Montreal Canadiens: Would Carter Hart Trade Make Sense?

The Montreal Canadiens are in rebuild mode but they already have some key pieces in place for the future.

Up front, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are locked up long term. Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky are going to stick around a long time. Sean Farell, Joshua Roy, Owen Beck and Filip Mesar have the potential to be impact players and Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen have shown well in their short NHL stints so far.

On the blue line, the team already features an impressive group of young defenders that includes Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron and Arber Xhekaj. They also have Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux waiting in the wings and both could be great players.

Where the Canadiens have the most question marks for the future is in goal. They currently have Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau in the organization, but Montembeault’s .901 save percentage was the best of the bunch. Playing behind a young and injury riddled defense didn’t help matters, but there is no sure goalie of the future on the team right now.

Which begs the question, could they look outside the organization to find one? If so, it is possible that the Philadelphia Flyers have put Carter Hart on the market. Would it make sense for the Canadiens to make a push to acquire the young goalie?

Hart is a 24 year old goaltender who was once among the top prospects in the world. His numbers over the past few seasons show a middling goaltender looking to breakout yet. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, the Flyers are engaged in discussions for the netminder right now.

Hart has played 127 games over the past three seasons combined, posting a 3.16 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Those aren’t terrific numbers, but it is worth noting the Flyers have been pretty abysmal defensively in that time and don’t help out their young goaltender enough.

Hart was much better to begin his NHL career. In fact, he was earning some praise and comparisons to the league’s elite after his second NHL season.

Also, an analytics based twitter account known as Andy & Rono breaks down Hart’s numbers that show he is great at even strength, but struggled when the Flyers were shorthanded. A team with better defensive coverage on the penalty kill would lead to a drastic increase in Hart’s overall numbers. Perhaps the Canadiens aren’t better at that aspect of the game yet, but they could get there in the near future.

They also suggest a possible return for Hart. While he has not had the best numbers, he is just 24 and still has the potential to be a great goalie down the road. There is some risk to acquiring Hart, but the Flyers are not going to give him away either. Andy & Rono suggest a late first round pick and an A prospect would be required to land Hart and that makes sense.

Back in 2016, Frederik Andersen was a 26 year old goaltender with great stats on a strong Anaheim Ducks team. He was traded for a late first round pick and a second round pick. Andersen was a RFA demanding a big contract while the Ducks also had John Gibson who they knew was going to be their number one goalie going forward so an Andersen trade seemed inevitable.

A Hart trade is not as necessary, so the Flyers can hold out for a little more return. Perhaps, if the Canadiens were to offer the Florida Panthers 1st round pick which will be 31st or 32nd overall and a really good prospect like last year’s first round pick Filip Mesar it would get them Hart.

Is that worth it for the Canadiens? Finding a number one goaltender is not easy and finding one that has the potential to be great for the next decade is nearly impossible on the trade market. With several young forwards already on the roster and more coming in the near future, moving one of them, along with a draft pick that was acquired for Ben Chiarot makes a lot of sense if Carter Hart is the return.

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