Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Most Likely To Be Traded After Sean Monahan Deal

Johnathan Kovacevic

The Montreal Canadiens acquired Johnathan Kovacevic off waivers at the start of last season. He exceeded expectations almost immediately and proved to be a valuable depth piece on the blue line right away.

The big right shot defender performed admirably in 2022-23, suiting up for 77 games last season while scoring three goals and 15 points. He was great defensively and became a big part of the team's penalty killing unit.

This season, he has showed a bit more of a scoring touch with six goals in 41 games but has just two assists to go with it. He has played well defensively, but seems to maybe have taken a bit of a step back in that area since last season. As such, he has been a healthy scratch a handful of times recently as the Canadiens have a plethora of options on the blue line and need to work them all into the lineup.

The 26 year old is signed through next season at a minimal cap hit of $766,667 which would make him an attractive depth option for any contending team. At 6'5" and 223 pounds, he fits the mould of the type of defenseman that helped the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup a year ago. That will surely up his trade value and with Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher coming on the right side it would make sense to move Kovacevic now if they get the right offer.

That could be a draft pick, or it would make more sense to trade for a similarly aged center to fill in an area of need for the rest of the season.