has come and gone, and it’s time to observe one more time that NHL GMS ARE CRAZY. Well, every GM trying to win the cup. Not the Canadiens GM. He’s solid.

It’s hard to blame them. Trying to build a winning team in the era of the Tampa Bay Lightning would make anyone crazy. This was supposed to be a buyers market. BUYERS. It was supposed to be a year where teams all keep their first round picks and with the cap being so tight there wouldn’t be room to maneuver anyways.

What a load of hooey.

Yesterday a normally shrewd and intelligent group of people at the top of their profession lost their ever-loving minds for about 3 hours and gave the Habs a legendary haul fans can dine out on for years.

Starting from the trade with Calgary on February 14, the Habs have traded 5 players :

Tyler Toffoli
Ben Chiarot
Artturi Lehkonen
Brett Kulak
Andrew Hammond

And the return is….

Well, its legendary. For a first trade deadline this group took no prisoners. There are 13 assets acquired are listed below.

1st round pick 2022
1st round pick 2023
2nd round pick 2022
2nd round pick 2024
4th round pick 2022
5th round pick 2023
7th round pick 2024
Justin Barron
Emil Heineman
Ty Smilanic
William Lagesson
Nate Schnarr
Tyler Pitlick

It’s a long enough list I had to triple check it.

On the above list of players outgoing there is one major asset, two medium assets and two minor ones.

The Haul, on the other hand, is so much more. There are three major assets – 2 first rounders and Justin Barron, 4 medium assets – 2 second rounders, Heineman and Smilanic – and 6 minor ones.

That’s winning, baby.

The key to today being a win is Justin Barron. Justin Barron was considered the best prospect in the Avalanche’s system and he fits in the Habs organizational needs so well. Being a right-handed defenseman, one of the notable holes in the Canadiens’ prospect pool, he will get chances to play with the club immediately. He was also a coveted player, which made his inclusion as part of the trade a surprise, unless the view that he would never get playing time in Colorado is to be believed.

It’s understandable that, after losing out on Giroux, the Avalanche felt the pressure to upgrade at forward that they were willing to pay so much for Artturi Lehkonen. Not that they didn’t get a quality player who can keep up with one of the fastest teams in the league and will make very few mistakes and pot a big goal at some point, Lehks is all of that. Together with Nico Sturm, Andrew Cogliano, and Josh Manson they have upgraded many areas.

This return is the equivalent of a first and second rounder. I thought they could get a first and maybe a sweetener more, and it feels so good to be wrong.

It’s not as if Lehkonen is the second coming of Alexei Kovalev, who was acquired for less. He’s not even the second coming of Jere Lehtinen. Lehkonen is a really good middle six player. Somehow, in a buyers market, he was worth a bundle.

So, they plan to play him on the third line. Wow.

(This is when some grouch comes out of the woodwork, you know the one, arguing that trading Dale Weise for Phil Danault wasn’t a steal because Weise scored timely goals. Don’t be that grouch. Don’t do it.)

It’s one thing to be highly touted and another to make it to the show, but Barron has a leg up on a team lacking depth at his position that can afford to be patient while he finds his footing.

The draft pick haul is so heavy that if any of the prospects outside Barron make the NHL roster it’s found money. Heinemann and Smilanic will get their chance and might surprise us, but no one needs to hold their breath. Fans can feel good about the new management when they even manage to bolster the Laval Rocket lineup with fringe NHLers like Lagesson and Schnarr.

What feels so reassuring about all this is that the Montréal Canadiens, who have suffered from irregular roster construction for years, are giving themselves every opportunity to fix it. They finally have a front office staff that knows how to improve their chances across the board, instead of taking a stab, shrugging if it doesn’t work out, and blaming the players.

Lets face it, blaming the players only gets a team so far.

Habs fans – take the win. The Montréal Canadiens might not be victorious on the ice right now, but the front office has shown they can get it done. The team will follow.