If the Montreal Canadiens’ performance against the New York Islanders was any indication, the team could really use some help on their backend. The Canadiens let a win slip right through their fingers. After losing an early two-goal lead, the Canadiens retook the lead midway through the third. They looked ready to kick off their restart to the NHL season with a win before a late Anders Lee equalizer with less than two minutes left in the third. The Canadiens ultimately lost the game in overtime, still managing to secure a point, but should have left the Bell Centre with two.
The Canadiens struggled getting the puck out of their own end all night, which makes Elliotte Friedman’s trade speculations less shocking. During the most recent instalment of the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman mentions that the Canadiens are interested in the Philadelphia Flyers' physically imposing defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen. The veteran Finnish defenceman has another year remaining on his contract past this season, but reports from Daily Faceoff contributor Anthony Di Marco suggest that the Flyers would be willing to retain some of his salary for the right trade package.
What Rasmus Ristolainen would bring to the Montreal Canadiens
Ristolainen has played well in the limited games he has played this season. He missed the first couple of months of the season recovering from a ruptured right triceps tendon he sustained last year. He has been in and out of the lineup battling injuries, but has appeared in 21 games this season, recording one goal and six points in that span. However, you are not trading for Ristolainen for his point production, and frankly, the Canadiens do not need another point-producing defenceman. The Canadiens lack a physical right-shot defenceman, and that is exactly what Ristolainen provides.
The Canadiens have lacked a hard-hitting physical defenceman, especially when Arber Xhekaj is out of the lineup. Xhekaj's play has been up and down this season, but even when he has been in the lineup, Martin St. Louis's lack of trust in the fourth-year defenceman has been evident. Xhekaj has failed to play over 10 minutes in a game in three of his last five appearances, which is not sustainable for a team aiming for a deep playoff run. Ristolainen has a long track record of playing big minutes, averaging over 20 minutes a night since entering the league in the 2013-14 season.
In the same article that Di Marco mentions the Flyers would be willing to retain some of Ristolainen’s salary, he also reports that the Flyers could be looking for a similar package to what the Boston Bruins received for Brandon Carlo at last year's trade deadline. The price for Carlo was a conditional first-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and a prospect. That price might be steep for the Canadiens, but the franchise could be more willing to move off a first-round pick than in years past. They are out of the rebuild stage now and seem to be focused on rounding out their roster for a deep playoff run.
With Friedman reporting that the Canadiens are looking at Ristolainen as a defensive upgrade, one thing is certain: they will be adding a defenceman at the trade deadline. It may be Ristolainen, or it could be someone else, but the Canadiens are making it clear they want another defenceman.