The Montreal Canadiens head into the 2023-24 season after two consecutive seasons as a bottom feeder in the NHL standings.
The 2021-22 season saw the Habs drop to the bottom of the NHL standings while they jumped all the way to 5th last in 2022-23. It was actually a large improvement, but they still have a long ways to go before they can complete for a playoff spot.
That is especially true in a tough Atlantic Division that includes the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers who were all playoff teams a year ago and expect to get back there in the upcoming season as well.
While sitting near the bottom of the standings is not ideal, it does give the team a unique opportunity to clear out veterans and big contracts while adding younger players and draft picks to build for the future.
This is exactly what the Canadiens did each of the past two seasons. When things went south in 2021-22, the Habs started traded away Ben Chiarot for Ty Smilanic and a first round pick. Artturi Lehkonen was dealt for Justin Barron and a second round pick. Tyler Toffoli was shipped to Calgary for a first round pick and Emil Heineman and Brett Kulak went to the Edmonton Oilers for a second round pick.
Last season, the Habs did not have the same number of veterans to ship and simply moved Evgeni Dadonov for Denis Gurianov. They have already continued their selloff this offseason, as Joel Edmundson was dealt to the Washington Capitals and Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick were dealt to the San Jose Sharks as well.
Who else could be shipped out of the Canadiens organization? Let’s look at their top three trade chips as we enter the 2023-24 season that could be dealt before the next trade deadline.