Montreal Canadiens Swing Two Jaw Dropping NHL Draft Day Trades

The Montreal Canadiens shocked the fans in the Bell Center when they drafted Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. They were not done wheeling and dealing at that point.

Before the fourth pick had even been announced, the Canadiens had pulled off not one, but two enormous draft day trades.

The first trade was Alexander Romanov and the 98th overall pick for the New York Islanders 13th overall pick. Immediately, they flipped the 13th overall pick with their 66th overall pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for centre Kirby Dach.

I’m just gonna give you a minute here to wrap your head around all that…….

Okay, we good. Basically, the Canadiens turned Romanov, a third round pick, and a fourth round pick into Kirby Dach. That was quite the ride to get there, but the Habs passed on Shane Wright as their future top six centre, and then added a potential top six centre for the next decade in Kirby Dach.

Dach was a third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft but hasn’t quite broken out offensively just yet. He scored 26 points in 70 games on a lousy Blackhawks team a year ago. He has played three seasons with the Hawks, making the NHL as an 18 year old and has played 152 NHL games so far in his career, scoring 19 goals and 59 points.

He is a huge centre at 6’4″ and 200 pounds, shoots right and plays a physical style. He is just 21 years old and has the potential to be a much more impactful offensive player in the next few years.

The addition of Dach and Slafkovsky certainly makes the Canadiens a much bigger and more physical team up front as both players are almost certain to step right into top six roles next season. The Canadiens still have their 26th and 33rd overall picks in this year’s draft.

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