Canadiens Taking Calls on Players On Expiring Deals
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on TSN Radio in Montreal and was about the players on the Montreal Canadiens with expiring contracts and could trade activity pick up before the trade deadline as we have seen in years past.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “When you look at some of the players that don’t have any tenure left on their contract. (Jake) Evans, (Christian) Dvorak, and guys like (Joel) Armia. Do you think there’s a chance that the Montreal Canadiens make their move prior to the NHL trade deadline? Or do you expect it to be active? Or do you still think those players will go to the end?”
Dave Pagnotta: “I think, well, I think a guy like Evans, guy like (David) Savard, their cap hits lower. Evans, especially, I think, 1.75, something like that. That is an attractive piece for teams that are looking for somebody in their bottom six or as a 4C, for example.
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And there are teams out there that are looking for that when you’ve got the money, that makes a little bit more sense. You try to make those types of acquisitions a little bit earlier so that your competition doesn’t get their hands on them. So I think we’re going to see not just with the Habs, but I think with a few different teams, we’re going to see a gradual incline towards the trade deadline.
I don’t think it’ll be like last season, or even the season before, where we saw so many moves, kind of in the month leading up to the deadline that it took away from trade deadline day specifically. I think we’ll have a bit of a happy medium, but I think we’ll also see some moves, kind of December and January, where we see a couple different things, kind of panning out, because you’ve got so many teams that kind of believe that they are in wild-card contention or playoff contention in general, that if they can tweak here and there, a little addition here and there that could put them over the edge.
So with the type of players the Canadiens have that are on the expiring contracts, think it’s four or five forwards and Savard on the blue line those guys are going to excuse me, are going to generate interest. And then the Canadiens have one retention slot left, so they’re able to eat some money on at least well, it would only be one deal for the balance of this season. They could take on money. I think that’s still something they’re willing to do in terms of taking on a contract, but in terms of retaining money, they have one slot left.
So whether they allocate that for a David Savard or a Christian Dvorak or Joel Armia, they’re going to have to be selective, obviously, in what route they go, but they have a lot of flexibility to make some moves, not just in March, but in the months leading up to it.
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And if somebody presents something now, I can’t see a scenario where Kent Hughes doesn’t take a look at it, because he’s made it fairly clear, from my understanding, talking to other teams out there that they’re willing to make moves, whether it’s now or February or March.”
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