Montreal Canadiens: Three Teams That May Actually Trade For A Habs Forward

The Montreal Canadiens entered this season with a logjam of forwards on the roster. There was no question entering camp that there were just too many veteran players fighting for too few jobs up front.

The problem didn’t really solve itself at training camp. Some of the veterans that are paid bug money played just okay while a few young players who were not guaranteed a roster spot looked great.

Juraj Slafkovsky, for example, was not necessarily certain to start the season in the NHL. As a first overall draft pick there was a pretty good chance he would, and he was definitely going to get a long look, but he could have just as easily started the season with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League.

He was fantastic in rookie camp and just okay to begin the preseason, but looked better as the exhibition schedule went along. His best games were closest to the regular season so a spot was carved out for him on the opening night roster.

This meant full-time NHLers from last season, like Rem Pitlick and Michael Pezzetta were healthy scratches within the first few games on the calendar. We then saw Jonathan Drouin and Evgenii Dadonov in the press box two nights ago as the Canadiens fired seven goals past Stanley Cup winning goaltender Jordan Binnington.

So, the Habs still have a logjam up front. Even if Drouin and Dadonov aren’t firing on all cylinders right now, having over $10 million in cap space sitting in the press box eating popcorn isn’t an ideal situation for any NHL team.

There is no question the team would still be interested in trading away a forward for either a prospect or draft pick to open up cap space, a roster spot and a full time lineup spot.

Who could be on the move? And which teams out there might be interested in acquiring a forwards at this point in the season? Let’s take a look at three teams that could fit that description.