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Montreal Canadiens: Five Bad Contracts To Acquire Alongside a 1st Round Draft Pick

By Ken MacMillan

Mar 10, 2022; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Milan Lucic (17) and forward Sean Monahan. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2022; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Milan Lucic (17) and forward Sean Monahan. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 29, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Patric Hornqvist. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY
Apr 29, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Patric Hornqvist. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY /

Patric Hornqvist

The Florida Panthers have looked like one of the best teams in hockey for the past two regular seasons. However, they lost in the first round a year ago to the Tampa Bay Lightning and are on the verge on losing to their state rivals once again this season.

In order to get over the hump, they may need to add more reinforcements, especially on the back end. Their offence is fantastic, though the Lightning have slowed it down. But their defensive game has been questioned all season.

If they want to go out and add a big name defender, or even just keep Ben Chiarot for next season, they are going to need to add some cap space first. They have no chance of moving on from the Sergei Bobrovsky contract that has five more years left on it at $10 million. But there is one big contract up front that could be moved.

Patric Hornqvist has had a great NHL career, but he is heading into the final year of a contract that pays him $5.3 million per year. While he was definitely worth that one day, the 35 year old hasn’t lived up to that kind of money recently.

This season, the Swedish right winger scored 11 goals and 28 points in 65 games. That isn’t awful, but when you compare it to his cap hit, you want more. He has been playing a fourth line role in the postseason and has two points in nine playoff games.

To get out from under the final year of his contract, the Panthers would have to give up something big. The Canadiens already have the Panthers first round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, so perhaps the Panthers would offer up their second round pick in the same year to get out from under Hornqvist’s last season.

A big, veteran, overpaid right winger isn’t something that the Canadiens are lacking right now. Finding room for Hornqvist for the season wouldn’t be easy as Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Mike Hoffman are already battling for ice time in a similar role. Still, if it comes with a high pick, it would be worth it but the Habs should aim a little higher for such a trade.

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