Top Canadiens Trade Assets Going Into Training Camp

The Montreal Canadiens are just a month away from the start of training camp and they still have the assets and cap space to make some moves.

As things stand right now, odds aren’t too high on the Canadiens’ chances of making the playoffs, even with their key youngsters taking an extra step in their development.

With roughly $5.5M in actual cap space, notwithstanding putting Price’s $10.5M contract on LTIR, the Canadiens are in a good spot to remain flexible and make some last minute moves from teams looking to shed salary or open up roster spots.

And it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes, who has a history of making last-minute trades heading into training camp.

In 2023, Hughes was able to acquire Tanner Pearson and a 20205 3rd-round pick for goaltender Casey DeSmith just as training camp opened up in mid-September.

With a massive amount of competition for the seven spots on the Canadiens’ blue line, and a plethora of assets to choose from, Montreal is in a good spot to capitalize on some last-minute trade activity.

Cap Space

Yes, you can’t just trade cap space, but taking on salary in exchange for assets has been one of Hughes’ calling cards since taking over as general manager for the Montreal Canadiens.

The summer of 2022 saw the Canadiens take on all of Sean Monahan‘s $6.75M contract, while the summer of 2023 saw Montreal take on a portion of Jeff Petry’s contract and acquire Pearson in exchange for some valuable draft capital.

Having roughly $5.5 in cap space and some roster flexibility at forward, the Canadiens would be a prime candidate to help out some cap-strapped teams like the Edmonton Oilers or the New York Islanders, if the price is right.

With the ability to utilize Price’s $10.5M in LTIR space, there’s even more possibility for movement, but it would be very doubtful that the Canadiens would want to go that route before the start of the season.

The team has gone through great lengths to ensure some flexibility under the cap, and they won’t throw it all away for anything other than a prime sweetener.

Draft Picks

It’s not like we’re expecting Kent Hughes to pull a Les Snead here when it comes to draft picks, but it’s starting to get a little crowded in Laval and on Montreal’s Reserve List as of late.

They also possess 12 picks for the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft, including two first-round picks and seven picks in the first three rounds.

The Canadiens already have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, but utilizing draft capital to bring in young, NHL-ready talent is not something they’ve shied from either.

They sacrificed two first-round picks at the 2022 and 2023 NHL Drafts for Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook respectively, while also paying a 2nd and a 7th to move up in the 2024 NHL Draft to select Michael Hage.

One pick that could be dealt earlier than expected is the 2025 1st-round pick received in the Monahan trade. Because The Calgary Flames have committed to a full rebuild and are likely to finish in the bottom-10 of the NHL standings again this year, it’s expected that Montreal will receive the Florida Panther’s 2025 1st-rounder.

If that comes to pass, it would be very surprising to see the Panthers drop off to the point of squeaking into or missing the playoffs, meaning the pick will likely between 20th and 32nd overall; thus another late 1st-rounder.

There are quite a few unsigned youngsters still awaiting a new contract across the league at the moment, as well as some players in their mid-20s that have requested a change of scenery.

With their ability to take on salary and their abundance of draft capital, it leaves them flexible to pounce a deal for players like Patrik Laine or Dawson Mercer should an opportunity materialize.

Sacrificing Prospects

The one thing the Montreal Canadiens have been reluctant to do so far is sacrifice any of their older prospects in order to improve themselves at a given position.

Preferring to lay back and evaluate growth, Hughes has had the luxury of time, but prospects are not always a surefire asset for the future and are sometimes best used in a trade.

We’ve seen the club lose out on the opportunity to sell high on prospects before they ran out of runway; think about the draft failures of the past, like Jesperi Kotkaniemi or Ryan Poehling.

But, as the Canadiens begin the third year of their rebuild the strategy is likely to change.

The Laval Rocket are going to be overflowing with prospects this season, and that doesn’t include two of their top-5 youngsters in Ivan Demidov or Michael Hage.

Factor in all the picks for the 2025 NHL Draft, and it’s clear that some older prospects like Emil Heineman, Justin Barron, Jordan Harris or Sean Farrell may be looked at as trade chips in possible deals with other teams.

You could even throw in prospects that aren’t yet in the fold that could deemed as expendable like a Bogdan Konyushkov, whom the Canadiens haven’t had much contact with since being drafted, into the mix. A prospect like Filip Mesar, who is another skilled yet small prospect in the pipeline, could also be leveraged, given the Canadiens consider themselves a small team as is at forward.

Needless to say, they have the firepower to make something happen.

Options On The Market

On the cap dump front, there are a few options, as the Edmonton Oilers won’t be able to count on Evander Kane being on LTIR forever, and the New York Islanders would only be cap compliant with a 22-man roster.

However, it would be more likely that the Canadiens would look to focus on a young forward that could join the group at the right price like Mercer, Laine or Philip Tomasino.

As reported by Montreal Hockey Now in the past, the Canadiens remain in conversations into the summer to try to improve the roster before the start of training camp.

They won’t be shy to pull the trigger if they can get the type of player they’re looking for, but it takes two to tango.

As of now, it doesn’t seem like trade talks are very hot, but, with the lack of cap space and the number of unsigned players remaining, we may yet see some shuffling before the start of the season.