The Florida Panthers have stated publicly that they're looking to make a big splash in the off-season. This is the third part in a league-wide search for great potential trading partners for the Panthers. Today we will look at the Montreal Canadiens.
If you missed the previous teams you can find them here...
Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators
Arizona Coyotes
Montreal Canadiens: (29-40-13 71 points)
Draft picks owned: 1st round (#3), 2nd round (#35, #38, #56 & #58), 3rd round (#66), 4th round (#97, #102 & #123), 5th round (#128)
UFA's: Ales Hemsky (RW), Antti Niemi (G)
RFA's:Phillip Danault (C), Daniel Carr (LW), Jacob De La Rose (C/LW), Logan Shaw (C/RW), Michael McCarron (RW/C)
After winning the draft lottery and moving up one spot from fourth to third overall, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a position to add an NHL-ready forward. It would be shocking to see this team go into full re-build mode, and the expectation is that the current management group led by Marc Bergevin will do what needs to be done to re-tool and get back to the playoffs as soon as possible.
In the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs, three of the last five remaining goaltenders are Vezina trophy candidates this season. The Habs will certainly see this as confirmation that franchise goaltender Carey Price can and should continue to be built around. With this in mind, the approach to a trade with the Canadiens will be one to make them better now, while not completely throwing out the future.
The obvious candidate for trade would be Montreal's captain Max Pacioretty (rumored to be headed to the Panthers), however, I recently did a
full piece on this which you can find here. Instead, the focus is going to be what the Habs can acquire from the Panthers.
The best player that could be available for a reasonable price that would fit Montreal's needs is center
Nick Bjugstad.
The Montreal Canadiens have been inept at center for quite some time. Bjugstad would not be the number one center the organization has craved, but the 6'6" centerman is an upgrade. He would allow Jonathan Drouin to move to the wing, as Bjugstad has shown a propensity to play alongside more talented players. Bjugstad can also play the wing or if adjustments needed to be made due to incoming centers.
Also, Bjugstad's contract, which carries a $4.1 million cap hit for another three years, has a base salary that increases throughout the life of the deal. The back half of his deal will pay him $14.55 million while the first three years only cost the Panthers $10.05 million. Montreal can use this as leverage as Florida is a much more cost-concerned franchise.
So what would it take for Montreal to reasonably acquire Nick Bjugstad? The Florida Panthers only have two picks in the first 120 picks of the 2018 Entry Draft, so it's reasonable to assume they may be looking to acquire extra picks. Montreal is the perfect team to provide these with four picks in the second round.
In terms of impact on the ice, the most recent comparable to Nick Bjugstad was made at the trade deadline. When winger Tomas Tatar was sent from the Detroit Red Wings to the Vegas Golden Knights for a first round pick, a second round pick and a third round pick (all from different years), many believed Vegas overpaid. Bjugstad, two years younger than Tatar, and a much more valuable player on the defensive side of the puck, would be worth something similar.
To Florida Panthers
Montreal's 2nd Round Pick 2018
Chicago's 2nd Round Pick 2018
Montreal's 3rd Round Pick 2019
Michael McCarron (RW/C)
To Montreal Canadiens
Nick Bjugstad
5th round pick 2018
Rather than offering a first round pick, two second round picks with the addition of Michael McCarron who was drafted in the first round in 2013 by Montreal, but hasn't been able to find his game at the NHL level yet. Perhaps a change of scenery could help. He's an RFA anyways so it makes sense that at this point Montreal cuts ties with him.
Florida has a bevy of young centers coming through their pipeline in Jared McCann, Henrik Borgstrom and Aleksi Heponiemi. They can afford to send Nick Bjugstad to Montreal to allow for faster players to move up in their lineup. And as previously stated, the freedom from an increasing base salary that will cause the Panthers to spend more than their actual cap hit.
Next we will explore the Detroit Red Wings.
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