Canadiens Trade Rumors
The Habs made a deal last week with Dallas, netting Michael Ryder and a third-round pick plus opening up important offseason cap space by moving Erik Cole.
So now what?
Whether it’s before April 3 or this summer, Montreal will continue to look for more size up front. Power forwards don’t grow on trees, but what the Canadiens would love to add is someone in the Ryane Clowe-type mold: a rugged forward who can play top-six minutes. Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin made an excellent signing in Brandon Prust last summer, a player who can play on any forward line, but I believe Bergevin wants to continue on that track.
What Bergevin has at his disposal is three second-round picks in this season’s draft plus two third-rounders. That could come in handy in a trade over the next four weeks.
Having said that, I don’t think Bergevin will mortgage the future in terms of trading away top prospects or a high pick for a rental player. I think the Habs would rather make a traditional hockey deal where they get a player who can help them past this season. In other words, Bergevin isn’t getting carried away with the Habs’ surprising success this season to suddenly fool himself into thinking their window has suddenly opened to go all-in trade-wise and go for a Cup run. Of course, the Canadiens want to win this season, but they will keep on track with the long-term view in any of their moves this month or this offseason.
Lars Eller is a name other teams were intrigued by earlier this season, but I don’t believe the Canadiens would move him. I think he’s staying put.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/22544/rumblings-where-iginla-alfredsson-could-land