Montreal Canadiens Trade Tree: Hockey Alchemy Turning Raphael Diaz to Gold

Alchemy is the art of changing lesser metals, like lead and copper, into a higher, more valuable metal, namely gold. Unfortunately for all the metallurgists out there, there is no proof of alchemy, and no one has ever turned lead into gold. But metaphorically, it doesn't get much closer than turning Raphael Diaz into Phillip Danault and Kirby Dach.

The Start: Signing Raphael Diaz

Raphael Diaz was born in Switzerland and started his hockey career with Zug EV in the Swiss-A league. As a defender that wasn't physically imposing, and not putting up huge point totals, he was passed up for the NHL draft every year he was eligible, before catching the eye of the Canadiens in 2011.

So the Canadiens signed Diaz out of the Swiss league, and he made his NHL debut in 2011 at the age of 25. It didn't take him long to score a pretty slick first NHL goal in October, and put on a solid performance as a rookie defender.

It was good enough to garner a two-year deal with the Canadiens, worth $1.225 million per year. Not bad for a 25-year-old undrafted rookie. Except, Diaz would not see the end of that contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Trade #1 - Diaz for Weise

The Montreal Canadiens had a pretty stacked blueline at this point, spearheaded by P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. Diaz was finding himself the odd one out, becoming a healthy scratch frequently in his final season as a Hab.

The Canucks had many injuries on the blueline at the time, and had a forward that didn't fit with the team. So a deal was made. One-for-one, nice and easy. Raphael Diaz for Dale Weise.

Diaz is actually still playing hockey today, just not with the Canucks, or even in the NHL. Diaz lasted just over a month in Vancouver before being flipped for picks to the Rangers. Diaz never reached the height of his rookie career again, and after a few years, he returned to the Swiss-A league, where he still plays with Fribourg-Gotteron HC.

Then we have the return for Raphael Diaz, Dale Weise, the Dutch Gretzky. And Dale Weise rocked.

As you would expect from a player nick-named Dutch Gretzky, Weise was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Yup, you've just discovered one of the weirder nickname backstories.

Most people just assumed Weise was Dutch, and that's where the name came from, but it's not true. Weise was drafted by the Rangers in the fourth round in 2008, after playing in the WHL. Weise put in his time in the WHL and AHL, garnering a reputation as a good all-around player and a clutch performer.

But the interesting part starts in 2012-13, when the NHL lost part of the season to a lockout, and Weise went and played in the Netherlands. He only played 19 games before the NHL came back, but what a 19 games those were.

Weise scored 22 goals, 26 assists, 48 points and 79 penalty minutes in those 19 games. Those are numbers better than Gretzky's. Hence the nickname.

That success didn't translate to the NHL though, and he was claimed off waivers by the Canucks, but never scored more than 3 goals in an NHL season. Until he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens.

Weise started to score, and often. And not just score, he played his typical hard-nosed style, endearing the team and his fans with physical play and fights galore.

In fact, Weise would never come close to reaching his highs with the Canadiens throughout the rest of his career. His two years in Montreal were the only ones during which he scored more than 10 goals and more than 20 points.

But the Canadiens started to rebuild on the fly, and Weise wasn't fitting into the plans anymore, so a trade had to be made.

Trade #2 - Weise and Co. for Danault and a Pick

This was about as tidy a bit of work as could be done for a trade. The Canadiens traded away two aging forwards for a great centre prospect and a very useful draft pick, which we will get to later.

First, what the Habs gave up. Tomas Fleischmann was in the literal twilight of his career. Having debuted in 2005 with the Capitals, by 2016 he was at the end. In fact, after playing 19 regular-season games and 4 playoff games with the Blackhawks, he retired.

Weise was also a pure rental for the Blackhawks, walking in free agency after that season and signing with the Philadelphia Flyers. Like previously stated, Weise never found his footing with the Flyers, and eventually was traded back to the Canadiens in 2019.

Phillip Danault on the other hand...

Danault was drafted towards the tail end of the first round of the 2011 NHL draft, and had a tough time cracking the Blackhawks' well-established roster. He never put up eye-popping numbers, even in junior, but always projected well as a defensive centre.

And to say that Danault hit his ceiling with the Canadiens would be an understatement. The Habs took a swing on the upside and won out in a major way.

Looking at just the numbers, they don't seem that incredible looking back at it. His highest goal total was 13, and his highest point total was 53. But, those numbers don't even tell the half of it. Danault was the Canadiens' #1 centre and pivoted one of the best lines of their time.

When they were together, Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar made magic. While their offensive numbers weren't earth-shattering, their possession numbers were second to none. You could put those three against any top line in the NHL, and the opponents would get nothing going offensively.

But, come 2020-21, and after a long playoff run, where Danault memorably fed rookie Cole Caufield pizza during a celebratory interview, Danault's contract was up. The Canadiens were staring down the barrel of a full rebuild, and Danault didn't look to be part of those plans.

And Danault knew what he was worth, and wasn't going to sign for anything less. He signed that off-season with the Los Angeles Kings and has continued his strong possession and defensive play.

The second-round draft pick didn't turn out too shabby either. That pick was used on big Russian defender Alexander Romanov. And when Romanov debuted in 2020, he showed the league what he could do.

Romanov could hit, and he could hit hard. Don't expect him to do much else, but when you hit like that, do you really need to?

Even up until today, Romanov has not scored more than 7 goals or 22 points in a season. But you don't really need to when just your presence on the ice makes the opponents play all the more carefully.

For a second-round pick, Romanov was developing into quite a solid player. But the Canadiens had a new management team, which had their eyes on a big splash in the off-season.

Trade #3 - Romanov and Picks for Kirby Dach

These three team deals are always a little confusing, so it's best to break them down. The first trade is with the Islanders. The first-round pick going to Chicago is the Islanders' first-round pick. The Canadiens gave up Alexander Romanov and their 4th round pick to get the Islanders' first. The Habs then flipped that to Chicago for Dach.

Alright? So, the deal is obviously working for the Islanders. Romanov is still with the team and, in fact, just signed a big contract extension with them for $6.25 million a season for 8 years. And Isaiah George played some meaningful minutes with the team this year as well.

For Chicago, they got a stud in Frank Nazar. Nazar came onto the scene this year and had a really solid rookie campaign, and could be a great player if his trajectory continues as it has.

As for what the Canadiens got? Can you check back in a year or two?

There is no question that Kirby Dach has potential. He was drafted 3rd overall for a reason in 2019, and in his first year in Montreal, he proved why.

But then, in 2023, the second game of the season. Dach gets hit awkwardly over the bench, and it's all over. Torn ACL. Torn MCL. End of the season as soon as it began.

Dach would be ready by the start of the next season, but it was clear that he was still struggling with it. His production slowed, his impact was negated, and this season was also cut short by injury.

Dach has shown what he can do in the NHL, but the question is, can he still do it? An ACL and MCL tear is about as serious as it can get, and could alter his body for the rest of his life. If Dach can recover and get back to his previous form, this trade will be worth it. If not, it's just another career cut short by something out of anyone's control. A freak injury.

But, no matter how Dach ends up, getting the Dutch Gretzky's best years, the central part of the NHL's best line for three years, and the potential for Kirby Dach is practically unheard-of value for signing a 25-year-old undrafted defender out of Switzerland. If that isn't alchemy, I don't know what is.