Montreal Canadiens: Past NHL Drafts Show Many Trades Ahead For Habs

The Montreal Canadiens have been known to be a very busy franchise when it comes to draft day. This year should be no different from the viewpoint of the fanbase.

With a supposed rebuild by general manager Kent Hughes and Executive Vice-President Jeff Gorton, the franchise will look to focus on getting star prospects in this upcoming draft to get the ball rolling with the planned future of the Canadiens.

According to capfriendly.com, the Habs have completed a minimum of four trades in each of the past four NHL drafts with the 2018 draft having the most with a total of six. With the team currently holding 14 selections in the 2022 NHL Draft, expect a lot of action on the trade floor between Hughes and the other team’s general managers.

It is important to note that not all of these have been home runs or have had a true impact on the franchise. For example, in last year’s draft, the Canadiens traded a fourth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. Tampa Bay picked a player by the name of Dylan Duke who played with the University of Michigan last season and Montreal have yet to use their fourth-round pick.

However, other trades have proven to be beneficial for Montreal and have allowed them to select players that have or are in the process of becoming future stars in the NHL.

One trade that stands out is the Josh Anderson trade back in 2020 when the Habs acquired him from Columbus for Max Domi and a third-round pick. Anderson has been a valuable member of the Canadiens, while Domi struggled in Columbus, has since been traded to Carolina for a minimal return and is about to become a free agent.

Two other trades have shown significant impacts on the Habs franchise. One of them was in 2019 when the Canadiens acquired back their seventh-round pick from Philadelphia in exchange for a 2020 seventh-round pick. That 2019 pick eventually became Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.

The other trade was earlier in the draft that same year when Montreal traded their second-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for a third and a fifth in 2019. That third-round pick eventually became Mattias Norlinder.

Harvey-Pinard and Norlinder have already made their NHL debuts, and look to have bright futures with the organization. These minor trades can sometimes pay off down the road, but it takes some time to see the fruits of the scouts and general managers labour when evaluating past draft picks.

With players such as Jeff Petry and even Anderson who have been rumoured to be on the move, it will be fascinating to see what changes Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will make. How many of the 14 picks do they end up keeping?

One thing is for sure, fans of the storied franchise should tune in on Thursday, July 7th and 8th to see what the future will look like for their beloved team.

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!