From the latest Sportsnet Trade Board;
Jordan Harris, D, Montreal CanadiensContract: $1.4M through 2024-25The 23-year-old has been in and out of Montreal’s lineup lately — with the Canadiens’ blue line suddenly overcrowded by the unexpected rise of Jayden Struble — and he could be out permanently at some point over the coming weeks. The Canadiens need to make room for Lane Hutson and moving Harris seems like one of the ways that might happen. He has already established his floor as a third-pairing defenceman in this league, but he still has a ceiling that can push him up some team’s lineup. There’s some untapped offence there, and that should be enticing. Harris’ defensive profile should be attractive, too. For just $1.4 million against the cap next season, there’s reason to believe he can help now and prove to be a valuable piece for the future. We can think of at least one team that’ll be moving defencemen out and looking to replace them between now and the deadline — watch out for the Calgary Flames on this one.
David Savard, D, Montreal CanadiensContract: $3.5M through 2024-25“I can’t tell you right now that we’re looking to trade David Savard,” said Kent Hughes after moving Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets, and that was a convenient truth to be spreading five weeks from the deadline. Hughes doesn’t have to trade Savard, who has one year left under contract after this one at $3.5 million, and it was worthwhile for the GM to make that clear to anyone thinking they could pluck the 6-foot-1, 238-pound defenceman out of Montreal for cheap. But Hughes knows the phone’s going to start ringing once Chris Tanev gets traded out of Calgary, and we highly doubt he’ll turn away from a substantive offer for what should be considered one of the better right-handed defencemen available.Savard, 33, is a Stanley Cup winner, a player who’s proven over and over again he’ll do anything to win, and a leader who excels playing 18-20 minutes a game. Some teams, purely in the rental market, will pass. But others, who would be more willing to give up something for the cost certainty Savard provides over what could be two playoff runs, will call. Hughes may not be actively shopping the player, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be selling him.
Jake Allen, G, Montreal CanadiensContract: $3.85M through 2024-25He’s the odd man out of Montreal’s crowded crease, and that’s already been established. But whether or not that has Allen changing addresses between now and March 8 is still yet to be determined, with the goaltending market shifting considerably over the past month despite no movement. Some teams have stabilized in the crease — like the Edmonton Oilers for example — and others have fallen lower down in the race and need more time to assess their needs. It’s still likely a team or two set to buy see Allen as more reliable and proven than other goaltenders available, but his $3.85-million salary, which counts against the cap through the end of next season, could prove prohibitive. It likely forces the Canadiens to either retain salary or take back a bad contract, which they’ll be willing to do at the right price. Whether or not the right price gets offered is the question, because if it isn’t, general manager Kent Hughes will probably wait until the off-season.
The big question mark is that willingness to learn/get better. It's hard to say without actually getting to know the person but I don't think it's far fetched to think that if we traded for him he would get serious about putting in the work given the age and leadership of the group.
As for organizational desire, it's hard to say because I don't really expect it to be made obvious even if they were interested. They passed on Michkov at 5 but who knows if they would have if they were drafting 7th and the guys they really liked were gone. There's also the whole PLD situation, we were in talks to acquire him so there was at least some interest for a guy with similar warts, but we obviously weren't willing to push hard to get him. So I would imagine it would be similar with Zegras, we will have some interest, but not enough for us to pay any real premium price tag which means chances are low that we will be the ones with the best offer on the table.
PLD is a big difference.. he's got size, he plays physical and he has some good playoff runs in his back pocket. Zegras is a smaller, skilled forward, allergic to the middle of the ice.
