Two players to buy and one prospect to sell for the Canadiens at the trade deadline
While the Montreal Canadiens have plenty of players to sell at the trade deadline, there are a few young players this organization should consider buying.
The Montreal Canadiens should see several players on the move at the trade deadline, including goaltender Jake Allen and defenseman David Savard. For the third year running, Montreal is residing toward the bottom of the standings, so it’s more than understandable why they would like to get some type of compensation for their older players who wouldn’t stick around Quebec much longer considering the team’s full-on rebuild.
Just because the Canadiens should do all they can to sell, they also need to keep bringing in young talent, and if that young talent has NHL experience, consider it a bonus. Luckily for Montreal, there could be many youngsters aged 25 and under on the move later this week. These are players the front office must at least inquire about, given their high ceilings, low cost, and the sheer possibility that they could be steals at the deadline.
Canadiens should try to shop for young talent at the trade deadline
Better yet, the Canadiens are in a position to ‘sell’ a veteran at some point before March 8th, and they can even demand a specific young player to be included in a trade package. Such a trade would help both teams in the short run, with a contender getting a player who could help them win a championship, and the Canadiens acquiring someone who could become part of a young core.
While there are several top-end talents out there the Canadiens could try to snag in a trade, the players listed here aren’t game-changers. However, they are established enough to at least become serviceable lower-liners who will help the Habs when they don’t have the puck.
So, if the Canadiens decide to do some ‘buying’ amidst all the selling, which two players should they go after? Additionally, a potential ‘buy’ may also cost them a prospect, so which prospect should they offer to another organization?
Player to buy: Kaapo Kakko
Kaapo Kakko may never be more than a bottom-six forward despite the New York Rangers selecting him second-overall in 2019. After potentially setting the stage for a breakout year in 2023-24 following a decent outing that saw him put up 40 points last season, Kakko has once again regressed.
This year, he has just 11 points in 41 games, and it’s safe to assume he will never average more than a half-point per game since it has never happened in his near five seasons with New York. The closest he came was in 2022-23 when he logged 40 in 82 games, but as mentioned, he couldn’t build on that success.
But, just because he’s had a tough time finding his game offensively, it does not mean Kakko holds no value to a team like the Canadiens that won’t contend for another year or two. One possession metric that jumps out is his on-ice save percentage, which remains in the mid-90s despite New York’s primary goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, unable to find his rhythm until after the All-Star Break.
This shows us that Kakko holds value on the defensive lines, and that he can force opponents into making contingency plans with the puck, or into mistakes. While such a game isn’t flashy, players like Kakko are a goaltender’s best friend.
Prospect to sell: Xavier Simoneau
The Canadiens are rebuilding, so it would be tough to see them parting ways with most, if not all, of their prospects. But if they were to sell one to another team in a trade package that would involve either Kaapo Kakko or the second player on this list, they would need to entice a team with a lower-ranked, but high-potential prospect from their pool.
The versatile Xavier Simoneau stands out, and the one major reason for his supposed lower ranking is thanks to his 5’6, 163 pound frame. But players like Simoneau can be deceptive, evidenced by his outstanding QMJHL career when he scored 86-plus points in two of his five seasons, and averaged over a point per game between 2018-19 and 2021-22.
Simoneau played well enough to earn a spot on the Laval Rocket, where he has been since the 2022-23 season, and is on pace for 48 points in 67 contests this year. Not only is he good at finding open linemates and creating scoring chances, Simoneau’s relentless work ethic and ability to play all over the ice should win over other organizations.
Putting Simoneau here is not saying the Canadiens should sell him because things haven’t worked out in the system. Instead, it’s all about trading away a prospect that should intrigue several NHL franchises to gain a young but established NHLer who can help the Habs start winning in 2024-25.
Player to buy: Connor Dewar
Connor Dewar is a young player who could be on the move from the Minnesota Wild at the deadline, and like Kakko, he’s another forward you put onto the lower lines and let him make life difficult for opposing scorers. Also, like Kakko, Dewar doesn’t score much, with just 13 points in 56 games, but he is a physical player who will make opponents think twice about skating around him.
He is also someone a young team like the Canadiens can trust on their penalty kill. In 2022-23, Dewar contributed 132.1 minutes of ice time on the PK unit, and his presence led to the Wild snagging an astounding 93.6 save percentage and just seven goals allowed.
His numbers haven’t been as good this season, with 15 goals allowed and an 85.8 on-ice save percentage across 118.1 minutes. But even with the slight regression, Dewar would still be a huge benefit on the Canadiens penalty kill, given the team’s well below-average 74.16 success rate through the first three-quarters of the season.
While defense is primarily Dewar’s game, we learned this season that you can’t underestimate his shot. Dewar’s nine goals are more than he had in his previous two combined, and he is also riding a 16.7 shooting percentage.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and Elite Prospects as of March 5th)