Canadiens: Back At It
While the Final of the Four Nations Face-Off has yet to be played, it's time for NHL teams to get back to the grind and the Montreal Canadiens are no exception.
The Four Nations Face-Off final might only be on Thursday night, but the Montreal Canadiens will be back on the ice in Brossard this afternoon. The Habs have 26 games remaining to play and while it would be shocking to see them back in the mix after their latest skid, they should be active on the trading front.
Kent Hughes has got quite a few pieces to move if he so desires. Jake Evens, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Michael Pezzetta and David Savard are all pending UFA and could be traded before the trade deadline on March 7. It would be quite surprising if there was any takers for Pezzetta who has only played 14 games this season and has failed to make any kind of impact.
The other three forwards and veteran defenseman Savard are much more likely to move. While the return on Savard might not be all that significant, he should be traded. It's time to cut ties with the blueliner, even though he's been a great big brother for so many of the young Canadiens, he shouldn't be brought back next season. Even if Logan Mailloux is sacrificed to improve the attack, playing a defenseman on his off side is still an option.
Now that the break is over and the Canadiens have failed to sign Evans to a contract extension, he becomes the player most likely to move before the deadline. He's a good depth center, a penalty kill specialist and a player wo can play anywhere up and down the lineup as needed.
His impending departure makes it more likely Hughes makes a move to improve his center line before the start of the season. Using Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Owen Beck down the middle doesn't seem to be the way to go. Not because Beck is not ready, far from it, but rather because Dach and Newhook have yet to show they can be the players Hughes thought they could be when he traded for them.
Dvorak could also found a new home, but it's not impossible the Habs would have to use their third and final salary retention spot to move him. He earns $4,450,000 and that's a sizeable cap hit. Using the final spot wouldn't be a big deal since he'll come off the books in any case this off season, just like Jeff Petry and Jake Allen's contract that also expire at the end of the season.
With the Canadiens getting back to work this afternoon, it wouldn't be surprising to see Beck and Mailloux get called up again as there's been no update on Kaiden Guhle during the break and even if Emil Heineman is ready to get back in the lineup, Beck wouldn't be my pick to come out. Since all signs point to him graduating next season, he needs all the experience he can get in the big league.
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