A trade tree is a look at a single trade in detail to see all of the ramifications of a move. It often takes years to see the full impact of even a small trade. In this article, we are going to look at the Tomas Plekanec trade from 2018, and how that trade nabbed Lane Hutson, the most electric defensive prospect the Habs have had in years.
Tomas Plekanec was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round, 71st overall in 2001. That is three years before Lane Hutson was even born. That is the year Ilya Kovalchuk and Jason Spezza were drafted as well. Plekanec made his NHL debut a few seasons later in 2003-04.
And for the next decade plus, Plekanec was a mainstay down the middle of the Canadiens. Known as a more defensive forward, Plekanec did put up some good offensive numbers, specifically between 2006 and 2011, where he scored at least 20 goals. His best year was in 2009-10, where he scored 25 goals and 70 points, as well as 4 goals and 11 points in 19 playoff games.
Come 2017-18, Plekanec had started to decline, and the team as a whole was struggling, and Plekanec was dealt to the most unlikely place as a late season rental: the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto Maple Leafs Receive | Montreal Canadiens Receive |
|---|---|
Tomas Plekanec Kyle Baun | Kerby Rychel Rinat Valiev 2018 2nd round pick (Jacob Olofsson) |
The Toronto Maple Leafs got Tomas Plekanec as a rental for a playoff run. After the Leafs were bounced by the Bruins (again), Plekanec's contract was up and he resigned with the Montreal Canadiens to play his 1,000th game, and retire from the NHL as a Hab. Kyle Baun was a throw-in, who only played 5 NHL games.
The Canadiens got a few prospects and a 2nd round pick. Kerby Rychel played 4 games with the Canadiens, scoring a goal and an assist. The next year, Rychel was traded to the Flames for Hunter Shinkaruk, who never played a game for the Habs, and both players are now out of the league.
The Montreal Canadiens took the 2nd round pick in 2018, and took Jacob Olofsson 56th overall. Olofsson was from Sweden, and never made the jump to North America, and he still plays with the Bjorkloven IF in the Swe-1 league.
Rinat Valiev is where the tree becomes interesting. Valiev only played 2 games as a Montreal Canadiens, and didn't record a point. Just a few months later, he was traded alongside Matt Taormina to the Calgary Flames for Brett Kulak.
Valiev never made the Flames, and currently plays in Russia. Ditto with Taormina who never made the NHL. Kulak, on the otherhand, had four solid seasons in the Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge, before finding his spot taken-up and was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a haul.
Edmonton Oilers Receive | Montreal Canadiens Receive |
|---|---|
Brett Kulak | William Lagesson 2022 2nd Round Pick (Lane Hutson) 2024 7th Round Pick (Rasmus Bergqvist) |
First off, Kulak has been solid for the Oilers, having not missed a game since joining the team, and being a solid defensive defender on a team that came within one game of winning the Stanley Cup.
William Lagesson played 3 games before signing with the Leafs, and he has been bouncing around the league, not being able to stick it in the league. Its too early to really evaluate Rasmus Bergqvist, but being a 7th round pick, the prospects aren't the brightest which is fine for a late round pick.
The crown jewel though is that second round pick, which had a pretty strange condition. The pick was originally set for 2022, but would become a 2023 second round pick if the conditions for the Duncan Keith. The condition on the Keith trade was the Oilers making the Stanley Cup Final and Keith playing top 4 minutes.
The Oilers actually did get close, beating the L.A. Kings and Calgary Flames, but getting swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the conference final. If the Oilers beat the Avalanche and made the Final, the pick would have been moved to 2023.
Well, thank the hockey gods that that didn't happen, because the Montreal Canadiens in 2022 drafted Lane Hutson in the second round.
And the rest has been electric. Lane Hutson has set the team and the league on fire with some electric offensive play and fancy footwork. But without the team loaning a long-time, well-loved Canadien to their most heated rivals, it may have never happened.