Montreal Canadiens Trade Target: Adam Boqvist

As we inch nearer to the NHL Entry Draft on June 28, Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes has already made some noise.

This time last year, Hughes shook up the roster by unexpectedly trading for Kirby Dach. The move showed that this new administration did not fear making “risky” trades for young players who had not reached their full potential… yet.

Columbus Blue Jackets D Adam Boqvist fits that same mould and fills an important team need on the right side of the blue line. Given CBJ’s sudden influx of defensive talent, with the arrivals of Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson, and David Jiricek, he may be the odd man out.

Why the Fit Makes Sense

As mentioned, the Canadiens are rather bare on the right side of the defence. Logan Mailloux, the controversial draft pick from the Bergevin era, and Justin Barron are the only promising young player they have in that position.

The Habs are somewhat spoiled on the left side, with stellar youngsters Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, and Jordan Harris, soon to be joined by standout Boston University Sophomore Lane Hutson. Boqvist, who at 22 years old is the second oldest of these mentioned blueliners, fits the timeline of this young back end.

Not only does his handedness increase his value, but his smooth-skating offensive style would provide a skill, particularly on the powerplay, that none of Montreals’ current defensemen do especially well. Boqvist’s 24 points in 46 games this year on an abysmal Blue Jackets squad demonstrate his great offensive potential. Paired with the stout and responsible lefties like Guhle and Xhekaj, his defensive deficiencies would be somewhat less exposed.

What Would a Hypothetical Trade Look Like?

Columbus would only move on from Boqvist in the first place because there would be no more room for him in a strong defence. It could be, then, that Columbus is interested in one of the Canadiens young forwards while still looking to add draft capital. The Habs own the 31st and 37th pick in the upcoming draft and boast a prospect pool consisting of forwards like Filip Mesar, Jan Mysak, Sean Farrell, Owen Beck, Riley Kidney, and Joshua Roy.

Two of these assets in a package deal for Boqvist and a late draft pick would be fair value to me. It’s unlikely that the Blue Jackets are interested in any of Montreal’s veteran forwards given their high cap hits.

Which players and picks they are specifically interested in would rest solely on Jarmo Kekalainen’s evaluation of their talent, which is completely beyond anyone’s knowledge at this point. However, the Canadiens deep prospect pool and plethora of picks in upcoming drafts would give them the assets required to land Boqvist and he would fill a huge organizational need.

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