Potential Trade Suggested Between Canadiens & Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights are desperate for secondary scoring, and the Montreal Canadiens could help them remedy that.

After losing the likes of Max Pacioretty, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mattias Janmark this summer and only acquiring Phil Kessel, the Vegas Golden Knights are seemingly in desperate need for secondary scoring.

Vegas Hockey Now‘s Owen Krepps suggests that, after the Golden Knights rid themselves of Laurent Brossoit’s contract, a move between the Canadiens and Golden Knights could make sense.

Krepps identifies Canadiens forward Mike Hoffman as an ideal piece for the Golden Knights to seek out, as he would not be a simple rental for them and could provide the much-needed secondary scoring they need to fill out their roster.

This is what Krepps has to say:

“With the Montreal Canadiens having an overabundance of forwards and the team not expected to be in the playoffs, they are in a good position to sell at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. Among their forwards is Mike Hoffman, a reliable scorer at the NHL level, given his six 20-goal seasons in the league.

Hoffman has two years left on his deal at $4.5 million and is 32 years old. So trading for him would not make him a pure rental. Mark Stone and Hoffman had a couple of good years together in Ottawa.”

It would be an interesting swap, as the Golden Knights are most certainly in a win-now situation, and the Canadiens are looking to free up some cap space and roster space for next season.

Mike Hoffman has caught fire as of late and could be increasing his trade value at the most opportune time, as teams across the league are starting to set up their shopping list in advance of the upcoming trade period.

A player like Hoffman could look dangerous on a second line next to Chandler Stephenson and on the Golden Knights’ power play, as they look to maintain their ridiculous rhythm this season well into the playoffs.