For months now a list of players who have been considered as trade bait has been becoming more and more clear. Hal Gill, a player who had been on the list for some time was dealt this past week and it is expected that the rest of that list (Chris Campoli, Yannick Weber, Travis Moen and Andrei Kostitsyn) will depart soon. While this list features some of the players who are more or less expected to be traded they are not the only ones who could be leaving the Canadiens come Monday. Here is a look at some of the possible moves that have not yet been advertised yet could possibly happen.
Mathieu Darche
It may not be in the Canadiens best interest, considering the low return they will get for Darche even in a deflated market such as this one. Darche is far more valuable to the Canadiens as a player than he is in a trade, which can’t be said for several other players. If the Canadiens did trade Darche he would only get them a 6th or 7th round pick or maybe a low end prospect. Personally, I don’t think we will see Darche involved in some sort of trade and I wouldn’t be
surprised if we see him with the Canadiens next season. He has been overused this season but when he is used in a marginal role his is incredibly effective for his value.
Tomas Kaberle
He only arrived at the club shortly ago and hasn’t been all that bad in that
time, a least in the offensive zone. However I think the Canadiens can get a decent return for him and shed some salary in the process. A deal for him would be very similar to the price that Gill was able to get, a 2nd round pick and a couple of prospects. Furthermore I think he is at his maximum value right now. A decline is sure to come soon and if the Habs can offload him now they won’t have to worry about him later.
Rene Bourque
They just got him and at first it looked like he would be the kind of player that this team was looking for. He was big, tough and would go to the net. It seemed to be a match made in heaven for the new system the Canadiens were trying to implement. He made a quick impact and then started to fizzle out. At first he disappeared in games which the Canadiens won, so it seemed to go unnoticed. Now that they have returned to their losing ways Bourque’s lazy and a times heartless play is starting to shine through. He shouldn’t be in the long term plans of the Canadiens and I think their are plenty of teams who would be willing to give the Canadiens a solid return for Bourque. I don’t think a 1st round pick would be out of the question at all.
Scott Gomez
I think that Canadiens fans believe that the organization will offload Gomez at any price. I don’t see that as the case. Gomez will only be moved if the Canadiens get a decent return, they did pay a lot for him originally. That being said I think Gomez moving, a least at the deadline, is an outside chance. Almost every hockey fan knows about the Gomez who hadn’t scored in a year and will be furious if their team makes a move for him. The Canadiens, though, will be looking to move him. You also never know what teams are willing to do. I have seen crazier trades happen.
Tomas Plekanec
Again, an outside chance, although almost all speculated deals are. I don’t think moving Plekanec is in the best interest of the Canadiens organization at all as he is an asset to the team in all situations. It comes down the how short memoried the management team is. He has not had a good season and fans have gotten on his case more than once. Part of it has to be linemates. Plekanec has been given very little to work with in terms of linemates and none of them have played well consistently. While I think it wouldn’t be in the Canadiens best interest to deal Plekanec I think they can clearly get a solid return for him. I think that other than Rick Nash, Plekanec would be the top forward on the market and would earn a 1st round pick plus.
P.K. Subban
A couple of months ago this was one of the top trade rumours around Montreal. Since then it has died down, but where there is smoke sometimes there is fire. Other than maybe Plekanec this is the least likely move to actually go through, and one that I think would be terrible at almost all costs. However, those rumours did come out and therefore we have to consider him as a possible player on the market. While, again, I would be surprised if it happened PK could certainly earn a top 6 forward or a first round draft pick, possibly both. Out of all these players P.K. would probably get the biggest return for the organization. This is probably why he is the least likely to leave the team.
Again the likelihood of these moves actually happening is pretty small. Montreal for some reason don’t seem to consider themselves out of the playoff race, at least not outwardly yet and many of these players are important to their current roster. Meanwhile, many of the assets trades concerning these players would get the organization would be long term. However, if Montreal have truly confirmed themselves as sellers they might want to think about dealing a few of these players. Goodness knows the current roster isn’t working.