Top-3 Most Valuable Trade Chips For Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens remain focused on the future and on increasing the value of some key players before NHL Trade Deadline.

Despite an entertaining start to the season, the focus remains on the future of the club, and the positive performances of late will only help in making some of the Canadien’s top trade chips even more attractive.

For Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes, it’s all about leverage and positioning from this point of the season until the end of winter. If his club can continue to show signs of positive play, he will be in a better spot to move some of his excess contracts or pending free agents for better returns.

The Canadiens are indeed going in the right direction with their dynamic duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, but the added assets from moving the following players could propel the process to the next level:

Sean Monahan

Sean Monahan is an interesting piece and likely to be among the most coveted centres come NHL Trade Deadline.

He’s currently being tasked with holding down a make-shift third line with an ever-changing cast of linemates, and still maintains some of the best underlying numbers on the team.

Monahan also has a unique combination of offensive ability, offensive prowess and dominance in the faceoff circle that will come in handy in the playoffs, especially now that he’s at full health.

Until then, the Montreal Canadiens will continue looking to build up a market for their veteran players, which also includes Evgenii Dadonov and Jonathan Drouin, amongst others.

NHL insider Pierre Lebrun recently linked Monahan to the Colorado Avalanche, who, among a few other teams, will be in the market for a second-line centre, Monahan seemed to fit the bill as a potential option down the road.

Should Monahan continue to play as well as he has, while maintaining his strong underlying numbers, he may indeed be the needed piece for Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes to acquire a third 1st round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Joel Edmundson

After Monahan. the most valuable candidate to move at this junction would be Joel Edmundson, who has been at the centre of many conversations between general manager Kent Hughes and his peers.

Given the flux of players on the left side, and the fact that the Canadiens have Mattias Norlinder and William Trudeau in Laval (not to mention Lane Hutson coming soon as well), it may be the perfect timing to cash in, again, on a position of strength.

The last remaining member of the defensive core that took the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final, Edmundson’s wealth of experience and steady game would be a boon for many teams right now looking to shore up their backend.

It may be a shocking outcome, but the Canadiens used their organizational strength to their advantage at the 2022 NHL Draft to acquire Kirby Dach, and a similar move could be made here to further the long-term success of the club.

Christian Dvorak

He may have started the season slowly, but Christian Dvorak has upped his game as of late, at a moment when a couple of teams across the league are seeing their centre depth tested by injury.

The rugged centre had the offensive success he had late last season under head coach Martin St-Louis, but could be of value to prospective clubs who are looking for some insurance at the centre position beyond just this season.

It would have been easy to put a player like Mike Hoffman in Dvorak’s stead, but, given that he’s a centre and has a reasonable $4.45M cap hit for another two seasons, Dvorak would likely be more in demand.

There were a few teams that poked around regarding his availability this summer, and he has popped up again in conversations early on this season as general managers are getting a sense of what their teams are made of.

HM: Josh Anderson

This is not to say that Josh Anderson should be traded, which is up for debate.

It simply says that, given his resurgence in play and his value across the league, if a team steps with a monster offer the Montreal Canadiens simply cannot refuse, it could be a game-changer for the franchise.

The Canadiens could very well still hold on to Anderson and include him in the rebuilding process, but teams like the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers could present irresistible offers down the line that Hughes will have no choice but to consider.

However, as it stands, he isn’t being actively shopped, nor is he seen as an available trade chip at this time.