Montreal Canadiens Facing Tough Decisions on Three Players Ahead of Trade Deadline
With the NHL Trade Deadline approaching the Montreal Canadiens continue to explore different trade scenarios including several veteran players.
This season has not gone well for the Montreal Canadiens after many had expected them to compete for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot.
Now, over 30 games into the season, the Canadiens are last in the Eastern Conference and looking to shake things up.
With a shake-up expected the Canadiens will now have to make a difficult decision regarding multiple players in their lineup including Jake Evans, David Savard, and Kirby Dach.
Canadiens face yet another season of difficult trade deadline debates
With the Canadiens once again being out of the playoff picture the focus will now shift to building for the future and finding the best way to get young players more ice time.
Within this plan, the future of several Canadiens players is now in doubt as a couple of veterans are on expiring contracts.
According to Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette the Canadiens are looking to make several moves involving players on their current roster.
First is Jake Evans who is having the best season of his career for the Montreal Canadiens at 28 years old tallying 22 points in 35 games.
Despite Evans incredible season he is nearing 30 and has been just a support player for the Canadiens for most of his career which likely means he is not worth investing in long-term.
If a contending team is willing to give up high-end draft picks for him the Canadiens would likely have to pull the trigger.
Then there is veteran defenseman David Savard who has been a mainstay of the Canadiens defensive unit for the last 4 seasons but has struggled immensely this season.
Despite his struggles, Savard is a veteran right-handed defenseman who has excelled defensively in the past and would likely have a solid market of suitors if the Canadiens felt like trading him.
Next, the Canadiens need to figure out what to do with their second-line center role going forward.
The hope was the former top-five pick Kirby Dach would be able to slide into that role when healthy but he has struggled to find his game this year leading many to expect a trade.
While Dach himself likely won't be traded expect the Canadiens to go hunting for a second-line center and then either demoting Dach or moving him to the wing on the second line.
Finally, there are some rumblings that the Canadiens could be looking to move Carey Price's contract to another team.
Of course, Price will not be returning to the NHL but his Long-Term Injured Reserve money has been restricting the Canadiens from making potential moves with that salary cap space.
If there was a team willing to take on the contract it seems like the Canadiens would be willing to move Price and the remainder of that contract.
As the NHL Trade Deadline approaches more reports will come to the surface regarding the Montreal Canadiens plans and as those plans are made public we will pass them along to you.
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