It is no secret that the Montreal Canadiens are going to trade Patrik Laine shortly after the roster freeze is lifted. Right now, he doesn't have a spot in the lineup and has a sizable cap hit that limits what other trades Montreal can do to improve the roster.
However, he isn't the only player that the Canadiens could make available ahead of the March 6th deadline. They have a number of other players that they would probably consider moving if the price was right.
These are three players on the Montreal Canadiens who fall into that category.
Samuel Montembeault
Entering this season, expectations were incredibly high for Samuel Montembeault and rightfully so after the season he had last year. He had four shutouts and a career-best goals against average of 2.82 after starting 60 games.
Unfortunately, this season has been a struggle for Montembeault as his save percentage dropped to .875 and his goals against average jumped to 3.34. He even had a brief conditioning stint with Laval back in December in hopes of getting him back on track.
As the season has gone on, the Canadiens have given Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes looks in net, and Dobes has emerged as the starter. However, if the Canadiens want to add a veteran goalie or bring Fowler back up full-time, they would need to move Montembeault to make either scenario a possibility.
The challenge is that the return might not be much, but this would be an instance where opening the spot is more valuable than the return.
Arber Xhekaj
Arber Xhekaj has been a physical presence on the Canadiens blueline this season and leads the team in hits with 135. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to do much else to help Montreal win and has been in and out of the lineup the past few weeks.
Even when he is in the lineup, Xhekaj has seen his ice time diminish and in six of the last eight games he played leading up to the Olympic break he had 10 or fewer minutes of ice time.
As the season goes along, depth on their blueline is going to be important and Martin St. Louis needs players he can trust. At this point, Xhekaj doesn't look to be one of those players and a rebuilding team could see value in adding the 25-year-old defenseman that makes sense for Montreal to trade with.
Kirby Dach
The final player might be a bit of a surprise, but it would also make sense for the Canadiens to include him in a trade package for a player like Jordan Kyrou or Nazem Kadri.
The former third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft has been limited by injuries, but was playing some of his best hockey leading up to the Olympic break. In the final four games, he had at least one point in each game and five total.
The Canadiens will have a tough decision to make after this season, as Dach is set to be a restricted free agent. If they don't believe they are ready to commit to a long-term deal with Dach, it might make sense to move him in a trade to get some value in return before he leaves in free agency.