Montreal Canadiens Rumor: Young Defenseman On The Trade Block

The Montreal Canadiens have a pile of young defensemen in the organization. Several of them are already performing at the National Hockey League level and a few others are set to join them in the near future.

While having a lot of good, young defensemen is a luxury most teams do not have, it does make it difficult to get everyone the amount of ice time they deserve. The Canadiens have Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle locked in on left defense, and others are rotating in and out of the lineup.

Arber Xhekaj was even sent down to the American Hockey League for 17 games. Jordan Harris has sat as a healthy scratch from time to time and Johnathan Kovacevic is finding himself in the press box more often than he really deserves.

This logjam is only going to get worse with Lane Hutson likely to sign late this season and David Reinbacher on his way to North America in the near future as well. It is going to lead to the team needing to trade away someone, even though rebuilding teams are usually looking to add young defensemen to the organization.

A recent rumor has been reported that Jordan Harris has been the focus of some recent trade chatter. Jacob Stoller of The Hockey News wrote the Canadiens are shopping Harris ahead of the trade deadline which is now just two weeks away.

Harris makes just $1.4 million on the salary cap and is signed through next season as well. Pretty much anyone could fit that into their books at this time of year and he is a good defensive player that is just 23 years old. He isn't the type of player the Canadiens should be looking to move, but when you consider all the options they have on defense, especially with Xhekaj and Jayden Struble playing quite well, there just isn't room for everyone.

Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now also reported Harris name is out there in trade talks. He adds that Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has known Harris for years and will look to do right by the player and find him a place where he will get an opportunity to play.

Again, this does make sense with all of the options the Canadiens have on left defense. You can't play all of them and need to pick a few keepers and move out a couple of guys so you don't have players rotting in the press box for long stretches and losing their trade value.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, Harris name is an interesting one to keep an eye on for Canadiens fans.