Revisiting the Canadiens’ Marco Scandella Trades

For Montreal, however, the important part of the trade tree came just 48 days after acquiring Scandella. The Canadiens sent the veteran defenseman to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2021.

In less than two months, Montreal had essentially turned a fourth-round pick into a second and another fourth while getting 20 games out of Scandella in the process. And general manager Marc Bergevin wasn’t finished moving the assets around.

One Trade Became Three Prospects

The second-round pick acquired from St. Louis landed at 57th overall in the 2020 draft. Instead of making the selection, Montreal traded it to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick in 2021 and a fourth-rounder in 2020.

Montreal used the 2020 fourth-rounder acquired from Tampa Bay to select Sean Farrell. The 2021 second-round pick became Oliver Kapanen, while the fourth-round selection originally acquired from St. Louis was used on defenseman William Trudeau.

At the time, there was plenty of intrigue surrounding all three players. Farrell became one of Montreal’s more interesting prospects following an excellent collegiate career at Harvard. Trudeau developed into a professional defenseman with the Laval Rocket. But years later, Kapanen has clearly become the most important piece of the trade tree.

The Finnish centre was far from a sure thing when Montreal selected him 64th overall in 2021. He spent the following years developing in Finland before eventually making the jump to North America. Now, Kapanen has established himself as part of the Canadiens’ NHL roster.

Kapanen Makes the Trade Worth Revisiting

This is what makes the Scandella sequence particularly interesting today. When the Canadiens drafted Kapanen, nobody knew exactly what they had. He wasn’t a first-round pick or one of the organization’s headline prospects. His development was gradual, and he had to earn his way into Montreal’s plans.

Fast forward to 2026, and Kapanen has become a legitimate NHL option for the Canadiens. After scoring 22 goals during his rookie season, the 23-year-old has given Montreal another young forward capable of contributing throughout the lineup.

That changes how this trade tree should be viewed. Farrell is no longer with the organization after being traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Sasha Pastujov, meaning even that branch of the Scandella tree technically continues. Trudeau has continued his development as organizational defensive depth. But Kapanen becoming an NHL contributor is already a significant return considering where everything started.

Montreal didn’t trade an important roster player or a premium draft selection to begin this sequence. It gave Buffalo a fourth-round pick, received 20 games from Scandella and then flipped him less than seven weeks later. Through another trade at the draft, that original investment eventually produced Farrell, Trudeau and, most importantly, Kapanen.

There is always plenty of uncertainty attached to draft picks. Acquiring more of them doesn’t guarantee anything, especially once teams move beyond the first round. Montreal gave itself multiple opportunities, though, and Kapanen eventually emerged as the payoff.