Why The Montreal Canadiens Were Allowed To Make A Trade Three Days After The Trade Deadline

The Montreal Canadiens made a couple of trades in the days leading up to the trade deadline on Friday, March 8th.

The Canadiens traded Jake Allen that day, shipping him to the New Jersey Devils for a third round pick that could become a second round pick if he plays 40 games and makes the playoffs next season.

They had also acquired Jacob Perreault for Jan Mysak the previous day, getting a couple of deals done just before the trade deadline hit on Friday afternoon. Then the deadline passed by and that was it for trades for the season... right?

Actually, no. The Montreal Canadiens traded Nathan Legare to the New Jersey Devils yesterday for Arnaud Durandeau. It would be considered more of a minor league deal than an NHL trade as the two players have combined to play four career NHL games thus far.

Why were they able to do this? Well, the NHL trade deadline is really a deadline to acquire players that can play in the NHL that season. Once a player is traded, like Durandeau and Legare now, they are not allowed to play a game in the NHL for the remainder of the season. However, both can play in the AHL with their new organizations, and there is a deadline on March 15th for AHL teams to have their playoff rosters set, so Durandeau can help the Laval Rocket in the Calder Cup playoffs, so long as they make it.

Durandeau is a 25 year old winger from Montreal, and had a great season a year ago with the Bridgeport Islanders. He scored 24 goals and 55 points in 68 games and earned a short call up to the NHL level. He has 18 points in 38 games this season split between the Islanders and Utica Comets as he was traded earlier this season already.

He could provide some added scoring depth for the Rocket, as well as Perreault who was acquired last week. That is a pair of wingers who are capable of scoring at the AHL level and have the potential to make the Rocket a deeper offensive team.

So, it is legal to make trades past the trade deadline, the player just can not play at the NHL level if acquired after March 8th. Durandeau will be suiting up for the Rocket though, and gives them a more local flavor with a little bit of scoring touch as well.