Montreal Canadiens To-Do List Prior To NHL Trade Deadline

Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes will be busy working the phones before the March 3 NHL Trade Deadline, with some pretty clear goals he’d like to achieve.

The Canadiens are firmly in the “sellers” category, but that doesn’t mean they’ll simply be looking to move out some impending free agents for draft capital.

Yes, players like Sean Monahan and Joel Edmundson will generate a lot of interest, but that might not be where it stops for the Canadiens.

Hughes has shown a penchant so far to get creative with his trades and seek out other ways of extracting value from deals, and one could expect more of the same in the month of February.

Here are some of the biggest things on the Canadiens’ “To-Do List” prior to the NHL Trade Deadline:

1st-Round Pick

Hughes has been adamant about wanting to capitalize on the quality talent in the 2023 NHL Draft class. Already owning two 1st-round picks, their own and that of the Florida Panthers via the Ben Chiarot trade, Hughes has been outspoken at several points this season about acquiring a third 1st-round pick in this year’s draft by way of trade.

“Ideally, yes,” said Hughes in an interview with TVA Sports when asked about his desire to acquire a third 1st round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. “We have some good youngsters within the organization and it would be important to get our hands on some quality assets that will be able to keep up with them in the future.”

The Montreal Canadiens are already trending toward a very high pick, and the Florida Panthers are currently projected to miss the playoffs per recent betting odds; but adding a third shot at the top-32 of this year’s class might be too attractive an opportunity to miss out on.

Given the talent set to be available in the late half of the 1st-round, having a shot at selecting four top-end talents within the first 40 picks could be a game-changer for the Canadiens organization, as it would be the biggest influx of top talent the organization has seen in decades.

Acquire More Youth

If the Canadiens are indeed able to get that coveted 1st-round pick, they could also look to spread the wealth of their riches by then targeting NHL-ready prospects.

Similar to the Arturri Lehkonen trade that saw the Canadiens substitute the inclusion of a late 1st-round pick with former 1st-round pick Justin Barron, the Canadiens could be looking to bringing in some prospects that are further along in their development.

A similar trade, perhaps for a scoring forward in this case, could be more beneficial to the Canadiens right now, as there is a bit of a gap in age between their NHL-ready prospects and their recently drafted youngsters.

Bridging that gap with more talent could help the Canadiens create a consistent flow of talent among their ranks.

That being said, one shouldn’t rule out a goaltending prospect being targeted either, as the Canadiens will likely want to shore up that position; having only three goaltenders signed to NHL deals right now.

Move Out The Excess

On top of the known players rumoured to be in play for the Montreal Canadiens, there are a few extra bodies the organization would need to move out.

If this last month has shown the Canadiens and their fans anything, it’s that they have prospects that are hungry and ready to take the roles of veterans who are simply not living up to expectations.

Players like Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Justin Barron have looked stellar for the Canadiens since their recent recall; and making room for these players on the roster should be in the cards.

Moving on from contracts like those of Evgenii Dadonov, Jonathan Drouin, Joel Armia and Mike Hoffman would help alleviate the  roster crunch in the Canadiens’ forward ranks and allow for younger players to crack the roster.

By proxy of moving out some of the above veterans, the Canadiens could also liberate themselves of considerable amounts of salary, thereby allowing them to be more flexible in other, bigger trades and perhaps extracting more value from cap-strapped teams looking to gain flexibility.