The Montreal Canadiens were not directly involved in the blockbuster trade of the offseason, but they could be indirectly affected by it.
The Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames hooked up to trade 100 points players for each other when Jonathan Huberdeau was sent to Calgary in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk. It could be argued that this part of the trade is a bit of a wash, but the rest of it is what it interesting to Habs fans.
The Panthers also gave up Mac Weegar in the deal, as well as prospect Cole Schwindt and a first round pick in 2085 because the Panthers have already traded all of their first round picks between now and then.
One of those first round picks, the 2023 one to be exact, is now owned by the Montreal Canadiens. That was part of the package in the Ben Chiarot deal that was made at the most recent trade deadline.
The combination of the Canadiens owning the Panthers 1st round pick next season and Weegar no longer being on the Panthers is what should intrigue Habs fans.
The Panthers won the President’s Trophy last season so let’s not get ridiculous here and suggest that draft pick is going to be in the top five or anything. But they did have some major holes on their team, and they really haven’t fixed them this offseason.
While the Panthers were an incredibly high scoring team last season, finishing first in the NHL with 337 goals scored. They were not so polished in their own end, allowing 242 goals on the season, which is nearly three goals per game. The only team in the east to allow more and make the playoffs was the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That was with Weegar, who may not be the biggest name, but he played a huge role for the Panthers last season. He lead the team in average even strength ice time per game and was on the top penalty killing unit. At 5-on-5 or down a man, Weegar and Aaron Ekblad were the team’s top defence pairing.
Weegar is out now, and the Panthers really haven’t replaced him. Gustav Forsling will probably play on the top pair now with Ekblad but that possibly leaves a second pairing of Marc Staal and Radko Gudas or Brandon Montour.
A team that was not great defensively, just got a lot worse in that aspect. They also are down a few contributors up front. Huberdeau and Tkachuk both scored 115 points last season so that’s a wash, but Mason Marchment was neatly a point per game player and he is gone, and Anthony Duclair could miss a significant portion of the season due to injury after scoring 31 goals.
The Panthers are also still about $3.5 million above the salary cap so they have to keep slicing into their roster to be compliant for opening night.
There is no reason to believe the Panthers are going to be a terrible team next season. However, losing depth scorers like Duclair and Marchment, as well as Frank Vatrano and Owen Tippett who were traded at the deadline, will make it more difficult to outscore their deficiencies next season.
Not to mention the loss of Weegar will lead to more goals against. It is possible they fall behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators in the regular season and make the playoffs as a wildcard team.
If they do and lose in the first or second round, that pick that the Canadiens acquired could be much higher than once expected. Instead of a 28th overall pick, which is where the Panthers selection ended up in 2022, the Canadiens could be looking at an 18th overall pick if the Panthers are a wildcard team.
Obviously, there is a lot to play out between now and the 2023 NHL Draft. But this blockbuster trade between the Panthers and Flames doesn’t make Florida a better team in 2022-23, and that is terrific news for Habs fans.
Of course, there is also the chance that Huberdeau does not want to be in Calgary at all, which makes it more likely that he will test free agency one year from now. If he does, his hometown Habs will surely be calling to see if one of the league’s best playmakers wants to play on a line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield for the foreseeable future.
Again, getting way ahead of ourselves here, but this trade between Florida and Calgary could really benefit the Montreal Canadiens at both the NHL Draft and in free agency next offseason.
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