For the past couple of seasons, there has not been much of a question as to what the Montreal Canadiens would do at the trade deadline. There's only one option for rebuilding teams and that is to sell off older, expiring contracts for draft picks and prospects.
But with a couple of weeks left before the trade deadline, the Montreal Canadiens are in no man's land. After a fantastic run in December, things have cooled late in January and February. The playoffs are possible, but not likely.
So Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have a decision to make. Do they try to bolster the lineup (especially with Kaiden Guhle out long-term) this year to try to make a playoff run, or do they sell off expiring contracts and veterans for long term gains? Or do they just stay the course and keep what they have?
We will be ranking the viability of these options in this article, going from the least good to best options for the team this year.
3. Buying
It is possible that the Montreal Canadiens run through December and January may have raised hopes a little too high, and the team could be seen as just a couple pieces away from getting over the hump and sneaking into one of those playoff spots.
There are a couple of factors that make this a slightly more feasible idea. First of all, the biggest hole the Canadiens have is centre depth. On TSN's Trade Bait board, there are many centres near the top of the list, including Brock Nelson, Scott Laughton, Trent Frederic and Yanni Gourde.
And the trade market seems a little depressed. No one saw the Mikko Rantanen trade coming, and all in all, the Colorado Avalanche didn't seem to get too much from a player that has scored over 100 points in the last two seasons for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and a couple of draft picks.
And the Montreal Canadiens have a wealth of young players and draft picks. There are players that have lived up to their high draft picks like Logan Mailloux or Michael Hage, or lower draft picks that have grown into great prospects like Jacob Fowler or Jared Davidson.
And the Habs have plenty of draft picks including 3 third round draft picks and 2 picks in the first, second and fourth rounds next year. The glut of prospects and draft picks means that the Canadiens have a lot to offer teams for their players.
But this is not the Canadiens year. Not even close.
If you think about it, the Canadiens only have a few players that can be considered firmly in their prime. Patrik Laine is there for sure, and Nick Suzuki is right about there. But the biggest names for the Habs: Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson have not hit their primes.
And a lot of those great prospects can have a place on the team. Ivan Demidov will be the best forward that has don the bleu-blanc-et-rouge for decades, along with the previously mentioned Mailloux, Fowler, Davidson, Hage and Owen Beck.
Mortgaging the future for the small chance that the team could make the playoffs this year is just not a smart move at all.