Pair Of Former Montreal Canadiens Could Be Key Additions For Stanley Cup Contenders At Trade Deadline

The Montreal Canadiens are sure to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline. In fact, they already began that process when they dealt Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets for a first round pick.

They will also get a third round pick in future if the Jets win the Stanley Cup this season. The next player dealt from Montreal could be Jake Allen, David Savard, Tanner Pearson, even Jordan Harris and Jake Evans have been tossed into the rumor mill recently.

There are so many Canadiens names being thrown out there as potential trade candidates in the next 11 days that even former Canadiens are starting to emerge as pieces that could find new homes with contenders soon.

The Washington Capitals are six points out of a playoff spot and need to make a decision soon about being buyers or sellers when the March 8th deadline approaches. Pierre LeBrun of TSN recently reported they are a team that is waiting until the last minute to decide whether they should continue to push for a playoff spot or sell a few assets with the postseason out of reach.

If they do decide to sell, there are two former Canadiens who will jump out at contending teams as low risk, potentially high reward acquisitions.

Joel Edmundson is a pending unrestricted free agent who helped the Canadiens make the Stanley Cup Final just three years ago. He played a key role in the team's top four as a hulking defender that took on big minutes and just erased the opposition. He is playing more of a third pairing role for the Capitals this season, but remains a 6'5" behemoth who can kill penalties, block shots and play reliable defensive minutes.

Max Pacioretty is also an intriguing trade candidate. He has not played a lot in the past two seasons because of two separate torn achilles tendon injuries. He has 11 points in 21 games for the Capitals this season, but hasn't found his goal scoring touch at all yet. He has just one goal this season but if he finds that sniper abillity that he had for so many years in Montreal, he could become a key addition for a great team that needs some depth scoring.

While Canadiens fans eyes will be on trades involving current Canadiens players, there are a few former Canadiens who could be on the move in the next week or so as well. It will be interesting to see if top teams are interested in acquiring these players to help them in a Stanley Cup chase.