The Montreal Canadiens won their last game and have a record of 6-5-2 after 13 games this season. They were able to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime to give them 14 points and on pace for 88 on the season.
This would be better than anticipated, especially with Kirby Dach out of the lineup for all but one and a half games of the season. We will see how it all plays out over the next 69 games of the regular season, but not many are predicting the Canadiens to get a playoff spot.
That is because of their six wins, only two of them have come in regulation. Literally half their wins have come on Cole Caufield overtime goals. They are also the only team in their division that is being outscored so far this season, which usually points to more losses than wins in the future.
While the Canadiens have been better than expected, especially in their first eight games when they went 5-2-1, many other teams are struggling unexpectedly. A few Stanley Cup contenders have started their season slowly and are starting to become desperate as they search for answers.
This gives the Canadiens an opportunity to take advantage of these teams as they look around the league for a quick fix to their problems. The Canadiens would have to realize they are likely to fall behind the pack at some point this season in order to pull off any of these trades, but the long term payoff would be well worth the short term pain.
Also, the Canadiens have three goaltenders on their NHL roster and would like to move one anyway. Finding a team desperately in need of one of them and pulling the trigger now wouldn’t exactly be waving a white flag on the season as they would still have a pair of NHL caliber goalies on the team anyway.
Let’s take a look at three trades the Canadiens could make to take advantage of struggling Stanley Cup contenders early this season.