Canadiens Rumour: Habs Looking To Trade Veteran Forwards

The Montreal Canadiens have been trying to move a goaltender since the beginning of the season. Their three goaltender system is not the best setup and they would like to fix it.

Sam Montembeault recently signed a three year contract extension so that means he is going to stick around long term. That leaves Cayden Primeau, the youngster, and Jake Allen, the veteran on the trade block. One of them is sure to be dealt in the near future.

Apparently, goaltenders are not the only position the Canadiens are looking to deal from. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the team is also looking to trade away a veteran forward, or maybe two of them. In a recent article, he suggests Allen is a player to watch for, but the Canadiens also have Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia on the trade block.

Now, they can't be expecting a huge return for either of those two players. While they did give up first and second round picks for Dvorak, he has just one goal and five points in 16 games this season. He had 28 points in 64 games last season and 33 points in 56 games the previous year which was his first in Montreal.

That kind of production will not net much of a return in a trade. However, Dvorak is a defensively responsible center who could play a third line role on a good team without hurting them. Armia is also a great defensive winger but his cap hit of $3.4 million through next season is a deterrent. It makes sense that the Canadiens would want to move the pair of veterans, but the financial side will make a deal difficult.

A contending team would love to have Armia on their fourth line and top penalty killing unit, but not at that price tag. The Canadiens would have to eat some money or take back a similarly bad contract in a potential trade, but apparently they are trying to do just that.