The Montreal Canadiens have acquired forward Alex Newhook in exchange for defenseman Gianni Fairbrother and first and second-round picks in the 2023 NHL draft.
The Montreal Canadiens are bringing in a new center in Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche.
The Montreal Canadiens traded picks No. 31 and No. 37, and 22-year-old defenseman Gianni Fairbrother to the Avalanche in exchange for 22-year-old Newhook.
Newhook is an RFA this off-season, and Colorado only has 14 signed players on their active roster with about $8.5 million in cap space. That cap space can increase to $15.5 million if they place captain Gabriel Landeskog on LTIR as he is expected to miss the 2023-24 season while recovering from knee surgery.
Drafted 16th overall back in 2019, Newhook certainly has potential but never quite lived up to his lofty expectations in Colorado. Outside of being a valuable member of the Avalanche's fourth line during their Stanley Cup run in 2022, Newhook struggled to develop into the top-six center many billed him as. And, with the Avs looking to re-sign J.T. Compher in the coming days, who happens to already be a proven top-six center, Newhook was seemingly deemed expendable.
Now, the Avalanche head into Wednesday's first round with two picks, marking a stark contrast to last year when they didn't pick until the sixth round.
As for the Canadiens, Newhook represents yet another draft-week trade for a skilled but underperforming forward who has yet to live up to his draft ranking. Almost exactly 12 months ago, Kirby Dach was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in very similar circumstances and proved the Habs right for betting on him by showing flashes of the brilliance he was projected to have. Now, Newhook enters the fold as a worthwhile bet and will join a young Montreal roster already teeming with talent in Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky.
Correction: The Canadiens traded Fairbrother to the Avalanche.