I’m in the “it’s dumb to trade him” camp but let’s accept the talk is legit and he has significant interest.
Where’s he going. Rangers possibly? Caps? Maybe the Pens?
Once you start breaking down what playoff teams are after, cap hit next year, where he fits on their team, compensation, etc, the list shrinks quite a bit. Down to at the most, a half dozen playoff teams you can even make a case for. Not even counting if they’d be willing to pay the price for him.
He’s not exactly one of those Tampa types who they go out and get. Like it or not, he’s a good all-around forward, but… not exactly someone who’s going to be hard to play against, and he did not have a great playoff last year.
The good thing for Montreal would be, they don’t have to move him to a contender, as he’s not a rental. He might be worth more to a team who sees itself in the mix 2-3 years from now and might not be a team who is able to attract free agents.
The team who could really use him, fit him in, and he’d be a real good player for them in the coming years, would be Buffalo. They also have prospects/picks the Habs would look for.
To often we think the deadline is only for contenders. It can be argued Detroit not only received the picks for Mantha last year, but the way Vrana has played for them (although because of the injury it’s still a small sample) he could be the best, long term acquisition from last year’s deadline.
So IF they’re moving him, it won’t necessarily be to a playoff team. Could see Columbus, Anaheim, Detroit, and Buffalo looking at him for the next few years. Most of those teams have a nice pool of prospects Montreal would be interested in.
The problem with those teams, especially Detroit and Anaheim (don’t have problems getting UFAs) is they would likely want to wait until the summer.
So, IF he’s moved, people certainly shouldn’t discount non-playoff teams. In fact, I’d suggest they’d have a better chance being compensated. A reason they should probably wait until the summer.
However, if he’s going to be moved at this deadline, I’d say Dallas would be the team to watch out for. He could be a solid piece for their playoff push and obviously moving forward over the next few years. If it’s a non playoff team? I’d say Buffalo.
